Turtle Bay Beach
April 25, 2005

I love vow renewal services. First of all...They silence all of the anti-marriage activist out there. To these activist I say: Yes, one man and one woman can stay committed to each other forever. They can raise a family as good, or dare I say...better than a single mother, better than a gay couple? Couples who are married and stay together till death does them part upholds America's tradition of family values. And yes, far left acticvist, they do exist.

Sorry 'bout that folks, but I had to get that out of me before I started. It's just that the American family has been under attack from the far left so much these days that I just had to get it out. So...Moving on...

Now this Vow Renewal service was unlike any service I provided. You see...It's because Wendy actually surprised her husband Adam. I met with Wendy actually before Natalie's wedding to discuss where her wedding was going to take place. And the plan to surprise Adam. The plan called for her to litter her bedroom with rose petals, lay out his clothes for him to wear on his bed, and to put a note on his bed that read "Will you marry me again." Yes, for those of you who are curious, I did coordinate her suprise vow renewal service while planning Natalie's wedding. Yes...due to my couch potato slash armchair quarterback experience in the NFL, the most multi-tasking sport in the world, I was able to multi-task two weddings with no problem at all. Hey...Scoring touchdowns are difficult to me, not planning weddings..haha.

Reverend Elias and I met Wendy at her secret location then patiently waited for her husband to arrive. He did, ON TIME. But their friends showed up late. Even funnier, there new-friends who they had met at the hotel, arrived before their old-friends.

Turtle Bay Glass Chapel
April 24, 2005

Darrin and Natalie started there new chapter in their life together at Turtle Bay's Glass Chapel. I knew right away that I would get along with them very well when I had met them a few days before there wedding. Darrin and Natalie were true Christians, devoted to Christ with strong convictions, and they were both HUGE Elvis fans. Now I'm really not a HUGE Elvis fans, but I did promote an Elvis concert here in Hawaii a few years ago which featured the real Jordaniares. We had a pretty good turnout, about 3000 fans. It was great.

because we were in a glass chapel, everything was very formal. Our minister wore a robe, Natalie wore an awesome wedding dress, and her then Fiance, Darrin, wore a smooth looking tux. There ceremony had a few variations in it. For starters, there was a passage reading by Natalie's maid of honor, and a candle lighting, and...a sand exchange as well. I'm really not sure what the official name of the sand exchange is, but basically it's when the bride and groom pour different color sands into vase or some type of fancy container, and it signifies unity...oneness. Something romantic.

Now honestly, I had done weddings at the Turtle Bay Chapel area before. Most of the time, it was windy. But on this day, the gust were very manageable. I could place Natalie's dress in any way and her train actually held.

After there wedding, we stuck around the chapel to take a few formal pictures on the reef in the back of the chapel, then we jetted to the old folks home to shoot that "abandoned building shot" you folks love. Then we headed over to the Secret Cove at Turtle Bay, to finish up.

Just as a side note on the abandoned building shots that I have been doing. They are basically all done..."Renegade style." Which means, we really don't have permission to shoot there. The abandoned building is actually a historic landmark situated on a convalescent home property very near Turtle Bay. The old folks there really don't mind us shooting there. Sometimes they wave. I'm sure if the old folks ever tried to stop me though, I don't think they could ever catch me. I'm quite fast...well, at least faster than them. It takes me all but a few seconds to get the perfect shots that we can use. So, no harm done, and you get the pictures you want.

I really enjoyed working with Natalie on her wedding. She needed sound advice at almost every corner given that she was planning her wedding all the way from Canada. There was a decision at one time to hold the wedding at the Secret Cove, rather than the Glass Chapel because the chapel had been under construction. Everything went according to plan, and as you can see, the photos came out really well. Mememorable moments during the wedding: geez, there were a lot. There was a song that my wedding singer sang "How Great Thou Art" or something like that. It's an Elvis song. He actually choked up when he sang it. It was a really moving song. I also remembered Darrin really choking up as he saw Natalie for the 1st time on his wedding day. I keep saying it, but guys have a really hard time holding it together on there wedding day. That macho wall just comes crashing down at once and it's all raw emotion from there baby. I remember Natatlie slightly spilling her sand over the vase, which really created a cool design on the table. She laughed, Darrin laughed, their wedding was a very happy occasion.

On a side-note, I have been marrying a lot of Canadian wedding couples so much, it has slightly affected my accent. Once in awhile, I will catch myself saying "A-boot" rather than "about." I have no problem with that, but isn't that funny?

After there wedding we headed to Sunset Beach. During April, the sun doesn't really set too well in the cove. A clearer shot of the sunset is at Sunset beach, hence the name. Taking advantage of their energetic selves, I grabbed these few frames. I think they turned out just awesome.

Everything for Alexa and Chris' wedding turned out spectacular. It was just them by the way. Yes, they eloped. And it was just as romantic as any other large wedding.