It's difficult to even know where to begin putting words to this wedding. Or find a word in any language that expresses my gratitude for being asked to document it. Or to edit 3,000 images down into a succinct story of this incredible week.
I worked with Amber in another lifetime and we'd had the fortune of traveling together on several occasions. One trip in particular included a weekend spent stranded rooftop poolside in Ho Chi Minh City, and not for lack of interest in exploring the city, but for fear of being shanghaied by our "handlers" into spending precious free time crawling through suffocating cu chi tunnels and shooting off relic AK-47s.
We stayed connected over the last few years through the regular channels of modern life...social media and the occasional happy hour. But a mid-winter late night message from her asking if I would be willing and able to photograph her wedding...in Hawaii...in March....left me speechless. And as a testament to these two incredibly beautiful humans and their intensely loyal community of family and friends, an intimate gathering of 25 promptly made arrangements to spend a week celebrating who they are as individuals, (kind, generous, loyal, adventurous, smokin' hot) and their future together (all of those things as individuals x2).
The festivities and wedding all took place on the North Shore of Oahu at the Turtle Bay Resort, an epic destination in and of itself. And as if stand-up paddleboarding (SUP for those in the know) and surf lessons and golf and gourmet bbq's wasn't enough, their beachside wedding was one that has taken up residence deep in my heart, as beautiful and touching as it was both in it's simplicity and in the amount of love felt and expressed. They are certainly not alone in their journey.
To Amber + Isaac. Mahalo...Thank you. For this gift you have given me. And for giving my heart someplace to land after the last eight months of my own life's path. I have immense faith in the two of you and the amazing potential of your future together. Me ke aloha. With so much love. Andrea
