As another trip to Maui was coming to light, I wanted to see if I could do a shoot, gathering talented artists from different places.
Reaching out to these artists wasn’t a big task as every single one of them was ready to take part in hopes to make this a reality.
When all artists confirmed, I realized that only one photographer would bring the concept to life. And that was when I reached out to Melia Sorenson of Melia Lucida Photography. She was thrilled and brought in the idea of an Elopement shoot.
Then I reached out to Chris Kalani of CK Cinema to do the cinematography. My requests for him to give our Couple a different angle in cinematography; by having their faces as an integral part of the story making. I wanted to see a lot of “playful” and “stolen” moments between the Couple through their eyes. From the beginning the story in black and white scenes to gradually in color, to show the lushness of the spaces, the softness of pink and cream tones.
A DM was sent to Hannah Tikkanen of Little Pink Dress in Vancouver to ask if she could make an original long and flowy dress for the shoot. Without any hesitation, she said yes.
Reached out to Fozzy Castro-Dayrit of the Fozzy Book by DM and asked if she would be willing to collaborate for a shoot in Maui. Sent her our inspiration and readily she had many ideas; soon enough I asked for her to send the papery (menu/name cards, love letters- all about 25 items she had handwritten) and sent by FedEx to Melia in Paia.
Ry-n Shimabuku, Maui, came next to say yes to the shoot; then Tori Takayeshi, to do her custom designed cake.
I also asked Kristine Agbayani, new Owner and Wedding Coordinator for Opihi Love for her guidance in getting some help with tableware, furniture piece, some rentals and support for our Models and Team during the shoot. She was a gem to work with.
Then came our amazing Models, Diansa Anuenue hails from New Zeland, lives part-time in Maui and models in Asia.
Kai Rundle, a full-time Maui resident, and a surf Model.
Both tremendously gave their romantic, sexy yet sophisticated look as shown in the video.
The Backdrop: Melia and I went for a visit to the Hui and checked out many spaces and one space that I fell in love with was the area I called, the Secret Garden, in the big lush. The landscape of the Hui. From here, we found these magnificent walls covered in lush greens. Then there’s an alcove that mimicked a place in Tuscany that I knew we had to have as a backdrop. Because of its beauty and lush greenery, as a Designer, I felt that I would leave the space as it was. Minimal floral blooms were needed and let it spoke for its itself, as Mother Nature would have created.