Hawaii Wedding for $5,000 - Is that possible?

Re: Hawaii Wedding for $5,000 - Is that possible?

• bripratt2

  

  February 2013 edited February 2013

  In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_hawaii_hawaii-wedding-for-5000-is-that-possible?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:73Discussion:61828c07-e5ae-4adb-b2e5-767c6fef03f4Post:6066bab1-3970-4f39-998e-0b822a3c9f5b">Hawaii Wedding for $5,000 - Is that possible?</a>:
  [QUOTE]Hello! I am writing this post in hopes that I can get some help with planning a  wedding cermony and reception on the island of Oahu. My budget is $5,000 and I plan on having about 100 people attend (could be less). Is this possible? I have been looking around but everything seems so out of my budget! I do feel tho that maybe a packaged wedding with my reception at a resturant might be my best bet. But I'm hoping I could have other options for my budget as well. I  am planning my wedding from the mainland so any advice, suggestions, and help is appreciated!  :-) Thank you in advance! 
  Posted by sdbw57[/QUOTE]
  
  <div>
  </div><div>maybe.  Im looking at closer to 8k and we were hoping for five but i knew that wasnt realistic.  Now my guestlist is almost double yours but that 8k is after multiple favors, discounts, and bridal expo prizes.  My food is only five dollars a head Im not sure if theres anywhere else that will give a deal that good.  so even at only a hundred youre looking at atleast 1800 for food.  I think though if you really minimize and hunt like crazy for deals it could be possible.  I also reccomend if you know anyone local possibly get them on board for kamaaina discounts or if youre military get military discounts theyre about the same as kamaaina usually.  I hope more locals respond to you because I have a huuuuge local family and a tiny budget....</div>

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• Tanq&Tonic

  

  February 2013

  Everything is possible, but it's about prioritization, tradeoffs, and sticking to your budget.  Does $5k also include travel & attire, or is it just for the ceremony & reception?  You'll definitey have to look for simpler options - maybe Costco or casual catered picnic foods, sodas, etc.  Your best bet may be to find a small local restaurant and negotiate an all inclusive package for ceremony space and food, and consider your season -- try a week night, maybe even daytime wedding (morning ceremony + brunch), off-season, etc.

  
  

  Are most of your guests coming from HI?  One thing to consider is the cost of their travel v. your ability to host them.  I do feel that if you're asking people to fly 5+ hours and pay for a hotel to come to your wedding, you need to do more than just host the wedding reception.  Brunch, welcome dinner, paid excursion, etc as an extra event to thank them all for coming so far.

  

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• sdbw57 member

  

  February 2013

  In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_hawaii_hawaii-wedding-for-5000-is-that-possible?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:73Discussion:61828c07-e5ae-4adb-b2e5-767c6fef03f4Post:dd40efe1-540c-4261-8906-9d13e4e03317">Re: Hawaii Wedding for $5,000 - Is that possible?</a>:
  [QUOTE]In Response to Hawaii Wedding for $5,000 - Is that possible? : maybe.  Im looking at closer to 8k and we were hoping for five but i knew that wasnt realistic.  Now my guestlist is almost double yours but that 8k is after multiple favors, discounts, and bridal expo prizes.  My food is only five dollars a head Im not sure if theres anywhere else that will give a deal that good.  so even at only a hundred youre looking at atleast 1800 for food.  I think though if you really minimize and hunt like crazy for deals it could be possible.  I also reccomend if you know anyone local possibly get them on board for kamaaina discounts or if youre military get military discounts theyre about the same as kamaaina usually.  I hope more locals respond to you because I have a huuuuge local family and a tiny budget....
  Posted by bripratt2[/QUOTE]
  
  <div>Thank you for your response! I do hope more locals answer to my post as well. Both of our families are on Oahu and I do have friends there too so I may have to take advantge of the kama'aina rates. You are right, it's doable but I think I may have to cut back on certain things. I really wish I could take part in the bridal expos in Hawaii!</div>

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• sdbw57 member

  

  February 2013

  In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_hawaii_hawaii-wedding-for-5000-is-that-possible?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:73Discussion:61828c07-e5ae-4adb-b2e5-767c6fef03f4Post:d38b6e66-4073-42c1-99b5-df4f24216475">Re: Hawaii Wedding for $5,000 - Is that possible?</a>:
  [QUOTE]Everything is possible, but it's about prioritization, tradeoffs, and sticking to your budget.  Does $5k also include travel & attire, or is it just for the ceremony & reception?  You'll definitey have to look for simpler options - maybe Costco or casual catered picnic foods, sodas, etc.  Your best bet may be to find a small local restaurant and negotiate an all inclusive package for ceremony space and food, and consider your season -- try a week night, maybe even daytime wedding (morning ceremony + brunch), off-season, etc. Are most of your guests coming from HI?  One thing to consider is the cost of their travel v. your ability to host them.  I do feel that if you're asking people to fly 5+ hours and pay for a hotel to come to your wedding, you need to do more than just host the wedding reception.  Brunch, welcome dinner, paid excursion, etc as an extra event to thank them all for coming so far.
  Posted by Tanq&Tonic[/QUOTE]<div>
  </div><div>Thank you for repsonding! 5K is my budget for everything, with my max budget $15K. (We originally agreed to a $15K budget, but we want to keep it as low as possible - so if I can do it with 5K, that'll be great!) All those food options sound great! I think I will look into that. I did find a cemony package for under 1,000 yesterday so my next thing is food!</div><div> <p class="p1">We are planning on paying for our wedding party to fly out to Hawaii (A total of 5 people, 1 is already in Oahu so that works) they will stay at one of our parent's house (they both have big houses) and luckly both our immediate familes are on Oahu. You are right, if i was making them pay for everything I would at least do something nice so they feel good for coming!</p></div>

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• UnderTheEiffel member

  

  February 2013

  I originally started out with a 5k budget for our wedding of 30 people. Now we are looking at double that. I think you need to prioritize what is important to you. We are paying $2000 for the wedding package. $5000 for food and alcohol alone. Plus our welcome reception, plus photography, plus hair/makeup, plus favors, plus flowers.... you get the idea.
  
  Are your guests mostly local? If not ask yourself how many of them will really come... believe me we lost about half the people we invited, because for some reason, people dont want to fly to Hawaii (cant even imagine why :-) !!)
  
  Good Luck

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• SylviaJi member

  

  February 2013 edited February 2013

  Wow! Good luck! I'll be getting married on maui with a total bridal party of 34. Originally our budget was 10k, but it's almost doubled! *gulp*. We figured, people are spending a lot on airfare, lodging, taking time off work, and so we want to really treat them to a nice dinner and open bar. We had to factor in our own airfare & lodging, ceremony site fees, cost of alcohol, rehearsal dinner + drinks, car rental, honeymoon in maui, taxes, favors, flowers, gifts to bridesmaids and more, etc. and we hired a wedding planner to make the details easy. in short, now I see why some elope

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• destiny1108 member

  

  March 2013

  I think you're going to have to really look at your guest count, even on a low end of $25 a person that is half of your budget.    Our 80 person wedding was $38,000.

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