Natalie and Ray's Kauai Wedding

Natalie Marie Hawkes and Ray Ortal were married at the Harbor House, Waimea Plantation, Kauai, Hawaii on May 2nd, 2009 at 5PM. The photos pretty much tell the weeklong story of the Hawkes and Ortal family preparation, the big event and then play time after the wedding. Don’s family arrived first and stayed at the Waimea Plantation in the Kruse House (5 separate bedrooms, each with their own bathroom and entrance), several common areas and a great patio and kitchen. Deb and Timothy came in a couple days later and were greeted by Don’s entire family at the airport with leis. We also stayed at the Waimea Plantation in a one-bedroom cottage. It had a full kitchen and living area, a large bedroom and bathroom and a very nice patio with a BBQ that we used several times. The ocean was 200 yards from our patio and the pool was about 150 yards away. We sure missed Rob’s family. Leading up to the beautiful wedding were a few days of preparation by family and friends. Hundreds of little white twinkle lights were hung around the grounds of the Harbor House; a huge canopy tent, tables and chairs were placed and gorgeous flower arrangements were made from flowers shipped over from the big island of Hawaii from Ray’s aunts gardens. The flowers filled a two-car carport and they all came by plane. Ray’s family could give mom and dad a run for their money as far as always cooking and feeding everyone. There was great food wherever you went, all the time and it was all fresh and authentic. His family made everyone feel so welcome and we cannot wait until they come to Tempe in October for the AZ reception. The wedding was beautiful, Natalie and Ray were just beaming, the backdrop of the palm trees and ocean were gorgeous and Ray’s sister did a touching Hawaiian dance during part of the ceremony. The reception was also beautiful and fun with more delicious food, great entertainment by different dancers, a band and dancing. Ray even got up and performed with his “old” band at one point. The reception ended about midnight and we all decided to undecorate and clean up so that the rest of the week we could play and party together. The next day, Don’s family went zip lining – I heard horror stories of some of the positions they were in --hopefully they will post some photos soon. Timothy and Deb drove to the northeast end of the island for a quiet lunch and visited the Spouting Horn on our way back where we also saw large sea turtles. The following day we all went kayaking. It started off with Isaac greeting us at the Outfitter Store in his Speedo. Timothy was not the same the rest of the day! He was still in shock. We kayaked up the Waialua River, hiked into the Hidden Waterfall where we stopped to play and eat our sack lunches, took a different route back to our kayaks and then paddled, or should I say had water fights all the way back to the dock. Since our group was so large, we had our own tour guide and he did not know what he started with the first paddle splash. We were all drenched but Don is the “master” of paddle drenching others. Isaac was a close second. I quickly learned you do not want to be in the front and sneak up behind those two. Timothy thought it was funny but those guys were ruthless. Natalie took home the honor of breaking her paddle. The next day we all took a catamaran cruise up the NaPali coast, stopping first for snorkeling in calmer waters since NaPali was not safe for snorkeling that day. On our way up the coast, we came across several pods of dolphins, even some spinners. They played all around us. We saw another huge sea turtle, waterfalls and the breathtaking NaPali coast. During the week, we took the drive up Waimea Canyon (Hawaii’s Grand Canyon). Don’s family saw it on a clear day and we saw it with clouds moving in. We drove as far as we could on this side of the island as well. The only way to see the northern most part of the island is hiking into the NaPali coast and we have all decided that we are going to do this next year. We caught the redeye home while Don’s family stayed a few more days and enjoyed the scenery, the beach and one of Ray’s friends playing his ukulele one night. Isaac purchased a ukulele and is now learning to play it. Hope you enjoy the photos, I am sure Don’s family will be posting some of their photos soon.