It's a compromise — something this couple, who were married on May 20 at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental, know a lot about.

"It's how we do everything," said Blad, 37, a sheet-metal foreman. "It's all about compromise. She gets her turn, I get mine."

Chin and Blad seem like complete opposites. Her idea of a vacation is shopping in San Francisco; he'd prefer camping. She's very serious; he's very playful. She's highly organized; he's spontaneous.

The list goes on.

"Everyone just laughs because they all know us so well," said Chin, 30, who works as a business consultant. "We're like night and day."

Somehow it works. But not without a little compromise and sacrifice.

She's taken up fishing for him. He's agreed to downsize his sporting equipment. They both believe in scheduling date nights.

They even pray together, despite having different religions. She's nondenominational Christian; he's Mormon.

In fact, their religious difference was the only thing that nearly stalled the wedding.

"What it got down to was I couldn't see myself living without her," said Blad, who is divorced with two children. "Is religion going to stop us from being together? I just couldn't see that. I have so much respect and love for Mona that I didn't want to be without her."

So after nearly nine years of dating, Blad and Chin got married on O'ahu. That, not surprisingly, was yet another compromise.

The couple had originally planned to have a huge wedding reception in Washington state, where they both live. But when Chin's father, Hong, died in August 2003, from a heart attack, they opted for an intimate gathering somewhere else.

And Hawai'i, Chin said, was the perfect place.

Her father loved Hawai'i so much he took his family to the Islands at least once a year for more than 20 years. They would snorkel, drive to the North Shore and eat loco moco at Rainbow Drive-In.

In fact, he was the reason Chin and Blad met. Blad's ex-wife and mother worked at one of the restaurants Chin's father owned.

"It was very sentimental for me," said Chin, who described her father as "a big man with a big heart." "I just didn't want to have a huge wedding. It would have been just too hard for our family to go through that. So when we were thinking of places to go, we thought about Hawai'i."

Blad, on the other hand, had never been to the Islands. It only took one trip to O'ahu — for wedding planning purposes — to convince him.

"I just loved it," said Blad, who was so fascinated with Hawai'i's banyan trees he took dozens of photos of them. "We came in at night and the torches (in Waikiki) were lit. It was enchanting to me. It was just so beautiful. I fell in love just walking through the airport. It was all good."

About 40 people — mostly the couple's family and close friends — attended the wedding. To honor her father, the couple set aside a chair for him at the ceremony.

"I knew it was going to be hard for me because my dad wasn't there and my brother would be walking me down the aisle," Chin said. "It was bittersweet."

This wedding, though, has given them something more than just fond memories. Now they have something in common.

"It's a completely special place for us now," Blad said. "We'll be here at least once a year. Forever."