Help with planning a wedding in Hawaii

If i'm not mistaking Maui Bride will be a great person to chat with b/c she in getting married there. GOOD LUCK!

I 2nd asking Maui bride, shes the only one i can think of on here right now that will be good to help you.

We went on our honeymoon to oahu and stayed at the sheraton waikiki and they had 2 weddings there in the 10 days we were there & 2 at the place next door. they were aboslutely beuatiful

Great! Thank you!

I got married in Maui and used Lisa at Enchanted Weddings of Maui, www.mauiweddingvows.com. She answered all my questions, got everything organized and it was wonderful.

We honeymooned on Maui -- we stayed at the Kamaole Sands. 200 feet from a beach public access. Affordable and clean condos with full kitchens, may be a great place for you or your family to stay. It's in Kihei, about 30 minutes from the airport.

I am getting married on the big island next month. The vendors I will be using go to any island. That being said. If you go to Ohau the cost to your guests is the lowest. That will be something they consider when they decide if they will come to your wedding. One of the out of the way places that is amazing on Ohau is turtle bay resort. They do weddings all the time. The locals use them the most. Consider having the wedding on a weekday since this will be a vacation for all the guests a Saturday wedding is not a priority.

http://www.turtlebayresort.com/Romance/weddings_overview.asp

Most of the major hotels do wedding packages. There are wedding planners on most islands. Maui seems to be a favorite of those that visit Hawaii often. If you know what island you want I could maybe help with logistics.

I am getting so close to my day that I am jumping around like a little kid.

Also consider having the Wedding on one island and the honeymoon on a different island. We will honeymoon on Kauai.

We honeymoon.d n Maui.... We stayed in kanapali(city) the westin resort and villas saw 3 brides during r stay... The hotel staff and scenery is absolutely fab

@Faith, We also stayed at the Westin on Kaanapali. It was beautiful! Right next to the beach, huge pool, there were even some parrots and other birds just hanging out on a luggage cart one day!

The Marriott Hotel on Kauai Has a little chapel by the sea you can get married in... my mom joked about me needing to have my wedding there since it's where I grew up... not to mention my dad works there A lot of brides also have their wedding on the beach there at the Marriott. (though to stay at, the Hyatt is much more fun... they have beautiful grounds too that you could marry at)

Kauai is a great place for the honeymoon if you just want to relax! If you are looking for more things to do like any shopping etc, go to oahu.

Wow, thanks ladies! This is my first day on this site and didn't expect so many posts of advice!

We want to keep our Nov 20th date (sunday) because that will be our official anniversary, but i have noticed some venues charge you a bit less on a Sunday vice Saturday.

I'm going to google all these places and see what works best for our wants/budget. @Amy, yes,i have been to turtlebay's page and it seems just perfect. We just want to take into consideration how much it will cost for our friends/family to stay at the resort as well.

@Samazing, are you a military brat by chance? (no offense). I'm active duty military, and we've been asking dozens of hotels if they give military discounts/rates. haha. some hotels don't take kindly to that, i've noticed. But anyway, Marriots are always quite nice, so i will check that out too! Thanks again.

@Mary Beth omg lol...wasn't it sooooo pretty I feel in love

@Faith There was a rainbow every single day we were there! I want to go back, we said we'd go for our 5 year anniversary...oops, that's about 2 weeks away! Maybe our 6 year???

Sansarae- you can get married on the beaches, it just depends on where and if the hotel "claims" part of the beach. We got married not directly in front of the Westin because that was "their" beach and I would have had to use their wedding planner. Just about 10 steps over from "their" beach and we were fine! LOL

@Sansarae, Your family can stay anywhere as turle bay is about a 1 hour drive from the Waikiki. There are tons of deals from pleasant Hawaiian holidays that could work to save money.

@Samazing, FH's Uncle works for the four seasons. We are having the wedding at his Aunt and Uncles home. All of our vendors do four Season weddings. It is wonderful to have family in amazing places.

Hey! So glad to meet another Hawaii bride! Glad I came across this post! A few questions:

-Which island would you prefer? Oahu or Maui (i went to college on Oahu and am getting married on Maui so I actually know quite a bit about both at this point!)

-Do you want a resort wedding/private venue/show up at the beach and get married?

-How many people do you "really think" will attend? 50 or less? 75 or less? etc.

-Lastly, I hate to ask but what is your budget? Hawaii is a VERY expensive place to get married (our budget has ohhhhh tripled since we started...ugh) so just be forewarned. The prices your friends quote who get married in the states is about 1/4 of the prices quoted on Maui.

Feel free to message me! Welcome to WW!

Hi Maui Bride,

Thanks for finding this! I was a little resistant to look you up, i haven't really learned all the "do's" and "don'ts" of this site.

I'm looking to have a medium-sized wedding of about 50 guests (i think only about 35 will show up though). My hubby and i have family coming from Oregon, Maryland, Nigeria, and London. We'd like to have guests arrive on Friday and spend the weekend with us, going on a little hike, golfing, lounging by the pool, and various group activities...kinda like a family reunion.

I'd still like the Chapel experience. i imagine wide open doors and windows of a chapel near the beach. I'm ok with some onlookers. A sunset wedding!

We want to keep our budget under $10k, not including my dress and accessories, invitations. We're paying for it ourselves. I would really like to have a plated reception. I'd like to have a dance floor as well. I want the wedding to be formal, but both of our families love to dance and party.

I would love any recommendations!

I think you can do the $10,000 but be very carful and be sure you look at every detail of what is included in the venue and from the vendors. In planning our wedding I keep getting hit with little extra costs. Fortunately FIL’s are picking up most of the bill. Here is a partial list of our costs.

Photographer 4 hours $2000

Videographer 2 hours $800

Officiant Hawaiian ceremony $350

Cake Taramisu 2 layer $300

Flowers $500

Caterer $92 per person includes tax 30 guests $2790

3 bedroom rental house 5 nights $1350

Venue FH aunt’s house $0

Total of the big stuff $8090

I left out flights, rental cars, and the cost of being in Hawaii. There are decorations and champagne yet to buy. I am expecting to go for broke at Costco.

I will definitely spend the entire $10,000 for this wedding.

Th dress, rings and Honeymoon are a whole different budget.

@Sansarae ... No I am not a military brat my family just thought hawaii would be a safe place to raise us as kids... I was born in Sacramento CA. Grew up in HI, and now in OR.

Here is a link to a pic of the Chapel by the Sea at the Marriott

http://bellamodaphoto.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/hawaiian-weddings-my-favorite-location-picks/

http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-2871559/stock-photo-chapel-by-the-sea