Family Vacation

My hubby's grandpa is turning 90 and to celebrate such a milestone, grandpa is taking us all on a family cruise. There are 10 of us altogether! We are leaving today and I will be back in the office on Monday, September 8th. I will respond to all emails and voice mails when I am back on Mau`i! Have a great summer everyone and catch up with you all soon!

Where are we going? Hmmm... here is a sneak peek of our ports of call... I will post pictures upon my return!

"C" is for Cookies & Charity!

If you want to offer a delicious wedding favor to your guests while supporting for a good cause, here is your chance.

Feed Your Soul offers fresh-baked cookies in these darling little reusable tins, and a portion of the proceeds is going to charity. The decadent cookies come three to a tin with a personal message or your favorite quotation.

Photo Credit: Feed Your Soul

Congratulations, Ellen and Portia!

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi finally tied the knot on Saturday, August 16th in front of 19 guests during an intimate ceremony at their home in Beverly Hills, California.

Portia looked stunning in a backless, light pink dress, while Ellen opted for pants, button-up shirt and vest — all in white. Both wore Zac Posen and exchanged rings by Neil Lane.

Photo Credit: Los Angeles TImes

Here is what they share with People magazine...

"What can I say? I'm the luckiest girl in the world," says DeGeneres. "She's officially off the market. No one else gets her. And now she'll cook and clean for me."

Amid candles and flowers by Mark's Garden, both brides sat on floor pillows along with author Wayne Dyer, who officiated the ceremony.

After exchanging rings, the couple and their guests sat down for an all-vegan menu prepared by their personal chef David Silberkleit while Sweet Lady Jane created a vegan red velvet cake for the celebration.

"The love we felt from the people surrounding us, and the love we have for each other, made this the most beautiful and emotional day," says de Rossi. "And one that we'll never forget."

Congratulations to the newlyweds!

Hair accessories

There are many different types of hair accessories available for weddings these days. Tiaras have always been a favorite and together with a veil, it creates a stunning look for every bride.

Hairpins with crystals as well as the "bun wrap" are also very elegant with or without a veil. And when you have a tropical destination wedding like here in Hawai`i, the best hair accessory will be local flowers such as the white dendrobium orchids.

Which is your favorite?

Photo Credit: Lori London, Suzanne Millinery, Malis Henderson

Meet the Planners

Liene Stevens of Blue Orchid Designs is also the owner and editor of "The Smart Planner", a blog on business resource and coaching for professional wedding consultants. Every Friday is her "Meet the Planners" series and this week it's finally my turn! YAY!

You can read my interview here. Thanks so much, Liene for featuring me on your wonderful blog!

Yummy pupus...

Yes, that's what we call "appetizers" or "hors d'oeuvres" here in Hawai`i. Lately, I have been seeing a lot of interesting pupus presentation at different weddings and events - from Chinese spoons to shot glasses to little martini glasses. I don't know what it is but they certainly make the food taste/look better, and make you want to eat more too!

Photo Credit: Next Exit Photography

Hawaii Reviews on Elizabeth Anne Designs

As a planner and a wedding professional, we receive reviews and testimonials from clients all the time, but how often do we get to review other wedding professionals?

Recently, I was given the opportunity by Elizabeth Anne Designs to review a few of the vendors that I personally used for my own destination wedding on O`ahu just 3 years ago. You can read the reviews here.

Thanks, Rebekah and Ami for the lovely post!

Sneak Peek of Maryrose & Mike's wedding

Here is a sneak peek of Maryrose and Mike's wedding today at the beautiful Pua Le'a Estate (aka the Haiku Mill). More photos to come next week, so stay tuned!

Photo Credit: Events by Evonne

Fly Away Photography, destination wedding blog

Shannon Steeves of Steeves Photography did an amazing write-up of Events by Evonne on her destination wedding blog - Fly Away Photography. You can read our online interview here.

I was introduced to Shannon's website and blog just a few weeks ago by CVP Experience. We started chatting and we realized that we both respect and admire each other's work. Since she is in Florida and I am in Hawai`i (both incredible destinations for weddings), I hope we get to work on a destination wedding together someday.

There are so many wonderful and talented individuals in the wedding industry across the nation (and even internationally). I am very blessed to know them and be able to work with some of them.

Thanks, Shannon for such a wonderful post!

Cake in a Box

Need ideas for your wedding favors? How about a mini cake in a gem-topped box! These cute, delicious miniature bundt cakes come in four different flavors and four sizes. They are baked in small batches from scratch and then shipped in your choice of nine beaded satin gift boxes (you can totally match your wedding colors). You also have the option of adding a nice little detachable brooch to the gift box, or you can also include a beaded GemCard for that extra touch. I am sure all of your guests would love to see one of these at their place setting!

Photo Credit: Gemstone Confections

Inspiration #6

It's been a while since I have done an "Inspiration" post. There were just too many other ideas that I wanted to share in the last month or two, but now it's time for another great inspiration.


Since my hubby and I are from the San Francisco bay area, I know who all the great wedding vendors are. There are a few photographers in Northern Cal that I love and Augie Chang is one of them. He has a great sense of style and most importantly, he has such a wonderful personality. It will be so much fun to work with him as a client and as a vendor also!

Just a few days ago, I found out that my good friend Ava has been friends with Augie for years, and he just did Ava's maternity photos (which turned out absolutely beautiful)! Then today, I saw Augie's email in my inbox that said: "Heeeeelllo from the mainland!" I picked up the phone and called him and we were chatting for the next half an hour. It was so awesome! And he told me that Mau`i is his favorite Hawaiian island!... Woohoo... =)


Augie, thanks for your email and I so look forward to working with you... both in the bay area and here on the islands! Keep up the great work!

To see more of Augie's amazing photos, you can check out his website and his blog.

Photo Credit: Augie Chang

Featured Wedding - Zandra and Dennis

It was a warm and beautiful day today in Makena. Zandra and Dennis selected the Maui Prince Hotel for their destination wedding. The ceremony was held at the Pacific Lawn and the cocktail and dinner reception was at the Maluaka Lawn.

To complement the bridesmaids' clover green dresses, we incorporated some of Zandra's favorite colors for the linens, flowers as well as the overall decor - pumpkin orange, fuschia and yellow. The combination, as you can see from the photos, was absolutely gorgeous.


Guests enjoyed an open bar with chips and salsa while the couple was taking sunset pictures down at the beach. The plated dinner reception was served under these beautiful dining canopies. The 3-course meal included a Casear Salad to start, followed by the entree with a choice of Oven Roasted Double Lamb Chops, Sauteed Fresh Hawaiian Mahi Mahi, Fire Roasted New York Steak or Pan Seared Tahitian Pepper Tiger Prawns. Dessert was a Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake plus the Vanilla Chiffon with Plain Vanilla Bavarian filling wedding cake.



CAKE: Maui Prince Hotel. CHIVARI CHAIRS: Pacific Isle Rentals. DINING CANOPIES & FLORALS: Dellables. LINENS: Pacific Event Group, Inc.

Congratulations, Zandra and Dennis. All the best to you both and look forward to seeing you again on Mau`i.

Here are more photos by Joanna Tano, the professional photographer.

We are listed on Style Me Pretty's Little Black Book!

Events by Evonne is deeply honored to be invited by Abby Larson of "Style Me Pretty" to join the Mau`i "Event Planning" section of their "Little Black Book of Wedding Vendors". Our blog is also listed under their "Little Black Book Blogs"!

If you don't know already, Style Me Pretty is one of the top wedding websites/blogs on the planet! It has close to 30,000 page views a day, and it is linked to by over 23,000 other websites and blogs out there.

Abby has an amazing sense of style, and every photo, story and inspiration board that is posted on her blog is very tasteful and chic. Her blog provides brides-to-be as well as wedding professionals a plethora of incredible ideas and suggestions. OK, the secret is out... now you know where I get my daily dose of inspiration from! =)

Much mahalo for the add, Abby and Michelle! I am very excited to be selected and listed among the crème de le crème of wedding vendors across the country!