DH and I were living in San Francisco when we planned our 100-guest destination wedding on O`ahu. About 2 months before the wedding, he found out that the hotel he was working at - Hyatt Rickey's in Palo Alto was going to be sold. So he looked for a transfer within the company and 2 weeks before the wedding, he secured another job but it required us to relocate to Mau`i.

We got married on 6/2/05 in Honolulu; went to Kaua`i for a few days for our "mini-moon"; flew back to San Francisco for a week to supervise the professional movers, and had to be on Mau`i by 6/17/05. It was the most hectic 2 weeks of our lives, but honeymoon continues for us!

DH is the Travel Industry Sales Manager at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa, and I am the Owner, Certified Wedding Consultant & Event Designer of Events by Evonne, LLC. We just bought our house 2 years ago and we live with our long-haired Scottish Fold cat - Stanley. Our new addition to the family (another long-haired Scottish Fold kitty), Sheldon, will be joining us in a few months!

When we are not working, we enjoy traveling, trying out new restaurants, watching a movie, going to the beach and watching the sunset.

If you want to see and read more about us, you can check out my Knot bio.

DH was a 1st year MBA student at the University of San Francisco when I met him on 4/3/02. It was at a monthly Alumni Luncheon at the Carnelian Room. I just applied to the same MBA program and wanted to find out more about it and to speak to some faculty, alums as well as students.

DH was late to the luncheon (because his friend flaked out on him) and it happened that there was an empty seat right next to me. He sat down and we started talking. At the end of the luncheon, I asked DH for his business card. 2 weeks later, I got accepted to the MBA program and DH and I spent everyday together since!

We had our engagement photo session at China Beach and USF (where we met) on 12/4/04. It was a pretty chilly day but DH and I had a lot of fun. Here are just a few photos from that day. Our photographer was a friend of a friend - Jonathan Lee of Photography by Jonathan.

I am really picky and anal with certain things, so DH knew better NOT to buy the ring without me. We shopped around for a few months and I finally found the setting that I wanted. It came with a matching wedding band.

Since the first time we went to Maui for our very first vacation as a couple (which was only 4 months after we started dating), we have already talked about having a wedding in Hawaii - that is if we ever make it to the altar!

So when DH picked up the ring from the jeweler, instead of giving me just the ring or the ring with the box, he actually put the ring in this little teddy bear that we bought on one of our Hawaii trips to signify our wedding on the islands. How cute was that?

It was a 2-piece Maggie Sottero - Royal Romance. I found it in the bridal magazines and loved it. I like the fact that it was a 2-piece gown, so that if I ever want to wear the corset top again, I can!

14 months before the wedding, I went to a trunk show at Gesinee's Bridal in Concord, and they had it on the shelf. I tried it on, loved it even more and bought it the same day with a discount! Mine was the Light Gold/Gold, more like a champagne color!

I didn't want to wear heels for the wedding because I knew I would be on my feet all day, so I wanted to wear something comfortable. I remember watching "Father of the Bride" and the bride had sneakers on. So I went online to see if anyone actually makes bridal sneakers.

To my surprise, there were a few companies that make them. I contacted them and finally decided to go with Elegant Originals Bridal Shoes & Accessories because Michelle, the owner, donates a percentage of all purchases to The Leukemia Research Foundation. I am glad part of my purchase went toward a good cause, and Michelle put my picture on the home page of her website too! =)

I also ordered socks and Michelle decorated them to match my sneakers. How cute was that? The purse came with my wedding gown, so I had one less thing to shop for!

As soon as we have decided to have a destination wedding in Hawaii, I started looking at invitations that have the "tropical" theme. I found these cute invitations online from a company in LA called L'amour, and they were able to do them in my wedding colors - periwinkle and silver. When they arrived, they were all individually wrapped (photo #1 below). It was amazing.

They turned out really nice and I found these cheap organza bags on eBay that I put each invitation in before I mail them out in bubble envelopes (photo #2 below).

I ended up matching my DIY favors (Chinese takeout boxes with Hawaiian teas) with the same theme (photo #3 below). Everyone raved about them at the wedding!

We also included personalized chopsticks at each place setting (photo #4 below).

These are the program fans I made. It took me 2 weeks to:

- cut the paper to the size I wanted;
- print all the information on both sides;
- cut the 4 round corners (DH helped me with this task);
- glue them together;
- tie the ribbons to each handle; and
- adhere the little silk flowers on the front

for all 150 of them! They were so much work but they looked great!

I am not a big fan of the tiered wedding cakes. Every time I go to a wedding, nobody eats them. They are just sitting on the table and I thought - what a waste of money to have a cake for just photo opps.

I had originally thought of a dessert buffet, but DH pointed out that I might be the only person who cares for desserts. So there goes that idea. Same thing with the chocolate fondue idea too. Finally, I saw pictures of these cute little miniature cakes (not cup cakes because I don't like the frosting on top of them). It would be really cool if each guest had their own little cake, and maybe they would eat it.

After speaking with the baker, they were able to make them in the flavors that I wanted - white vanilla cake with mango mousse filling and shredded coconut on the outside. So we had 102 of them made. There were 2 extra ones and I took them with us on our honeymoon. They were gone before we spent our first night on Kaua`i! Everyone raved about the cakes afterwards. Here is a picture of them... of course, being the planner that I am, I had to check on everything to make sure all looked perfect!

2 days before the wedding, we hosted a 50-guest pre-wedding luau at Paradise Cove.



The day before the wedding, my mother-in-law hosted a 70-guest rehearsal dinner at the Royal Garden Chinese Restaurant.

From left to right:

Maid of Honor - Letitia Wright (my college friend)
Matron of Honor - Misty Nitta Yee (my college friend)
Bride - ME!
Bridesmaid - Pirkko-Leena Lord (my friend from a previous job)
Bridesmaid - Helen Nivar Martinez (my friend from a previous job)
Flower Girl - Sarah Ng (DH's best friend's daughter - not in photo)



From left to right:

Groomsman - Gabriel Kong (DH's friend)
Groomsman - Monty Wu (DH's friend)
Groom - DH!
Best Man - Chris Ng (DH's best friend)
Groomsman - Jonathan Sun (DH's cousin)
Ring Bearer - Langston Lee (DH's nephew - not in photo)

We had a beautiful Hawaiian ceremony at the Grand Salon Terrace at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider, now a Westin resort. The reception was at the Grand Salon. 100 of our close friends and families were there to celebrate this very special day with us.

We didn't give each other a gift on our wedding day, but we decided to give each other an anniversary gift instead on 5/5/06 (Cinco de Mayo), just a month shy of our 1-year anniversary and here it is:

So here are our furbabies. They are all Long-haired Scottish Folds. Sterling is no longer with us, but we still have Stanley... and Sheldon will be joining us soon.

STERLING (b. 4/19/03 - d. 11/19/07)




STANLEY (b. 6/27/04)




SHELDON (b. 10/23/07)

I don't think I am ready for a REAL baby any time soon, but for now, my "baby" is my event planning company - Events by Evonne, LLC.

I am having a lot of fun with my clients, planning the most special day in their lives. And my company blog just got selected as one of the best weddings blogs on the Best Wedding Blogs website! It's so exciting!