The destination wedding of Jocelyn and Sean in Maui, Hawaii was an international celebration of family, culture, friendship, and love. Sean is an architect in Dubai. Jocelyn is a speech-language pathologist and scuba diving photographer in Hong Kong. Their family reside everywhere in between. And their friends are from all over the rest of the planet. Their wedding, on the most remote islands in the world, brought them all together in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We were there with our cameras to document it.
Also making the long journey to Maui, all the way from the faraway waters of Alaska, were enormous Humpback Whales whose airial acrobatics we all got to witness during a whale watching cruise party on the eve of their wedding. We also saw dolphins swimming alongside the boat and got to go snorkelling in the crystal clear waters of Molokini Crater. And that’s all before the actual wedding!
The wedding day itself was non-stop action. While Jocelyn was prepping with her girls in the morning, Sean was running around The Hyatte Residence, coordinating all sorts of last minute logistics and details. Jocelyn and Sean had the valuable local help of White Orchid Wedding coordinating everything, but this whole wedding was very much the love child of Jocelyn’s and Sean’s own combined vision. Every little detail was thought out and brought to meticulous fruition. From the Chinese traditions, to the vintage Shelby Cobra, to the food truck, to the warrior spear throwing, to the specialty cocktails, to the fire dancers… this was Jocelyn and Sean’s dream wedding come true.
After all the morning preparations, Jocelyn and Sean’s wedding day stories came together during door games at Jocelyn’s room. For anyone not familiar with this Chinese wedding tradition, it’s when the groom has to negotiate/bribe his way into the bride’s residence. Then, once inside, he’s not granted access to his bride until he and his groomsmen perform a number of ridiculous tasks, dictated by the bridesmaids. It’s absolutely hilarious to witness and a blast to photograph. Sean and his buds had their legs waxed, ate seaweed off each other’s lips, reenacted embarrassing dances, and otherwise made complete fools of themselves. In the end, Sean finally got to see Jocelyn in all her glory.
Jocelyn, consequently, got to see Sean in all of his glory. The first thing she said to Sean upon seeing him, beaming in his traditional Chinese wedding attire, was, “Oh my god, where are your pants!?” Poor Sean, in his innocent misinterpretations of Chinese tradition and the confusion of the morning, had arrived wearing nothing but boxers below the waist.
From that moment on, the entire day was filled with laughs, smiles, cheers, tears, and hugs… from the beautiful Chinese tea ceremony in their hotel room… to the ceremony at the quaint little Maria Lanakila Catholic Church… to the joyride in their Shelby Cobra… to the warrior spear throwing lessons… to the private luau performances at Olowalu Plantation House, complete with belly dancing and fire spinning… to the impromptu late night karaoke.
Jocelyn and Sean gave every one of their guests an experience of a lifetime… including us! It was our absolute honour to help immortalize this celebration for them, their family, and their friends.
A big thanks to our good friend, Angie Nelson and her awesome husband, Anthony, for helping us out big time at this one!
Jocelyn and Sean, what can we say? Thanks for trusting us all the way to Maui! See you in Hong Kong and/or Dubai and/or wherever our paths cross next.
