Hawaii holds a special place in Lynn and Jeremy’s hearts, seeing as it was where the two got engaged, and they both individually shared amazing memories there with their families over the years. The couple knew they wanted an intimate gathering with as LITTLE stress as possible. They decided to invite 30 of their closest friends + family to Maui for a micro wedding at the gorgeous Haiku Mill in Maui!
Harmoniously blending Catholic and Chinese traditions together for their wedding was very important for the couple. They shared:
“We didn’t want to go through motions just for the sake of it, and that meant selectively picking traditions that held personal meaning to us. We ended up with just a few traditions our parents had
also done during their weddings, as an ode of sorts. For example, we had a lighting of union candles during the ceremony, which Jeremy’s parents had done. We also had a jiao bei jiu, a Chinese toast, which Lynn’s parents had done. Both ended up as unforgettable, sweet moments for both us and our families.”
Couture Events helped smooth over any concerns the couple had planning a destination wedding post Covid-era (while also completely nailing the event design!!). We have fallen in love with this wedding and are SO ready to share these gorgeous photos with you by Melia Lucida! Let’s take a look!
A Pop of Emerald to Start
Since the couple planned their wedding from a different state, DIY decorations were limited due to the little room available in their suitcases!! Instead, bride Lynn leveraged her design background in their paper goods.
“I was able to create a custom design for our save-the-dates to be printed through Minted, so we could have continuity of color and type from our initial invites all the way to our day-of paper. Our formal invitations were from Artifact Uprising, with matched fonts and foils to our save-the-date. We assembled them at home with a vellum paper jacket and sealed them with gold wax stamped with a custom monogram.”
We love that gorgeous emerald green ring box! Perfect for photos.
This stunning Alexandra Grecco gown had a simple silhouette showered with flowers over a light silk lining and we were dying to ask the bride how she knew this dress was the one:
“I wanted to stay away from traditional lace and loved the details the floral embroidery brought to an otherwise simple shape. When I first tried it on, I was immediately comfortable and felt like myself.”
Mandy Grace Designs simply spoiled the couple with the most gorgeous florals on their wedding day.
“I loved my bouquet! It was loose, whimsical, organic, and full of lush blooms in interesting, bright colors.” Shares the bride!
Since my dress was the first part of the outfit that Lynn finalized, she built the rest of the look off of it.
“I wanted to mimic the cascading florals of the dress embroidery in the rest of my accessories. I picked asymmetrical earrings from This Ilk with ivory lace flowers and nestled small branches of baby’s breath down my hair. I felt like someone sprinkled flowers all over me, and I loved it! I also opted for an ultra-thin wedding cape to allow the dress embroidery to peek through.”
Is that a pair of… green wedding shoes we spy?!! Instantly obsessed! These stunners are by Loeffler Randall.
Groom Jeremy wore a tropical wool material with a partial jacket lining by Suit Supply which made the suit more breathable and helped keep him cool in the heat. His snazzy brown shoes are a part of the Allen Edmonds Park Avenue collection!
Fun fact: Inscribed inside the groom’s suit jacket is “J&L 09/17/21”. So cute!
The Tropical Venue
In photos, Haiku Mill immediately jumped out to the couple due to its unique tropical greenery against rustic brick ruins. The open-air structure exudes the tropical outdoors, while the covered glass roof and falling foliage makes it look cozy and intimate. Since their planning ramped up just as COVID began, there was no option of in-person site visits. J + L were able to lean on their planner Erica for her expertise with the venues on Maui, and after the two finally were able to visit for the first time in March, they knew they couldn’t have picked a better venue!
Processional: Canon in D played live by Marvin Tevaga
Recessional: La Vie en Rose (instrumental)
First Dance: The One by Kodaline
Due to the small, intimate nature of the couple’s wedding, they decided early on to skip the wedding party traditions because they didn’t feel it was necessary to add the additional layer of responsibilities to any of their guests.
With the venue itself having a beautiful backdrop, the couple wanted to keep the ceremony light and natural, allowing the beauty of the Mill itself to shine through. The natural foliage and vines are organic, and the bride wanted to mimic that with the flowers that were pulled into the reception space that you’ll see later on!
The Couple’s Love Story
The couple go engaged in Maui nearly two years prior to their wedding day! We asked the bride and groom to share their engagement story with us, and we are sorta kind of SWOONING, to say the least! Keep reading to hear all about their engagement. ❤️
“One of our favorite moments of the day was just after the ceremony, when Jeremy and I got a moment of quiet in the bridal house for a sip of our cocktails and appetizers. It was so nice to spend a moment to breathe and relish in the joy of the moment together. It was also at that moment it registered that we did it!”
Lynn: Our engagement was a complete surprise for me. Before we met, we had already separately fallen in love with the islands on visits with our families. After our first trip there together in 2016, it felt natural to keep visiting every year since — and this trip didn’t feel out of the ordinary. Jeremy was able to drag me out of bed for a sunrise one morning on the beach (I protested and we still joke that we almost didn’t make it that day), and to my surprise, he popped the question! The beach was completely empty. It was an unforgettable moment under a painted Maui sky.
Jeremy: I thought for sure that Lynn would have seen her engagement ring before we made it to Maui — either hidden in our San Francisco apartment or in our luggage on the way there. I still remember the nerves I had bringing the ring through the airport metal detector — I thought for sure I would be searched and my secret revealed. I was so nervous leading up to and especially the morning of the proposal. Thankfully, the proposal went perfectly. Us and a lone fisherman were the only people on the whole
beautiful stretch of beach that morning! I captured the sunrise and proposal on my GoPro and will cherish that video forever.
Since Jeremy and Lynn both have emeralds as their birth stone and Jeremy’s favorite color happens to be green, they incorporated it into both of their outfits. Lynn fully committed with bright, emerald-green heels (eep!!!) which stole the show.
“Jeremy and I are both introverts, so the idea of the attention and weight of a large wedding felt stressful. It was easy for us to settle on a smaller, more personal gathering of our closest family and friends – and our amazing parents were all so supportive.”
The Terracotta Design
As the evening flowed from the ceremony to cocktail hour under the Mill’s mango tree, there was an introduction of brighter colors. Under the expansive tree lined with lights, hung bright lanterns, which symbolize luck in Chinese tradition. Bar tables were placed underneath, each topped with a
terracotta bar menu and small vessels of flowers.
The couple embraced a minimal and modern design throughout their decor to provide some contrast to the rustic mill. Groom Jeremy always gravitates toward extremely clean designs, so they weaved in both simple and eclectic vessels to create a perfect balance for the couple. The theme of balancing both
complex and simple designs continued into the florals, which consisted of beautifully lush and organic centerpieces offset by small, scattered ikebana-inspired vessels.
On the design side, Lynn was immediately drawn to terracotta tones to bring warmth and a touch of fall to the tropics. Although they went through several iterations to land on the perfect color palette and design style, the terracotta colors stuck with the creative team.
The design team pulled in a soft marigold in the florals and decor, and incorporated more neutral hues of
beige to offset the warmth of the tale decor.
The signature cocktails were a hit! Absolutely delicious, and guests loved them! Garnish Cocktails created the two amazing drinks, which the couple lovingly dubbed “Hao-leakalā,” as a reference to the Maui volcano, and “Classy Bassi.”
L + J commend their stellar planning team that made vendor communications as easy as possible. They
were able to coordinate communications, contracts, day-of details, and everything in-between. In fact, the couple highly recommend working with amazing planners throughout the whole process, especially for destination weddings! And we couldn’t agree more with them! So much less stress for the two of you!
Here Comes the Bride! …And Groom!!
Just before the reception, we got to have a sneak peak before everyone entered. It was breathtaking to see all of the details and decor come together. Everything was pulled together immaculately, and made all the work visualizing and planning every detail worth it.
“Toward the end of the evening, we paused dancing to sit together at our sweetheart table, facing our guests and the dance floor. We sat in silence to capture that moment forever in our memories. The candles and lights were dimly lit, creating a warm and soft atmosphere. It was so rewarding to see our family and friends all together in one beautiful place, a moment that is so rare and worthy of appreciation.”
Stay true to your vision and who you are as a couple! Don’t feel the need to pull in all the traditions for the sake of traditions, and instead pick and choose moments that are meaningful to you. By doing that, we were able to avoid a lot of stress, lighten our expenses, and end up with a day that felt fully like us from beginning to end.
A huge congrats to this happy couple! The team here at GWS couldn’t be more excited for you both!
If you’d like to see more from this couple’s special day, check out the video highlights by Sunlit Films!
photography: Melia Lucida // venue name: Haiku Mill, Maui, Hawaii, USA // event design: Couture Events // planning: Couture Events // florals: Mandy Grace Designs // wedding dress: Alexandra Grecco // wedding dress boutique: Lovely Bride SF // hairpiece: Noon on the Moon // bride's shoes: Loeffler Randall // bride's ring: Band was designed by the bride and sourced/created by Trabert Goldsmiths // hair stylist: Meili Autumn Beauty // makeup artist: Meili Autumn Beauty // groom attire: Suitsupply (Suit) and Tailor’s Keep (Dress shirt) // groom's shoes: Allen Edmonds // groom's ring: Blue Nile // videography: Sunlit Films // paper goods: Designed by bride and printed by Artifact Uprising and Minted // calligraphy: Miss B Calligraphy (Artwork for the welcome sign, menus, and escort cards were designed by the bride in partnership with Miss B Calligraphy, who also constructed and printed the day-of paper products) // catering: Cutting Edge Catering // tabletop rentals: Set Maui // furniture rentals: Inspire by Accel // linen rentals: Adorn // music: Marvin Tevaga (Ceremony and Cocktail Hour) // officiant: Scott Bassi, Father of the Groom // lighting: Inspire by Accel // cocktails: Garnish Craft Cocktail Catering // Guest book: AlbumHut // Music (DJ): Maui DJ Services // Favors (Banana Bread): Maui Banana Bread Co // Transportation: Aloha Maui Limousine // Second bridal gown/other fashion attire: Reformation // Jewelry: White lace petal earrings worn with the wedding dress: This Ilk
