Courtney & Kyle had dreamed of a Tahiti wedding but when they were presented with wedding packages available in Moorea, at their resort specifically, those did not feel right for them. They were drawn to some other locations on the island, and one in particular : they wanted to experience a private islet beach ceremony in Moorea!
Courtney reached out to me saying she was not 100% sure how getting married in Tahiti “works” (or destination elopements in general) and she was also not sure what the limitations were of getting married at a resort versus elsewhere… she needed me to shed some light on how they could get married in Tahiti (pondering between getting married in Tahiti legally vs. at home before their trip), and how to plan a wedding in Tahiti outside of the beach ceremony itself.
Courtney & Kyle got married in Moorea back in November, and what a dreamy day it was! The weather was the most perfect, and the colors were out of this world.
Courtney & Kyle met in high school when she was a freshman student, and Kyle was a junior. Kyle was Courntey’s brother’s friend, and her dad was his teacher and football coach, so she happened to hang out with these guys in her dad’s art class often. They were not real close friends at the time, but Courtney remembers that there was always something about Kyle…
It would just take her until much later to figure out what that “something” was.
Fast forward to a few years later – The proposal had to be perfect, so everyone that day knew the details, except for Courtney of course… from Courtney’s cousin to her mum, everyone helped Kyle planning the perfect proposal at the zoo. Come the day of the proposal… why would everyone want to go straight to the Giraffes, and not follow their normal zoo routine? Why missing out on the other exhibits? Courtney got a little frustrated with the group, so it came as a complete surprise when Kyle handed her a book and she discovered that the pages were cut-out to form a heart and a ring was tied to a string inside… it was the most thoughtful proposal and of course she said “Yes!”
The make-up artist and I met at Courtney & Kyle’s resort in the early morning, bringing along their beautiful flowers: a gorgeous bouquet + a head crown for Courtney, and a leaf lei for Kyle.
Truth be told, Courtney got sunburned pretty badly the previous day. There were some clouds, so the two of them did not pay much attention to the sun and forewent applying sunscreen… being that we are under a tropical climate, the sun can be very harsh and a fair complexion will get sunburned in no time (this is the story of my life, hiding from the sun!).
Anyway, nothing will stop my make-up artist from making a bride look her best, and be the most beautiful on her wedding day, and oh was Courtney beautiful! And so was Kyle!
We headed to a private islet beach for their celebratory ceremony, and met with their photographers there. This was a new location I am so lucky to have access to with my couples, 100% private and 1000% dreamy!
We held their beach ceremony privately, and they then did some beach photos as well as some photos on the reef-side of the islet, before we headed back together to the main island. Their photographers then drove them around and back to their resort.
It is the most beautiful environment one can dream of to hold a ceremony in Moorea. A very quiet and peaceful place for a destination elopement in Tahiti – and the perfect place to shoot out-of-this-world aerial drone photos in Tahiti.
Later that day, Courtney & Kyle got picked up at their resort and taken privately by boat to a(nother) private islet beach, this time to enjoy a movie night!
While Courtney & Kyle considered a romantic dinner in a fine-dining restaurant at first, they then realized it would be too fancy for them and told me “We just want a super relaxed evening with (as strange as this may sound…) maybe share a pizza while sitting on the beach…? Not sure if there is something you could help us with to maybe make it a tiny bit more romantic? But either way, even if it is just us ordering a pizza that is totally fine too. We just want the sort of “pajama pants and movies” sort of night.”
Ask and you shall receive! Sofa on the beach, pizzas, a large screen standing in the lagoon, and their favorite movie playing… the stage was set!
Thank you again Courtney & Kyle, and wish you the best of happiness!
- Moorea Wedding Planner + Officiant in Moorea: Nelly at wedOtahiti
- Moorea Wedding Photographers: Helene Havard Photography and Flying World Pictures
- Make-up artist: Audrey Bodilis
