Intimate Maui Destination Wedding with An Inspirational Aisle Runner

We talk often of creative ways to add a little personality to your destination wedding. After all, it can be tough! Flying across continents & oceans with limited baggage, unsure of the local decor and without time for DIY projects.

Today’s Maui destination wedding features not only the incredible Pacific Ocean views we would hope from a Hawaiian wedding but a delightfully inspirational piece of decor as well.

Catie & Matthew’s ceremony at the Sheraton Maui was so romantic – lush roses, wild greenery, luxe drapes and one of the prettiest aisle runners we’ve seen in a while. There in white, in incredible scroll calligraphy, is their inspirational piece – we can only imagine the possibilities of what one could write on their own custom aisle runner!

Our Love Story

We met at work. We were both engineers and actually shared an office for about one year. We started hanging out outside of work – grabbing dinner, taking our dogs to the dog park – and our first official date was to an LSU football game (GEAUX TIGERS!)

We were visiting family over Christmas in West Virginia. He somehow convinced me to take the dogs for a walk in the freezing cold. We walked to the top of a knoll with a beautiful view that overlooks my family’s property. Matt got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, and of course, I said yes.

The Dress & Attire

My dress was an ivory floral embroidered gown with a deep sweetheart neckline and an open back. I went to one bridal salon in New Orleans (Town and Country Bridal) and tried on several dresses before on a whim, right before leaving, I decided to try on a Hayley Paige dress featured on a mannequin in the corner of the salon.

As soon as I had the dress on, I knew it was the one. The dress was absolutely perfect – it was romantic with a small train yet still easy to move around in and breathable.

Matt wore a traditional blue suit. His tie was from a local shop in New Orleans (where we live) and had very small alligators on it which we thought was a nice way to bring a little piece of Louisiana to Hawaii.

The Destination

We knew we wanted to do a small destination wedding. We had visited Hawaii with family several times and absolutely loved it. We ended up deciding on the Sheraton Maui because of its stunning views overlooking black rock and the Kaanapali coast.

Favorite Moments

There were so many memories and stories from the day. The first look was very special – we were both so nervous, but seeing each other, sharing that moment with just the two of us, and letting out all of those emotions was just what we needed.

Also, just simply taking a moment during dinner to look out at all of our guests who traveled so far to support us was powerful and a just a reminder of how fortunate we are to have such great family and friends.

“Since our wedding was a destination wedding, we were able to keep the guest list very small and intimate which kept the cost more manageable.”

– Bride Catie

The Florals & Decor

From the very beginning, I knew that I did not want bright tropical colors. I was drawn to more of a romantic vibe.

The flowers were something that we decided to splurge on – we really wanted to create that lush, romantic look. I wanted a lush, green garden feel with pops of white and blush. I had my heart set on a tablescape with overhanging plants, flowers and chandeliers.