BEHIND THE SCENES OF AN ADVENTURE HELICOPTER WEDDING
I’ve planned over 10,000 weddings in my life (honestly, I stopped counting after I hit that number 10 years ago) and zero of them, could be considered an adventure wedding. Well, that changed this year, when I got a call from Mark and Jen, and they asked me if I could step outside the box, and plan an adventure wedding for them. Of course, I couldn’t say no. As soon as I talked on the phone with Mark and Jen, we hit it off. Our chemistry was on point! We were like-minded to the T! And let me tell ya people, chemistry is the primary ingredient you need between you and your wedding planner!
Mark wanted to do something extraordinary. His ambitions – to take a helicopter to the bottom of a waterfall, and to exchange vows there. Now, I knew there were helicopter companies on the outer islands that did this, but on Oahu, where I do 99% of my weddings, we didn’t have any waterfalls that were helicopter accessible. And the really cool waterfalls, such as Sacred Falls, were off-limits to hikers, primarily beacuse landslides had killed many tourists there. Waterfalls may sound cool, but they are extremely susceptible to rockfalls. It’s best not to be at the bottom of them. So, knowing this, I forwarded Jen the websites to the helicopter companies on the outer islands, and thought I wouldn’t hear from them again.
But the next day passed, Mark and Jen called, and said, “You’re our guy!” They really wanted to work with me, and they were willing to compromise. They told me they wanted. A helicopter was at the top of their list. They wanted to fly to their location, tie the knot, take some awesome photos, and have the best day of their lives.
I thought to myself, Oh great, no pressure there. They just want me to plan the best day of their lives. Haha – But I can do that.
Luckily, three months before Mark and Jen contacted me, I ran into Steve Kaplan, the owner of Trident Adventures, at an expo here on Oahu. Steve is a Navy Seal, and he created an adventure company for tourists, that evolved around his special skillsets: scuba, skydiving, shooting, and helocasting (which is the skill practiced by special forces to insert themselves into a body of water, by jumping out of a helicopter) His company is the only one in the world, that shares this SEAL experience with the public. And they are the only company in the world that is certified to do so. Steve and I hit off real quick (same first names), and we started to figure out ways our company could work together.
WANNA WATCH THEIR WEDDING VIDEO?
Password: jump
Before Mark and Jen had contacted me, Steve told me that he wanted to do something with weddings, but he wasn’t sure what it was. Well, you know what happens when you put things out in the universe, right? It happens. Because of Steve, I had access to a helicopter, and something even more I didn’t know. See, Steve wasn’t just a Navy Seal, and owner of Trident Adventures, he was also an ordained minister, and a real man of God. That meant Steve could not only supply the helicopter to me, but he could also perform the ceremony as well! I shared the news with Mark and Jen, and they were stoked. They couldn’t believe that they were going to get married by a Navy Seal!
On the way to the choppa!
Steve had tons of cameras mounted on heli, and got great angles for the video edit
So, we had the chopper, we had the minister, and I knew what they wanted for their package. But we couldn’t figure out where to land. Steve and his pilot, Dave, suggested we land high on the Ko’olau mountains. I forwarded Jen a picture of how high we would be, and as soon as she saw that we would be 3,000 feet up, and inches away from death, she said,”No way!” Steve and his pilot searched for locations, then finally found a landowner who would allow us to set the chopper down on their property, and to do a wedding there. It was still rather high above the ocean, about 500 feet or so, and it was on a cliff. You would still die if you fell off, but this height passed the test for Jen. It wasn’t dizzy heights. We quickly got the green light from Mark and Jenn, booked the property, Steve filed the flight plan, and we were ready to rock-n-roll.
And the adventure began…
Right after landing!
Steve marrying Mark and Jenn, above the famous Waimea Beach
The ceremony for Mark and Jen was a Christian ceremony like I never heard before. Steve took 1st Corinthians Chapter 13, and changed it into vows. That’s a first. Mark and Jen eloped. And like all elopements, there weren’t any guests. There were no arches to block the beautiful scenery. Jenn just wanted a tropical bouquet, her hair and make-up done, and great pictures. Lexi, my usual make-up artist was busy, so I booked Dorys Foltin, a professional make-up artist who I worked with for decades. Lexi and Dorys are both at the top of their game, if you’re wondering.
And Mark’s ring goes on
A few hundred-plus feet above Waimea Bay
If you’re wondering, I didn’t ride in the helicopter with Mark and Jen. In the chopper were Dave (the pilot), Steve, Mark, and Jen. There was room for me, but I didn’t want to appear in all of the video footage. So, I drove up to the wedding location. Driving there was actually way more dangerous than taking the helicopter ride there. I had to navigate along the cliff, off-road, in my cousin’s small Toyota Corolla. I swear, I’m never doing that again in that car.
After the wedding, we roamed the property for photo opportunities, then took a handful of snaps around the helicopter. We spent about an hour or so on the ridgeline taking pictures. Then, Dave, Steve, Mark, and Jen took off. Dave took them on a tour of the North and West Shores of Oahu before returning back to the landing pad. In the meantime, I drove to Magic Island, in town, and planned to them there at sunset, to continue picture taking.
Yes, Jen’s got legs, and she knows how to use them!
Magic at Magic Island
Before Mark and Jen arrived at Magic Island, I had them dropped off back at their hotel to freshen up. This was actually by design, as it allowed me time to fight the traffic to get back into town, and also it provided a moment for Jen to fix her make-up. Once we reconvened at Magic Island, we were off to the races. The first thing on the agenda was to cut the cake! After that, we hit all the great locations around Magic Island to get great photos. And of course, we had to get sunset photos.
After we took the last shot, I got Mark and Jen to Michele’s, the most romantic restaurant in Hawaii. The day before, I called Michele’s to confirm the reservation I had made them. I told the manager there that they were getting married, and asked, “Is there anything special you could do for them?” They told me for $35, they could arrange flowers for them, put out some candles, and give them the best seat in the house to see the fireworks. I said, “Deal.” I actually paid for this out of my pocket, and didn’t charge Mark and Jen. It was my tiny gift to them.
I actually ate at Michels before. It’s not a cheap ticket to eat there. You’ll drop a few hundred dollars, easily. But, by far, it is the most romantic restaurant in Hawaii. Book it for your wedding if possible.
So you’re probably thinking, their adventure wedding was over, right? Nope. Far from it. The next day, they had a helocast jump planned with Trident Adventures. And the plan was to jump into the ocean, and scuba dive, in their wedding attire. And they basically did just that!
Do they look a little nervous? They’re about to jump out of a perfectly working helicopter
Steve actually gave Jen a little shove, a little help, to get her out of the chopper
Once you jump out of the helicopter, a team of trained divers pulls you to safety, and quickly takes you to their boat. From there, you change into your scuba gear, and Navy Seal Steve takes you scuba diving, as though you’re in the special ops. You get to use these underwater machines that propel you through the ocean at a nice clip. It’s awesome.
How much did this all cost? Well, I tried to save them money wherever I could. My father actually played uber-driver to Mark and Jen, on their wedding day, while they were in town. After Magic Island, I was their driver. At first, Mark and Jen wanted to hire a limo driver to do all of this, but I told them that they would spend thousands of dollars on a limo, that would just wait for hours while they were on the chopper, wait for hours while they were at Magic Island, and wait for hours while they were at Michels. Because my father drove them around in our company van, Mark and Jen saved a couple of thousand dollars, which made it possible for them to do a helocast the next day. I’m not going to disclose how much they spent on their wedding, but it was a lot cheaper than if they had planned a gala wedding back home. But, it was probably the most any of my couples spent on an elopement. This was a lot more difficult than planning any gala wedding. There were so many moving parts that had to be timed perfectly. If you’re wondering, It was the helicopter that cost a lot, not the ceremony, or the pictures.
Is an adventure wedding for you? It could be. Just know, it’s not cheap, but it’s still way cheaper than spending 12-75k, on catering.
Did I succeed? Well, Mark and Jen did tell me before they left Hawaii, “It was the best day of our lives.”
More pictures and videos to come, by the way. I’m still working on their stuff.
If you want an adventure wedding, just contact me through the form below. After planning Mark and Jen’s wedding, as long as it’s legal, and my couple has the budget, I can plan anything.
Steve Young
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