it was pretty obvious. we were meant to be. yes, ‘we’ — as in melissa and angelo and ARIA =)

they rock converses, ray bans, and sweater vests (or so we saw in their slideshow) — and they LOVE purple. SO DO WE! so weird!! we couldn’t ask for a more dope wedding and cooler couple to film.

melissa and “jello” are funky, fun and crazy about each other — even after being together for 10 years! about 150 guests flew down from all over the world (mostly california) to celebrate in style. they had a blast — how could they not.

turn up the volume and enjoy their same-day edit.

venue: ihilani resort and spa  |  photographers: rock the image  |  dj: exquisite entertainment  |  florist: flowergirls hawaii

as you might have seen in kash’s FUN, VIBRANT, and COLORFUL SDE… starr and eli are very…. FUN, VIBRANT, and COLORFUL. they are the kind of people you want around all the time… and the kind of people that will bring a party to life. we loved them from the very start.

but, there is another side to starr and eli that runs deep. a side that brought everyone to tears.

see, there were two very important people missing at starr and eli’s wedding. grandma jean who, from all the stories that were told that night, was the rock of eli’s tight-knit family. and coach ryan — starr’s older brother who, just a few weeks before, nearly lost his life when he was brutally attacked while on a basketball road trip.

we think these stories speak volumes. grab a tissue. this is starr and eli — through the words of those who know them best. –KA

as Christine mentioned in her blog (http://www.ariastudios.com/main/2010/06/engagement-lynn-wes) — wes and lynn LOVE the ocean. they fish, they dive, they catch crab — wes even does gyotaku (which served as their centerpieces). so naturally, we wanted to include the ocean into their same-day edit. as soon as the sun came up, i headed down to the beach to shoot the intro.

wes and lynn are the best. they are down to earth, laid back, and so darn sweet — yes, that was wes painting lynn’s toes. they got ready in the same room — in the same bathroom — but once lynn had her dress on — we were determined to keep them separated until the first look. a little tricky — but so worth it. thank you wes and lynn for allowing us to be a part of your beautiful day!!

venue: hyatt regency waikiki  |  dj: dynamic sounds

kylie and mark love all things ‘island.’ kylie loves pineapples, aiea-boy mark loves surfing and ’slippahs’ (we found out — he hated wearing shoes of any kind for most of his life), and they love love reggae and hawaiian music. so — how could we *not* use an ‘island’ songs for their next-day edit? kylie says she loves jack johnson and this song, ‘From the Clouds’ reminded her of how mark proposed — way up in the clouds on top of haleakala. PERFECT!

our photo and cinema crew had a BLAST hanging out with kylie, mark and company for the weekend!! thanks guys (and mama shirley) for making us feel like part of the party! xoxo — KA

coordinator: royal weddings by lavender  |  venue: private home + ko’olau ballrooms  |  hair/makeup: gia & company

i can’t remember the last time i (“i” meaning kolby, definitely not kash) made it through a whole wedding without crying. no matter how hard i could be concentrating on the technicalities of a shot… composition, light, sound… BAM!! i’ll hear or see something that makes my uber-sensitive cry-baby senors go haywire. it’s usually the vows, sometimes the groom’s reaction to seeing his beautiful bride, almost always the maid-of-honor speech. but this time… those warm fuzzy tears came when tracy put on her gown.

all seven bridesmaids helped tracy get into her gown… they zipped her up… she turned around… and everyone.. EVERYONE in the room was crying and shouting, ‘you look beautiful tracy!!!’ the sheer excitement and love in their voices gave me goosebumps. it was overwhelming. it just goes to show how much they adore tracy and how genuinely happy they were for her.

on the other side of town the guys were having pizza… hanging out… and then one of andy’s groomsmen shoved his toothbrush in andy’s mouth. YIKES!! not even joking. it just goes to show that both tracy and andrew have a sweet, loving, sentimental side.. but also a very playful and fun side. from the moment we arrived to the end of the night tracy, andrew, wedding party and guests were laughing, crying, and crying because of laughing so hard — so were we.

photographer: amodo photo  |  hair/makeup: Naturally You  |  flowers: HM Florals

it’s important to us, to create an original film for each of our fabulous couples. we try to get to know them as well as we can before the wedding, and keep our eyes and ears open throughout the day for things that are totally ‘them.’ to help us prepare, we send out a questionnaire for our couples to fill out. one of the questions: “describe yourself in three words.”

brent said: “fun-loving, passionate, and outgoing.” very true.

and nikki? “anxious, good listener, and socially cautious,”

socially cautious?! …socially cautious.

according to nikki, she is quiet and reserved, unless she feels comfortable in her environment and the people around her. i love you nikki, but i don’t buy it! from the moment we met nikki, she was warm, bubbly, and excited! not to mention ‘funny’ — which is how brent describes her! to us, nikki is like brent: fun-loving, passionate, outgoing! they are full of life and laughter, their friends and family totally adore them. not to mention, they make you feel like you’ve been friends forever! –but that’s just us =)

congratulations nikki and brent! –KA

kash (KA²) and i were hanging out with jade and ronen a few days before their wedding, and ronen asked, ‘what do grooms usually do before they get ready,’ to which we replied, ‘we don’t want to film you doing what grooms usually do, we want to film you… being you.’

he said, ‘cool! we were thinking of going paddling.’
we said, ‘cool! WE’RE COMING!!’

…jade, by the way, was pretty bummed that she had to sit and be pampered. she would have *much* rather be out on the water with the guys.

a little mcdonalds, a little patron, and a whole heap of fun and personality.. jade and ronen’s wedding was a BLAST to film, and jade and ronen were a BLAST to get to know. they are sweet, exciting, and as real as you can get. wishing you guys the best!! …and a ‘good, good life.’ –KA

venue: royal hawaiian hotel  |  photography: eclat photo  |  coordinator: a finishing touch

Hey ARIA fans!

So it was decided that I needed to get some training time with the good ‘ol steadicam. I wanted to make sure that if we were shooting something, that it was something special! So we cooked up a little “ABOUT US” video so our couples and future couples can get a little taste of who we are. Keep in mind that this only displays one facet of our many, MANY skills =)

ENJOY!!  –KA²