John and Sue make it 25 years

25 years...an inspiration.

25 YEARS AND MORE TO COME!
The Hawaii Vow Renewal of John and Sue

So did you miss me at all? I've been away from my blog as you can tell. You know, I've been meaning to get around to writing John and Sue's blog post for the longest time, and here I am finally doing it. I can't believe it myself! I think it's been close to a month since I wrote about a client of mine. Horrible...I know! You don't have to remind me. Well, here goes. John...Sue...everyone, thanks for being patient.

From the moment I met John and Sue, I knew there was something special about them. From the first day Sue had contacted me, her warmth bubbly personality literally enveloped me and made smile. Her ambitions were rather simple. She wanted to celebrate 25 years with her husband with a vow renewal ceremony on the beach of Hawaii. Sue also needed some help finding the right place to stay. Through some of her own research she found a few condos... in Waianae.

"Waianae?" I thought to myself, "Not good.....REALLY NOT GOOD." Waianae is literally the 3rd world city of Hawaii, literally, the Wild Wild West of Oahu. They have a homeless problem there, high crime, drugs, pockets of racism, you name the sin, they've got it. In other words, it's best not to head in that direction, especially if you're a tourist.

I quickly referred Sue to a group of vacation rental homes that I planned many weddings at, The Kawela Kai Nani homes on the North Shore. It didn't take very long before she was sold.

Kmet's Vow Renewal from Steven Young on Vimeo.

Now, there's something that you should know about John and Sue. They are practical jokers, pranksters, comedians, all of the above. I really wish you all could meet them in person, because you would know right-off-hand, why are perfect for each other. So how did this perfect couple meet?

Well, I thought I'd let Sue take it from here:

How me met – wow, it’s been a long time since someone ask me that. Well, the year was 1980 (30 years ago – incredible) I needed a job and a friend directed me to a local company. As luck would have it John was the manager (and interviewer) for this position and I found the first rung of my career ladder.

We’re one of those weird couples who were actually just great friends who kind of accidentally started dating. We were married in 1984 each brought ourselves and two children to the union. Since it was a second marriage for us both it was so more then a wedding; it was a true blending of families.

In 1984 our children were 13, 10, 6 and 4; we talked of having more children but honestly decided if we could raise the four we already had to be healthy responsible adults – we would be truly blessed. Our kids are awesome (in some cases the road was long, very long) and we have been blessed with 4 fabulous grandchildren with another due on 10/10/10....."

One of the few pictures that John and Sue were not laughing at each other...

I swear, Sue's in this picture somewhere

Logistic wise, wow renewals are pretty much the same actual weddings, from the proposal to the ceremony, to the reception. Usually, vow renewals are a surprise. More often, there is some type of ring involved...

Here's Sue again:

"Well, 1984-2009 meant John and I celebrated our 25 th anniversary last year.

Imagine my surprise when in front of family and friends, John dropped to one knee – pulled out a ring box and ask me to renew our vows! Not only was I astonished that he would even consider such a thing but that he actually planned and organized it alone was even more shocking. I, of course, said yes and as you know we renewed our vows with you and Rev Parker earlier this year. This proves that some people will make the same mistake twice!
Looking back now – what an amazing ride! John and I are both thrilled and still find it hard to believe that we’ve been married 25 years. This is truly a case of being married to your best friend. I can’t remember a time without him and don’t want to imagine a future that doesn’t include him. Corny, I know……"

Always smiling

Just John's luck.... I didn't snap a picture of him crying...

Hand-in-hand

In my non-humble opinion, marriage is one of "thee toughest things" that one can do in one's life. To my newlyweds, always remember that love is a commitment, not an emotion. Happiness, joy, sorrow, jealousy, you get my drift, those are emotions which come and go. No one can stay happy forever..because happiness is an emotion. If you're happy all the time, all hours of the day, every second of the day, you need to check yourself into a clinic. Wasn't the Joker in Batman, always happy?

Noted, it is extremely possible, to love every second of the day. It is extremely possible, to love every hour of the day, and every day of the year, for the rest of your life. Because...yes, love is a commitment. You don't have to get checked into a clinic for loving your wife or husband forever (except me..haha..)

Alright, so love is a commitment. A darn hard one right? Need some advice? Yeah, I bet you do. Well, I picked Sue's brain and asked her to write some words of advice to all my newlyweds. I also wanted to hear it for myself. Here goes...straight from Sue again:

"My advice to newlyweds,

Don't worry about who's right. Proving your point won't help your relationship. The question is always how you can move forward together, not who should have done what differently. Learn to choose your battles; you don’t have to be right about everything.

Always make time for each other and always let your spouse be your best friend. Someday your children (hopefully) will be grown and gone. Don’t find yourself setting across the breakfast table from someone you haven’t spoken to in 25 years.

Make a conscious decision each day that you love your spouse. In the beginning, this is easy. As time goes by, it can be harder. But if you decide each morning that you will love your spouse, your actions for that day will be from love rather than anger, resentment, or whatever other actions may (and will) cause you problems.

I guess I would tell them to have fun with each other, laugh a lot, fight a little and always keep your sense of humor!

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. "

God, is she good or what? Sue needs her own talk radio show, or forum, or something. Don't we all agree here? She needs to get paid to be relationship guru?

Personalized liquor. Even I got my own bottle! Too bad I don't drink.

That's an upside down pineapple cake. It was a 10.



Me with Butch, friend of Sue and John, and my dad.

Okay, I'm not done with this blog yet. This is how small this world is. Sue and John invited me to their reception. I of course agreed. I never turn down food, especially if it's free, and fed to me by amazingly-awesome people. So at this party, I'm talking to everyone there, sharing laughs, stories, and then I run into an older gentleman who sadly lost his daughter in September 11th. I had never been so close to someone who had been lost a loved one during these attacks. Well, this gentleman, Butch, was here with his wife because he was friends of Sue. Normal right? Not really. See, Sue had worked specifically with the families that had lost loved ones during our Nation's tragedy and she eventually had become friends with Butch's family. But the story does end there. Butch is also a friend my father.

Small world huh? It's a small world after all...CUE THE CREEPY MUSIC!

Well, I think I exhausted my brain now....haha. John, Sue, thank you for everything. I don't want to say awesome again or super-fantastic, because I may come off sounding flaming...which I'm not. But you two still wow me till this very day.

Keep in touch.


Steve Young
The Hawaii Wedding Guy
http://www.dreamweddingshawaii.com

EVO BLOG - Give me power!!!

I AM CRAVING A DEEP FRIED TWINKIE NOW....not to mention...electricity

Why is it that when you‘re in the best mood to do some late night work, suddenly...the power goes out? Well, that‘s what‘s happenning right about now. I was just about to start my blog on John and Sue‘s vow renewal, and suddenly, my DirecTV starts to freeze. Then, I notice the lights slowly start to fade. Then, my street lights fade, and start to go out. Something‘s happening right now. Either we‘re having a major power outage, or, the entire windward side of Oahu didn‘t pay their phone bill...collectively...haha

Thank god for my Evo phone though. I swear, I love this cell phone. I can still blog, communicate with my couples, and even answer my email. So even though I don‘t have power at the moment...at least enough power to effectively power my computer, I‘m still in action...

Well, I‘ll talk to you all soon. Hopefully tomorrow day time, I can get to writing John and Sue‘s vow renewal story.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.8

JUST BLOGGING TO BLOG

Miles and his wife, navigating the sea at Lanikuhonua

JUST BLOGGING TO BLOG

It's 2:50am in the morning right now and I'm just winding down a "recovery" day. I say it's a recovery day because I've only had two hours of sleep in the past two days. If you must know, for the past two days I was finishing up a wedding video that needed to be edited before the couple left the islands. It's not the editing that takes a long time, it's the rendering part that kills me. Every HD video takes about 6 to 8 hours to prepare for a Blu-Ray burn. Crazy.....

Anyway, I just wanted to write to say that I didn't abandon this blog. I know I haven't blogged recently. Family stuff, work, and the death of my Uncle Roy just made life rather busy. Not to mention, wedding video edits! To all those who wrote me notes of sympathies during this rough time...thank you. I really do appreciate it.

Well, I will be blogging later today about a vow renewal. You'll love it. It'll be a real special one. I want to also vent my frustrations a bit with the entire video wedding industry, and the the awards that businesses have been receiving for doing...well nothing at all. What can I say...I have a lot to write about.

Talk to you all soon.

Steve Young

Rest In Peace Uncle Roy

Leroy Ngai - August 14, 1945 - July 1, 2010 from Steven Young on Vimeo.

RIP: UNCLE ROY
It's not just another video slideshow

It's about 3:17am in the morning now. I'm burning the midnight oil yet again. But this time, the oil burns more for personal reasons than business. My Uncle Roy passed away on July 1, 2010, and the family had requested that I create a video slideshow for funeral.

Creating video slideshows for me are rather easy for me. I don't use any fancy transitions or special effects. I keep it as simple as possible and let the pictures tell the story of that persons life. Slideshows though, are a pain in the ass to create. Yes, even the simple ones take time. Each picture needs to scanned into the computer individually, then each virtual pan on the picture has to customized to each shot...by hand. Funeral slideshows typically have 200 or so pictures, so it takes a few days of painstakingly boring work to create one.

I've created funeral slideshows before, but this one especially was rather difficult for me because I was creating it for a close relative of mine and not a client. With each picture that I inserted into the editor, I had to fight back bouts of sadness. I tell ya, it was probably the most difficult edit I had ever done.

Today is my Uncle's funeral. Wish me luck. After today, the mourning will be hopefully over and we (myself and my family) can move forward.

Take care everyone, and have a great Monday.


Steve Young
Dream Weddings Hawaii
http://www.dreamweddingshawaii.com

Blogging from my evo

This shot was taken with my new evo cell phone.

Hey everyone. So guess where I'm blogging from? My new sprint phone, the evo!! I'm just testing out this new app that will allow me to blog from the road. The picture above was taken today at Waimanalo Beach. That was my couple Sharon and her husband.

I'm thinking....if I can blog from the road, I may be able to blog more... just an idea.

Anyway, I bought an external keyboard for the evo that makes it extremely easy for me to input text into the phone. If you're thinking about upgrading your phone to the evo, email me and I‘ll tell you literally how awesome this phone is.

Well, I gotta get back to work now. I'm creating a slide show for my Uncles funeral. There's over 200 pictures to work with. Thank god I can do this while watch the Tour de France.

Catch you all soon! Maybe, I'll be blogging from the road!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.4

Me....bloggin away!

bottom row from left to right: Mom's sister, mom's side grandmother, father's side grandmother, and father's sister.
Top row: me, mom, dad, my aunt and uncle...ALL ARE STILL ALIVE.

SO HERE'S WHY I HAVEN'T BLOGGED LATELY

My Uncle, one of father's brothers, passed away from pancreatic cancer just over a week ago. After being diagnosed, it took him rather quickly. So I've been a little busy.

It all started a little over a month ago when he seemed very healthy. Then, driving home to work one day, he had to pull over because of a sudden dizzy spell. My Uncle went to the doctor and they diagnosed him with having a minor stroke. They were not sure what caused it, despite running almost every test under the sun. A couple weeks passed and he was hit with extreme stomach pains. He went to the doctors and that's when they diagnosed him pancreatic cancer. He then got the grim news a few days later that he only had two weeks to live.

I had truly never been around someone so close who had gotten news that was so grim. The sadness that enveloped myself and my family was so heavy, I could feel it. I didn't know how to react, or what to think. My father, who is a very strong man, who probably had never shed a tear in his life, showed for a moment a sign of weakness. But he still didn't cry.

Family who could fly down from California, did so immediately and were housed at my parents house. The days to follow consisted of spending long waking nights at my Uncles house, comforting him and his family during his final days. Now were busy with funeral preparations.

Probably the most touching moment out of this entire experience was when my Aunt told me that my Uncle had turned to her and apologized to her for dying so quickly. He thought they would grow old together, and he was "so sorry." Being in the wedding industry, I'm always a witness to the beginning of the lifelong commitment of love. Now, I was a witness to the fulfillment of that promise. Honestly, the fulfillment is not pretty at all, it's extremely sad, it's confusing, it's depressing.

If you're wondering how I'm feeling...here it is.

There's an image right now burned in my mind. When my Uncle had stopped breathing, my father and our family went down to their house to be there. By the time we had arrived, he had gone. Viewing my Uncles lifeless body didn't really phase me too much. But it was when my cousin sat down by his father's lifeless body and just held his father hand, that image really got me. He sat there, for awhile, without a word, holding his hand. It was sad...really sad. I know there's going to come a time when I'll have to do that for my parents. And being the only child, I think, I know, it's going to be very very difficult for me. And just thinking about that moment and seeing that moment play itself in front of me, makes me very sad. It's depressing if you really think about it.

Overall though, I'm actually doing quite well. While I am of course sadden by this tragic change in our life, I am still 100% functional and still happy. I'm still working, marrying people, laughing, joking. In between all of this sadness, I even was a groomsman at a wedding. The only thing I'm not doing is...blogging. There's a part of me that just doesn't feel like writing about weddings at the moment.

But don't worry, I'll write more soon. You know me, I have always something to say. I'll write soon though.


Steve Young
http://www.dreamweddingshawaii.com