Our Love Story-
We met 16 years ago through mutual friends and family, and we became friends instantly. We stayed friends for a few years before Kanoho asked me out to dinner on a date, which I agreed to. Our first date was at a saimin stand, and we hit it off right away! He asked if he could see me again, and well as they say, the rest is history! When we started dating, we were never interested in marriage, as we both came from “broken” families, which is probably the reason why we dated for so long despite our friends and family, always wondering when it was going to happen. As the years went on, our minds changed as we grew deeper in love with each other. We have gone through loss, disappointments, and everything in between, and we’ve come out stronger together. Though we don’t claim to be perfect or have everything together, we have found that every day, we choose to show up for each other—and that’s what it’s all about for us.
On 11.11.23, Kanoho proposed in Maui (where I’m originally from) during one of our trips to visit family, and everyone was just as surprised as I was! My family was visiting from California, along with cousins we had never met till then. Kanoho had just landed his dream job and was about to start at the end of the month, so he suggested we visit my family as a “last vacation” before his new job began. It was a busy and wonderful weekend, as my family is really big, and there’s always so much going on. That day, we spent all afternoon at the beach—a beautiful, family-filled day. Later, we headed out for dinner, where Kanoho told me he’d dedicated a song to me. He asked me to turn around and watch the live musician playing the song, and when I did, there he was on one knee! I immediately started crying—and I mean ugly crying, to be honest! LOL
It was a moment I’ll never forget. As the rest of our family started finding out, they were so excited for us. They have always loved the love we had for each other, and they loved Kanoho.
Wedding Journey-
As the wedding planning started, I wanted it to be by the following year. Some people wait for years before tying the knot, but I did not want to wait that long. When we were looking for venues for our wedding day, Kanoho knew where our reception should be but was unsure about where our ceremony should take place. I went to Instagram right away, which is where I had found most of the vendors we used for our wedding day. I came across Hanalani Garden, which was near our reception venue, and decided to book that location since it was close and had a beautiful chapel with well-kept grounds! As time went on, I kept seeing Kailana Chapel on my Instagram feed and realized it was managed by the same company. I showed Kailana Chapel to my fiancé at the time, and he wanted to see it too! LOL We set up a day and time to view the property, and he immediately knew he wanted to get married there! When we reached out, the date we wanted was not available, but Jo Ann was our saving grace and made it happen for us! We are so grateful to Jo Ann for making it possible for us to get married in the most beautiful setting ever! Kailana is a special place – you feel it the moment you step in. The amount of pride and care that is put into this place is truly unmatched. Although we loved Hanalani Garden, Kailana Chapel is where we knew we were meant to tie our love story!
Samantha & Kanoho
Kailana Chapel