Remember how I said that God was an integral part of my planning. Who knew that part of His plan for our special day started more than 2 years ago? Flashback to Halloween 2006... To when Chuck first met our awesome caterer, Kamalu.
Chuck was driving down the road and was actually on his phone at the time. If you've ever seen Chuck's truck, you'll know that it's pretty hard to miss. He drives a huge F-150 that has a lot of fire and island stickers on it and at this time, he had a huge Dakine sticker with the Hawaiian islands on the back of his truck gate.
So Chuck's on his phone and he just so happens to be at a stop light. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees 2 guys next to him in a big pickup truck, too trying to get his attention. He turns to see 2 Hawaiian guys smiling and giving him the shaka, to which he tells whoever he was talking to that he'll have to call them back.
So he rolls down his window and is greeted with: "Eh, brah! Pull over!" So the light turned green and both Chuck and the other two guys pull over into a nearby church parking lot.
Chuck was warmly greeted by Kamalu--like they had been friends for the longest and not just meeting. Apparently Kamalu saw all of Chuck's fire stickers and the big Dakine sticker on his truck and decided to say hello! Chuck thought that it was weird at first, but he thought that this would actually be normal had they been in Hawaii. It's just the embodiment of the Aloha spirit.
So they got to talking and Kamalu invited us to his house that night. He was having people over for a cookout. That night we went over and everyone there was just as nice as Kamalu. Warm and inviting, like we were family. Which, in any island culture--even Filipinos--is not uncommon.
Kamalu and Chuck have also bonded over their professions--he works for Orlando Fire Dept. So ever since this fateful Halloween, Chuck and Kamalu have kept in touch.
Fastforward to January of this year. We attended a fundraiser luau that Kamalu was a part of through a company called Island Vision Productions. It was awesome to see the spirit of Aloha alive and well here. That so many people cared enough for one lady's dying wish. It's the kind of stuff that just brings a tear to your eye... So ever since this fundraiser, I knew that I wanted a luau.
Fastforward to our planning days. Chuck decided to ask Kamalu to help us out with the catering and entertainment and boy, did he ever! He was so generous and accommodating to us! And our wedding was even better than I imagined!!
Take a look!
Yummy! Pic courtesy of my MOH, Minh-Thi.
Me stuffing my face. Captured by my lovely MOH, too.
These next four pics were taken by my new cousin, Lori.
Gotta love audience participation! Photo by BM Morgan.
Everyone has complimented us about how entertaining and fun our wedding was. I couldn't have done it without God... Because without Him, Chuck and Kamalu's paths wouldn't have crossed and we wouldn't have had the opportunity of having Kamalu as our friend.
Next up... Who's gonna marry us?
Picking up from where I left off...
Obviously, I had to tell Katie. I told Chuck about how she guessed and I think this was the point when we decided to let our entire wedding party know what we were planning. Which made it easier for me--now I had people that I could discuss things with and help me plan.
I have to share with you all how incredible God is, because He seriously had a hand in EVERYTHING in my planning process. Once the ball got rolling from Katie, it seemed like everyone we decided to tell became an integral part of my planning.
Case in point...
Chuck decided to tell his friend and old roommate, Stephen. Stephen just happens to know any and everything that has to do with A/V and sound and production. So he agreed to lend us his skills and be our DJ.
Aren't they presh? =)
Stephen is dating awesome Jennifer #1. [There's more than one Jennifer in our story, obviously.] Jen is an events coordinator and she happily agreed to be my wedding coordinator. She was AWESOME throughout this whole process--just what I needed.
Gotta love how God works. And He's not done yet.
Next up... Catering this shindig.
It's already been a little over a week since our surprise wedding! It definitely gets better everyday! HUGE sigh of relief and bliss? Yes, please! I can't tell you how hard it was NOT to blog about our plans in detail this whole time!
How did this all come about? We've been asked that A LOT!
As many of you know, things are still uncertain for us in terms of moving to HI. When we got engaged in December, we agreed to wait to set a date until we knew for sure where we were with HI.
You all know that in March, we flew out there for two weeks so that he could take the physical agility test for HFD and he passed! Not too long after we got back to FL, though, he found out through the Honolulu Star Bulletin (he tries to read it online every day) that HFD was suspending the hiring process until August. Which meant we REALLY weren't able to set a date for sure!! [sad face]
We were both so ready to just get married, but we just waited... and waited...
Until one day, one of us (I forget if it was me or him that said it) jokingly blurted out: "Wouldn't it be cool if we threw an engagement party and surprised everyone there and got married?"
I had read through one of the [many] wedding blogs that I follow on my Google reader, about a few surprise weddings--usually taking place during the rehearsal dinner. I believe actress Kimberly Williams and country singer Brad Paisley did that to their guests (surprised them and got married during the rehearsal dinner, I mean). We didn't discuss it with anyone, but the more we joked around about it, the more excited we got!
Then we got the idea to make it a luau. If we can't bring people to HI, we can bring HI to people here! Just one problem... Where are we going to host a party like this??
[Insert Divine Intervention here...]
I was at work one day and IM'ing with Katie. We chit chatted for a bit before she asked me what everyone else always asked me: "So, how's the wedding planning going?"
All I told her was: "It's not going, really... but there may be an engagement party on the horizon."
I kid you not... She pauses for a moment before typing out: "Wait... are you guys just saying it's an engagement party, but you're gonna surprise everyone and get married??"
WHA WHA WHADJU SAY???? I froze and thought "Dang it! How did she know that?!?!" This is the problem when you're such good friends with someone and know them so well that you practically share a brain...
So I had to tell her. She got super excited--1.) about being right and nailing it and 2.) that we were getting married! I'm telling you, it was Divine Intervention that she found out. Because if you recall this post, Katie was the one who found our venue for us! I never would've even remotely thought of looking at the Winter Park Farmers Market if it wasn't for her! So the ball got rolling from there...
Next up: deciding who to let in on our little secret...
So this one time... at the Farmers Market... WE GOT MARRIED!!!
Yes, you read that right... I haz a huzband. =)
So for those of you who have been following my planning, we sent out invitations for our "engagement party"... Well the plan all along was to surprise our guests and get hitched! I can hear the collective "Ohhhhhhh's" right now, i.e...... "Ohhhhhhh.... so THAT'S why she's been so excited about this party..."
I promise I'll recap more in-depth with the hows and whys later. But for now...
ALOHA from Mr. and Mrs. Weagraff!!!
It's finally here!! I can't even believe it! These last six weeks of planning are finally going to come together... Wow O_o SO excited!
Stay tuned for the recaps!! =)
That's all I have to say!
Man... This week is CRAZIER than I could have imagined! All these teens in tiaras will be the death of me! I need a padded soundproof room so I can just scream! It's really overwhelming being the only designer here at work when there are a bagillion things coming at me.
So, you can't really blame me for wanting Friday to get here--STAT!
2 DAYS! WOOOHOOOO!!
I was going to write something quirky and cute that had something to do with seven, but I just can't contain my excitement! Yep, it's t-minus 7 DAYS until our engagement party!!! It came up pretty fast! Man, time flies!
This next week is going to be extra stressful... Not only am I having to deal with last minute details for the party, this planning just happened to coincide with the busiest time we have at my job! Ugh. So needless to say, I'm so looking forward to next Friday more than ever!!
Please pray that I don't lose my mind. :)
I couldn't go to sleep last night so I was online reading blogs in my google reader. And LOOK!! I got awesome blog love from Mrs. Green Tea, the lovely lady genius whose original idea paved the way for my centerpieces. She rocks my socks! I can't wait to take pics of or table set ups! I also made thread tealights--which was what originally led Mrs. GT to creating the thread centerpieces. Who's got 2 thumbs and is super excited?
THIS GIRL!
So it's 10 days and counting until our big luau! I can't wait!!!
