Tropical Wedding Fiji – Esther and Iliesa

This has been a long time coming, 9 years in total…plus everything in between. We’ve known Esther for a number of years and we remember those days when we’d ‘joke’ about her future husband (like..where was he already) and what their lives together would look like! And so to arrive at a point where the dream was now a reality and not only that but to be able to capture that moment (as well as spectacular OTBP session at Iliesa’s village on the Island of Naqara, that included a shipwreck) filled us with an overwhelming sense of ‘heck yeah, this is happening!’

As you can imagine, 9 years gives a girl a lot of time to plan and pour her dreams into her wedding day :) And Esther, who has such a keen eye for detail, pulled out all the stops! From designing their own save the date cards, invites, and ceremony programs, to pulling together a talented crew lead by Ela and Tui Ledua to style their reception.

When we asked them what marriage meant to them, they quoted from Wendy Treat, “Marriage is not a noun, it’s a verb. It isn’t something you get. It’s something you do. It’s the way you love your spouse everyday!”…’It’s so true as humans we can get selfish at times but when you’re married, you’ve got to put that aside, look out for each other and cheer each other on, no matter what life throws at you. That’s what marriage means to us.’

We fell head over heels in love with Esther’s dress, gosh who wouldn’t! So we couldn’t wait to hear more about it: ‘To be honest, the dress experience was a bit hectic at first because I was a very indecisive bride-to-be. By August I had no idea what I wanted, and I was getting married in 4 months time!

Thankfully my sister suggested re-using our mum’s wedding dress, an off-white French lace dress she wore 30 years ago. It was perfect because for one, I am a very sentimental person and secondly, it gave me an idea to go with a vintage style.

I got in contact with Hupfeld Hoerder around mid August. Once I sat down and discussed the design with Huppy I felt at ease and a bonus was that we both love vintage designs.

The top part of my dress particularly the sleeve was a design I had seen on Kama Catch Me’s Pinterest page. Huppy incorporated a piece of the lace from mum’s dress for the top half and the bottom part was Huppy’s hand-printed designs. The end result exceeded my expectations and overall it was a lovely experience!’

Iliesa recalls his favourite moment seeing Esther walk down the aisle, memories flashing before him and knowing that this moment had finally arrived. For Esther, her ‘stand out’ moment was during their first dance…’Every time I hear our song “Nothing Can Change This Love” by Sam Cooke, it brings back good memories.’

‘The Best is yet to come’ x

A few days after…

Any mentions you’s like to make: ‘We would like to thank Kama Catch Me Photography (your team made us feel at ease during the photo sessions and the bouquets and headpieces by Gitte were absolutely beautiful). Tui & Ela Ledua, this couple are our very dear friends and only style weddings for close family and friends, they did an amazing job styling our reception venue and definitely went above and beyond, as you’ll see from the pictures.’

Vendors:

Wedding Venue: Wesley City Mission Church

Reception Venue: Lagoon Resort, Pacific Harbour 

Wedding Coordinator: Esther & Iliesa

Wedding Stylist: Ceremony- Neomai Katonivualiku / Reception – Tui & Ela Ledua

Celebrant: Reverend Immanuel Reuben

Wedding Bands + Engagement Ring: Mansukh Jewellers (Wedding bands) / Jewels Fiji (Engagement ring)

Dress/s: Hupfeld Hoerder

Veil/headpiece: Veil- Grace Loves Lace / Flower crowns- Gitte Kama (Kama Catch Me)

Shoes: NOVO

Accessories: Lovisa

Hair & Makeup: Alipate Ubitau (Hair) / Katarina Uluibau (Makeup)

Flowers: Gitte Kama (Kama Catch Me)

Bridesmaids:  Hupfeld Hoerder

Accessories (shoes, jewellery, …):

-Bridesmaids wore their own/borrowed shoes as long as it was red heels.

-Earrings: Lovisa, Australia

Bridesmaids gifts:

-Lavalava(sulu’s) & frangipani’s – Pacific Jewell, Samoa

-Fans (iri) – Asenaca Lesu of Daku Village, Tailevu.

Robes: Lavalava (sulu’s) – Pacific Jewell, Samoa

Groom and Groomsmen: Shirt – Jacks, Fiji / Pants – S. Nagindas, Fiji.

Page boy shirt & pants – JenHen, Fiji.

Page boy’s suspenders – Kmart. JenHen, customised by sewing Hupfeld Hoerder’s material onto suspenders to match the bridesmaids dresses.

-Page boy’s shoes- Deluxe kids, Fiji

Groomsmen gifts:

-Lavalava (sulu’s) – Pacific Jewell, Samoa

-Fans (iri) – Asenaca Lesu of Daku Village, Tailevu.

Cake: Taste Fiji

DJ or outsourced entertainment: Police Band & DJ Sekove Tukana