Today is a special day for us. It’s the wedding of Faith Xu, and she has chosen Aloha Bars to be a part of her special day. Faith is a cocktail blogger / enthusiast by night (@barfaith on Instagram, barfaith.com), and her fiancé Dylan and her are known as the “cocktail couple” amongst their friend groups. They host parties at their home in San Francisco, always introducing their friends to new cocktails and different spirits. They often prioritize their travel plans around discovering local spirits and exploring the bar scene. You could say they’re pretty big enthusiasts! They really want their wedding to be an extension of that, and showcase some amazing drinks for their friends and family. That’s why we are honored to be a part of cocktail blogger & enthusiast Faith Xu’s Wedding! See photos below to peep their custom drink menu.

How Faith and Dylan Met

To give you a bit of a background, Faith moved to the Bay Area in 2012 for work. She was trying to figure out how to start making new friends, and had heard about a Meetup group through a co-worker. Her first event at a dive bar is where she she met her fiancé Dylan. His goofiness, charm, and love for snowboarding really caught her eye. After that night, they were inseparable!

Dylan describes their first encounter like something from a romantic novel: a suburban dive bar called Fred’s. At this event, they met many great friends who are still with them today. As they continued dating, they pretended not to be “too” interested in each other. Halloween came along, and they both dressed as cows! That’s when they officially began dating. How adorable!

The proposal

Before they left on a trip to Hawaii, Dylan had requested that she pack a “nice outfit” because he had a surprise for fancy dinner reservations. She thought that was a little bit suspicious, but didn’t think too much of it. On their first day exploring Maui, they drove around the West side of the island. Late in the afternoon, Dylan brought up that there was a beach close to where they were going to have dinner, so he asked to stop at this beach first. One they arrived to the beach around 5pm, Dylan insisted that they walk to the end of the beach toward some houses. Faith isn’t a huge fan of the sand, but she complied-fully suspicious at this point. When they arrived near the spot, he grabbed her purse, put it in the sand, and the rest is history!

There was a photographer hiding behind some trees and they proceeded to take a proposal photoshoot!

Maui is the perfect place for a proposal! As they got engaged in Maui, they wanted to return for an epic vacation with their closest friends and family, where they will also have their wedding.

They kept the “faith” of their wedding after having rescheduled multiple times. Ninety percent of our couples have never canceled, just rescheduled. We are so blessed! Thank you for the endless support!

Their Vision for the Ceremony

Faith and Dylan love Hawaii’s natural beauty, lush jungles, and dramatic landscapes. Their dream wedding would be enchanting, elegant, ethereal, open and airy. They fell in love with Olowalu Plantation House, which seemed the perfect location for their dream wedding! The decor is prominently greenery, focused with natural materials such as wood, and clean simple designs. Faith is a design enthusiast and created most of the graphics for the invitations and signage.

Faith and Dylan love tropical plants, so they are incorporating their favorite monstera into many of the details in the wedding from decor to signage to attire.

Aloha Bars Cocktails

A common question we get asked is… “Are the cocktails on our website the only ones available to choose from?”

Vendors for the wedding

Planners – Makena Weddings
Venue – Olowalu Plantation House
H & M – Meili Autumn Beauty
Florist – Maui Palm Tree Floral
Photography – Melia Lucida
Videography – Ohana
Catering – Cafe O Lei
Bar Service – Aloha Bars
Rentals – Rio Event Design and Let’s Entertain Maui
Coconuts – The Catered Coconut
Music – Marvin Tevaga
DJ – Maui DJ Services