Everybody knows that “Aloha” means hello and goodbye in Hawaiian, but it can also be translated to mean love and affection. This dual meaning makes it the perfect word to introduce the wedding day of Jessi & Alex. This sweet pair said their “I Dos” in the back yard of Alex’s parents Mike & Liz on Saturday. Their day had a hawaiian theme that perfectly captured the spirt of “Aloha” – it was a welcoming together of their family and friends in celebration of their love for each other. It was one of those great wedding days when we felt a little less like “the photographers” and a little more like members of the family.

We first met Liz at Meghan & Matt’s wedding back in 2009 – their families have been close many years so it was no surprise that Meghan also ended up playing an important role on Jessi & Alex’s wedding day. They asked her to officiate their ceremony! It was super fun to reconnect with everybody – thank you for making us feel so welcome!

(Please sign the guestbook if you’d like to be notifed when the rest of their photos are online.)
AND don’t forget to click “love” under your favorite images along the way!

Alex asked Jessi to marry him during a picnic by the “LOVE” sign at the Scottsdale Civic Center so that exactly where they wanted their first look to take place. We had to fight quite a crowd of other photographers on such a lovely Saturday afternoon, but we made it happen!

On to some portraits around the Plaza!

Just love this one. They look so sweet and comfortable together – perfect companions :-) Can’t you just picture them sitting side by side on a park bench 60 years from now, still gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes?

A little silly laugher courtesy of my hubby’s stand up comedy act . . . which consisted of a joke I’m pretty sure he read off a Popsicle stick. LOL!

The awesome bridal party, struttin’ their stuff.

Such a fun group! And no, we didn’t ASK the guys to climb up there – they did that all on their own!

Mike & Liz did a fantastic job of transforming their home into a tropical wonderland! We’re friends with Liz on facebook so in the weeks leading up to the big day, we saw lots and lots of updates about all the preparation – painting Hibiscus flowers on the block walls, baking nearly 300 cupcakes, lighting dozens of tiki tourches – it was quite the undertaking. Luckily, they had a whole slew of awesome family and friends to help make it all happen. It was so much fun to see the whole thing finally come together and to document how wonderfully everything turned out. Such a special event in honor of two very special people!

How great is this? They had even had their guests sign a surfboard as a guestbook!

Time to get these two kids married! Love this shot of the bridesmaids looking on as the sweet little flower girls made their way down the isle.

Here comes the bride! (Escorted by her proud Papa of course.)

Alex was filled with emption from the moment he saw Jessi coming down the isle. So sweet :-)

Meghan gave the happy couple this piece of advice, in the immortal words of the Beatles of course, “All you need is love.” (She just may have inspired our song choice for the slideshow at the bottom of the post too! Although it is little a more tropical, ukulele version :)

Woo-hoo! Mr. & Mrs!

First Dance :-)

Father-Daughter Dance

Mother-Son Dance.

And a sweet moment between Jessi & her Maid of Honor during the toasts.

Love these fab ladies!

A local Hawaiian group volunteered to help out in the kitchen and also provided some awesome entertainment. One of the flower girls was so cute and mimicked the dancers moved the entire song!

The Ukulele made a perfect backdrop for a shot of their rings.

To view more photos from Jessi & Alex’s tropical wedding, click on the “view slideshow” button below!

 

 

To the newlyweds: we had so much fun capturing your day! Thanks for making us feel like a part of the family :-) Best wishes on your new and exciting adventures ahead!