We decided to buck tradition and use pineapples for the table settings instead of flowers, and boy was I glad — they helped weigh down the table cloths so that they didn't get blown off by the dramatic wind! Many of the little details turned out really great... I saw a few guests happily licking away at the whirlypops that we used for seating assignments, and the Chinese porcelain chopstick favors were such a hit that I didn't even get a pair! More about all these details in Behind The Scenes...

The morning of the wedding, me and the bridesmaids had to get up extra early to get our hair and makeup done. We turned on the stereo, munched on sandwiches (lovingly prepared by my dad), and spent some nice girl-time together. I particularly enjoyed seeing all the hair "transformations". The time just flew by and before I knew it, it was almost time for pictures and I was still in my bathrobe!! Fortunately, Cindy and the other girls somehow bustled and zipped me into the dress just in time.

Olowalu Plantation was the perfect little spot for our Maui wedding. Off the beaten path, very natural, just beautiful old trees, lots of grass and a small private beach. There is a charming old plantation house on the estate but it's only for getting ready so the entire wedding was outdoors. The way I see it, it just doesn't feel right to have it in a banquet hall when we're in tropical Hawaii! I must admit I was a little nervous when I heard that showers were in the forecast but, thankfully, the weather held up nicely and we didn't have to use my back-up tent. Also, lots of people were surprised to hear that it was the first time I'd seen Olowalu in person. Haha, yes, I guess I'm just that bold. OR, I have alot of faith in internet reviews and online photos.

Right before the ceremony, the wind calmed down and everything fell into place. Before the wedding, I kept joking (and was secretly worried) that Ed would be jetlagged and woozy through the wedding... but on that day, I had nothing to worry about — he was looking so lovingly at me and smiling so sweetly I felt like the luckiest person in the world! Ok, I know some of you are groaning, but that was how it was. If you look at the picture of us kissing, you will notice that it looks like I'm trying to dodge the kiss. Hee hee... what can I say, I had a very shiny fresh coat of lip gloss on!

I love these black and white pictures because they capture something indescribable about the mood and emotions, especially on the faces of Ed's parents and my parents (top rightmost).

We're married!! Ed and I were laughing silly the whole time we were taking these "lovey-dovey" shots by the water. Our photographer Rachel Robertson told us to "just put your faces really close together. Leave a tiny sliver of space in between. " I felt like I was making the weirdest faces at Ed but, amazingly, these shots turned out great.

Here is our wedding party—looking great in Coral and Sage (ahem, not pink and green). On the bottom right, you can see our Best Man and Maid of Honor, Ed's brother David and my wonderful big sister Laypeng a.k. Cindy. Actually, we had three David's in the wedding party, including two David Kim's, and two lovely Cindy's!

I'm usually not too googly-eyed about sunsets but there's something about Hawaii that just makes for magical sunsets. We were almost late for our first dance trying to take these shots in the twilight (thanks Rich and Byron, our emcees, for getting us back on the ball!).

The night was beautiful with tree lights and lanterns illuminating the reception. Our first dance (Hoobastank's "The Reason") went without a snag thanks to our wonderful dance instructors at Joria Productions. And unlike other brides I've heard of, I actually ate all my food. In addition to a plated three course dinner, we had a live grill station and a chocolate fountain which was the one thing I forgot to taste! We started off with live guitar music and then my dad, Ed's dad, Ed's brother, my bridesmaid Cynthia and our friend Jeff all delivered toasts (these were my favorite moments). After we cut the cake and I took a really big bite of it (sooo dee-lish!), it was time for dancing!! Woohoo!

If you're wondering who the blond couple is leading our Night Fever dance in the bottom right picture —they are actually dance instructors that we threw in the mix to spice things up! We had a "disco session" and then a "salsa session"... at first I felt a little silly doing the John Travolta (especially in my exquisite Chinese qipao dress from Malaysia), but I used my "bride dictator powers" and commanded all our guests to join us and then it was great! Everyone loosened up, our friends danced up a storm, and the salsa later was definitely a nice change-up as people caught their second wind.

At the end of the night, we had a korean "paebek" ceremony. It was a very nice surprise for many of our non-Korean friends who had never seen this before, and especially for my family (we're Chinese Malaysians). First, we bowed to Ed's parents, then to my parents, then to our older siblings and then my little bro and sis bowed to us. Let me just add that the bowing is no ordinary feat and requires some strong thigh and calf muscles on the woman's part! After that, our parents threw chestnuts at us while we tried to catch them with a piece of cloth (symbolizes fertility!). My dad got so into it he even threw the pineapple! Hee hee.... And finally, Ed piggybacked his mom and then me around the block. He actually launched into a little sprint and everyone was just clapping and cheering and enjoying the ceremony. We were really glad we managed to pull that together in Hawaii and it was the perfect end to our wedding day.