Hawaiian Eye Weddings

09/08/2025

Not to be difficult, but I am getting quotes from hotels for weddings on their property that are so astronomical they are in nosebleed territory. $20,000 no matter how many people are attending? Really? To add insult to injury, the clients must use the hotel vendors and not us. Excuse me, did you miss the part where I said this is Leah from Hawaiian Eye Weddings and I am inquiring about using your location for the wedding and having you serve a bit of food for them afterwards? Did you miss the part about my travel agent will be booking rooms for all in attendance?
I had to vent some, as in all the years I have been doing this, we were always welcomed with open arms and they were happy to have our clients come in and get to showcase their hotel for their wedding ceremony. They kissed me on both cheeks when they found out we would need rooms and (be still my heart) food and champagne served by the hotel. Some people would bite the bullet but I am not that guy. These clients are coming all the way from Merry England and already have the long trip and the exchange rate to deal with and larceny is not on the menu.
So I have offered them Magic Island, which is indeed magical, has no permit fees attached and I can get them anything they want without emptying out their bank account. As IF!

08/13/2025

I got a phone call from a would be groom the other day. He was a little nervous because he wanted to ask his girlfriend to be his wife. They had planned a week in Hawaii and he wanted to propose on the beach. He said he would tell her he hired someone to take photos of them on vacation so as to keep his intention secret. I suggested sunset because there would be fewer people gawking, lol. We decided I would have her look toward the sunset and then he would get down on one knee. We took photos here and there and as the sun started to set I had her look toward the sunset. He and I smiled at each other conspiratorially. Guess what she said?😁

08/04/2025

I went to bed at 9:45 and set my circadian clock to wake me at 5. Woke up at 4:45, bounded out of bed, made coffee and had my clothes ready to climb into. Sent a WhatsApp to my clients that l would be there at 7:30 on the dot and they are sweet and happy and her English is superb, his pretty good, much better than my ltalian, lol. Ready to leave in a bit for the wedding, the stylists were already working on the girls as we headed back to the hotel. Sent off a quick email to their travel agents. Champagne chilled, picked up the flowers already and awaaaaaay we go! 🤗

08/03/2025

What a day l had yesterday! A travel agent in Italy sent us an adorable couple whose dream is to marry on a beautiful beach in Hawaii. I asked if they spoke English and was assured they do. (My last ltalian couple didn't speak a WORD of English and l spent an entire day translating my ceremony into Italian. And then, of course, l couldn't deliver it! 😆 Luckily her daughter was happy to read it for me.) But l digress.
My group arrived on the 1st, l believed all was well, and then yesterday morning l got a WhatsApp from the bride asking for details about the stylists who were going to do her and her three bridesmaid's hair and makeup. Wha'? Nothing was ever mentioned to me about stylists and it wasn't on the contract. So l sent an SOS to my favorite stylist and she said she was going to move a few things around and they can start at 9AM Monday morning. Limo pick up is at 1:30 and l am taking them to the license office at 7:30 since they open at 8. Crisis averted. I have five stylists and a sixth l can call if everybody is booked so l wasn't worried. I emailed the travel agent telling her she forgot to add hair and makeup and she responded that "They decide price is too much and said me they will tell you." Okay! 😆❤️
Next time l will have my stylists on alert just in case! Another story for my book Confessions of a Hawaii Wedding Planner. I do love this business. 🤗

07/23/2025

Leaving my wedding ceremony at the Hilton at sunset, l was about to get in my car when l saw this. That is the Hilton lagoon! Fun fact: many years ago the lagoon and the ocean were connected underground but box jellyfish that show up a few times during the year kept getting into the lagoon. So they blocked it off and now people can swim in the lagoon and not worry about getting stung!
🤗

07/22/2025

Someday when I retire I am going to write a book called Confessions of a Hawaii Wedding Planner; Case in Point.
I believe I could have a whole series on: It happens to everybody.

It happens to everybody.
You hastily write something and don’t proofread before you send it off and after you hit the send button you catch a glimpse of what you wrote and are horrified, but it’s too late!
Case in point:
A couple was deciding what color leis to exchange on their wedding day and he had yet to pick out the shirt he intended to wear for the occasion.
What I meant to write was : ”White orchids are good because they won’t clash with your shirt.”
What they got was “White orchids are good because they won’t calsh with your sh*t.”
Oh, MY!

03/24/2025

Behind the scenes: How to create a romantic Just Married photograph! I saw a photo taken of a couple lying in a grassy field from above kissing and it got me to thinking we could do this! But since we do most of our weddings on the beach, we needed a bride who had a dress with a long train and we would have them lie in the grass and not on the sand. Not long afterward, the situation presented itself. The hands with the wedding rings lying gently on the cheek of the other was my idea. ~ Leah Noble, photographer, Hawaiian Eye Weddings.

01/16/2025

All our couples are beautiful and each leaves me with the lasting memory of how their devotion to one another is theirs alone and for a time we get to share their happiness. Mahalo!

Celebrating forever love since 1988! Showcasing flowers, photography and our favorite location in gorgeous Hawaii!

01/10/2025

Sometimes watching my couple takes my breath away!

05/04/2024

The groom that arrived too late to get his license on Friday joined his bride and entourage at the airport, where they had been waiting four hours. He texted me “I have arrived!” and I called him and we had a fun and funny conversation. They all had to go through the line and then they picked up the two vans he had rented and got to their hotel, had dinner and the two mai tais I told him to have. I met with them the next morning and always play a little game with myself when I go to meet with clients, imagining what they would look like. I got her spot on, willowy, great figure and beautiful face. Him I imagined bald and he has a full head of hair and enough of a beard you could hide your car in it. I loved them both, big surprise!
The day of the wedding the groom and his best man arrived first and we chatted for about fifteen minutes before the bride and entourage showed up and I sent the guys down to Mikey so he would not see her before she walked in. She was radiant and we ladies had so much fun joking and laughing while the second van waited for a parking spot and one of the ladies and I went out into the parking lot to try to procure a space. I asked one of the drivers in line if we could take the next space that opened up since we were doing a wedding in ten minutes and he was happy to oblige. People in Hawaii are so generous. Alika showed up and I introduced him to the bride and entourage and he was his usual sunny self, he headed down to the site and started playing his ukulele and singing as we arrived a few minutes later, we had the ceremony which was perfect and the two little boys and couple all participated in the sand ceremony, uniting them as a family. I took over the photography at that point and always start with a group shot. I told them now this is a no blink zone and said eyes open NOW and Alika played the first five chords of the Deliverance theme which made us all laugh, then I took another one and he played the second five chords, which made us laugh again and then he did it a third time, which was fortuitous since people were laughing so much the first two times that some had their eyes closed. At this point I said: Alika Souza, everybody! And they all clapped and Taneesha called out thank you to him and he came in to hug them both and then hug me and he was on his way. We continued taking photos for an hour or so, then everybody left and M and I worked with the bride and groom and their two besties stayed, she helped with the gown and he was taking photos with his phone and we kept joking because they would be looking at him and I kept saying to look at me since I was taking the money shots and he was free. At one point I looked over at him and he quickly looked at the sky like he wasn’t taking photos. Another time I admonished him that his arm shadow was in the way and then realized it was my arm shadow! If the couple was expecting a staid experience with us, they found out different after about two seconds. We had so much fun and as we were leaving, the minister Mike Nelson was arriving and he is an old friend of many years. His eyes popped out of his head when he saw Taneesha! Peter, our usual limo guy was also in the parking lot, driving for another limo company and his eyes popped out of his head when he saw Taneesha, too, so she broke a lot of hearts.
I met them at the license office the next morning and John told me the clerk was surprised they got their license the day after their wedding since “Leah usually makes sure the couple gets their license ahead of time.” He explained the whole sordid plane was delayed story to her. We all found it enormously funny. Thank God for easy going clients, I only take the best and send the bridezillas to the competition. Is that unchristian of me? Oh, yes, indeed!

05/03/2024

After a hiatus, l have come back to FB and old friends. I have always enjoyed sharing my wedding stories, people are so wonderful! A favorite is this one:
Many years ago we married a couple in their eighties and l have never forgotten the sweetness of that experience.
The bride told me ever since she saw Gone with the Wind when she was a girl, she wanted to get married on a grand staircase. Most of the hotels have staircases but getting married with people nudging us out of the way as they ascend and descend would have been less than ideal. Then in the back of my mind I saw the staircase they had erected where the old waterfall used to be at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I took them to Fort DeRussy where they chose the natural gazebo with the bougainvillea in full bloom above. Usually we only use that venue for military but when I asked him if he was military and he said no, ROTC in high school I said close enough! The bride added hair and makeup, I sent a text to my top three stylists and got one affirmative answer so we were set. The day of the wedding I could see them walking toward us across the lawn, arm in arm, the bride dressed in elegant white, her hair and makeup freshly done, and he in a blue shirt with a bollo tie, wearing a jaunty hat, both of them smiling. They had requested during the rehearsal that I put the phrase back in the ceremony that I have never used: til death us do part. During the ceremony he couldn't take his eyes off her, the devoted gaze they shared when they said their vows was so sweet, and when each said that phrase, they nodded almost imperceptibly. Afterward we took photos around the grounds and then I took them to the Hilton where the bride's eyes got as big as saucers when she saw the staircase and she said "Oh, my!" Oh, my, indeed! So much fun to make a little girl's dream come true, no matter how many years have passed. 🤗

04/30/2024

So I was sitting at my desk yesterday morning when I got a call from the Hilton Hawaiian Village asking if I was free to photograph a wedding today at Magic Island.
Yes indeed.
The bride was standing there and I could hear her asking the guy if I could also do a bouquet for her. Yes indeed.
Could I also arrange a makeup artist to come to the room?
Absolutely.
Can I do all of this by noon?
It was 9:38AM so I got her cell number and room number, sent her a text and told her I was making the arrangements right now and go ahead and start getting ready. I contacted six of my stylists and they were all booked but referred me to this stylist and that stylist and finally I got one. She was in Kaneohe but said she could definitely go to the room and be finished by 11:30AM. DONE!
Next I called my florist. She said she could do a bouquet but had no bouquet flowers in her cooler and I stayed on the line with her while she went next door and procured the flowers for me. We were laughing as she promised to have said bouquet ready by 11AM.
No time for a shower so I cleaned up a little, grabbed an egg and a muffin and got dressed and left by 10:45AM, picked up the bouquet on my way to Magic Island and arrived in time to greet the officiant they had hired through the Marriage License office. The couple arrived and together we all walked down to the site and chatted on the way. The couple were thrilled they had been able to pull this all together on such short notice. YAY!
The officiant had been at work when he got the call and was wearing jeans and a t-shirt so the couple were more than happy to have him stand out of range of the photographs, lol. It was so fun.
Afterward we ran around the grounds and took photos starting on the beach and ending up in the gardens not far from their car. Thank God for my A-team who didn’t leave me hanging but got the job done so this adorable couple could start their honeymoon after our last hug. It’s all about making dreams come true.