Unbelievable views:

Help!? Please...

This is a follow up RE: Wedding Planner Update post from last week...

Shark Dive - Hawaii Shark Encounters - They were awesome.  Very laid back.  There were 12 people on the boat, so 6 in each dive group.  It was a 15 min ride out, then we went in the cage first for 20 or so minutes, then the other group, then a ride back.  I get slightly sea sick, but this was insane!!  I have never come so close to puking from seasickness, and another girl did.  The cage was really bouncy.  I thought that once I was in the water, I'd be fine, as I was floating, but since you're holding on to it, you bounce too.

I actually got out a couple of minutes early cos I felt so bad.  The tour guy hosed me down with warm water (amazing!!) and lent me a towel while I focused on the mountains.  They were great and had lots of educational information about the sharks to keep us enterained while the second group was down in the cage.  Totally recommend it if you're fine with either super big waves or don't mind puking over the side if you do get sick.  I can't post photos though cos our camera was HD and they're too big for TK

Surfing - North Shore Surf Adventures - Awesome too.  We had 2 instructor for out group of 6.  They took us out to a good beginner spot, gave us quick instructions and let us go for almost 2 hours.  Only bad thing was finding out at the end that they didn't take credit cards and having to borrow $50 or find an ATM at the end.  Thankfully we had the 4 groupons already paid for.        

We're going to be staying a week at the Wyndham Beach Villas on the East Coast and will be looking into having our ceremony at the Fern Grotto.  Any suggestions as to a nice dinner afterwards for us and his parents?  Oh and if anyone can recommend a wedding planner that isn't too overpriced I'd appreciate it too.

I'm sure I'll have a billion more questions as the days go by, so please be patient with me!!  

Do any of you ladies have information regarding the Hukilau Lanai in Kauai?  I am in the process of helping my sister plan her Sept. 2012 wedding in Kauai and stumbled across this beautiful venue last night.  We're waiting to hear back if the date is available but know you girls are always the best place to go for advice.

Has anyone had their wedding here?  If so, do you mind sharing your experience?   We're working with about a 40-45 person guest list and a pretty tight budget.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated for vendors as well, she needs it all. . .DJ, photographer. . .etc.

Thank you for your help and have a great weekend~

Laura

It hasbeen a very difficult time for me and my family.  My Mother's cancer is no longer in remission.  The last thing in my mind right know is the wedding.  Until my mother is healthy again we will start the wedding plans.  

I wish you all the best of luck in your marriages ;) ;) ;) 

Debi@olaproperties.com

http://www.thekoteam.com/Honolulu_HI,_Ko_Olina,_KoOlina,_Kapolei,_Waikiki,_Ewa_Beach_listings/Rentals_-_Furnished_listings.shtml

So our wedding was in Lanikuhonua and we had about 90 guests. We had our welcome party at Paradise Cove Luau. We liked the idea of everyone staying a Ko Olina Beach Villas since it was walking distance but if you look at the KOBV website it was typically expensive so we were super glad to find Debi at Ola Properties. 

They are a condo management company that manages rental from private owners (sorta like VRBO) and theu was able to offer us a better price and a group discount of the same exact condos! I was able to find Debi through one of my random internet searches. We booked 6 or 7 condos through her and stayed for a week. 

Each condo had 3 bedrooms/3 bathrooms and had phenomenal views. I think someone opted for a 2 bedroom plus pull-out couch condo too to save a little money. Anyway, the condos were amazing. Every room was clean, large, spacious, had amazing views, all the amenities you could ask for. A lot of our guests  who stayed at the condos kept complimenting our choice and kept saying that it was the nicest place they have ever stayed at. =)

We did have a few guests who stayed at hotels in Waikiki for a few days and then stayed at the condo the remainder of the week and were still raving. And we had a few guests who thought they would save money by staying in Waikiki but after adding up the "parking fee", and "additional person fee", and "hotel fee", etc. they paid about the same per room and their rooms weren't as nice. So I definitely recommend Ko Olina Beach Villas.

Now about Debi and Ola Properties... I couldn't be any happier with their service. They totally hooked us up.

We started the process about 10 months before the wedding. The good thing is we were able to lock in the current rates before prices went up. My husband and I didn't want to deal with collecting everyone's money, so when we booked the condo, we just worked out a deal with Ola properties where Rich & I would place a deposit, and the guests would pay for themselves.

Debi was available through email and phone calls to deal with our crazy families and a lot of questions. Think -- 3 rooms per condo x 6 condos! That's a lot of family to deal with. 

Then, when we arrived they greeted us and showed us around the property and where everything was and how everything worked. They did that for all the guests that arrived =)

We had an issue with our post-wedding breakfast at a different location. The location we had originally chosen was no longer available. Debi heard about this and offered to host our breakfast at one of the club houses at a nearby property. She was able to accomodate all of our guests for breakfast and even took down a list of what we wanted her to pick-up for everyone. At the end, when we were trying to pay for the breakfast, her boss told her that it was his wedding present to us! We had about 60 mouths we fed. The extra food they donated to the VA.

They were absolutely amazing. They manage the properties they represent well. They are all about customer service. 

If you are getting married, I recommend beach tower 901. They have this private entryway into the unit that sorta gives it more of a wow factor than the other wow units. Let me know if you guys have any questions. I posted my vendor reviews a few days ago so let me know if you have questions on those as well!