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Weddings

About

Makena Weddings is a husband-and-wife wedding planning team based in Honolulu, Hawaii. Laurie and Al, the couple behind the business, have been married for over 30 years. This lovebird duo has helped couples from all over the world plan their big day. Laurie can tend to every detail of your wedding. Meanwhile, Al - an ordained minister -can unite you and your partner in a simple, touching ceremony on your wedding day. This dynamic twosome, with their years of experience, has a passion for bringing their clients' wedding visions to fruition.

Services Offered

When you choose Laurie and Al of Makena Weddings, you will receive access to their years of expertise and knowledge. In addition to this valuable advice, you will be able to avail of supplementary services. These essential planning tools and services include the following:

  • Budget analysis
  • Day-of coordination
  • Event design
  • Full planning
  • Guestlist creation
  • Partial planning
  • Timelines

Other Services

In addition to wedding planning, Makena Weddings offers many á la carte services. Laurie and Al have connections with a number of florists throughout the island of Hawaii. These preferred vendors can supply couples with beautiful leis, bouquets, centerpieces, and more. This team can also help couples to organize the following wedding services:

  • Musicians
  • Sound rentals
  • Videographers
  • Ceremony rentals
  • Cake
  • Hair and makeup
  • Transportation services
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Frequently asked questions

What is the starting price for day-of wedding coordination?

$2,350

Do you offer an hourly rate?

No

What wedding events do you provide services for?

Ceremony
Reception
Rehearsal Dinner

What wedding planning services do you offer?

Day-of Coordination
Full Planning
Partial Planning

What weddings do you have experience planning?

Destination
Non-Religious
Religious

Reviews of Makena Weddings

M
Melanie Sent on 05/30/2022
5 out of 5 rating

Dream Wedding

I can not say enough good things about Cindy and Laurie. They made the entire wedding planning process so smooth and created our dream wedding. Everything was beyond perfect and we got so many compliments on our wedding and multiple people saying it was the best wedding they had ever been to. We had a very small wedding at the Kukahiko Estate (the prettiest venue I have ever seen) and finished with an amazing dinner at Gannon’s (best dessert I have ever had). Our officiant, Al, was also amazing, the ceremony was absolutely perfect and everyone loved him. I would definitely recommend Makena to anyone!
K
Klarisa Sent on 04/29/2022
5 out of 5 rating

Dream Wedding at Olowalu Plantation House

We had our absolute DREAM wedding at Olowalu Plantation House, and in large part thanks to Makena Weddings and working with Cindy throughout the planning process and day of. She always comforted me and reminded me they are there to make it "stress free". From my initial inquiry with Makena Weddings I knew it was a perfect fit with me as they provided some sample excel sheets with preliminary budgets from venues I was interested in (I love excel sheets for planning!). From there everything came together so seamlessly, especially planning from California. On wedding day, I felt stress free and was absolutely stunned how everything exceeded our expectations. The venue looked amazing and included all the special details and touches I requested from my pinterest inspiration and even MORE! Thanks to Laurie for getting me prepped and ready for my walk down the aisle with my dad and special thanks to Al for his very special ceremony. The whole day was amazing and magical! Thank you Makena Weddings for everything!!!
I
Isabelle Sent on 04/30/2020
5 out of 5 rating

The best!

Where do we begin… Cindy and Laurie made our wedding more than anything we could’ve ever dreamed of. We got married February 2020 at Maria Lanakila Catholic Church and had the reception at Olowalu Plantation. Throughout the year leading up to our wedding we were mostly in contact with Cindy and she made the process of finding the perfect vendors within our budget simple. I voiced to her multiple times that I felt like I wasn’t “stressed” enough because she was handling the details and making it so easy for me. We were pretty much hands off with the majority of the wedding planning and trusted both Cindy and Laurie as well as the vendors to use their creative talents …… they blew our expectations out of the water. Our wedding was a fairytale and they handled every tiny detail so we could enjoy our day and soak up every special moment without having to worry. Laurie had my back during the rehearsal when I wanted the ceremony to flow differently than normally done at the church and ensured it would work out how I wanted.

The vendors they work with are exceptional.. Marvin Tevaga & hula dancers, Angela Nelson Photography, Aloha Bars, and Café O Lei catering. The star of the reception were the floral arrangements. We worked with Dellables and gave her a look we were hoping for and let her take it away with designing the floral arrangements and bouquets however she wanted. It was like we walked into a floral jungle and our guests still to this day cannot stop raving about how breathtaking it was. Pictures just do not do justice to how well the entire reception was executed. She also made personalized bouquets for my sisters/bridesmaids based on their individual dresses.

Our day was absolutely perfect from start to finish (even complete with whales jumping off shore and rainbows!). Laurie and Cindy are truly the best at what they do. Trust me, these two will make your dreams for your wedding turn into reality!!
Ana & Alexander
Ana C. Sent on 12/03/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Olowalu Plantation House Fairytale wedding

My husband and I had hired Makena Weddings for our wedding planning. They did an amazing work. We planned everything from New York over phone and emails without seeing anything but the venue before the wedding day. They are very quick to respond to emails and happy to schedule calls as needed. They were very flexible to our requests and managed to keep us in budget while delivering amazing end results. It’s hard to find someone to fully trust for such an important event and plan over the phone but they worked their magic and made everything perfect to every little details. On our wedding day we also didn’t have to worry about anything, they helped coordinate everything for us and we just enjoyed our beyondddd perfect day. Highly recommend!
Ryan
Ryan Sent on 11/09/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Made our Wedding Day the Best Day Ever!

Cindy and Laurie of Makena Weddings made our wedding day the most amazing day ever. Communication was always easy, and there was not a single thing I had to worry about on the day of the wedding - can’t tell you how much I appreciate that! Our wedding day was more beautiful than we could have imagined, and it’s a day our families and ourselves will not stop talking about. Everyone was in awe of our special day! We are so happy with our memories of that day, and our communication with Makena Wedding in general, and would not change a single thing.

I’m a bit of a control freak when it comes to anything like this, so I’m always skeptical of getting help from others but the best decision I made was hiring Makena Weddings!!! We are beyond grateful for everything they did. Not only Cindy and Laurie, but Al put on an AMAZING ceremony for us that everyone absolutely loved. His words were so moving and unforgettable. We have nothing but PERFECT memories of our wedding day, and we have Makena Weddings to thank for that. You will not go wrong choosing them!!!
S
Selvi Sent on 08/18/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Flawless!!

Laurie and Cindy are the best!! We had our destination wedding on 8/4/2019. They made the planning process seamless, and executed perfectly! The wedding was better than my husband and I envisioned. They wow’d us and our guests. I wish we could relive the day over and over again! We had way too much fun! Thank you to the two lovely ladies for all your hard work.
Samantha
Samantha Sent on 07/28/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Wedding of our dreams

Laurie and Cindy made our dream wedding come to life! We planned a destination wedding in Maui from California. I was a stress free bride, and they were always willing to jump on a call if I had any questions, or new ideas. Our wedding day was absolutely perfect, and we owe it all to Laurie and Cindy. Thank you times a million for helping to plan our wedding day. We would relive it over and over again!!
Katiie
Katiie Sent on 06/20/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Best wedding ever!

What a perfect day! Laurie and Cindy at Makena Weddings are amazing -- they planned, coordinated and put together an absolutely stunning, super fun and super beautiful wedding that included all of our requests and was really tailored to us -- they made everything incredibly easy for us (we live in Australia, so they took care of ALL details locally, answered all our questions, and were always available to us), and made all our dreams come true. We had numerous guests tell us this was the best wedding they had ever been to. Couldn't be happier -- thank you so much Laurie and Cindy!! If you are thinking of getting married in Maui, absolutely book Makena Weddings. xx
T
Tracy Sent on 05/26/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Outstanding

Laurie & Cindy made our dreams come true. We could not have asked for more. Our day was perfect! Aloha and Mahalo, Joe & Tracy Tate
C
Carol Sent on 01/05/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Absolutely amazing!

My older son and his fiance were married on Maui in Nov and Laurie and Al from Makena Weddings were amazing! They made this dream wedding become real for our family. From the beginning, Laurie listened to the ideas they imagined for their wedding and made them come true! Every single detail was taken care of for a stress free, absolutely beautiful day. And Al. How do you describe this gentle giant, with his memorizing words. He performed the ceremony with singing the aloha greeting in Hawaiian. What a beautiful voice! The whole ceremony was relaxed with tears and laughter and couldn't have been more perfect and personal! Everyone said it was the best wedding they'd ever been to! You can tell Laurie and Al absolutely love what they do and as the Mother of the Groom, I can't thank them enough for blessing us on our special day!
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Awards

147
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2020 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2019 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2018 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2017 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2016 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2015 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2014 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2013 Winner

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