”We just wanted to write you to tell you how happy we were with our Maui Wedding. Everything came off better than we could have asked for, the beach, the timing, everything was perfect.”

Those kind words are from Chad and Christina. Maui Me performed their romantic Maui wedding ceremony for them on November 14, 2006. But let me back up a bit. In October, Christina had found our new blog (what you’re reading here) and she was excitedly anticipating their wedding on Maui. Here’s what she wrote to me on October 24:

“I love the new blog webpage. It’s been very informative, and I love looking at the pictures trying to envision what Chad and mine’s wedding will be like. 21 more days!!! We’re both very excited. I’m just emailing, because John asked for people to give feedback on the blog . . . This isn’t an important email, but it’ll be nice to write to you both after the wedding. We are so excited to meet you both and for our big day. By the way..high of 45 here today and black ice…Maui here we come!!”

Chad and Christine live in Michigan, and with our regular 75 to 80 degree on a year-round basis, I can understand why they were looking forward to a little weather change here. Actually, they did get a some rain here on Maui, but I’ll let them tell you about that:

“For anyone getting married on Maui, definitely go to South Maui for the ceremony. We stayed in Ka’anapali and it POURED ALL DAY LONG. Luckily we listened to Susan and booked our wedding for South Maui where the weather was perfect all day. We learned during our vacation that it is pretty much always better weather in South Maui. Do yourself a favor and listen to the experts on the wedding location, if you come to Maui for a beautiful beach wedding; make sure you get it. We met another couple who got married on the same day as us, but in Ka’anapali and they didn’t get the beach wedding they hoped for because of the rain.”

Yes, it does rain here sometimes on Maui. Fortunately, the leeward side of the island, which is down in South Maui, is more protected and gets less rain. The rain clouds blow the rain across the north and the eastern sides of the island, and very little of it gets down to Makena. So, although we live on the north shore, we always do our Maui weddings on the south shore.

We do try to discourage couples from planning their weddings up on West Maui, but we will do it where couples want us to go. Fortunately for Chad and Christina, they saw first hand why we don’t recommend a South Maui wedding.

”John and Susan really made the ceremony wonderful; from the beginning they were so personal and attentive. When the beach we planned on using was a little bit crowded, it was a matter of minutes and we were moved to a more secluded (and gorgeous) beach just minutes away. John took time with every step of the wedding to make it memorable, and calm some wedding jitters we had. Susan had everything planned out and made sure that everything flowed effortlessly throughout the ceremony.”

I think John does a good job too. But of course, I’m prejudiced. He is a true minister (not just an “officiant” like so many of the other ministers). And often our couples get a little moist during his ceremonies. Talk about being romantic and emotional, Chad had some special things to say to to his bride and when he did, Christina was definitely responding warmly to him during that ceremony.

”Everyone has commented on the wedding pictures that John took for us. The shots are amazing, truly professional and well thought out. There was no rushing at all, John took time to set up and take every shot knowing that it was the record of our marriage. The best comment we have heard on our photos is that they look natural; we didn’t look like a tired wedding couple standing in awkward poses, he really made the shoot effortless for us. John really made the pictures exceptional and personal.”

I must say that Chad and Christina were such a fun couple to work with. It’s always so much easier for us with our Maui wedding photography when a couple is deeply in love and so appreciative of coming to Maui to have their wedding. Happy couples are easy to photograph!

“Really, thanks again for making our wedding day so special and helping us so much with our planning. Susan was so helpful with the wedding and with other areas of our wedding, like arranging a limousine for us and giving me great tips on where to go for our wedding dinner (we LOVED Nick’s Fishmarket).

“Thanks again for making our Maui wedding a dream come true.

“Chad and Chris Willis”