Nicole & RJ | Grand Hyatt Kaua`i Resort & Spa Wedding

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An email popped into my inbox with a subject line that read, “Destination Wedding”. Anyone who knows me, knows that two of the things I love most in this world are photographing weddings and traveling. So when I can combine the two, it just doesn’t get any better than that!

But I was wrong. It DID get better.

And soon, I would find out just how much better! Nicole wrote in her email that her fiance, RJ was cousins with my good friends from San Diego. She said Kay & Dorie referred me but…”little did they know, we have been LOVING your work long before they referred us to you.” And that it must have been fate that I had become such good friends with their cousins. Ahhh, that made me SO happy to hear!!

I was extremely honored and excited when they chose us to be their wedding photographers and couldn’t wait to meet them in person! For their engagement session, we got some gorgeous photos at a woodsy location and then headed to the beach for the more tropical photos. I mean, it was only right! We all had Hawaii on our minds and we giggled and chatted the whole time about how excited we were for their special day to arrive. You can see their engagement photos here!

By the time we left, Pat & I felt like we had known these two for years. It’s couples like Nicole & RJ who make us remember why we love our job SO much. We’re incredibly thankful for them!

Before we knew it, we were on a plane headed to the island of Kauai to photograph their wedding at the gorgeous Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa. This, by far, is one of my absolute favorite venues I’ve ever shot at. Scroll down and you’ll see the obvious reasons why!! :)

The morning of the wedding had finally arrived. We had been looking forward to this day for what seemed like forever! Leading up to the wedding, we prayed for good weather but much to my disappointment, on our drive to the venue…

It was POURING. RAIN.

Pat reassured me that it would be ok. We had photographed weddings in the rain before and we always do everything in our power to deliver the highest quality photos regardless of the weather conditions. He was right, but I still kept praying for some rays of sunshine to peek out of the clouds.

By the time we arrived to the Grand Hyatt, the rain was gone. It was like we were in a completely different city! And not only did we have sunshine and fluffy clouds, it would later result in a stunning, colorful sunset to end the perfect wedding day.

I could not contain my excitement!

There were sooo many things about this wedding that make me wish I could go back and relive this day over and over again. The elegant details. The amazing bridal party, family and guests. The incredible beaches. The breath-taking sunsets.

But what I will forever be grateful for is Nicole & RJ and their heart for others.

They made us feel like FAMILY on their wedding day. This beautiful bride & groom, along with their parents and family kept checking in on us throughout the night to make sure we had time to sit down and eat. Pat & I felt so spoiled because most weddings, we barely have 5 minutes to grab a couple bites in a little vendor room in the back before we jump back out on the dance floor to grab more action shots (which we totally don’t mind!). It’s just the life of a wedding vendor. :) We do all we can to make the wedding day all about the couple! So the fact that they went out of their way to have designated seats with our names on them and PERSONALLY thank us during their bride & groom speech….I was honestly speechless.

I could write a novel about how much I love these two. But there just aren’t words to adequately describe just how much I love them or how much I loved every detail about this wedding. I already know this blog post is already going to be my longest with tonssss of gorgeous-ness, I can barely stand it.

I hope you all enjoy some of my favorites from Nicole & RJ’s unbelievably beautiful destination wedding!

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