Thursday September 22, 2011
Well the main day had arrived, Julie and Chris’s wedding. Their wedding had been the catalyst for our trip to Hawaii and the onward journey. A nervous Chris arrived at our door, with his wedding outfit in hand. The girls went to get their faces on, whilst the 4 boys went surfing for 2 hours. The surfing was so much fun, and great way to get rid of some of Chris’s nervous energy.
Get Ready – All boys showered and on time for deaprture
Get Set – Car brought up by valets, have rough idea where we are heading, cold drinks for those not driving, so none for me.
Get Lost – We ended up overshooting the beach venue by 10 miles!!!
We have 10 minutes to get there and I swing into a service station and ask staf to get directions. He comes back with a printout that they had at the ready… Seems we are not the first people to have trouble looking for the venue. We make “very good time” and arrive and park next to the limo though no sign of the girls. We since found out, they were behind the very dark tinted windows. Thankfully the limo driver says photographer and celebrant not arrived as yet, so at least we aren’t the last to arrive!
It was a lovely wedding service, and I ended up shooting 400+ shots for Chris and Julie. They did have a professional photographer and videographer, but it was nice to show them some of the photos nice and quickly.
Exchanging of sand as part of the ceremony
The married kiss
Even the groom had his accessories
The three sisters
My bride and Candice
Me with the tin lids
So more photos taking at the beach of the couple, then Ryan and I back in convertible, all others back in the limo with beverages. A quick change then off to the Luau, which was the designated wedding reception for us, and put on by Julie and Chris with a deluxe package at Paradise Cove.
Wheels on the bus go …
Newly weds on the bus
We were greeted with Mai Tais and shown to our stage front seats.
The girls with real and fake Mai Tais
We then had some time to participate in the some activities on offer, we had a go at:
Canoe riding
Spear throwing
Making head bands for the girls
Fake tribal tattoos
Our family in the canoes
Candice getting fake tribal tattoo on her back,
Some of us caught the sunset, before heading to the welcoming ceremony where we were entertained with more great Hawaiian music and Hula dancing.
Ryan and I as the sun sets
Check out the sky!
After the opening of the pit and unveiling of the pig, we headed to our seats for the start of the show.
The shows incorporated all of the polynesian cultures, so were were greated with a NZ Haka, which was a bit unnerving during the Rugby World Cup!
All of the shows were fantastic, but the highlight was definitely the Somaoan fire dancer.
A call for volunteers to do the Hula dance onstage went out, and Julie was straight up there.
The meal was delicious, as were the included drinks, and we headed back towards the bus hoping to not have a repeat of our 1.5 hours it took to get there.
With the bus crowd, somewhat “loosened”, our bus host has us playing games with other buses, where as we would pass, we would do:
flash our cameras at them
do the Robot dance
do the YMCA
and many others.
This made the time go by fast, as well as it only taking half the time as well.
Our family plus Chelsea heading back to our digs for some rest, and ready for our last full day.
Mixed Tape 