Wedding Hawaii Wedding

[snuggles1]

So I've been posting here off and on, but mostly I read everyone else's posts to see how to plan this whole wedding thing. My story starts
here.

So we have decided to have two weddings. One wedding in Maui, one in the bay area. We realize that the economy is awful and have friends who cannot go, and THEN I get emails saying "I'm already committed to a wedding on such and such date so don't plan your wedding then." Then the FMIL says she won't go to the wedding either because it's not the one she wants (the bay area one is her wedding). So at this point we don't really care who makes it!

So the bay area wedding is the chinese banquet. Yes we gave in. We're trying to make it work on the cheap since this is my FMIL's wedding. So cutting out all the nice stuff seems to help, and we realize this is where we can invite all those people who have been inviting themselves to our wedding.

I read Harleigh's posts and Mara's posts. Someone who I can't remember recommended Gordon Nash/A Paradise Dream Wedding (http://www.mauiwedding.net/) and I love the photos. If anyone has used him before, please let me know how everything went.

Also, if anyone has any other recommendations on wedding coordinators and photographers that you used and loved, I'd like to hear your experience. Thanks!

 

[mia2008]

I might''ve been the person whose post you remember about Gordon Nash. He seems quite popular. I saw him out and about, photographing on beaches for several days after our wedding. After seeing his website, I specifically requested him as the photographer. His company has several photographers, but they seem to have similar styles. We eloped with just the 2 of us, so it was pretty simple ceremony. I only ordered photography through his company. I set up everything else by myself (officiant, flowers, hair/makeup) which was very easy and that saved money on the coordination costs. He and his wife both took photos. They stayed longer than the specified time and we ended up with more photos than expected. They didn''t rush things. We would chat for awhile until the sun came out again so that the photos would look better. Overall, it was a great experience and I don''t have any complaints at all. i LOVE our photos. Our ceremony was at Makena Cove. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[snuggles1]

Date: 11/10/2008 1:19:23 PM
Author: mia2008
I might''ve been the person whose post you remember about Gordon Nash. He seems quite popular. I saw him out and about, photographing on beaches for several days after our wedding. After seeing his website, I specifically requested him as the photographer. His company has several photographers, but they seem to have similar styles. We eloped with just the 2 of us, so it was pretty simple ceremony. I only ordered photography through his company. I set up everything else by myself (officiant, flowers, hair/makeup) which was very easy and that saved money on the coordination costs. He and his wife both took photos. They stayed longer than the specified time and we ended up with more photos than expected. They didn''t rush things. We would chat for awhile until the sun came out again so that the photos would look better. Overall, it was a great experience and I don''t have any complaints at all. i LOVE our photos. Our ceremony was at Makena Cove. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks Mia! It must be you. The website photos are beautiful. What did you do for a reception or food after the ceremony? How did you find everything else like the hair/makeup and flowers? Also, how many guests did you have at the wedding? We''re trying to figure out if we should have everyone stay at one of those condo resorts and if that is really a good option or not.

 

[ucdcows]

Wow Snuggles,

when i first read your post i had to read it twice because it sounded so similar to my situation. I am Chinese (and live in the Bay Area too!) so I completely understand everything that you had to go through. I learned a few years ago that I have people in my family that will complain about everything so I did not let that factor into what I chose to do for my wedding. People are expecting a full banquet with all the trimmings but after attending my friend''s wedding last year for 650 people...I could not run fast enough away from that idea. We''re getting married in Hawaii also (oahu) and then coming back to invite everyone to a casual buffet dinner. (If i had a big backyard, I would have had a BBQ in the spring).

I''m happy you decided what you want to do and good luck with all the planning!

 

[mia2008]

We didn''t have any guests. It was just the 2 of us. I am very happy we did it this way b/c I wouldn''t like the hassle of a big wedding. I did all of my research on the internet since I was living in Alaska at the time. I found the officiant through a website by googling maui wedding officiants. I recognized him as one of the ones that gordon uses from looking at gordon''s online gallery. For the flowers, I found a shop that was close by to where we were staying (maui prince hotel). Gordon has a very nice gallery of bouquet choices on his website and I chose soemthing that was similar to one I found there. When I emailed a photo of that bouquet to the florist, she told me she had made that for gordon''s company. For the hair person, I asked the consultant that I booked gordon which ones they use and she gave me a list of names. If you want specific info on any of the vendors, let me know and I will find my old emails. I''ll see if I can attach my favorite photo.

 

[snuggles1]

ucdcows: That is so funny as we wanted to do a backyard bbq too but we don''t have a backyard large enough as well!!! Yeah we gave in to the banquet, but we''re like, "oh, no lion dancers, no emcee, just a dj, food, and alcohol...this is going to be boring!" But we don''t care anymore as we too are running away from the wedding. Where are you having your buffet?

mia: your photo is beautiful! Wow! How was the Maui Prince Hotel? I looked into it but don''t know much about Maui. The only thing that worries me about Maui is I''ve heard it has become a bit like Waikiki?

 

[shimmer]

Hi Mia, your photo is stunning! I would be interested in your vendors, if you have the time.

I too have been considering a Hawaii elopement vs a family get-together type wedding, and was planning on using Gordon''s company for the coordination, but you make it sound so simple to diy! THANKS a bunch.

 

[mia2008]

We got married in March 2008 so the prices were in effect at that time. I think I saved $500 in coordination costs.

Officiant: Vince Rosete, $300. His wife books his schedule. She is reached at [email protected]

Flowers: I can''t remember the company, but this is her email: [email protected]. Her bouquets were the cheapest and I thought it was great. I had calla lillies and orchids, $95. The bouquet was delivered to the hotel for an additional $10.

Hair/makeup: $150.00 for hair and make-up. If you want flowers in the hair, it''s $10.00. She doesn''t charge a travel fee or an early morning fee like other people. I printed out a photo of the hairstyle I liked and she replicated it. I did not have a hair trial. My hair is really thick, so it was falling down a little at the bottom. This is the list I was given of people gordon''s company uses:


1) DeeJay Juarez (80 280-1837 or (80 249-0256 website: toobighair.com e-mail: [email protected]
2) Lori Rice-Davis (80 357-9322 website: weddinghairmauistyle.com
3) Jean Muldoon (80 870-9087 e-mail: [email protected]
4) Shelly Young (80 875-2181 website: www.mariahsmane.com

As for the Maui Prince Hotel, it was great. We are hawaii residents, so we got the resident rate. There is a nice beach right in front of the property and I saw Gordon taking photos of a wedding there the day after our wedding. We got married in the morning, around 10am and we were relaxing on the beach by afternoon. It''s a very quick drive to Makena Cove where we got married. I don''t think Maui is anything like Waikiki. It''s not as busy. I live in Honolulu and I avoid Waikiki completely, even the beach there. I dont'' like the crowds or overdevelopment. Hope this helps!

 

[Nocturnius]

WOW, Mia.

I''m glad I stumbled on this thread. I had looked at A Paradise Dream before (eloping ended up being out of the question) but now I have afriend wanting to elope and I had suggested PDW. I''m glad to see you liked Nash as a photographer, and WOW, what an amazing photo!

 

[snuggles1]

Mia: Thanks so much for posting all this! The information is all very helpful to get an idea of what I am going to be spending! I''m trying to round down my wedding sites between Waimea (Waimea Plantation Cottages), Poipu (thinking about getting married on the beach and having a reception at The Beach House or Plantation Restaurant), or Makena Beach in Maui and finding a restaurant to feed everyone afterwards. Have you been to Waimea or Poipu on Kauai before? I just know that I didn''t like the touristy areas of Kona that felt like spring break at Ft. Lauderdale in some bad 80''s movie. I really like Hawaii for what it is and want to have a nice serene wedding. Thanks again!

 

[ucdcows]

Date: 11/12/2008 12:15:08 PM
Author: snuggles1
ucdcows: That is so funny as we wanted to do a backyard bbq too but we don''t have a backyard large enough as well!!! Yeah we gave in to the banquet, but we''re like, ''oh, no lion dancers, no emcee, just a dj, food, and alcohol...this is going to be boring!'' But we don''t care anymore as we too are running away from the wedding. Where are you having your buffet?


mia: your photo is beautiful! Wow! How was the Maui Prince Hotel? I looked into it but don''t know much about Maui. The only thing that worries me about Maui is I''ve heard it has become a bit like Waikiki?

Mia, that photo is absolutely beautiful!

Snuggles,
Our buffet is going to be at Moonstar in SF...as far as buffets go, it''s pretty good and they accept large groups. And I figured that all the people really want was food and alcohol and that place has an abundance of both! My friends banquet wedding last year had an emcee, lion dancing, an incredible amount of very drunk people, and so many people they had to put tables on the dance floor so no dancing! It definately scared me away...

 

[shimmer]

Mia, thanks so much for the info!

 

[snuggles1]

Date: 11/12/2008 8:11:28 PM
Author: ucdcows

Snuggles,

Our buffet is going to be at Moonstar in SF...as far as buffets go, it''s pretty good and they accept large groups. And I figured that all the people really want was food and alcohol and that place has an abundance of both! My friends banquet wedding last year had an emcee, lion dancing, an incredible amount of very drunk people, and so many people they had to put tables on the dance floor so no dancing! It definately scared me away...

MOONSTAR!!!! I KNOW IT! That is a great idea. I wish we could do that, but we''re having it at a restaurant...fortunately not a large restaurant like Dynasty, Mayflower, or those Gold something or another ones. That is awesome. So are you going to have a private area? How does it work for a group?

 

[Linda W]

Mia, Your wedding picture is gorgeous!!!!! It should be framed and hung on your wall. It is just beautiful. The water is so blue and I love the black rock. You and your husband look adorable. Love it!!!!!


Linda

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Mia- what a stunning photo! did you have a wedding photo thread? i''d LOVE to see more!

 

[asscher_girl]

Hi Snuggles, my husband and I got married in Maui on 4/29/08 just 6 months ago. We had an awesome time and so glad we chose Maui for our wedding location. We got married in Kihei (my parents have had a time share there for 30+ years). We used Leah Robb for our wedding coordinator (Island Wedding Memoires) - I would say that she was good/responsive when it got to be about 3 or 4 months out - a year before our date, it was hard to get in touch w/ her. There were a couple hiccups during the ceremony, but overall she was good (she also did the flowers, which I loved!)

I wish my hair stylist was still on island, she was awesome, but she moved. My photog was George Wolf - awesome! A little quirky but great photos!

Reception was at Sarento''s on the Beach - we had 35 people

Rehearsal was at Five Palms at the Mana Kai.

Do a search under my name, I posted a bunch of pics of our trip.

We spent 1 week in Maui w/ all of our family then went to Kauai for 5 days for our honeymoon.

BTW - we''re in the bay area too

Let me know if you have any questions

 

[ucdcows]

Date: 11/12/2008 9:39:39 PM
Author: snuggles1

Date: 11/12/2008 8:11:28 PM

Author: ucdcows


Snuggles,


Our buffet is going to be at Moonstar in SF...as far as buffets go, it''s pretty good and they accept large groups. And I figured that all the people really want was food and alcohol and that place has an abundance of both! My friends banquet wedding last year had an emcee, lion dancing, an incredible amount of very drunk people, and so many people they had to put tables on the dance floor so no dancing! It definately scared me away...

MOONSTAR!!!! I KNOW IT! That is a great idea. I wish we could do that, but we''re having it at a restaurant...fortunately not a large restaurant like Dynasty, Mayflower, or those Gold something or another ones. That is awesome. So are you going to have a private area? How does it work for a group?

Since its an open restaurant (no private rooms =(), they''re going to put us in the back of the restaurant and separate it by using balloons. All I really care about is having a little area to contain all the little children so they won''t wreck havoc on all the other customers. My parents are completely okay with this idea as they hate all the fuss (whew...lucky me huh?) They basically charge the same amount with a 15% gratuity. So pretty much the same as any other large group. They do serve alcohol there but you can bring in your own wine and hard liquor for a $7.50 uncorking fee. I think its all reasonable and plus, their desserts are yummy and the kids can play with their chocolate fountain and cotton candy!

 

[ucdcows]

What restaurant are you planning to have the banquet at? I remember a banquet where the bride was japanese and the groom was chinese and they brought in meals from the Japanese restaurant down the street for the brides family. Is that what you are planning to do?

 

[mia2008]

Snuggles: sorry, I am not really familiar with the places you are asking about.

ChargerGrrl: no wedding thread. I''ve been mainly a lurker. My wedding was so low key that there really wasn''t much to write about. My romantic husband proposed at the Taj Mahal in December and we eloped in March. I did all of the planning off the internet, including buying the wedding dress. Interestingly, the other Mia who eloped in SF and I have the exact same dress. I will only include one last photo for you as I don''t want to thread-jack! I also feel a little weird posting anything that shows too much of our faces.

 

[snuggles1]

asschergirl Thank you so much for the info! I'll look for your posts. How was the restaurant for the reception? I'm figuring we'll do that instead of catering if we don't do it in Waimea.

ucdcows You are lucky that your parents are ok with it. So we're thinking of having it at Joy Luck Place in San Mateo because it's a small restaurant. Another small restaurant we looked at was The Kitchen in Millbrae (but this one was tiny and dirty). We also looked at Mings in Palo Alto but the food was gross. I'm Japanese and my parents will try anything. So they are going to eat the banquet food. My American friends will get the "American chinese food." That's about all we can do. My FMIL keeps complaining to us that she can't eat steak, pasta, salad, blah blah blah. So here it is.

mia Honestly, I don't care if you threadjack as your photos are beautiful! AND you've been a great help!