3. June 23: Oahu - Wedding Day

The day started with Yumi going over to see her parents and me continuing to work on the powerpoint (you finally get to see it below! - I'm happy with the way it came out but am not sure it was worth all of the hours I put into the 10-minute presentation). She came back around noon with Chinese food and we ate lunch in relative calm. Around 1:30 pm we took a taxi over to her parents' hotel (Embassy Suites) where she would get her hair and make-up done. Around 3:00 pm I took the 5-minute walk over to the Sheraton where everyone on my side was staying. I went up to my brother's room and showered and put on the tux - it's harder than it looks! I got down to the lobby where most of Yumi's guests were faithfully waiting for our mini-bus and eventually my side made their way down and we rode over to Waialea beach while Yumi and her parents took a limo.

The ceremony started around 4:45 pm. We were happy with how it went; with a blend of English, Japanese, and Hawaiian. The setting was absolutely beautiful; we couldn't have asked for a nicer location. First, my Mom escorted me down the aisle, followed by my niece Sarah who was our flower girl. Finally, Yumi's parents escorted her down the aisle. Yumi and I presented leis to our parents and to each other. Of course we did the standard things such as vows and exchanging rings and we also said "personal sentiments." It's a bit of a blur (I'll have to check the video when we get it). I said to her that I was first attracted to her beauty, then intrigued by her intellect; I was captivated by her idealism and passion but what I enjoy most on a day to day basis is her sense of humor and playfulness. She said that when she first met me she knew that she wanted to marry me. We walked back down the aisle, officially signed the marriage license, and then proceeded with pictures; first a few with our guests and after they left on the mini-bus, Yumi and I continued with pictures on our own.

After 45 minutes or so of pictures, we took the limo back to the Sheraton in time for the 6:45 pm cocktail hour. We were out on a veranda at the Sheraton and enjoyed the hors d'oeuvres and drinks with a gorgeous sunset over the ocean. Around 7:30 pm we were ready to begin the main meal. The salad, french onion soup, and filet mignon were interspersed with a few speeches, the slide show*, and a song I was coerced (er, encouraged) to sing by my new bride (True Companion by Marc Cohn - thankfully after the videographer was gone!). It was topped off with our wedding cake and two other cakes that Yumi bought - one for my and her friend's birthdays and the other to celebrate my Ph.D. I was worried that the reception would go very quickly and be over by 9:30 pm but I shouldn't have been concerned because it went until the limit of 11:00 pm. After we collected our things, Sugako drove us back to our hotel where we got out of our get-ups. The tux was relatively straightforward but Yumi's dress and hundred hair pins took significantly longer!

P.S. Special thanks to Socorro for giving me her 147 pictures she took on the wedding day! :-)

*For full effect, watch slide show to the tunes of Billy Joel's This is the Time and The Wedding Song by Noel Paul Stookey (slides spaced 9 seconds apart). :-)