Planning Destination Wedding in Hawaii - need ideas!

[heyjudes]

My DF and I are in the midst of organizing our wedding plans. We are planning our wedding for Hawaii, then having separate receptions later in Taiwan and Vermont.

My main problem is finding a location to have the ceremony. We are inviting both sides of the family, siblings of the parents, 1st cousins, and friends. This is leading to a lengthy invitation list, but we don't think any more than 20 will be able to make it to the actual wedding in Hawaii.

Can anyone suggest wedding locations in Hawaii? We would like a beach wedding if possible or at least something overlooking the ocean. We are not doing a traditional reception, our ideal is hosting our guests at a dinner at a very nice restaurant (we are both in the restaurant business) and want to spend our money on that. Our guests will be using this trip as a vacation, so we will need a locale where adults can be fully, and happily, occupied over a 4-5 day period.

I've looked at the Four Seasons, but it seems like those locations are too sedate. We are looking for a top level resort for ourselves, but with alternative hotels in the area so that our guests have a variety of options for their budgets.

Suggestions? We are looking at 3/11/2011 for our wedding date.

 

[panda08]

I'm hardly in this forum anymore but just ran across your post. I'm not sure which island you're interested in but I did a destination wedding in Maui in Aug. 09. We had 20 guests. We rented a private estate that was on several acres overlooking the ocean. It was large enough to accommodate our immediate family and our friends stayed in nearby hotels. Everyone stayed for the week of the wedding. We had a welcome BBQ at the house and everyone was welcome to come in and out to use the pool, etc. The house had a large wrap around deck in the back that faced the ocean, which we used for our dinner reception. It had also had a large lower deck, which we used for the ceremony. It was causal, private and intimate. I'm not sure if this is what you have in mind but I hope that helps. All the best with your wedding planning!

 

[Pushin40]

Hi There!

When is your wedding and what island would you like to be on? Can you go scope it out before you make a decision?

I strongly suggest reconsidering booking "the best' hotel for yourselves, and choose a hotel or a villa rental that will be OK budget wise for your family and friends. You can always stay longer and switch hotels for a few days for your honeymoon.

I'm getting married in Mexico and I PURPOSEFULLY didn't choose the BEST ($$$$) hotel because I wanted my guests to be able to afford the trip. And I want to spend time WITH them. I did, however, book the best suite at the hotel, because HELL YA it's my wedding week!!!

One of my friends has a relative who (was) planing a wedding in Hawaii and she was considering the Four Seasons. My friend was APPALLED because flying from the east coast to Hawaii, with her family of 4 which includes 2 little kids, is a huge expense right there. And the Four Seasons has a hgih nightly rate.

THen the bride suggested they could all stay somewhere else, cheaper.

That didn't fly with my friend.

Spend $7-8K on a trip to Hawaii to stay at a different hotel? And just got to the wedding on that day?

It's really a lot to ask of poeple I think, and it was also going to be during the school year. They just weren't going to go. If/when they choose to vacation in Hawaii it will be on their own terms, know what I mean?

I think now the wedding will be somewehre in Europe.....who knows!

So I guess my point is - don't you wnat to have your family and friends WITH YOU? THat was my goal. I think we will have only about 20-25 guest too.

 

[wannaBMrsH]

I ditto Pushin40.

We had a destination wedding in the Dominican Republic and we also purposely booked a more budget-friendly resort for our wedding. When all was said and done, we had 42 guests at the wedding (16 of which we paid the travel for) but it was absolutely worth it to spend that much time with them and even them with each other!

NO ONE booked a different hotel and if we had gone with a pricier option, at least half of those people wouldn't have gone.

DH and I have attended 3 destination weddings besides our own and the only one where we didn't stay with the couple was a destination wedding where the bride and groom rented a home for themselves. We've declined to attend weddings where the bride and groom are staying in a very pricey hotel because we honestly don't see the point of taking time off from work and spending our money on travel where we don't get to choose the location and then don't actually spend time with the couple to boot...

 

[sonnyjane]

I got married on the beach in Maui (Wailea to be exact), and then honeymooned in Ka'anapali (also on Maui) and it was just amazing. It was, however, the most expensive of the Hawaiian islands, and our hotel was $600 a night if I'm not mistaken (Hyatt), plus breakfast for 2 people each morning was easily $50 PLUS tip, and dinners were about three times that. It was just the two of us, so we didn't have to worry about others flying to join us. Maui was magical and I can't wait to go back again for an anniversary some time, but if you are having 20-25 people attend, it might not be for you, because, as I said, it really was quite pricey. It was absolutely gorgeous though... swoon.....

 

[RhubarbPie]

I am joining this thread. We are planning our wedding for August 2012. Right now, it looks like it will be at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua (Maui) and it will probably end up being between 20-30 guests. We chose Hawaii primarily because it is directly between where I am from (East Coast) and where my FI's family is from (Asia). Additionally, my parents can use Marriott points at the Ritz (and most of our friends are Marriott rewards members). This was the biggest reason for not seriously considering the Four Seasons or even the Waldorf hotel that's on the island (I forget the name of it now). Until we started planning this, I had no intention of having a small destination wedding so I am also looking for as much input as possible. We chose this class of resort because we know there will be no question as far as the service goes, and since I won't be able to be hands on in the planning, I need to know that everything is proceeding as it should be. Our very close friend will be officiating at the ceremony (we didn't want to be married by someone that we've never met). Anyhow, I'll be following along for any ideas!!

 

[panda08]

I am joining this thread. We are planning our wedding for August 2012. Right now, it looks like it will be at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua (Maui) and it will probably end up being between 20-30 guests. We chose Hawaii primarily because it is directly between where I am from (East Coast) and where my FI's family is from (Asia). Additionally, my parents can use Marriott points at the Ritz (and most of our friends are Marriott rewards members). This was the biggest reason for not seriously considering the Four Seasons or even the Waldorf hotel that's on the island (I forget the name of it now). Until we started planning this, I had no intention of having a small destination wedding so I am also looking for as much input as possible. We chose this class of resort because we know there will be no question as far as the service goes, and since I won't be able to be hands on in the planning, I need to know that everything is proceeding as it should be. Our very close friend will be officiating at the ceremony (we didn't want to be married by someone that we've never met). Anyhow, I'll be following along for any ideas!!

The Ritz is a lovely choice. I've stayed there and liked the location because it's a bit more isolated. I love the expansive grounds and everyone there was so warm and friendly. But then again, pretty much everyone in Hawaii is warm and friendly!