Friday, October 30, 2009

Junko & Oscar

I was recently asked by Pacific Weddings to be a guest blogger on their blog Love Notes, and I am re-posting the blog here, along with a really sweet email from Junko after the wedding :) This wedding has so many beautiful details, so I promise there will be a "Part Two" to this blog when more images from the wedding become available, stay tuned!

I have been anticipating Junko and Oscarʼs wedding for quite some time, because I knew it would be one of our most beautiful weddings in 2009. Junko first contacted me back in late 2008, and I felt an instant connection with her. We both love fashion and bold, dramatic patterns, and we’re big fans of the t.v. show The Hills. I have to admit, I love working with brides who crave a beautiful wedding—from her gown and hair accessories to her table linens and flowers—everything had to be absolutely chic. The bride compiled meticulous inspiration boards to plan the day. This can be a great tool to give your vendors, particularly when you’re planning a destination wedding. Junko was unafraid to use a beautiful espresso brown and white floral silhouette linen to give her table that “wow” factor. A Capri blue table runner and matching napkins balanced the patterned table linen. Pink dahlias, English garden roses, hydrangea and ranunculus adorned the tables, with seven crystal chandeliers overhead casting a soft, romantic glow at night. Guests enjoyed an action station menu featuring fresh local seafood. After a few champagne and sake toasts, the night ended with a surprise salsa performance by the newlyweds, who met at a New York salsa dance class 7 years ago!

"Sandra, I really want to take this opportunity to thank you for everything you've done for us to make our wedding so fabulous and so perfect! I don't know what I would have done without all your help. Oscar and I feel so blessed to have you as our coordinator. I know you've done and seen so many fabulous weddings in the past but to us, this was absolutely the best wedding we could have ever imagined to have! I just can't tell you enough how much we LOVED everything from the beginning to the end. Although I had a certain vision in my head of how our wedding was going to look like, what I saw that day was nothing close to what I had ever imagined. It was above and beyond our expectation!!! One word to describe... FABULOUS! Thank you for being the person we could really trust, and knowing that you had our best interests to make this wedding come true definitely put us at ease. Sandra, we just can't thank you enough for all the things you've done for us for the last year and a half! Last but not least, please send my warm Mahalo to your assistant Tristin. She was so sweet and easy going just like you! She really calmed me down when I was walking down to Lanikuhonua from Ihilani. She told me she's also getting married next year! I will be looking forward to hearing all about it because I know it will be fabulous! Tell her I said Congratulations! I'm sorry my email got so long again, but I just needed to tell you how much we appreciated all your help with our wedding!" ~ Junko & Oscar

Friday, October 23, 2009

A Jason Magbanua Production

What an honor and delight to have the opportunity to work with world renowned wedding cinematographer Jason Magbanua! For those of you who still think wedding video is cheesy, wait until you see this Same Day Edit done by Jason. This SDE is so captivating and inspiring, unlike anything I've ever seen before. After you see this video, you will agree with me that the best moments in a wedding are those unrehearsed and most candid moments. Thank you to my couple Grace and Laurent for flying Jason out from the Philippines to capture their beautiful and definitely FUN wedding at St. Augustine Church and Lanikuhonua. Professional photos from this wedding taken by the talented Frank Amodo to come soon!

Grace and Laurent from Jason Magbanua on Vimeo.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Hawaii Bride and Groom Fall Winter 09 issue



The new Hawaii Bride and Groom magazine is now available at your local bookstore. My favorite piece in this issue is the feature on "Pretty Hair Pieces". All the featured hair pieces are available for purchase here on Oahu. My favorite piece is from Christine Gardner's line Attached - the jewel encrusted hippie style headband. I always envy girls with long wavy hair who can rock these headbands :) This headband hand crafted by Christine is the perfect accessory for a barefoot beach wedding - a style that feels relaxed and refined at the same time. Did I mention you can now read the magazine entirely free online? Click here.

Headband by Christine Gardner
Model: Clea Saldania-Rountree
Photo: Stefanie & Ana Riedel

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Something Blue for your wedding?

I attended The Bridal Salon in Los Angeles last month and was introduced to the perfect signature cocktail for a wedding - I call this cocktail "Something Blue". (Warning: the drink is super delicious and dangerous at the same time. Who knew HPNOTIQ has a 17% Alc./Vol.?!)

Make this the ultimate BLUE experience for your guests:
Serve "Something Blue" on a blue lit up bar
1 part HPNOTIQ + 1 part Champagne, and voila!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Aloha Seattle!


I usually don't do this on my blog (because I think it's super cheesy), but I do want to give a shout out to my old assistant / on-site coordinator Rebecca Bradley. Rebecca worked with Finishing Touch for about 3 years (from Winter 2005 to Summer of 2008) and have since then moved back to her hometown of Seattle. Have you ever met someone you just know that he/she was born to do something? That's how felt when I first met Rebecca. I knew from the very beginning that she will make a great wedding planner, and I am so happy and proud to announce that she had started her own wedding design and coordination business, New Creations Wedding Design & Coordination. Her website is still a work in progress, but I am sure it will be fully fabulous very soon. If you are reading this from Seattle or knows someone who is getting married there, call Rebecca. Tell her you read about her business here and send her my aloha... she will LOVE it!