Sunshower Farms Reviews
Reviews
4.7 out of 5 rating
4.7 out of 5 rating
28 Reviews
94% recommend it
Awards
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![Astrid]()
Astrid B. Sent on 05/15/2019Custom Wedding Without the Hassle!
My sister's wedding was formal, 300 people, and so overwhelming that I spent most of it hiding in the bridal suite with my cousin. When my husband and I decided to get married, we knew we wanted to keep things simple with a small destination wedding. However, as soon as I started looking at what it would take to get married in Hawaii, I was quickly inundated with beach wedding after beach wedding, all impersonal "Wedding Package A which includes a lei and a conch shell" type offerings. That didn't feel like us AT ALL, and I was getting super discouraged.
Then, through a stroke of Weddingwire magic, I found Sunshower Farms. I immediately loved the vibe of it being casual, but pretty and "pinworthy". My husband, our boys and I are diehard hikers / mountain lovers, so getting married up in the hills was perfect for us.
What really made our wedding, however, was working with Kate. She is an expert on her venue (she lives there, afterall) as well as her vendors. My husband and I are both professional event planners for corporate companies, so it shocked our friends and family when we turned our wedding over to someone we'd never met in person, but it was 100% worth it. The wedding and reception was planned in just a few short phone calls with Kate. She had great ideas and helped coach us into making the right decisions. She booked our flowers, cake, catering, and music on our behalf so we didn't have to deal with those vendors. Because she lives onsite, there was no crazy load-in of place settings, chairs, ect as she already owns them which made the day so very smooth. We brought our own officiant, professional photographer, videographer, and hairstylist, as they were all friends of ours who were attending the wedding anyway. I also used Kate's recommended makeup artist who was just lovely.
The day of our wedding was so beautiful and memorable. We absolutely loved just having a cozy party with our very dearest friends and family. As another reviewer has said, it's a bit like getting married at home, but only if your home is an absolutely gorgeous multi-acre farm in Hawaii with a farm table that would make Pinterest jealous. It wasn't blingy or over the top which suited us perfectly. Because Kate so expertly managed all the big details, I was able to truly enjoy the months leading up to the wedding. I had the time to focus on some small custom details only because I wanted to and enjoy, rather than stress, about these projects. I brought some custom cocktail napkins, leaf placecards, printed menus, individual thank you notes, and a cake topper in my suitcase. One of my bridesmaids did a Costco run for alcohol and cut fruit for water and cocktails. Other than picking out my wedding dress and the rest of the bridal party's clothes, those were literally the only decisions I had to make. We could not imagine a more wonderful planning process and execution day of! Our friends and family haven't stopped raving about how wonderful and beautiful our wedding was. The catering was to die for (especially the lamb), and the bonfire was a big hit. We loved being able to mix and mingle with our guests and have meaningful conversations in one long table where we could see everyone.
My only regret with Sunshower Farms is that I can't use them again for more parties, since we live out of state. Sunshower was an incredible place to get married, but working with Kate put it over the top! -
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Hayley E. Sent on 02/15/2020
Book Sunshower Farms/Kate for the dream wedding, service and quality!
We found Kate and Sunshower Farms through WeddingWire and then did our own research by reading her reviews, blog posts and social media. At the time she didn’t have as many reviews, so it felt like a bigger risk to go with a mom and pop shop. But it was the BEST DECISION EVER!! Our wedding exceeded everyone’s expectations (including ours).
When reaching out to Kate she was friendly and organized. Besides being our location vendor, Kate was a jack of all trades and was also our wedding coordinator. From her previous weddings, she had an extensive menu of personal vendors that we could pick from. It was a fun and stress-free experience to select the vendors we wanted to work with. She also provided flexibility for our own creative concepts to book a “create your own lei” station. Due to the increase in bookings around the half-point mark of our wedding planning, she let us know we would have to book our own caterer. It was quite easy taking that role as she provided a list of recommended vendors who had worked with her before.
Kate guided us through the dress rehearsal and wedding day in a way that we felt at ease and at home. When we took photos with our photographer, she helped us with pointers and allowed us to take photos all around her farm. In result, we will have a huge variety of wedding photos that most others don’t have the opportunity to have. The venue itself was Instagram-able and unique! Our floral arrangements accentuated our tropical farm-to-table wedding theme. Feeding the goats was hilarious and taking photos with baby lambs was the cherry on top! We were told afterwards from our guests that the lambs were a hit.
Finally, what made it special, were the little above and beyond touches that Kate did for us (that you won’t get from a templated wedding venue). A few examples: At no extra charge, she provided our table with extra decorative dinner plates and colorful candles to create more color and pop. She also provided us with an album of high-quality photos and videos she had taken from her phone throughout the day—going above and beyond her role. It’s clear that she genuinely loves what she does and really cares about every one of her clients. She takes pride in her venue and work and is the idyllic model of what a wedding coordinator and venue host should be.
Thank you Kate for truly making our wedding!
Lots of love, Hayley & Anna -
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![Sarah]()
Sarah Y. Sent on 12/27/2019Sarah & Justin
It's hard to pick my favorite part about our wedding at Sunshower Farms. Kate was wonderful to work with. Her list of recommended vendors helped us to easily find people to work with, which was important for a destination wedding. And Kate herself always had a quick answer to any question we had. She listened to what we wanted out of our wedding and made sure every little detail was perfect. Kate was able to ask a few questions about what kind of food we wanted and she connected us to a caterer that matched our food style perfectly.
Her flower vendor blew me away. I asked for "tropical and bright" and was thrilled with the colorful and unique flowers that she used. I had a variety of orchids and beehive ginger and birds of paradise. I was so sad that I wasn't able to take them home with me to the mainland.
The venue was great for our small 18 person wedding. There were spaces for us to mingle and get to spend quality time with our guests. And the views!!! The pictures will never do it justice. The view out onto the ocean is stunning. Being among the coffee tree, tropical plants, and farm animals was absolutely perfect. I can't recommend Sunshower Farms enough!
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![KVencer]()
Florale Sent on 01/23/2021Our Big [Island] Day
I've been to so many weddings, but ours was by far my favorite!
It all started with my husband finding Sunshower Farms on Wedding Wire. Once we committed to a Hawaiian wedding, everything fell into place.
I can't stress enough how vital it was to have Kate in our corner. The one piece of advice I would give to every couple, no matter their budget, is to have day-of coordination. Her guidance and expert knowledge are spot on, especially since we were planning our wedding from NYC. Whenever we needed help with an aspect of the wedding, she weighed in or gave us an even better idea. We even found our amazing photographers through Sunshower Farms (they had their own wedding reception there!). Through our video chats, phone calls and emails, Kate took our ideas and did the impossible job of taking the stress out of planning a wedding. Meeting her for our rehearsal cemented the fact that Kate had our back. She was so sweet to our wedding party and even let my mom forage some of the fruit on her gorgeous farm.
The funny thing is that even though I technically knew everything we had planned from the pizza apps and the fresh coconuts to the live floral ceiling and the bonfire, it all felt brand new. There was no tension, no rushing, just magic.
Kate and her staff were amazing with our guests. They were super patient when things got mixed up on our end and had every detail down. Seamless and professional with the warmth you expect from Hawaii. To this day, Kate is still thought of fondly by so many of my family and friends, some of whom still order coffee from the farm!
Thinking back, I can picture the dreamy fog rolling up the mountain, my husband on his second coconut pulling me close as we survey the twinkle lights and foliage hanging over the people we love most in the world.
Thank you so much Kate and Sunshower Farms for giving us these perfect memories to look back on. Chris and I hope to celebrate with you again soon.
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![Andie]()
Andie S. Sent on 01/22/2020Best day ever
I would STRONGLY recommend Sunshower Farms and Kate Hickey for all of your wedding needs. We had the best day and we didn't have to worry about a single thing because Kate took care of EVERYTHING. She was so good at keeping things on schedule and making sure we got to do everything we wanted to do.
The farm is absolutely breathtaking. You can have a sunset dinner overlooking the ocean up in the mountains! How much better could you get? Kate had great photo opportunities picked out to hold baby goats or chicks, or take a picture in the coffee fields :) We feel absolutely blessed that we found this location and that we had the privilege to work with Kate! We had about 50 guests up there and it felt perfect :) -
Marlene Sent on 11/28/2019
If you want something different, look no further
I am so very happy that I chose Kate and her venue to be apart of my special day. First of all, if you decide to get married at Sunshower Farms, you can choose Kate (the owner) to coordinate your wedding as well. Let me start off by saying Kate, the event coordinator is AMAZING. She truly goes above and beyond for her clients, she treats your special day like it's hers. I feel that she put in way more hours and time than what I compensated her for. She organizes everything, from caterers, music, florals, etc. She has a list of recommendations that you can choose from, which makes it much easier being such a small island, and especially if you’re having a destination wedding and don’t know any vendors.
As for the venue, it was absolutely breathtaking. My kids were able to pet and feed the goats during our reception, as well as the baby chicks. The venue takes you way into the country since it is on a coffee farm and it was an awesome experience seeing the island and driving up to the farm. The views that you can get from the farm were beautiful, you could see the ocean and the coast line from the house. We had about 65 guests which was on the larger side, but the way Kate set everything up there was more than enough room for 100 guests. We had a cocktail style reception, which I enjoyed because everyone got to walk around, socialize, eat and take in the beautiful surroundings. Kate takes GREAT detail in setting up the decor, florals, furniture and any extra things you send over to her (for example, we had yard games, a guest book area with pictures). As a Native Hawaiian, my vision was to perpetuate my culture in my wedding and Kate helped me do this. We had a Native Hawaiian wedding officiant that oli (chanted) while I was walking down the aisle, I danced hula for my new husband with our daughters and we were able to have a state champion fire knife dancer to wrap up the night.
When I show people pictures or videos of my wedding that tell me it looks like a DREAM. And it truly did look and feel like a dream. It was such a beautiful experience that I know my guests and my husband and I will remember forever. If you’re looking for something different look no further. Although, I live on Oahu (an island over from the Big Island) I could not have possibly got a wedding like this. From the traditional Hawaiian ceremony, to seeing my kids feed the goats, floral decor, the bonfire pit, the smores bar, the fire knife dancing, the views, the remote drive up, It was anything short from DIFFERENT. If you’re looking for something different that will WOW you and your guests and be in their memory forever, that you can totally customize to your liking while having an awesome friend (Kate) there to support you and make sure you get EVERYTHING you want on your special day LOOK NO FURTHER. When I booked Kate, I wanted something different, not a traditional banquet style wedding, but a wedding that no one has ever experienced before (including myself) and I got just that. Mahalo nui loa to Kate and her awesome wedding team!
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![Darryl]()
Darryl Sent on 05/15/2019Perfect Wedding on the Big Island of Hawaii
We had our wedding in April 2019 with the ceremony held in Kona and the reception held on the farm. This review will be regarding both Kate's coordination and arrangement and also the reception venue (Sunshower Farms). We are not physically located in Hawaii so we had to do all of this from overseas.
Firstly, we knew we wanted the reception at the farm due to its intimacy and dedication to using local ingredients, having a personalized menu, and a simple, rustic arrangement. We booked a call with Kate through email in October 2018 and she was quick to respond and go through all the details with us on how to go about hosting the reception on-site. From start to finish, Kate was professional and organized on the reception front.
For the ceremony, we actually tried reaching out to another partial coordinator but with no response - so we turned to Kate asking her if she had any suggestions! Luckily, she also does off-site coordination for ceremonies and I can't stress enough that she made our lives easier by finding literally every vendor for us (except photographer as we had a specific one in mind) - including our officiant, refreshments, hair and make-up, flowers and decor, musician, and more. She even went down to the ceremony venue on our behalf and took photos and videos for us as we were unable to see the venue ourselves. There was absolutely no fuss with any of the vendors, everything was planned properly and according to the budget we've discussed - it all came together on the day of the wedding with no delays, setbacks, or vendor issues in any way.
We did have a bit of a rain scare on the wedding day, our ceremony was at 11:30 but it was still pouring at 9:00! Unsure if we could continue with the outdoor ceremony, Kate was quick to come up with alternative plans and communicated all our options to us clearly and effectively despite the stress that both of us were feeling. Fortunately the rain stopped by 10:00, and Kate and her team were able to set up for the ceremony to start at 11:30 on the dot!
Personally, I (the groom) am an extremely organized and methodical person - think Monica from Friends, or Amy from Brooklyn Nine Nine. I was impressed with Kate's abilities to stay on top of everything and continued to remind us of everything we had to do days or weeks before the deadlines. Even though I felt overwhelmed with all the details that had to be covered, she managed to stay on top of everything. This is in addition to the other weddings and events she was coordinating in parallel.
Overall, we found Kate's coordination services and reception venue at Sunshower Farms to be outstanding. We've been married for a month now and our friends and family are still talking about everything from the venues to the cake! We would be very keen on hosting another dinner party/private event there if we could ever gather family and friends all in Hawaii again. -
![Samantha]()
Samantha L. Sent on 05/15/2019Samantha and Jeremy
We chose to have an intimate wedding at Sunshower Farms, and it was the best decision we could have ever made. Kate made the process from start to finish so stress free, fun and wonderful. It was a beautiful and memorable day for us and our families. I loved all of the animals on the farm too!
I searched for so many venues on the Big Island and Sunshower Farms was our #1 choice. Everything about the venue was breathtaking. We got to enjoy dinner with an amazing view looking out towards the ocean, and the sunset after a light rain made for perfect wedding photos.
I was really happy with how Kate made the entire planning process so easy. It was obvious to see that she has organized and coordinated a lot of weddings. She was also very quick to respond to our questions and set up calls to make sure everything was figured out for our destination wedding. We are so glad we got married here and highly recommend you choose Sunshower Farms too! -
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![Sharene]()
Sharene B. Sent on 03/01/2019Chance and Sharene Wedding
Kate and the crew helped us out so much during our wedding. They handled EVERYTHING and it all went smoothly! Kate told me that I was one of the calmest brides she’s ever met and honestly, I stayed calm because of her. She helped me plan out everything in less than 2 months before the wedding date. I originally had it somewhere on Oahu but I always kept coming back to this place on Wedding Wire because how beautiful it was. Plans had to change due to a family emergency so I was so happy to have it on the big island! I knew exactly where I wanted to have our wedding, which was Sunshower Farms! Everyone enjoyed their time here! The kids loved the games and animals, my son had a blast meeting the animals, everyone felt so comfortable, everything was set up so beautifully and to end the night, we had a bonfire with s’mores! Our family complimented our wedding so much and we couldn’t thank Kate and the crew enough! Everyone enjoyed their time here and this place made it very special for me and my husband! Thank you again for everything you guys done for us! We appreciate and love you all! I’m not only saying this cause it was our wedding but THIS WAS THE BEST WEDDING EVER! -
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Grace C. Sent on 05/18/2019
We love bragging about our wedding at Sunshower Farms! Everything was perfect!
Sunshower Farms was great for our wedding. Everything went off without a hitch and we couldn't have dreamt of a better venue for our wedding! Kate was so helpful. She crafted the perfect decorations, coordinated all of our vendors, and planned a seamless event for our friends and family. All of our guests had a great time and talk up our wedding all the time. Our recently engaged friends have said they want to have a destination wedding after seeing the photos from our wedding.
Kate was also transparent about the pricing and our friends were amazed when we told them how much our wedding cost. No one believes us when we tell then we had a wedding for less money than a random hotel ballroom in the suburbs.
I can't speak enough positive praise for Kate and Sunshower Farms. We even got to take some coffee home and a great way to relive that day and all of those memories. Thank you Kate! -
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![Theresa]()
Theresa Sent on 05/15/2019Intimate Hawaiian Experience
Sunshower Farms was amazing! Kate did an outstanding job planning and organizing our wedding to match our wants and needs as a non-traditional same-sex couple. Kate smoothly managed all the details through email, phone and video calls, and her relaxed attitude is incredibly accommodating and fun. Though we were more than welcome to find our own preferred caterer, we had Kate locate a caterer based on the type of food and the budget per-plate we’d chosen. The food was fantastic and Kates knowledge and personal relationships with local vendors is invaluable! Often, bad catered food can be the only thing people remember from a wedding but that was certainly NOT the case here – the food was so good it was almost forgetful, but only in the best of ways! Our guests focused on talking, laughing and celebrating while being finely wined and dined. Oh, and Kate used bananas from her own farm in our fruit plater and I honest haven’t stopped thinking about them since – SO DELICIOUS.
The location and hillside farmhouse were also unbelievable perfect! We choose to get married at sunset, and on the day the farm was covered in beautiful blue mist. When booking Sunshower we loved the huge ocean views and hoped for a clear day. However, on our special Mother Nature decided otherwise – and it was the best decision she’s ever made for us. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL! And intimate, and cozy, and cool (compared to HOT Kona), and relaxing, and tropical, and and and! We had a small wedding and for our less than 20 guests, the house and grounds were plenty big enough for mingling and dancing.
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Benita Sent on 06/19/2018Our experience was fantastic. Kate had such great taste and made the wedding absolutely beautiful. Her communication is clear and she made sure that everything was what I wanted despite the fact that at times I was indecisive. Me and my family were all impressed. Definitely recommend!
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![Tyler]()
Tyler H. Sent on 05/27/2019The Wedding of our Dreams
My wife Suzie and I were married at Sunshower Farms last fall and had the wedding of our dreams! Our friends and family that attended still tell us all the time how great of a wedding it was, how beautiful the venue was and how great of a job the staff did to make it a great evening for all of us.
Kate was amazing to work with through the entire process of planning our wedding. We planned the wedding from Alaska just working with Kate over phone calls and emails to make the plans. She customized the wedding to our preferences, let us choose everything we wanted to and then took care of everything for us. It turned out amazing! Working with Kate made planning a wedding easier than I ever imagined. Planning a wedding is normally time consuming and stressful, but not when you work with Kate.
Our wedding was a perfect blend of inside areas, outside areas and cool places for people to hang out everywhere you look. Kate arranged our photography, catering and music with people she had previously worked with and all of them were excellent as well. We had an amazing meal featuring fresh foods and coffee from the farm. We had a bon fire. We watched the stars at night. There is nothing we could have added to make it a better day. It was perfect. Kate made sure of that so we could enjoy the day with our closest friends and family and that's exactly what we did.
I would recommend Kate and Sunshower farms to anyone looking for a beautiful Hawaiian venue for a wedding or any type of event. Thank you again for everything Kate! -
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Michael Sent on 11/29/2017The wedding that almost wasn't!
We were having our wedding on a property next door to Sunshower Farms, and were using Kate for coordination, flowers, and cake. Disaster struck the afternoon of our wedding, as a torrential downpour turned our outdoor venue into a lake. Kate offered her own home to us and with only a 2 hour delay converted her own living room into a dance floor, and her patio into a stunning ceremony site. She did such a great job that our guests had no idea that it was not the original site for our wedding. It was truly an amazing experience working with her and we could not recommend Sunshower Farms any more! -
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