Brides USA

YOU’RE INVITED

1 “A birdcage veil somehow felt more

modern than a long one,” says Kim.

2 Pineapples appeared on everything

from the invitation to the favor tags.

3 Kim and Blake designed her engage-

ment ring (left). 4 “The backdrop was

iconic Hawaii,” she says. 5 The bride

gave her ‘maids matching robes to wear

while getting ready. 6 Kim swapped

her studded ceremony heels for dance-

friendly wedges at the reception.

7 Local greenery, roses, and orchids

topped the dinner tables. 8 The seeded-

eucalyptus garnish added a tropical

feel to the strawberries-and-cream

cake. 9 The newlyweds made their exit

through a gauntlet of sparklers.

From the moment L.A.-based fashion blogger Kimberly

Pesch, 32, and Blake Lapides, 30, locked down Maui’s

Olowalu Plantation House as their venue, they knew they’d

go full-on Hawaii for their wedding. For their ceremony

site, they chose a sandy spot just feet from the Pacific.

They hired a Hawaiian royal to officiate (the same one who performed Claire and Phil

Dunphy’s vow renewal on Modern Family!), Blake wore a traditional maile-leaf lei,

and they kicked off the festivities with the blowing of a conch shell. After a mai-tai-filled

cocktail hour, guests sat down at tables covered in leaf y garlands, white blooms, and

pineapples for a luau reception complete with a ukulele-guitar duo and fire dancers.

But when it came to her wedding dress, Kim went her own way: “I wanted a gown I

connected with, not the boho dress ever yone expected me to wear for a beach wedding,”

says the style maven, who walked down the grassy aisle in a formfitting Vera Wang

mermaid with a fluff y bias-cut skirt. The party officially shut down at 10 p.m., but that

didn’t mean ever yone was ready to say aloha. “We grabbed the leftover drinks and

sparklers and headed for the beach,” says the bride.

Venue Olowalu Plantation House;

olowaluplantationhouse.com. Planner

Your Aloha Wedding Co.; youraloha

wedding.com. Dress Vera Wang; vera

wang.com. Photography Alison Conklin

Photography; alisonconklin.com. For

more information, see Shopping Guide.

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426 F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 6 BRIDES.COM

RING IN GET THE LOOK: COURTESY OF ANNA SHEFFIELD; DINNER PLATE: COURTESY OF JU

LISKA;

ALL OTHERS: GORMAN STUDIO, PROP STYLING BY JOHN OLSON/HALLEY RESOURCES