Wedding Hawaii Destination Wedding?

[snuggles1]

Anyone do a Hawaii destination wedding?

I read Mara''s posts, and I''ve looked into Waimea Plantation Cottages, but the cost to have our wedding there is about the same as it would to have it in California (if not more)! I think they must have changed things since she married there as you have to go with their vendors and their packages only.

I''m also sweating over the fact that a 150person wedding is coming out to $50,000!!!!! I just really wanted to have a small, intimate gathering of friends and family!

If anyone has any ideas or recommendations for venues, I''d love to hear them! Thanks!

 

[mintve]

I think you can have a small ceremony at the Old Lahaina Luau in Maui (that is where we were engaged). Anyway, I saw them o nthe travel channel and they were hosting a wedding and I think they have info on their site as well.



http://www.oldlahainaluau.com/flash.html

try that one, I just saw a wedding services link.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[marchswallowbird]

Does it have to be at a resort? Personally, I would look into the beaches over on the Hana side of the island. Much quieter and more beautiful than anywhere else on Maui. There are hotels there for the guests to stay at. Have a small ceremony on the black sand beach. Or, look into whether it''s possible to have a small wedding at or near the Seven Sacred Pools.

 

[Harleigh]

Hi Snuggles,

We just got married in Maui, and it was pretty reasonable, but it was only for 22 people. I looked into places down in Wailea and the southern part of the island, but they were way out of our price range. The west side of the island, Lahaina, Ka''anapali and on up toward the northwest part were by far much more affordable, and I loved the lush colors because it rains there at least once a day...it was beautiful. I just posted the pictures last night...you can see how pretty the grass, flowers and beaches were.

There are places available for small to large parties, but it isn''t cheap...you need to know how to negotiate prices and have comparisons handy to barter with some of the vendors. I think it would be cheaper to find your own vendors, but a wedding planner would ensure that things go more smoothly. You also have to take into consideration how much airfare and accommodations will be, but if most people would have to travel to get to your wedding, anyways, then your guests may enjoy the vacation. Most of our guests were thrilled to turn our wedding into a vacation, but only those who really wanted and could afford to went, which made those who were there with us even more special to us.

 

[mia2008]

My husband and I eloped by ourselves in Maui in March, so I don''t have any venue advice for a wedding of your size. However, after reading about the grief over the photographer from Harleigh''s post, I just wanted to chime in about my photographer who I would highly recommend. His name is Gordon Nash. Very sweet person and great photographer. I love my photos! He runs a Paradise Dream Wedding and they have a great website with photos that you can browse for wedding venues/locations. Some of our wedding photos are up there too. You can google it. I don''t know how the cost compares with other companies since we only needed the services of a photographer. I found the flowers, officiant, and hair/makeup person myself. It was quite obvious that I had studied his gallery online so he asked if there were other photos that I had seen that I wanted. He spent more time with us than expected and I have copies of all of the photos he and his wife took. I can''t say enough good things about him.

 

[geckodani]

We also did a Maui wedding with Precious Maui Weddings, but it was for a much smaller group of people (30 total). Are you wanting to take the entire 150 person guest list? Or do something more intimate?

 

[sidewalk]

I agree ref Gordon Nash, we were looking at Maui and are now getting married in London, if I was looking for a photographer I would go for Gordon, he was really helpful and his pics are great.
His company can organise the whole thing for you also.

 

[snuggles1]

Date: 9/3/2008 3:15:36 PM
Author: marchswallowbird
Does it have to be at a resort? Personally, I would look into the beaches over on the Hana side of the island. Much quieter and more beautiful than anywhere else on Maui. There are hotels there for the guests to stay at. Have a small ceremony on the black sand beach. Or, look into whether it''s possible to have a small wedding at or near the Seven Sacred Pools.

It doesn''t have to be at a resort, BUT I''m not sure about putting a wedding together where I can''t go to a tasting or meet with a vendor. It''s scary! I''ll look into the beaches. They look pretty. I wanted something that is a mix of grassy with a view of the beach. I don''t know if it''s alot to ask for.

 

[snuggles1]

Date: 9/3/2008 4:12:47 PM
Author: Harleigh
but only those who really wanted and could afford to went, which made those who were there with us even more special to us.

I agree as for us it''s mostly about having the people we really care about at the wedding. I''m not too sure about these gigantic weddings where you have all these people you don''t even know. I feel really strange about saying really personal vows in front of people we barely know.

 

[snuggles1]

Date: 9/3/2008 8:22:17 PM
Author: mia2008
My husband and I eloped by ourselves in Maui in March, so I don''t have any venue advice for a wedding of your size. However, after reading about the grief over the photographer from Harleigh''s post, I just wanted to chime in about my photographer who I would highly recommend. His name is Gordon Nash. Very sweet person and great photographer. I love my photos! He runs a Paradise Dream Wedding and they have a great website with photos that you can browse for wedding venues/locations. Some of our wedding photos are up there too. You can google it. I don''t know how the cost compares with other companies since we only needed the services of a photographer. I found the flowers, officiant, and hair/makeup person myself. It was quite obvious that I had studied his gallery online so he asked if there were other photos that I had seen that I wanted. He spent more time with us than expected and I have copies of all of the photos he and his wife took. I can''t say enough good things about him.

I''ll check it out! Thanks.

 

[snuggles1]

Date: 9/4/2008 9:03:30 AM
Author: geckodani
We also did a Maui wedding with Precious Maui Weddings, but it was for a much smaller group of people (30 total). Are you wanting to take the entire 150 person guest list? Or do something more intimate?

Realistically only about 40 people are going to come and those people are our close family members and closest friends. This is really the kind of wedding we want. The rest we''re going to invite to a reception/party/dinner/drinks/dancing event after we come back. We''re going to have to invite at least 100 of those people but I don''t anticipate them coming. I already know that 20 of them are going to complain about cost, but we''re not close to them so I''m not going to worry about it (but they are the kinds of friends that if you DON''T invite them, they will cry and tell everyone.