Welcome to our wedding page! We were married on April 4, 2003 on the island of Maui at the
Hyatt Regency Resort. We left for Maui on the 25th of March and didn't get back until the 30th
of April after our honeymoon. It was incredible spending all that time in paradise and
getting to share Maui's aloha with family and friends really made the trip special. Below are
links to pictures with a description of what we were up to during the trip.
We spent the first ten days before the wedding staying at the Puamana condo resort and
had plenty of last minute things to do before the ceremony. When we weren't putting together
gift baskets, making wedding programs, shopping, or putting together picture collages we
got to participate in some activities that we had coordinated for guests coming in. These
included a snorkel sail, Luau, and whale sail. The snorkel sail was highlighted by a whale putting on a
breaching show only yards from the boat. The captain said we were the first group to ever
finish a bottle of tequila on the boat. We had a great time at the Luau and went out to
Moose McGillycuddy's afterward for penny drink night to celebrate a sort of unofficial bachelor/bacherlorette
party...it was pretty ugly but everyone survived. Kala relaxed at the spa with the bridesmaids before the rehearsal
which gave me time to golf with the groomsmen. We had the rehearsal dinner at the Castaway
Cafe and had a great time with everyone there.
The wedding ceremony itself was the most incredible experience we've shared together. Kala
made a stunning entrace down the isle after being announced by the conch shell blower. Our
Hawaiian minister did a chant and supervised the lei exchange between us and our family. Reverend
Marjorie had flown out from Colorado and performed a beautiful ceremony. Afterward Mike
led a Mai Tai toast to his beautiful new bride and then it was off to get pictures around
the property at the Hyatt. At the reception we enjoyed sushi appetizers while we watched
the sun go down over the ocean. Crazy fingers did and incredible job getting everyone
rocking on the dance "lawn". Jim gave a great best man toast and then it was off to get
thrown in the Hyatt pool as the security people stood by shaking their heads. We finished
the night after the reception at the hotel bar, Cascades.
Honeymoon
Maui - The day after the wedding, Kala's
parents held an open house brunch for everyone and then we had massages at the Hyatt before
relaxing at the pool and enjoying dinner at one of the most romantic restaurants in the world,
Swan Court. Two days after the wedding we took the ferry over to Molokai.
Molokai - We stayed in a bungalow at the Sheraton Molokai Ranch
on the beach. Molokai is very laid back with a small population and no stoplights on its
one road that traverses the island. We spent four days there. Activities included sightseeing,
taking mule rides down to Kalaupapa (the old leper colony), kayaking the coastline, and
drinking wine on the beach at sunset. On the Kalaupapa penninsula we got views of the largest
seacliffs in the world...it was awesome.
Kauai - We stayed the longest on Kauai, 8 days,
and it was unbelievably beautiful. We started on the north side of the island around the
Hanalei area because Kala had always wanted to hike the famed Napali (means cliffs) coast.
We took a cab to the end of the road and started on what we thought would be a four day
backpacking trip. That was before it started raining, and pouring. We spent the first night
on a beach at Hanakapiai and it rained all night. Unfortunately, the tent didn't do much to
keep the rain out so it was a long night. The next day we hiked another two miles in the
pouring rain walking under waterfalls and trying to keep from falling off the edge before
we decided it wasn't a good way to spend a honeymoon. The trail had become an ankle-deep
river and when we got back to the stream we had to cross on the way in, we found it impassible so
we had to stay another night at the campsite before hiking out the next day. We went to the
South side of the island in search of better weather and stayed at the Sheraton in Poipu. We
spent the next few days visiting beaches, Waimea Canyon, Hiking above the Napali Coast, and
drying out our clothes and gear. Even though it rained a lot, it was an incredible place.
Oahu - After the quiet serenity of Molokai and
Kauai, it was a bit of a culture shock visiting the big city of Honolulu. We only stayed three
days but had a lot of fun with our hosts, the Avery's. We did the typical tourist sightseeing
of Waikiki, Diamond Head, Pearl Harbor, and Haunama Bay. It was nice to have Easter breakfast
prepared by our hosts in true Hawaiian style including SPAM, Portuguese sausage, and rice.
Big Island - The Big Island was very
different from all the others. As the youngest in the chain, it consisted of all volcanic
rock and coral and had very few sand beaches. We spent the first two nights at Volcano National
Park seeing the sights and had an incredible experience seeing lava flowing just a few feet
from where we were standing. The last two nights we went to the other side of the island to
stay at the Hilton Waikaloa which was probably the best resort I've ever stayed at. Our room
overlooked the dolphin pool and they had a lagoon where we saw moray eels, turtles, and lots
of colorful fish. They also had a tram and boat that would take you to different areas of
the property. It was sweet.
Back to Maui - We spent our last four nights
back on Maui. The first two were on the east side of the island near Hana where we stayed
at Wainapanapa State Park in a cabin that was a little less upscale than the Hilton but served
its purpose. We did a lot of hiking around the area to see some cool waterfalls before heading
back to the west side to spend a couple days at the beach before heading back to reality.