Tyler and Lexi’s Heartfelt Western September Wedding at The Urban Cowboy in Nashville, TN
THESE SUPER CUTE NEWLYWEDS TOOK THEIR WEDDING GUESTS WHALE WATCHING
I am so excited about todays wedding. This super sweet couple were married in a beautiful plantation at the foot of the west Maui mountains, then spent the evening of their reception on a sailboat sharing the sunset with breaching whales. It really does sound to good to be true but I promise, it’s not!
“We were on a tight budget for the wedding.” Bride Deborah began.
“When we were researching locations, it was very difficult to find anything in our price range. Our friends, Ben John and Aiza had recommended the Maui Tropical Plantation which we had attended for their wedding and recalled really loving the area. It was super easy to get to, had plenty of parking and was absolutely stunning. With botanical gardens as well as shops and restaurant areas the venue was just as entertaining for visitors or local Mauians.” She explained.
“We actually liked that it wasn’t necessarily a wedding venue but weddings can be held there, whereas the price of places that are strictly wedding venues didn’t work with our budget. Although in a public area, we had our own privacy on the plantation considering how large their property is. It made beautiful backgrounds to our wedding party photos!”
“I was always attracted to that tropical bohemian style when looking on Pinterest. Absolutely loved the bright and exotic tropical flowers we have here on Maui yet wanted to keep the wedding classic and timeless.” She added.
“Pamela Shepard-Henderson and her assistant Brittany Moreno-Sajor were the onsite coordinators and we’re the best people to work with. They were very organized, kept everything on schedule and most importantly, always replied to emails. We are also grateful that they were very cheerful and it couldn’t have ran as smoothly as it did if it weren’t for them. It definitely wasn’t their first rodeo and they made sure they stayed attentive to our wedding and made us feel very special.”
“The boat reception idea came to us when we were brainstorming one night. Not quite sure how we came to the conclusion, but we agreed it would be awesome to go out on a boat since it would be prime time for whale season in Maui. We knew it would be such a treat for all those people who were coming from the Mainland who might not get an opportunity to book a whale tour while they are out here for our wedding. Our friend, Blake, who is the Operations Manager with Pacific Whale Foundation, really made everything possible for us. The whole reception was ‘smooth sailing…”. We all had a blast cruising along the coast of Maui, watching the whales breach and having drinks and pupus (appetizers) while watching sunset. Pacific Whale Foundation staff did an amazing job due to their hospitality. We highly recommended any type of events through Pacific Whale Foundation.”
“As we were on a budget we had to resort to DIY which to be perfectly honest, we truly enjoyed!” Deborah told us.
“Our goal was to stay within our means and f not, go as cheap as possible but yet have the wedding still look tasteful and not tacky. It gave me little art projects that kept me motivated for the wedding. We made gift bags as well as hand painted the bags for the mainland guests and pillowcases for the reception boat decor. We also designed paper for the guests’ itineraries. My friend Whitney and I made the groomsmen’s bow ties because the ones online cost way too much and weren’t our styles. We simply just looked up YouTube videos or Pinterest links. It originally stemmed from the idea when I was looking through my photographers Instagram. He had done a wedding for couple on Maui and I was obsessed with the groom’s bow tie. So even though I didn’t know her, I messaged her through a comment on a photo to ask where she got them. When she said she made them, I thought, ‘of course, why didn’t I think of that?!”.
“A huge contribution comes from out friends, John and Edit. My husband, Vincent, knew them first since he works with John. Vincent mentioned that John and Edit used to be wedding photographers in Texas and were willing to help us out since weddings are their passion. We would either all four meet up or just me and Edit. From the second we started working with them, we knew the wedding planning was going to be amazing. They really brought the wedding vision to life. Edit and John was in charge of our florals and also literally designed and crafted every single thing displayed at our ceremony and reception. All with stunning attention to detail. Edit even made multiple trips to the towns of Hana and Nahiku on Maui to help harvest wild flowers such as Monstera leaves, red gingers, pincushions, etc. from her friend Jenny’s property. We barely spent any money on florals! We were beyond grateful for that, since florals can be hundreds of dollars. We did however get a few floral items from Maui Floral in Makawao, a great place to get flowers if you want to DIY bouquets and such. Edit’s friend, made us a stunning pressed flower art piece that was displayed at the ceremony which now hangs in mine and Vincent’s first home together.”
“We didn’t care to hire a wedding coordinator so we took it upon ourselves to plan our wedding. We couldn’t have done it without Edit and John. They were the masterminds behind the decor. We would meet periodically which was very helpful so that we could help make decorations and such together or review design ideas. Vincent would be in charge of big things, such as making sure things were booked and paid for (photographer, videographer, ceremony and reception), while I was in charge of making sure he completing all of those tasks, haha! I was more of the micro-manager. I definitely had multiple excel sheets, to-do lists, timelines, etc.”
“We were engaged for 11 months, and believe it or not, I was planning since day one after we got engaged. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. We would do little by little which looking back, we wouldn’t change that. We think our wedding day went smoothly because it was well planned. However, we’re sure it probably could have been done in half the time we had because it’s true, there’s a decent amount of things you really can’t do until the week of the wedding anyways.”
“Pinterest was a big help because it gave us ideal timelines for when things needed to be done. Friends that also that had recently got married also helped a lot as far as their advice. We used a folder with organized tabs as well as Word Documents and Excel programs. In order to schedule things timely, we planned the last event of the day (sunset reception) and worked our way backwards in order to find out when the ceremony would start all the way to time we needed to get ready. We were advised to always give yourself some wiggle room and not a rigid schedule in case things get backed up. Worked out perfectly.”
“Considering both the ceremony and reception was outside, the weather was most definitely our biggest concern. We picked Maui’s winter because the weather is usually cooler (and because it’s “whale season”), however, it does rain. It didn’t really cross our minds that people would be too hot, considering most of our mainland guests were trying to escape the cold back in their cities. We loosely thought of Plan B options (i.e. move the ceremony indoors at the Maui Tropical Plantation and/or postpone the boat reception for the next day) but honestly, we just prayed and hoped that it would be perfect…and it sure was!”
“So many people had told us this : “Don’t be afraid to ask for help.” If you need an extra hand, this really is the best time for your friends to help you out.”
“Stay organized, plan ahead even though somethings can’t be done until the week of. If you’re organized, you will be prepared when you need to do last minute things. Also, be smart with your money. Although it is a special day, it is one day. Invest in a good photographer, videographer, food and drinks and if it’s an outdoor wedding, make sure it’s in a cool temperature spot. Nothings worse than people not being comfortable and not having good food and drinks. Everyone says this but it’s true…really just enjoy the day!! Soak it all in, it’s awesome!”
Wedding Designers: John and Edit Crabtree with Feather and Fern Maui I Florals: Wild flowers from Hana and Nahiku, Maui Floral, Pressed Flower Fantasies I Photographer: NV Maui Media I Videographer: Areca Film Co. I DJ/MC: Clarity Entertainment Maui I Ceremony Musician: Jacy Edlao ICeremony: Maui Tropical Plantation I Reception: Pacific Whale Foundation I Catering: Three’s Bar & Grill I Makeup: Kelsey Robertson I Hair: Shelby McMillan I Flower crowns: Aloha Hakus l
Not gonna lie, that’s a first I’ve seen in a wedding blog! What a cool idea! Love the setting and the editing style here 🙂
What a fantastic wedding to shoot!