Wedding Central Forum

Hi

My FH and I are getting married in Oahu November 2012. We both love Hawaii and was the obvious choice for us as we were going back to Hawaii next year for a holiday so thought why not get married there. We are inviting about 50 guests, hoping for around 25 - 30 guests will be able to come.

Our ceremony location is Paradise Cove which is located about 45 mins from Waikiki (we will be providing transport for our guests to and from Paradise Cove) and the reception is back in Wakiki at Tiki's in The Coconut Club which is located on the 21st floor of the Resort Quest Waikiki Beach Hotel. We are having the reception on the balcony which overlooks Waikiki Beach, the views are amazing.

Here is a link for Paradise Cove and the menu for Private Dining at Tiki's. I have some photos of the Coconut Club and some more of Paradise Cove that my wedding planner has emailed to me, if you would like to see them just PM me your email address and I can email them to you.

http://paradisecove.com/CustomEvents/Ph ... cation.htm

http://www.restauranteur.com/tikis/menu ... i%20Buffet

Our wedding planner is Diana from Oahu Wedding and she has been fantastic so far. She is very friendly, responds to emails promptly and sets up phone calls when is suits you but really no later then midnight Hawaii time. Her website is

http://oahuwedding.com/index.html

We are only in the very early stages of planning so most of the planning won't be done until next year. At this stage we have booked the ceremony, reception, hair & makeup and musician for the ceremony.

We also looked at having our ceremony at Kualoa Ranch and Anela Gardens. The only thing with Anela Gardens is they are closed for the month of May or June and November for weddings. Diana had a lot of other options for us but I am unable to remember them.

http://www.kualoa.com/

http://www.anelagarden.com/

If you decide to get married in Hawaii you could also have a celebration of your wedding when you return home and invite the people that we not able to make it to Hawaii.

Hope this helps you.

Mel

Hi!

We are getting married in Maui in March 2012.. I'm excited to have another possible Hawaiian bride on the forum (so far it is just me and Hawaii Wedding, as well as Island Princess who got married there in 2010 - she has great advice!).

We have gone with http://www.hawaiiwedding.com and Larry has been great. Very quick to reply to emails, and answer all my questions. We are getting married on Poolenalena Beach (south west of Maui) followed by dinner at the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort and Spa. We have booked a private room in their 'Mala' restaurant and their functions co-ordinator, Whitney Stebbins has been great.

There are so many wedding coordination companies that it is really hard to choose. I suppose alot comes down to budget, and how formal you would like your day. Our ceremony isnt overly formal, but we have chosen the traditional Hawaiian ceremony and I cant wait (have a look at their sample ceremony types on the website if you like).

There are so many options to choose from, with formal resort style weddings, intimate beach and rainforest weddings, large receptions and small intimate dinners. You can literally choose however much you want to spend and find something to suit you in that price range.

We chose a destination wedding as we did not want to invite alot of people, and wanted it to be relaxing and fun for everyone (ourselves and our guests). As guests ,we have enjoyed destination weddings the most out of all the weddings we have been to ( we have been to destination weddings in Broome and Thailand). We invited 64 people and 22 are coming. Perfect!

In saying this, a destination wedding isnt as stress free as you would think, sometimes the distance causes more problems, you cant really SEE anything before you book it (i have a hair and makeup artist booked but cant do a trial with her beforehand) - in saying that, lots of things are less stress than if we had a wedding here. We are not doing lots of the traditional reception stuff (no cake, no dance, no centrepieces etc because we are just having a lovely private restaurant dinner to celebrate with our family and friends (And I know you can do that here, but it is easier to ignore traditions like that for a small destination wedding.)

We are getting married on a Wednesday so people can just travel for 1 week (weekend to weekend). We are trying to make it a real holiday for our guests, and are arranging a cocktail hour the night before the wedding for guests to meet each other etc.

I would suggest deciding on a location first ( so in Hawaii, decide what island you would like to get married on (each island is very different apparently), and then decide if you want a resort wedding (generally more expensive) or a wedding coordinator for a beachwedding etc...I guess when it comes down to choosing a wedding coordinator, we went for professional looking websites and photographs, reasonable prices, and good customer service (we contacted a few), or personal recommendations if you know someone who has used a service. We also have never been to Hawaii, but it just looks like heaven to us.

Hope this helps, and let us know what you decide! Cant wait to hear your plans, whether you decide on Hawaii or WA (My FH is from WA originally and we have been there a few times - I love it, and Yallingup is beautiful

Hi ladies,

Thank you so much for your advice... it has helped me like you would not believe!! Yesterday I was sitting in front of my lap top feeling totallly overwhelmed with trying to arrange a wedding in Hawaii... there just seems to be so many options.

So far since reading your messages I have decided the following (if we go ahead with Hawaii):

1) We will probably have it in Oahu purely because I believe flights from Perth / Sydney only fly into Oahu (Honolulu) and I don't really want to put my guests out with further travel if possible. Also, it appears the shopping and the surf will be great. Myself and my FH also want to see Pearl Harbour and I think a number of guests will want to visit there too. I also want to go to Wet n Wild with my family and friends (the big kid coming out in me!!! )

2) Mel, I have had a look at your wedding planner and I think they look amazing. The website compared to a number of others I have looked at sits perfectly right with me. It looks professional and the website is easy to read / follow. The photographs look absolutely stunning. As for the one suggested by "Hawaiin Wedding" your wedding planner in Maui looks just as amazing... but there is no point with me going with them if we get married in Oahu.

3) I have looked at the options provided by your wedding planner Mel and I have sent off a request for a quote. I have listed in my options to get married at Waialae Beach Park with a beach reception. I have put HEAPS of added extra's so gosh knows how much it will cost... but I'm sure it would be amazing and we can always make changes if needed.

4) My FH and I would like to get married on the 5 November 2012 as it is our anniversay of the day we met So Mel, we may be in Oahu at the same time!!

Hawaiin Wedding... you don't have long to go... you must be so excited!! You will have to keep us updated with everything and let us know how it all goes:) I'm sure it will be perfect.

Anyway ladies... this is becoming a novel. Was great to meet you on here... I hope we can chat some more and share ides's. Take care:)

I think you are already in love with the idea of Hawaii ...

It really does sound like you have decided to get married in Hawaii, I am sooo excited for you. Hawaii really is fantastic. There is so much to see and do in Oahu and the shopping is fantastic, we buy and spend heaps. I can certainly give you a list of things to do and see if you do decide to get married there.

Oahu Wedding will have so many other options for you, the proposal really is only a guide to give them an idea of what you are looking at. We have already made so many changes since we first submitted our proposal to them. Diana really has some wonderful ideas.

There is every chance we will be in Oahu the same time, we are getting married 12 November and are flying to Hawaii on 7 November.

Can't wait to find out where you decide to get married and watching all your plans come together.

If you need any help at all with anything at all regarding Hawaii wedding on Oahu, I'll be happy to help you with any questions at all you may have. Feel free to pm me anytime

Hi ladies....

Thanks for your replies!! I am totally in love with the idea of getting married in Hawaii... We just need to sort out a few things with getting family members to come over first!!

I have a phone meeting with Oahu Weddings in the new year... So we'll see how it goes!! I'll keep you updated!!:)

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas... Best wishes for the New Year 2012... The year we'll be getting married - woot

Take care and will chat soon.

Lexii. xx

Any decision yet? Would love to hear!

Island Princess is your contact she knows all about it

Hey ladies,

I thought I would just update you all. Unfortunately due to the unforseen decline in my future father in law's health we will not be having our wedding in Hawaii; however it will be our first stop on our honeymoon AND maybe one day we will renew our vows there.

We have made a decision to have our wedding in the beautiful south west of Western Australia.... so we are still having our "destination wedding" and it will still be a "beach wedding." The ceremony will be on the grass just in front of the beach in Dunsborough and our reception will be at a winery in Yallingup which is one that is special to both of us.

Our wedding day is going to be Wednesday the 12 December 2012.... we thought that this would be special and dates like this only come around once in 100 years!! SO I FINALLY HAVE A DATE and the planning has begun.

Christie (Island Princess) - I will be in touch in relation to some "save the date" cards and invitation idea's. Despite not getting married in Hawaii.... I love your designs and am hoping you might be able to come up with something that would suit our wedding.

I hope things are well with everyone:)

Take care,

Lexii.

Hey Lexii,

Sorry to hear about your FH's dads health and that you won't be getting married in Hawaii. At least you will be going there on your honeymoon, you will love it.

Congratulations on setting your date and finding the location for your wedding. That part of WA is lovely and I am sure your wedding will be lovely. At least you are still getting your 'destination wedding' and 'beach wedding'.

Good luck with all your planning and I hope your FH's dads health starts to improve soon.

Mel