Olawalu help!

Re: Olawalu help!

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  PugRolls member

  

  November 2009 edited December 2011

  Olowalu really is amazing, but if you're committed to sticking to a budget you really do have to make compromises.  (For example, we went with Costco flowers and cakes instead of fancy ones, which saved us a ton of money).  Catering was by far the biggest chunk of our budget.  Knottie ecoffey saved a bunch of money by providing only heavy appetizers instead of a full meal.  And of course, because catering is per-person, the fewer people you have, the less expensive it will be.  I used Lori Lawrence for my coordinator and we got all of our outside rentals through her (which didn't cost us any extra because she used to charge a flat rate instead of a percentage -- not sure if that's true anymore).  Any coordinator you use will provide you with a detailed estimate of costs, including all outside rentals.  It's very helpful to look at the estimate because you can see where you're willing to make cuts to stay within your budget.  I say, get estimates from a few different coordinators and go from there.Olowalu is totally worth it!  HTH!

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  nahokulele

  

  November 2009 edited December 2011

  Hi there, hope the baby prep is going well! Everyone's budget will vary greatly, I'm sure, but here's a rough breakdown of mine, for approx. 80 pp...so yours could be a lot less comparatively. Prices that vary per person:Catering - $80pp including tax and service - Cafe O'Lei (you can cut cost a lot here--food is one of our splurges; our caterer includes dishes and silverware, glasses, etc.)Rentals (table, chairs, linens, lighting) - approx. $2400 - Pacific Isle RentalsPrices that don't vary per person:Site rental - Saturday - $4kDance floor - $700, but you don't have to have a dance floor--there is a concrete pad that is good enoughLive music for ceremony, cocktail hour and dinner - Cambria Moss (ceremony), Jamie Lawrence (cocktails, dinner) approx. $1k (again you can really cut costs here if you want)DJ for after dinner dancing - $700 - Ace BeatsWedding coordinator - Lori LawrenceThen there's the other stuff--photographer, minister, etc, but that's not necessarily Olowalu specific.  We are having a bartender, Stacy from Maui Bars R Us, but you get to buy your own alcohol, so that helps on the cost.Hope that helps!

  
  
  

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  kaesha

  

  November 2009 edited December 2011

  Our budget was like this for 31 people:Olowalu: 2500$Food: 90$ p/p (passed pupus, plated salad and a buffet dinner)Cake: 250$ (served 50)Lighting: 1000$Rentals (tables, linens, etc): 780$Flowers: 900$Servers/chef: 1200$You can definitely dance on their spruced up floor - we used Celebrations Catering for the food & cake and our guests are still raving about it.

  
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  KKakes member

  

  November 2009 edited December 2011

  Here are the costs for Olowalu on a Monday (off their website): Monday thru Thursday • Full Day Rate (10am-10pm) Under 50 people $2500.00 Our budget (kind of) was: - $70 per person for catering (we used Longhi's Catering and it was AMAZING!) This price included pupu's and dinner http://www.longhiscatering.com/ - $400 cake (we had 51 people) - $45 per person for bar (we had them bring the booze, if you bring your own it is cheaper) - Flowers...ours were too much money. I wish I would have done them myself but I just never knew how over priced they were until it was too late and they wouldnt let me go back on our contract. Go to Costco....or even Safeway in Lahaina has great prices. You can use pineapples as centerpieces as well as decorating the aisle too which could be cheap - DJ was around $2,000 I think...but to save money, I would do an IPod wedding! - Chairs - will run you anywhere from $3-15 depending on the kind you want. - Minister...is anyone in your family an ordained minister? You could get a family member or friend to sign up to get one (my friend just did this for her sisters wedding. She just applied through the mail and she was legally allowed to marry them!) Otherwise that is around $200. - Wedding Coordinator....Don't use one and that will save you TONS!! I WISH so bad that I would have just done a day of coordinator. Mine was a complete waste of money and would have worked just fine for the day of stuff only (which is pretty much all she did anyway). Plus, with that amount of guests, you should be fine with day of help We paid extra for things like chairs and tents, but you certainly don't need them! That property is so stunning you could just sit on grass and be SO HAPPY!!!!

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  ETweet member

  

  November 2009 edited December 2011

  Congratulations on the upcoming baby and wedding! Lots of exciting things to come in your future. We're getting married at Olowalu on a Monday as well with about 40 people and we're being charged about $2800 (with taxes and everything). Our overall budget is $15K and we are trying hard to stick to it. To do so we are having to make some sacrifices like the others said. Photography - Shawn Starr was the first person we booked. We booked him over a year in advance so are saving some money by doing that. We locked him in on last years rates at $2500. Food - Our biggest expense that we were willing to splurge on a bit. We're going with Aloha Events Catering at $80/person. Alcohol - We're also having a separate bar service come in but are purchasing the alcohol ourselves. Maui Bars R Us quoted us about $800 for the service and an additional suggestion of $300 for the alcohol. Music - We haven't decided on who will be performing at our ceremony and dinner but are opting out of a DJ all together and sticking to an iPod for dancing tunes. Flowers & Cake - Still debating on if we are going with Costco or going with actual vendors. We're having minimal flowers anyways so I feel comfortable with Costco in that aspect. However with dessert we are having a dessert bar and might go with a bakery for that as we're picky about our food. Rentals - You have a lot of ability to cut costs here. Choice in chairs, tables, lighting, etc can vary considerably. We just started working on this one so I don't have great quotes for you here. You can cut some costs by chosing white linens over colored, white chairs over chivari, going with only day of coordinator compared to full coordination (I wish I did), splitting costs of random things with another bride if possible (I am!), combining the food and alcohol service together, etc. The brides here have such good advice for working on a budget. Ask lots of questions, look for bargains, and be willing to be flexible.

  

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  stace42

  

  November 2009 edited December 2011

  Thank you so much for all of the information and cost saving tips - you have no idea how much this helps! We sat down and worked out a budget last night and it looks like it is going to work so I am just waiting to hear back from Lori to see if Olowalu is available for our date. Thanks again ladies and I look forward to spending more time on this board as I officially start my planning.

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