Monday, December 26, 2011

maui {part 2}

After five wonderful days in Kauai, we said "aloha" to the garden island and headed back to Maui.
We lunched at our favorite spot in Kihei, Cafe O'Lei...

This was the view from our room in Wailea...

We had a bunch of date nights...

Alex surprised me with birthday room service...

We saw lots of turtles...

Took romantic walks along the beach...

Went paddle boarding...

Lounged at the pool...

We saw rainbows...

Biked down a volcano...

And we ended our trip at the Ritz Carlton...

I miss our tans.

We had an amazing time and I can't wait to go back!
xoxo,
Natasha

Thursday, December 15, 2011

kauai

The day after our wedding we headed to Kauai and kicked off our honeymoon!

Here we are at the airport...



While in Kauai we had a lot of good meals, but this place was our favorite...


We went to see Waimea Falls...


Found some good picture spots...


Had some adventures on the north shore...






Went to Kauai Coffee Company...


Visited the "impressive" Russian fort...


{I couldn't believe how cool it was...not}
We went to the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific"...


{this was actually impressive}
Saw some more waterfalls...


Went snorkeling...


Surfed some big waves...


{haha}
And drove our trusty friend "Rusty" all the way around the island...



We had an amazing time.
xoxo,
Natasha

Monday, December 12, 2011

our wedding

It's time to post about our big day :)
I woke up pretty early that morning with a big smile on my face {so excited to be marrying my best friend!} and sat on the balcony for a little while. The view was breathtaking. As I watched the sunrise, I spent some time counting my blessings. I was so thankful to be in beautiful Maui, surrounded by family and friends who were there to celebrate with us. This was the day I had been waiting for for what seems like forever, and I truly could not have been happier. After a while, I called my mom and we decided to take a walk along the beach. We then decided to head into Kahului to run some errands {aka pick up some pineapple champagne for the room}

When we got back to Lahaina, it was time for our makeup appointment. We got our makeup done at the Sephora in Whaler's Village. The woman who did our makeup was referred to us by a family friend who lives in Maui. She did an amazing job and was so sweet. We then headed back to the Royal Lahaina to relax and finish getting ready.

I was very calm all day. Really, I {and Alex} had been pretty calm throughout the whole planning process. We are typically really relaxed people so this wasn't out of character but since it was my wedding, and it seems like everyone gets a little crazy when planning their wedding, I was kind of expecting that it would hit me on the day of but I made it through most of the day with no stress.

Until the shirt incident.

As we were getting ready, I stepped onto my balcony to take a look at the wedding site and see if any guests had shown up {loved that our room overlooked where the ceremony was held!} and I see Alex and his groomsmen walking around. They all looked great but then I noticed that one of the groomsmen was wearing a blue shirt. It was supposed to be ivory. I thought I was being a cool, easy bride when I bought the pants for the boys and sent them all emails with instructions to wear any "cream/ivory" shirt of their choice. But Jon showed up in a blue shirt. Luckily, my sister in law knew her husband was wearing a cream shirt so she called him and the two guys switched :)
Really, it wasn't a big deal. But there had to be something right?

Anyways, after the shirt incident was taken care of, it was time to head downstairs and get the show on the road! Right as the ceremony was about to start, a nice rain cloud parked itself right over the ceremony location. If I was going to do it, this was my time to unleash my inner bridezilla but I didn't. We all embraced the rain and were told by many locals that it was good luck :) It definitely made our ceremony memorable :-P

After the ceremony we spent some time with our photographer taking pictures. If you are ever looking for a photographer on Maui whether it be for weddings, a couple shoot or a family portrait session, definitely look up Jenna Strubhar.




In lieu of a "traditional" reception, we headed to the Old Lahaina Luau for dinner and a show. It was a great night and we are both so glad that we decided on a luau.


The luau ended pretty early so we continued the party with some dancing at a local bar, Moose McGillycuddy's


Our wedding day was better than I could have ever imagined it to be. It fit us perfectly. Thank you to all of our friends and family who were able to make it to Maui and to those who sent us love from all over the world.

xoxo,
the newest Byrd

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

travel and maui {part 1}

I've decided to combine our first few days in Maui before the wedding into one post.
Be ready for a long post...and lots of pictures {of course}
A lot of our friends and family had left before us so we were so anxious to get on the plane! After sitting in lovely LA morning traffic {literally took us 42 minutes to move 3 miles!} we made it to LAX and headed to the gate.
Spent the plane ride having a How I Met Your Mother marathon on the plane which made the trip very enjoyable. We had a layover in Honolulu so we grabbed some lunch {Burger King for the second time that day..yuck!} and had a picnic outside.
By this point we were stoked to be in Hawaii and couldn't wait to be in Maui! The flight to Maui was uneventful and short. After landing we were on our way to the Royal Lahaina Resort!
Thanks to a family friend who works at the Royal Lahaina, we were upgraded to an ocean front suite..sooo nice! {I might post the video soon}. And, thanks to my lovely mommy, there were two mai tais waiting for us in the room :)
That night we met up with some friends that were already in Hawaii, walked around the resort and grabbed some dinner.
The next morning, we enjoyed the view from our balcony and then took a walk on the beach. The view was seriously amazing, it looks fake!
After that we hit up the beach with some friends. Jesse and I decided to try out our new underwater camera case...
Alex and I had to get ready to go sign our marriage license so we had to leave the beach {boo} We were a little bit late for the appointment so we had to wait for a while...
The lady who processed the license was super nice :)
After the appointment we headed to Duke's for our hosted "welcome to the island" happy hour. It was great to see everyone who had come to Hawaii! After the happy hour Alex and I parted ways for the evening and I headed to Lahaina town with some family and friends. In Lahaina we got really good shave ice and took a few pictures. After that we hung out at Tyler and Jesse's condo for a while which was fun :) After that, I headed back to my hotel to get some sleep before the big day :)


xoxo,
Natasha