It was the afternoon when I got the call from Tien. I had just finished up having a late lunch with a friend of mine who owns a bike shop here in Hawaii, and her timing couldn't have been more perfect. I sat on the tailgate of my truck bed and got into my "wedding zone."

"Steve, I don't know where my wedding planner is..." she said in a worried yet joyous masking overtone.

Now it wasn't out of the norm for me to play superman to the many brides out there who had been conned. My normal "rescue case" consisted of concerned brides who had booked unreputable wedding planners from websites, who predictably did not show up for their planned weddings. My mission, if I chose to accept, was to save their wedding day with a minister and photos. But Tien's rescue case was far from the norm.

Tien's rescue case was far from the norm. Her wedding planner, seemed to be on top of everything. His customers service was perfect. But suddenly, that wedding planner was missing-in-action. His website was down, and he wouldn't answer his phone.

"Tien, could you tell me who you had originally booked with?" I asked.

She told me his name, and I almost swallowed my tongue. Her wedding planner was a friend of mine, who I had also been trying to get a hold of, but couldn't. I shared my concerns with Tien that this was entirely out of character for my friend, as he set the standard on customer service. Something was wrong.

Nevertheless, business was business, and a bride was in need of my help. Quickly, I asked her what she needed help with, and within a few days, her wedding was back on track.

Tien met her husband, Melvin, through mutual friends. They are an extremely smart couple as Tien is a nurse, and Melvin is a scientist who actually studies the swine flu. Hmm... Swing Flu. Should I actually comment here? I think I'll pass. A joke is a bit too easy here.

Their choice of location, the Keiki Beach Bungalows. It was actually a pretty nice area and I would recommend staying there.

So the great news is that other than my friend going MIA on Tien, everything turned perfect. Melvin and Tien hired me out to handle everything from their minister, photo, video, to flowers, and to supply them with a DJ and wedding singer as well. The bad news, is that till today, I have no idea what happened to my friend. His cell phone got disconnected, and his business, shut down. He doesn't even live at the address that he did before. Is he alive? I really can't answer that question, because I don't know.