gina@pixoflife

Quote: Originally Posted by jilly76 I wonder if its one of those associations that you just pay a membership fee and you are a member without really having specific standards? Actually from what I remember the website saying (I'm a member also), the WPJA has strict standards of professionalism. If anyone does have any dealings with this photographer and he acts unethically or does not provide services as promised, I believe you can report the information to WPJA and they will look into it. Of course that's just off hand from what I remember reading, haven't checked it lately. As far as the WPJA membership, you have to apply and then get accepted at which time there is a membership fee for photographers who decide to join. Not everyone gets accepted. edit: BTW...MD, beautiful engagement pictures! Even something free doesn't necessarily *mean* free as time is valuable

Hey great, glad it was useful for you all. Took so many hours back in the wedding planning days to create it and the guests liked it. Flygirl...thanks for pointing that out. The drive time box is fine on the local copy of the file saved on my machine but for some reason it's covering the map on the uploaded version. If anyone has problems, just save the copy first then adjust it in word. I'm guessing most would replace the map too so you can just adjust as needed. Katrina (my daughters name btw)...yes, we love Ko'Olina! We stayed at the Marriott Villas for getting ready and the night of the wedding and I loved the snorkeling at the lagoons. Wow, I really need to get planning the next trip

After seeing all these pix I need to try some new tropical destinations! But here is one of our favorite beaches on Hawaii....Lanikai Beach on Oahu. Oahu is definitely more than just a city on an island and these pictures sure show that. Not on a resort, but about 30mins from Waikiki and close to lots of beach house rentals. Nice snorkeling, soft sand, clear water They were taken a couple of days after the wedding, hence me trying to get a shot of my wedding ring in there..lol

Hi there, I'm a bit of a Hawaii fanatic..been to the 4 major islands. Yes, starchild is right, the only all inclusive is on the Big Island called Kona Village Resort. They have the hut type of lodging, supposed to be upscale. Lots of activities but don't think the all-inclusive includes the cocktails like the Mexico resorts do. Of the 4 main islands, Kauai is IMO the most tropical like atmosphere with the least amount of crowds. No high rises, lots of tall green mountain landscape on the North Shore, one lane bridges, and towering waterfalls. Next would probably be the BI and you can also explore the volcano national park. On all the islands, besides the Kona Village, the best you could get to a 'hut' type of rental would be an oceanfront beach house/cottage rental. Unfortunately no over water bungalows. Maui also has unique tree house type of rentals on the Hana side. Hope I didn't put too much info, I spent literally hundreds of hours researching Hawaii for the first few trips we did.

Thanks for the compliments on our wedding pix! I have to say, that day was probably one of the happiest of my life We wanted to have the beach theme since of course it was in Hawaii...got the seashell garland at Oriental Trading Co. for under 10 bucks! I just got the pm and sent you some more info. Don't think you can go wrong with Shawn.

thanks for sharing this info. I was a *2 dress* bride and my first choice which I never used has been sitting in my closet for a year and a half. Will have to look into this since I haven't had time to try and sell it.

Hi there, I made this template for our Oahu DW and thought perhaps some may get some use out of this. It's in MS Word format and includes a timeline. Here is a link but if there is another way to attach it to the forum for easier access, please let me know. HTH!

Quote: Originally Posted by kristaphoto I can't believe he actually thought he could get away with that - I mean, the rules are pretty clear, you know? He must really be desperate for work... And I also can't believe that any of you actually like spam! I'm not sure that I've ever actually eaten it, but the whole concept is pretty gross. I mean, what IS it anyway?? Sorry, a bit off topic, but SPAM isn't bad...lol Especially if you know how to cook it and if you travel to Hawaii a lot (*guilty*) you are certainly in the land of spam lovers..lol On topic, never understand why people break rules in the first place, they ALWAYS end up getting caught. I just want to say thanks to those that run this forum and your being gracious enough to even allow us vendors on here at all..thanks girls!

Hi, don't think I saw this mentioned but the Polynesian Cultural Center luau does not serve alcohol. Not a major downside for some, but many like to enjoy tropical drinks while on a Hawaiian trip, mai tai's & blue hawaiian's at a beachfront luau are a nice treat. We have been to Paradise Cove twice, really fun, beautiful location and a lot of activities...touristy but still fun. In-laws went to Polynesian Cultural Center and thought it was quite touristy as well, but they enjoyed the dinner show.

Welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum Dance video idea sounds pretty neat. My husband and I were lucky because his best friend was a dance teacher & taught us some moves for our first dance. We didn't realize how out of sync we were with formal dancing until then..lol

Hi Michael & Welcome! Love the look of your website, unique design!

It's so nice to get so many welcomes Also neat to see so many other photographers with such awesome work! I love looking at wedding photos almost as much as I love taking them. Michael - my "hubby's" name is Michael too (though I think the only one who still uses his full name instead of calling him 'Mike' is his mom..lol) I think seeing all these gorgeous destination weddings being planned is going to have me homesick...maybe I need to go look at my wedding album

Hi Jenn, thanks for the welcome and compliments on our work! Hope you don't mind a took a peek at your wedding show, beautiful pics.

Great pics! Been wanting to shoot at a winery for awhile now. We just headed there for tasting this past weekend...love it! BTW...did you have to get special permission to shoot there?

Hi, we went to the BI for our honeymoon and had a great time. We stayed at a really cute cottage called Volcano Teapot Cottage for the first couple of nights. It was only a few minutes away from the Volcano. The owners were very nice & helpful, delivered great breakfast treats each morning and we loved the jacuzzi in the outdoor gazebo. The rest of the week we stayed at the Hapuna Beach Prince (got an awesome deal w/ partial ocean view on Priceline). We would definitely stay there again, the beach is gorgeous, staff was very nice, good food but of course that added up in $$. The room was fairly nice and very spacious. If you ever stay there definitely go early in the morning to reserve one of their poolside cabanas for $45. Comes with a cooler, bottled waters and will be a welcome shade when the sun really starts burning down. HTH.

Hi, I'm a vendor...but was a bride in summer of 2006 and had to give a nod to Shawn Starr when I saw this post. He was our wedding photographer (see 'Gina & Mike in his BLOG section). He is an awesome guy, easy to work with. Good luck with your planning!

Hi Everyone, nice to see there are so many who love destination weddings as much as we do! My name is Gina, I'm half of the husband and wife photography team that makes up Pix of Life :: Wedding Photography We actually transitioned full time into wedding photography after planning our own DW in Hawaii a year & half ago. I didn't even know this board existed in my planning days but of course planned just about everything over the internet and we had the experience of our lifetime. (BTW..for those who love looking at wedding photos you can see ours on our photographer Shawn Starr's website here.) We have photographed quite a few Hawaiian DW's and recently were published in Destination Weddings & Honeymoon's mag (we were so excited since it was our first time being published!). We hope to to continue with photographing more DW's at beautiful locations in & out of the US. It has been an exciting ride to come from planning our own DW to photographing weddings so I guess you never know where getting married will ultimately take you. Of course I'm not just here for the exposure so feel free to pm or email me if you have any questions that I might be able to help with regarding photography, Hawaii/DW travel & planning tips or all of the above. BTW..I've read the vendor rules and will be sure to abide.