Place.

Oh, the Mauna Lani. How addictive you’ve become. Hooked, after just one trip. And now that the cold weather and snow have officially inundated the Hole, it’s time for a little visual trip back.

While the prices were a bit in the upper echelon, I couldn’t be happier about choosing to have our wedding there. Lauren was the first person to respond after I shot out a flurry of emails to hotels on the Big Island. Seriously, I think I emailed 15 places the moment we decided that Hawaii was the place to be.

Lauren emailed me back, got a general idea of what we wanted and immediately began working with me to ensure the best experience. Rather than pay a holy buttload up front, she allowed us to make a feasible deposit and pay down the rest over time. Which worked like a dream.

When the time came, she and Pinkie did everything to make sure we were within our means and had the best effing party at the same time.

And it wasn’t just them. EVERYONE at the Mauna Lani was amazing. From the service when we first arrived, to the helpfulness of everyone ranging from spa coordinators to front desk to bartenders to pool attendants. There was such sincere friendliness and genuine caring.

When they say the staff at the Mauna Lani becomes your ohana, they truly mean it.

Glass elevator. Open-air.

Oh, a few fish ponds? Sure. Why not.

View from the top.

Not bad for a little beach ceremony action.

Nice place to be a fish.

Beachy keen.

I like turtles.

How's the serenity?

Venue: Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows
Photos: Persimmon Images

Prep: Him.

As opposed to my 3.5- to 4-hour process, Aussie’s apparently only took about 15 minutes. Sh*t, shower and shave, I’m sure. Therefore his time was spent, more aptly, hanging out by the pool, drinking beer, etc. Lucky bastard.

Vows.

The predecessor.

Smiley Rusty.

Good thing there's a doctor in the crew.

Gresh.

Brace yo self.

Cool.

Proud Mama.

See how easy and painless it was for them? Well, painless except for Gresham’s leg, that is. And don’t they look so handsome?

Aussie’s Shirt: Express for Men
His Shorts: Volcom on Dogfunk.com
Pocketwatches: Amazon.com

All photographs by Persimmon Images.

Morning.

The morning of the wedding, we decided we wanted to do something with our friends. Just something low-key, hang out together and not feel rushed into the “Omigawd I’m getting married and must act like a crazy person trying to escape zombies, werewolves and unicorns” bit.* Especially since we’d decided long before that we weren’t going to stick with the whole “not seeing each other” tradition. Which would be tough anyway, since we were sharing a hotel room.

So, we did.

I’d read in one of my favorite guide books that there is a “secret love pond” on the grounds of the Mauna Lani that you can actually swim in.

It’s a natural salt pool filled by the tide. There are little shrimpies (redundant?) living in it, so you can’t wear any sunscreen/chemicals/etc. And it’s surprisingly chilly.

So, off we went at 10 on the morning of our wedding.

Meandering along the eel pond. Those suckers are eerie.

Nestled back among the fish ponds.

Oh, my 18-year-old tat on full display. Le sigh.

They're starting to catch on ...

Lurvely Laura.

Gresh couldn't get in because of some "beer bottle shattering" incident. So he said ...

Those steps were slippery as sh*t. We almost had a couple casualties.

Splish splash. Obvious necessity.

You got got!

Bemused.

Amused.

Well, that was fun.

Low tide.

Crikey! It's a whole herd of Australians!

It wasn’t an especially eventful morning, but it was relaxing.

All photos by Persimmon Images.

*It’s Halloween. Obv. This is how my brain is functioning.