A Stand Up Paddle Wedding

Our friend Jodi Kealoha married Ricky Giaccaglia this last Friday evening...

on stand up paddle boards!!

Jodi is one of the head instructors for our stand up paddle school, Rainbow Watersports, and when she mentioned she was getting married, I suggested she get married on the river on stand up paddle boards! It had never been done before, as far as we know, and she and her fiance are big water people.

Well, they decided it was a great idea, and on Monday they said they wanted to get married the following Friday. They were excited to hear that the bishop of our church performs marriages for free, and better yet, he's such a fun guy that he probably would be willing to try out stand up paddling for the wedding. And he was.

Kezia and Ivy were the flower girls and Thursday night we went out for a trial run in a storm. I brought the girls back home late cold and hungry, but we were blessed the next day with beautiful weather.

I busied myself that day making bare every flower bush and tree I could lay my hands on, making hoku (head lei) and baskets of flowers for the wedding guests to through on the bride and groom as they passed under Rainbow Bridge. Next, what were we going to wear to the wedding? Especially since we are in it? (To be honest, this was a "wham, bam, thank you, ma'am" kind of wedding, with me keeping a prayer in my heart that everything would turn out alright, despite the lack of time I had to put things together.) I was able to find some sarongs in town that matched the color of the wedding, and I think the leis came out nicely.

I paddled while the girls threw flowers off the side from their baskets.

Many of the guests were paddlers in our SUP FIT class that Jodi, who is a physical trainer, teaches. It was so nice of them to come out. Most importantly, Jodi and Ricky were very happy, and, perhaps because I held my breath for so long, they did not drop the wedding rings as they transfered them over the water. It really was a nice wedding. Here are some pics that Nate, the photographer, took. Just a few hours beforehand, I told Nate, "Oh, by the way, you're the wedding photographer!" Did I mention how rushed we were to get things together? Thanks, Nate, for being so willing to help out.

Bishop Dale Rowley who performed the wedding, and their pastor, Larry. Bishop Rowley (and the groom) were willing to do this with only a short lesson I gave him the night before!

As soon as it was over I remembered, "Oops! I forgot to get things to decorate their car!" Kay was kind enough to go to Long's to get some goods and we had it all decorated for them by the time they came up from the bay. A week later, they still have remnants hanging off.

I'm glad it was a good memory.