I knew we were going to be a great photographer/client match the minute I started receiving emails from her.  I loved the detailed timeline shared via Google, complete with photos of special guests!!!  Denalee…I truly appreciated your organization.  When you handed me my own labeled wedding folder, complete with timeline, guest list and seating arrangement, I had a flashback to my own wedding.  I did the EXACT same thing for my wedding party, LOL!  I know how much time you put into it. Despite being highly organized, Denalee was also one of the most flexible brides I’ve ever worked with…especially in terms of the timeline.  You were a dream to work with! So calm and elegant…just GORGEOUS.  Ka’eo, we are so happy for you both.  We loved how you incorporated your own style, and made the wedding so personal to you and your families. It was great seeing you and all of your friends again!

Thank you for sharing your special day with us, so many wonderful memories and friendships. We hope you are enjoying your first few weeks as a married couple, with many more wonderful years to come  🙂  Here’s your sneak peek (slideshow of the photos at the very end):

It started off as a beautiful morning.  The sky was a gorgeous blue…an amazing start to a wonderful day!

Denalee had a beautiful dress…and I loved her cute little “I Do” shoes.  Everything was so personalized.

Then there was the “Best Friends” trophy…a gift from two of the groomsmen to Ka`eo. It was later used as a drinking cup for champagne (for the guys, of course).

In the meantime, the bridesmaids and bride were getting dressed in an adjoining suite.  Loved the colorful robes…I’ll bet those were great selfies!

Finally, the official “first look”.  Just look at Ka’eo’s face as he sees Denalee for the first time.  Lots of cheering, some crying from the crowd.  Pure happiness!

We headed out to the beach for some Bride/Groom shots before the ceremony. I don’t think we could have asked for better weather.  It was clear, and amazingly, not too windy! Denalee, you were gorgeous! Ka’eo, stunning as always  😉  The groom and his groomsmen were dressed in true Ka’eo fashion, complete with slippers. What a great looking couple.  Hugs to you both!

We took some formal (and not so formal) photos of the wedding party.  I’m sure the photo I took of the groomsmen looking down on me looked pretty interesting if you happened to see us on the beach…

Time for the reception. Denalee’s father not only walked her down the aisle, but was also the marriage officiant. It made for even more tears (and cheers) as the guests saw him give her away to Ka’eo. It was very touching with the handing off of the robe from groom to father, and handing off of daughter from father to groom. When the vows were over and the rings were exchanged, Dad gave the couple a huge hug.  As they walked back up the aisle as a married couple, I stood behind Dad and continued to take photos. I saw him give a huge sigh as they walked away…

Following the ceremony, guests enjoyed pupus and mingled, while the bride and groom signed their marriage certificate.  It’s official  🙂

The reception program…one word…hilarious!  I haven’t laughed so hard in awhile  🙂  I had a feeling Ka’eo expected no less from his friends.  Boy did they roast him!  Denalee’s friend gave one of the most heart-felt speeches, ever.

At last, it was time for everyone to celebrate and DANCE!  The lights were turned down low, and the glow sticks came out.  Practically every child and adult had a glow stick in his/her hand…and many of them made their way onto the dance floor.  What a show!!!

 

Thank you, Ka’eo and Denalee, for inviting us to share in your amazing day. From the excitement filled “wedding prep”, to the celebratory flashing and glowing lights at the close of your reception…it was one of the most joyous weddings we’ve had the pleasure of photographing!  We wish you both the very best in your journey together.  Thank you!!!

 

SLIDESHOW

 

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Mom was so ahead of the game…I was so impressed.  She contacted me over 6 months in advance to ask if I was available to shoot Brooke’s birthday party. Most of my clients find me by word of mouth, but she said that she found me on the internet  🙂  She was planning the party long-distance, so she wanted to make sure that everything was organized for the party, and she had some amazing help from family and friends!

I loved the kokeshi doll party theme. Everything was absolutely adorable…from the handmade favors and centerpieces, to the candy bar and the desserts on the dessert table. So colorful, creative and fun! Brooke took a power nap right before her party started, so she would be at her best during the party  😉

Brooke had a beautiful birthday cake. I even loved the patterned design on the bottom layer! The mini cupcakes were totally adorable, and I love that they used mini Japanese lantern lights around the cake table.

The kids (…and some adults) loved making their own personalized door hangers and bag tags. Many of them were lost in deep concentration while creating their masterpieces. Music entertainment was provided by the very talented Ben and Maila!

The pupus and snacks…so delicious! Guests enjoyed fresh cotton candy, popcorn and shave ice. They had many satisfied customers 😉  The air was filled with the buttery scent of warm popcorn. Heavenly!

Brooke’s party featured many speakers, and a heartfelt blessing.

There were many opportunities for family and friend photos…and lots of photos of the happy birthday girl!

Brooke even enjoyed a cupcake following her birthday song. I think she loved it, LOL!

Then the candy bar opened, and the line formed. Oh, the sugar and sweets…so many smiles and happy guests!

As the party was winding down, I happened to catch a glimpse of an impromptu limbo game in the corner of the room. Apparently, some modifications were made to the rules of the game…

Everything came full circle with Brooke. Following all of the excitement, she fell asleep again.  Good night, Sleeping Beauty!  We hope you had a wonderful first birthday experience…we know your guests all enjoyed themselves! Mom and Dad, thank you for inviting us to celebrate Brooke’s monumental milestone!!! We had a blast!  🙂

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Has it been a year already?! I can’t believe how fast time flies by.  It doesn’t seem like an entire year has passed since Roman’s newborn shoot (click HERE to see his Newborn Shoot). Little Roman went from a sleepy little newborn, to an active, extremely handsome, little man!  Roman’s party was held at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii‘s Manoa Grand Ballroom. His party theme was Disney’s Planes.

The table centerpieces, favors and room decor all represented the Planes theme…and the delicious cupcakes were baked the morning of the party! It doesn’t get any fresher than that…

Next up, the glorious, intricate cake…complete with fondant planes and wispy clouds:

How cute was the airport themed table signage?:

Our Man of the Hour took one last tour of the room before the doors officially opened.  He seemed pretty happy with the pre-party preparations 😉

Guests were welcomed at the sign-in table, and were invited to write a short message to the birthday boy:

Entertainment included beautiful music, balloon art, fun photo booth pics, and air brushed stencil tattoos (fun for kids of ALL ages…):

The Lego Man brought his plethora of Legos (some structures were pre-made, others were constructed by party guests). Kids and adults were magically drawn to the Lego tables…some for the majority of the party:

Kids (and some adults) also had a custom made Dusty Crophopper to play on (how lucky to know such a talented family friend!).  It was a big hit, and we all thought it was so creative! I really want to hire him to make some newborn props for me  😉

Of course, some guests provided their own entertainment  🙂

After a moving invocation, the buffet line opened. Guests enjoyed a variety of delicious dishes and desserts:

Finally, it was time for all of us to celebrate Roman. Little letter candles adorned the top of his cake (Mom and Dad decided on his initials). Somehow (during the course of the birthday singing), an extra red “H” candle made it’s way into the very front of the cake’s lowest tier…I Photoshopped it out for this post  :).

It was a day spent with family and friends, all graciously addressed by Mom and Dad:

…and the birthday boy finally fell asleep after a morning full of excitement. How cute is he?!

Happy Birthday, Roman!  Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your special day  🙂 We love you!

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Mom still can’t believes that her little girl is officially a one-year old. It’s been so great seeing Emi grow over the past year…from a newborn to a one year old girl that is ready to be on the move. Emi’s favorite game is to offer you something she has in her hand, then ask for it back.  This kept her busy throughout our park shoot.  A few weeks later, Emi had her birthday party. It was cherry blossom themed, complete with a beautiful birthday cake. Big brother, Caden, was there to help blow out her candles (he eagerly awaited his chance to dig his fork into that cake!). Happy Birthday, little Em! Here’s your sneak peek:

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It was a beautiful day! There was a slight breeze, the sky was clear, and the sun was shining. It was the perfect day for Bree’s first birthday party! The theme of the party was “Candy Land”, and the favors, centerpieces, desserts, cake and colorful room decor made for a very festive occasion. Loved the game board flooring leading up to the entrance of the room! Each candy favor was individually skewered, and the topiaries were mouthwatering treats for guests. The hand decorated marshmallow krispie treat lollipops were amazing! I’m still in awe of Bree’s family…so together and calm during the entirety of the party. Children enjoyed romping through a HUGE bouncy house, complete with “toddler” section for the little ones. Happy kids indulged in balloon making, face/body paining, glitter tattoo, and popcorn/shave ice. We enjoyed seeing both sides of the family…including doting grandmas that loved Bree and big brother, Brody, to pieces  🙂 (Click HERE to see Brody’s first birthday party.) As the party came to a close, we enjoyed our family time out by the water. Nearly four hours into the party, she was still toddling/running across the grass! Thanks for including us in your very special day, Mom and Dad! We hope that Bree had a wonderful birthday  🙂   Here’s your sneak peek:

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The ballroom was decked out in greys and yellows. It looked like a little girl’s fantasy world, complete with vintage birdcage centerpieces and a heavenly cookie bar! Guests were treated to delicious cupcakes, a sushi bar and fabulous cookie bar, a variety of balloons (balloons-in-balloons!), glitter tattoos, dress up photos, and hair and nails (for the kids). Emily’s mom hand made 50 personalized bath towels, complete with dainty bird material for the girls, and Angry Bird material for the boys…both perfectly matching the “bird” theme of the party. We can’t believe that little Emily has grown so quickly!  It seems like it was just yesterday that she came to us for her newborn shoot (click HERE to see Emily’s newborn shoot)! We are extremely grateful to Mom and Dad for being so wonderful to us. We even had the privilege of meeting Emily’s extended family on a couple of occasions (click HERE to see Emily and Maggie’s recent family photo shoot). We’ve had the pleasure of photographing this special family for four years…thank you so very much for sharing those special years with us.  Mom and Dad, what an amazing party!  Thank you for a great afternoon!!!  Happy Birthday, little Emily!  Hugs  🙂  Here’s your slideshow sneak peek:

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It was a sports themed party. Members of the birthday boy’s family were adorned with “Mavericks” attire. The celebration was a Lego-lovers dream come true.  Kids and adults loved the plethora of Legos…it literally looked like there were over a million little Lego pieces on the activity tables. Lego trains ran around a Lego track, while children played with Lego cars, trucks, helicopters, yachts, pet stores…the list was endless. Maverick had a sports-themed cake that went perfectly with the table balloons and sign in table. We were introduced to a cool, new type of party balloon…balloons within balloons-how awesome is that?! I felt tired just watching the two balloon makers manually pump up all of those little balloons with their little hand pumps, but it was so worth it. Seeing the kids’ faces once they caught their balloon-filled balloons was priceless. Thank you, Mom and Dad for sharing Maverick’s special day with us!  Here’s your slideshow (or individual photo if you don’t have Adobe Flash) sneak peek-click on the icon of the four arrows pointing outward (located at the bottom of the screen) to switch the slideshow to full-screen mode):

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The air was filled with nervous excitement. As we headed towards the dressing room, we were greeted by an array of beautiful colors and exquisite music. Performers were putting on final touches to hair and makeup, others were practicing on their shamisen and koto. We met friendly, happy faces that recognized us from our previous shoot with their Teishin Kai group (click HERE to see our previous shoot with the group). The Hawaii group was incredibly cordial to us, and welcomed us (which always makes our job so much easier). It was through these members, that we realized that this was not just a group of individual performers, it was a family…with multiple generations that joyously perpetuate the Okinawan culture. We were also privileged enough to watch part of the dress rehearsal (which ended up being a better situation to photograph in than the actual performance, because we had the entire auditorium to ourselves). The sets were an explosion of beautiful color and lights, and the kimonos and various other outfits literally lit the stage up like a rainbow. The music was amazing, and the performers were stunning! We also did some candid shots of the performers, families and stage crew…so many people were there to support this wonderful group. The audience members eagerly awaited the opening of the front doors–the line snaked out to what seemed like infinity. The auditorium quickly filled with family, friends and admirers.

Thank you, Teishin Kai Hawaii Shibu for being such gracious clients! We thoroughly enjoyed our experience (and hummed your music the entire car ride home).  We had too many photos that we liked to post individually, so I decided to do a slideshow instead of individual photos (blog readers would be scrolling down forever!). Click on the “Full Screen” button (button on the bottom menu with four arrows pointing outwards) to see a larger version of the photos.  I tried to get as many of you in as possible  🙂  Here’s your sneak peek:

Thank you again, for a wonderful experience!  Thanks for visiting us at Images by Kellie Ann!

Another one of our newborns has officially turned 1, and he’s celebrating it in a very *magical* way! Mikey’s first birthday party was held at the Aulani Disney Hotel. It was our first time at the resort, and it was amazing!  It truly seemed like a “Hawaiian” Disney Hotel, complete with the themed architecture and “Aloha Attire” Mickey and Minnie.

Mikey was a brave little boy, sharing smiles and “high fives” with Mickey:

The party was “Nemo” themed, and the cake, favors and centerpieces were adorable:

Balloon animals and helium filled balloons were a hit (especially with the birthday boy!):

Guests enjoyed body and face painting:

Friends and family members also enjoyed delicious food…:

…and entertainment:

The birthday boy even showed us how old he was:

Mickey and Minnie helped us all sing “Happy Birthday”:

As the party began to wrap up, Mikey decided to take a breather.  Good thing Grandpa was there  🙂

Happy First Birthday, Mikey!  Thank you, Mom and Dad, for allowing us to participate in this momentous milestone.  Congratulations!!!

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We were fully immersed in the Okinawan culture, and it was wonderful!  We met Alli and the rest of the members of the Teishin Kai Hawaii Shibu at the Hawaii Okinawa Cultural Center. The shoot itself was held in the business/information center, and we were surrounded by cultural artifacts and books pertaining to the Okinawan culture. The members greeted us graciously as they patiently awaited their turn in front of our backdrop. We busily went to work taking photos of each member for their upcoming “Tii Atu:  Reminiscing About the Past While Looking Toward the Future” performance program. The performance will feature 40 performers from Hawaii and 13 performers from Okinawa. The mission of the Teishin Kai Hawaii Shibu  group (which was founded in 2002) is to perpetuate and promote Okinawan culture, especially through music and dance. The performance will take place on October 5, 2013 at the Leeward Community College Theatre from 2:00-5:30 p.m. If you would like to attend the Teishin Kai Hawaii Shibu 10th anniversary performance, call 286-2220 for more information.

Here are just a few headshots…I wish I could have posted a photo of everyone in this post. You all looked fantastic!  Thank you for being so patient and flexible with your schedules 🙂  We are also extremely honored to be the official photographers for the performance…stay tuned for more photos from the upcoming 10th anniversary performance!

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