A Romantic Honolulu Wedding at Halekulani Hotel Filled with Understated Elegance
It was the Fall of 2016 when Tian He and Jonathon Loo met on the dating app, Coffee Meets Bagel. A month later, Tian made the big move from New Jersey to Oahu, Hawaii and – according to the couple – “She fell first, but he fell harder!”
As far as first impressions go, Jon thought Tian was “cute, articulate, vibrant, and very straightforward.” Tian recalls thinking Jon was “tall and athletic, had a calming voice and nice double eyelids, and was a good driver.”
Engaged in Banff
The proposal took place during a summer trip to Banff National Park in Canada, which was one of Tian’s bucket list destinations.
“During the venue selection, we overwhelmingly heard that the Halekulani Hotel provided top notch service, ambiance, and food.”
“Jon woke us up at 3 a.m. to fight for a parking spot at Lake Moraine’s tiny parking lot so we could view the famous sunrise at the lake,” says Tian, “but the lot was full literally four minutes prior to our arrival at 4 a.m. (We blame it on the influencers…) We slept in a Tim Hortons parking lot until 7 a.m. and figured out a different way to Lake Moraine instead. Jon set up a tripod in front of Lake Moraine and secretly started video capture. He proposed in front of the beauty of Lake Moraine and in full view of some very excited cheering tourists from Italy.”
Romance and Understated Elegance
For their wedding, Tian and Jon wanted a celebration that was filled with romance and understated elegance. Based on the suggestions from a few close friends, the couple prioritized choosing the perfect wedding venue and bringing on board a talented roster of vendors – particularly the photographer, videographer, florist, and DJ.
“Our friends and main vendors provided so much insight to us that we were able to plan almost everything ourselves, bit by bit after work and on weekends, starting 9 months prior to the wedding,” says the couple. “Teamwork makes the dream work!”
When the big day arrived, the bride and groom were exciting, anxious, and optimistic while trying to relax enough to enjoy the culmination of the past 9 months of hard work and anticipation.
“The wedding day itself was honestly a blur,” they remark, “with vendors guiding us left and right to keep our timeline moving, so we are ever-grateful for the photos and videos taken by our friends and family and our professional vendors to look back on!”
The Iconic Halekulani Hotel and Buttercream Wedding Cake
The bride knew early on that the wedding would need to be held at a venue characteristic of Hawaii. Many of the bride’s guests flew in from the contiguous USA or internationally, and the couple wanted to give them an evening showcasing the beauty and versatility they’ve come to love about Hawaii. The wedding ceremony and reception were held at Halekulani Hotel’s Hau Terrace – a gorgeous 2nd floor indoor-outdoor event space overlooking Waikiki beach.
“During the venue selection, we overwhelmingly heard that the Halekulani Hotel provided top notch service, ambiance, and food,” says Tian. “And from the perspective of a picky bride post-wedding, that is 100% the truth. Our florist created some amazing centerpieces with floating candle accents, and the DJ added romantic uplighting to accent the classic French folding doors at the Terrace. Little accents like birch wood name cards perfused the night and made our guests’ experience a little bit more special each time they discovered a new personalized detail. Our guests all raved about the amazing food at the dinner buffet lineup and the cornucopia of desserts at the Viennese table.
The Halekulani buttercream wedding cake deserves a special mention: This is a wedding cake both beautiful to behold and delicious beyond compare. Even our friends in the wedding planning industry gave a special shoutout on Instagram for being able to taste a Halekulani-created wedding cake again!”
A Full-Circle Halekulani Moment
The couple goes for regular walks around Waikiki on the weekends, and Tian has a habit of walking up to Japanese couples in the middle of their wedding photoshoots to call out “Omedetou!” – “Congratulations!”
During the bride and groom’s wedding day pre-ceremony photoshoot around the Halekulani grounds, a lone hotel guest stopped for a while to admire their photoshoot in progress. Eventually, the guest bowed to Tian and Jon and said: “Omedetou!”
The bride thought it was such a full-circle moment to finally be the receiver rather than the sender of “Omedetou,” and was so excited to reply back with an “arigatou gozaimasu!”
A Honeymoon in Hokkaido
The newlyweds planned a late-July honeymoon to Hokkaido, Japan to do some hiking, see the ultra-seasonal flower and lavender fields, and gorge themselves on the amazing seafood and summer fruits.
“We’ve been to Japan a handful of times together,” Tian shares, “but never to Hokkaido prefecture – summer seemed the perfect time to explore a cooler climate in Japan by car while the rest of Japan roasted. Surprise – it was still HOT most days in Hokkaido!”
International driving permit in hand, Jon braved driving on the opposite side of the road to take Tian on a two-week escapade around several towns and hiking destinations in Hokkaido. Their favorite honeymoon memories include the sunrise gondola ride to view the sea of clouds at Unkai Terrace, a hot air balloon ride, exploring the Shikisai flower gardens in Biei, hiking the Shakotan Peninsula, and eating their fill of uni ikura rice bowls.
Tian adds, “It was also pretty memorable that the groom got pulled over by Japanese police driving 60mph on a 40mph highway, but they let him off with a warning when they saw we were vacationing from Hawaii – whew!”
WEDDING TALENT
Location, Cake & Catering: Halekulani Hotel, Honolulu, HI; Floral Design: Creative Concepts by Jeff; Entertainment: DJ Kevo, Bliss DJs Hawaii, Oahu Strings; Invitations: Truly Engaging; Wedding Dance Classes: Arthur Murray Dance Studio Honolulu Engagement Ring: Allen Park; Jewelry Store: Heart to Heart Fine Jewelry; Groom’s Watch: Jaeger-LeCoultre; Wedding Dress: Blu by Morilee; Chinese Tea Ceremony Qipao: East Meets Dress; Hair & Makeup: Face Art Beauty; Cinematography: Small Hour Films LLC; Photography: Derek Wong Photography