Hawaii — The Knot Community

Aloha Hawaii knotties:)

Mrsesparza2b — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 06:00:15 +0000

This is my first post.. congratulations to you all! I am getting married this October and we have decided on Maui!! I have been planning for a couple of months and now just searching for the perfect dress. Well just wanted to introduce myself:)

HOLY 4 days till the big day!!!

memegrace — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 06:44:00 +0000

Hey ladies, thanks for all your help over the past many months with all my questions!! Im super excited for everything that is to come and will for sure post reviews and pics when we get back!!!

Maui wedding/reception Venue: Gannon's vs. Napili Kai/Sea House, need help to decide

sachachowchow — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 05:36:53 +0000

Hello,

I am planning an early December wedding in Maui. Time is really sneaking up on me.

I have looked at Gannon's and Napili Kai for wedding venue and reception. Both place are available for the day I am looking for. The dilemma is which is better? Gannon's with great view, food, service, and Wailea's good weather in December. Vs. Napili Kai with beach side venue, casual ambiance, good food via Sea House, cheaper lodging for guests and Napili Beach! I Can't decide. Need imput. Please help!

Wedding Dress: CHECK :-)

FINALLYtobeMrsM — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:28:31 +0000

Hi Ladies,

I BOUGHT MY WEDDING DRESS THIS WEEKEND, WOOOHOOOO! Just had to get that off of my chest lol. It's Mori Lee Julietta Spring 2012 http://www.morilee.com/bridals/julietta/3111. The pictures do NOT do it justice. What you don't see in the pictures are the smattering of crystals all over the dress. It looks like diamonds were sprinkled all over the whole dress for just the right amount of light catching sparkle. 3 out of 4 of my fam and friends who were with me cried lol, I didn't even cry even though I am the cryer of the family. This dress made me feel so beautiful and sexy! I tried on about 5 dresses to gain perspective to see how much IN LOVE I really was (I had bought a wedding dress before out of sheer excitement and I wasn't doing THAT again), but when you know THE ONE nothing else compares. I'm so excited for my dress to come in! Should be here round about July-ish

American airlines

alx626 — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:28:12 +0000

Does anyone have an American airline promotion code for travel between end if April beginning of May that they wouldn't mind sharing? Or know how I could get one?

one more quest..! how do you move a post to another section?

memegrace — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 06:56:08 +0000

want to move for sale post to classifieds pls! thanks!

Wedding coordinator help!

janna1031 — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 20:40:52 +0000

I am getting married March 2013 at the Turtle Bay Resort and sooo lost in determing if we need to hire a wedding coordinator. From what I know so far, our catering manager is only helping with the resort side of things and not so much planning the event. I've done a lot of research already for photographers/florists and those types of things but can't seem to make a decision. Is hiring a coordinator really worth it???

Maui Brides - Gold & Silver Eastern-Inspired Candle Holders / Votives - Avail. 4.10.12

racholas — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 04:53:45 +0000

I will be selling approximately 40 gold & silver candle holders after my 4.8.12 wedding.

They're a bit larger than typical votive holders (so I'm hoping I can use tea lights and not worry about the wind) and they get rave reviews on Crate & Barrel.

Asking $4 each - will include any tea light candles I have left over, if any. Shipping may or may not be additional depending on how many you buy. I can also leave them somewhere on Maui if your wedding is just after mine (lorena224, schmizerdoll, lindseyag, etc.) though I can't imagine that you haven't figured out your table decor yet. I'm frighteningly behind!

Anyway, PM me if you're interested.

Busy season?

littlechilds — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 21:12:48 +0000

Just curious thats all. My WC keeps telling me she is swamped with March and April weddings (ours is May), but says she will get to our needs next week. Im a bit annoyed with being reminded how busy she, is, but I guess I can understand. Just curious if anyone else is in line with other weddings in the next several months?

Guest Attire

Sp2012 — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 05:27:21 +0000

Hi ladies!

FI asked me something about attire today. One of our female guests had asked if it flip flops were ok. I told him no, I don't want guests in flip flops or shorts.

So this made me wonder if I should put something on our website "Please dress comfortably, but no shorts, flip flops, or sneakers". I know we might not catch everyone with the website posting. I'm open to suggestions on nicely wording this.

The last wedding I went to was a formal (wedding party in tuxes) evening event, and it bothered me to see some of the guest children in sweatshirts and sneakers. I hope that doesn't offend, but it is my opinion.

What did/would you do?

Finished my Save the Dates!!

DazzlingDeb23 — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 04:41:41 +0000

Finally finished my save the dates!!! I know they are done a little bit early but I was just so excited that I had to finish them and share them!!

If you sent me a PM

kimmykupcakes — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:25:31 +0000

I had no idea I had so many. :) I replied to all of you. If anyone has any other questions, let me know.

Wedding Officiant Opinions

luilucinda — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 02:59:27 +0000

Hey! I'm new to the Hawaii board. I've been engaged almost a year and my FI and I finally decided to get married in Oahu.

We booked http://lovehawaii.com/ to do our wedding but I wanted to make sure that they are legit. We are on a small budget so they worked best for us.

Also we are looking for like a condo/ rental house to stay at with friends. Does anyone have any suggestions or good/bad reviews?

Also does anyone know of good beach settings for a sunset wedding?

Thanks so much for the help!

Musician

CeceG05 — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:10:09 +0000

Hi,

I'm looking for some non vocal musicians on Maui, preferably ukulele or guitar. Any recommendations?

Rehersal dinner/luaus

hgundy — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:15:15 +0000

My fiance's mother and father are wanting something fun for our rehersal dinner... Any ideas??? A luau crossed my mind as an option as a fun group thing. Right now I am thinking we will have about 20 people at the rehearsal dinner. My WC gave option for places like the Five Palms an some other nice restaurants but our wedding is at Gannon's so we want something different for the rehearsal. We are staying in Kihei so if we do the Old Lahaina Luau we might have to rent a shuttle or something for people so does anyone have good reviews of luaus near Wailea or south Maui? Thanks!

Maui brides: table linens, parasols, vases, lights... for sale

lilac0660 — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:14:06 +0000

UPDATED: 03.20.2012
Hi Maui Knotties!

It's been a long time since I've visited the board but I wanted to stop by and let upcoming Maui brides know that I am selling decorations from our wedding. I had them all shipped from the mainland and they have been in storage on Maui since the wedding. All the items are in great condition - probably better condition than what you get at a rental place.

Here's what I have left:

1. Linens: round white polyester tablecloths (washed immediately after the wedding); some of the smaller ones haven't been used at all

- 5 x 90” round, $11 each; rent at $11.50-13.50 (Maui Rents, Pacific Isle Rentals)

- 4 x 120” round, $15 each; rent at $15.50-16.25

- 3 x 132” round, $17 each; rent at $17.50-17.75

We bought our linens so we wouldn't have to worry about a guest spilling a drink or a candle overflowing and having to pay for the entire linen (at the usually fantastic prices) in addition to the rental cost.

2. Parasols: 6-8 off-white paper parasols, 32”, oil-coated, water repellent paper, $6 each

Being paper parasols, they may have minor imperfections here or there. We spent a lot of time at the store picking out the best ones. They are in virtually the same consition as when purchased.

3. 8 round frosted votive holders: 2.5” tall x 2” in diameter, $1 each

These worked great with LED tealights and sand since it was too windy for real candles. We got the LED tealights at Walmart in Kahului.

4. Lanterns & string lights:

- 4 boxes of 25 (100 total) C9 base G50 light bulbs, white satin color (frosted white), $25 per box

- 16 snow white paper lanterns: 6 x 8" and 10 x 10", $1.50 each

Being made out of paper, they may have minor imperfections here or there. We spent a lot of time at the store picking out the best ones. They are in virtually the same consition as when purchased.

- 2 strands of string lights; each: 25 ft long, 25 C9 base sockets 12" apart, green wire, $10 each

- 7-watt multiple socket cord, 14 ft long, 7 C9 base sockets 24" apart, green wire, $8

- 7-watt multiple socket cord, ~56.5 ft long, 19 C9 base sockets 36" apart, green wire, $25

5. Special-order Maui postcards

Let me know if you might be interested in any of these or if you’d like additional details. They’ll be available for pick up in Kihei until the morning of March 21st.

Mahalo and Happy Planning!

Stella Blues for catering, has anyone used?

kimesch9068 — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 05:50:34 +0000

We are getting married in Maui and since its a destination wedding we won't have a chance to taste the food. We are looking at using Stella Blues in Maui and I can't find any reviews. Has anyone on here used them? Are they good?

May I borrow your language please - packing tips, what to wear, etc.

racholas — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 05:22:48 +0000

If any of you have shared the following information with your guest, I would really be grateful if you would be so kind as to share it with me.

I need to send an email to my guests with some basic information, including:

Wedding day (and all other event days) attire
Packing tips / hints / reminders

I'll probably also include

avg. temps
reminder schedule of events with start times
directions to events / addresses
contact numbers

Can you think of what I might have forgotten? Of course it would be nice if some of this information was in a welcome bag at their hotel, but I'm just not sure that will happen. Some of the information they'll definitely need to know before they travel too.

Even though we all have different ideas for what our guests should wear, I would be curious to hear how you worded it.

Thanks in advance from a scrambling bride!

Music at Merrimans, Maui

CarolynneK — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:22:27 +0000

I am planning a beach ceremony in Maui and have been making plans with Merriman's in Kapalua for the reception. The food reviews are all great, the location looks fantastic, but the one thing that is not settling well with me is that we are unable to have a DJ if we aren't buying out the entire restaurant. We can have a musician for the outdoor cocktail hour, and there is a house band that would be playing during our indoor sit down dinner. Has anyone been married there or been to a wedding there with any thoughts on the musical setting?

Scavenger Hunt

FSForever — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:42:51 +0000

Did any of the past brides or is anyone up and coming doing a scavenger hunt with their guests. We were thinking we would give the hunt details at our Welcome BBQ and then when we meet for the Rehersal Dinner two nights later give prizes to the people who come back with the most pics of what they found. The problem is we haven't been to Maui before. I can get some ideas online but FI would die if I brought my laptop and was printing game sheets for this so we need to preplan it.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

HELP What to expect from Hotel Coordinator?

totopuffster — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:24:56 +0000

Hi every one, I am wondering for those of you who got married at a hotel and used the hotel's wedding coordinator, how was your experience?

I am getting married at the St. Regis Princeville in Kauai and I've been expecting the coordinator to take a lot more initiative. For example, it's 3 weeks to the wedding and she never asked me about the ceremony location and reception room layout, even though the hotel is setting it up, or the day-of schedule, and never tried to schedule a call with me. I always have to initiate. She'll answer my questions, but never ask any more helpful questions beyond that or provide list of tips and guidance. Everything I have to think for myself. I wasn't expecting full wedding planner service, but definitely very disappointed.

Am I getting shafted?

Confused,

Sandy

Lighting at Olowalu

Kappagurl2 — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 15:37:45 +0000

Hi fellow Knotties!! I'm getting married at Olowalu this September. Does anyone know about the lighting situation? I'm going to have the standard lanterns and up lights, but wanted to know if flame less candles are needed for extra lighting. Any comments and recommendations are appreciated. Thanks!!

Anyone planning a wedding in Kauai?

danaconn — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:31:32 +0000

Hello any fellow brides planning or have planned a wedding in Kauai?

Maui Brides: Vintage wedding items for sale! avail after March 25

memegrace — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 07:08:18 +0000

Hello ladies,

Getting married next week at Olowalu!! YAY!

Vintage Wedding items for sale: available after March 25, 2012.

Would prefer to sell to Maui bride to keep on Island! I will drop items off to where needed. Will consider shipping for lot items. Thanks!

Linens:

8 -120 “ round Burlap tablecloths-Seabreeze. Paid HUGE for these but were almost as much to rent. Paid $55 per tablecloth plus shipping. Asking $30 each

Napkins:

Sewed these myself

took many hours! 16* 16. 3 different vintage patterns. Paid $250 for material. ($3.85 each one) 65 napkins total. Asking: $2 each. $110 for whole lot.

sm milk jug vases:

6 blue/3 green

$5 each

8 Sm mason jar candle holders-blue

$2 each

Vintage wooden shelf: Using for table numbers and cupcake stand

$12

Cake stand

$10

Pinwheels: 13 total

$2 each

Pinwheel fans: 35 total

$1.50 each

Picture frames:

$2 each

Vintage Book Table Numbers 1-8:

$3 each

Chalk heart:

Paid $20 asking $10

Birdcage cardholder:

Paid $20 asking $10

*pls note: some of the photo's were taken pre-finshed product (my mock tables!)

I will have 8 lace overlays avail as well

$5 each

5 table signs-message if interested: "Love is sweet"/"Aloha"/"Drink Me Mahalo"/"xoxo" *2

Message me if interested! Thanks!

Sunshiny lees - you have a PM

Kappagurl2 — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 17:43:14 +0000

Lighting question.

details details details

roxybsktbll — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:26:25 +0000

So, a couple months ago I said I would share what I am up to and havent yet, so now I will.
We are getting married March 26 on Po'olenalena beach at sunset.
We are using Greg Hoxie for photography. I chose him because I will be able to edit and print the photos as I wish and being a photographer I wanted access to the print rights.
Our coordinator which I would warn people not to use is mauius.com but, I will let you all know how things go day of :-)
Here is my dress, sorry it is a horrible picture cause I was trying to figure out what to do with the bussel

My mom made me an awesome slip to go under it so that when I am walking you can see pink under the front of the dress here is a picture of that

I am wearing barefoot sandals on the beach

^that is a link to them on etsy if you all want to check them out

for dinner and the AHR I will be wearing these and again the picture is a link to the website

My necklace I do not have a picture of...

My hubbie to be will be wearing linen pants and a reyon shirt I also dont have pictures of those and then leather flip flops.

My sister is my MOH and is wearing this dress

that is not my sis haha however I would argue that she is prettier :-)

Here is our website if you all want to check it out keithandkarah.com

When we return we will be having an AHR at the Moose Lodge if you all dont know what the moose is here is a link: THE MOOSE

We are both members so we will be holding it there. As for decorations I am keeping things pretty simple. We plan on splurging for the DJ and for drinks. We want to have more of a celebration than a formal reception even though I will be doing some formalities such as first dance and father daughter dance. We will also be doing a wine box ceremony.

If you ladies have any other questions or anything let me know. I cant believe how much fun all of this has been. Or how close it is :-0

VENDOR REVIEWS - OAHU

richnikki — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 22:35:49 +0000

Hey everyone! We just got married and are back from Hawaii and I just wanted to put in my 2 cents here since your reviews helped me find some pretty good vendors along the way. I loved most of them =) Please feel free to ask any questions!

This is super LONG but I always think reviews are always good information for brides. Happy planning!

Videographer -- A++++

Philip Lemoine

http://www.svp-studio.com/

http://vimeo.com/svpstudio

Another bride on theknot.com posted his link after booking him as her videographer. I saw his work and loved it immediately. His highlight reels are always upbeat and peppy, which basically describes mine and my husbands personality. We can't say anything bad about this guy. First of all, Philip is extremely personable. We absolutely loved him! He was telling us all about his vision for our video and was so enthusiastic. We seriously felt like he could be one of our best friends! Second, he is all about the quality of his work. He is one of those artsy fartsy people who love what they do and give each project their 100%. You can definitely tell. We had a package worked out with him with just a partial day coverage but Philip decided to come out the whole day just because he thought it would make the video that much better. He kept going above and beyond and just kept doing things for us just because he thought it would make the video that much better --- like attending the pre-wedding luau and doing a post-wedding trash the dress shoot with our photographer. He also added an extra shooter and camera just so he can get more creative in his angles. I mean, this guy has so much energy and enthusiasm about his work that I don't think he would ever make a bad video. I'll post a link when he gets the highlight reel out. However, if there is one person you should invest in, I would definitely recommend Philip. I can't give him enough plus signs after that A.

Photographer -- A+

Shannon Sasaki

http://www.shannonsasakiphotography.com/

She is really the best. She is one of the vendors who doesn't run on "Hawaii Time". This means, she answers emails, phone calls, texts promptly. I heard about Shannon via another website review. I checked out her photos and loved her creativity and her style. Anyway, when she was shooting our pics I could already tell how creative she was. I can't wait to see all of our photos! Her second shooter, Aaron Mizushima was also excellent. I would call him a stealth surf ninja. I wasn't expecting a lot from him since he was the second shooter and I thought he was just there for back up... but WOW! his pictures were as amazing as Shannon's pictures (I peeked in their cameras). We also did some water photos that he shot underwater. I'm glad Shannon brought him along. I will share a link when I get the pictures. Shannon is highly recommended.

Hair & Make-up -- A+

http://www.beautybymay.com/

Loved it. She worked perfectly on my skin type. I had a hair trial before my welcome party/luau and despite the crazy winds that day, my hair was perfect outside all night! Make-up was flawless. She was very professional. I highly recommend her.

Wedding Planner -- A

Carrie Lance-Kunrow

http://www.cherishedinhawaiiweddings.com/

She is absolutely amazing. We definitely had some differences at the beginning and I thought she was just being stubborn...but really she was just right and an experienced wedding planner. I am glad I did listen to her. She helped me put everything together, had great suggestions, kept me in check with the budget, and coordinated things rather well! It was literally the wedding of my dreams. I highly recommend her. She made the day perfect and non-stressful (even with the minor glitches)...and a non-stressful day is basically what brides need. The only reason I can't give her an A+ is because some of the vendors she recommended had minor issues. They weren't issues that couldn't be fixed... and it was definitely not her fault. I will elaborate more later. See below for the other reviews. In conclusion thought... I love Carrie!

Caterers -- A

Kahai Street Kitchen

http://www.kahaistreet-kitchen.com/

Delicious. I can't think of anything else to say because I am too busy salivating. You know when you go to weddings and the food is really dry since it was mass produced? Or something is undercooked or overcooked? Or you didn't have enough food to serve everyone? I didn't have any issues with this company. Their food was amazing. The catering staff did a lot of extras for us and they were super friendly to everyone! I thought they were kind of pricey because the cost of catering does not include any rental equipment but their food was well worth it.

Bartender -- A

Shaun, Aloha on the Rocks

http://www.alohaontherocks.com/

Shaun is great. Very professional. He helped us come up with a menu unique to our wedding. I never felt like there was a line backing-up to the bar at any given moment. His services are also very affordable. I very much enjoyed working with him.

Venue -- A

Lanikuhonua

http://www.lanikuhonua.org/

I have to give this place an A because it is absolutely gorgeous. Palm trees. Lush landscaping. Ocean overlook. Private beach. Sunset. It's the perfect place for a wedding. I couldn't give it an A+ because communication with the place was sort of sketchy at first. However, I heard they switched management companies so the communication might be better!

Harpist -- A

Sharene

She is one of the vendors I booked through the wedding planner. I don't have any contact info for her but man, she was amazing. I couldn't see her when I was walking down the aisle... because you know... you can't really think clearly when your walking down the aisle. But the music was beautiful and the guests loved it.

Myra's Leis & Flowers -- A-

http://myrasleisflowers.com/

Her centerpieces were beautiful. My toss bouquet was perfect. The leis were amazing. The flowers for the hairs were perfect. And just think about walking down the aisle lined with with flower petals. Myra was great! The only reason for the A minus was becuase I had sent a picture of my mom's wedding flowers and I wanted mine to look similar. She did her own version of a cascading flower and it didn't look at all what I had wanted or sent. She did a quick fix to somewhat resemble it, which was still nice... but still didn't get that little detail I had wanted to do for my mom.

DJ -- B+

https://www.ndmixx.com/

The first song came out muted... which was unfortunate because it was our first dance song. It was some sort of technical difficulty. The rest of the night he was good. He knew what songs to play to get the crowd dancing.

Rentals -- C

Accel

http://www.accelrentals.com/

So the wedding turned out beautiful. Everything I wanted was perfect. The chivari chairs were gorgeous. The clear top tent was nice. The bamboo arch was lovely. Everything was set-up when we got to the ceremony and it was perfect. Why do they deserve a C? I litterly had a chimpsy dance floor. That's kind of a big deal when you have a choreographed dance planned. My contact person was a nice lady named Heather. She had sent me diagrams of the the layout, including the tables with a dance floor smack dab in the middle. She even asked me for the size of the dance floor and we discussed that I wanted a 12 x 12 foot dance floor.

You can imagine how surprised I was when the wedding planner called me a few hours before the wedding and said Heather never ordered a dance floor. I know we had discussed it on the phone. I looked through my emails and the diagrams she sent me and that dance floor request was there. However, since it wasn't in my invoice it was never processed. They were able to put together a REALLY REALLY SMALL DANCE FLOOR last minute. I felt like I was kicking my guests when I spinned itwasthatclose.

The Ride -- D

http://www.jayslimousine.com/

They are affordable which is the plus. But that was my only plus. At first I thought he was just a little late so it was not a complete disaster. He did arrive 15 minutes late due to traffic which I know he can't control traffic... but when I have an important appointment (like a wedding) I would hope someone would put in a little extra effort and account for traffic/accidents just to make sure they arrived on time. Anyway, we had some down time, so he asked if he could go on a lunch break, which was okay with us. However, he came back late again -- which I found out after the wedding. He picked-up the parents before the groomsmen, which isn't a big deal except the groomsmen were supposed to arrive first so they could sort of guide the guests on where they should and shouldn't go. Also, he couldn't pull into the driveway of where we were staying because his limo didn't fit. We asked him to back in so he wouldn't have to go around the circle but at least be closer. He flat out said no without even trying. We had to walk down the lobby, across the driveway, and load up into the street. Lovely.

Wedding Planner Update

dianalynm — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:00:46 +0000

Just thought I'd write a post about the drama that I am still going through with the wedding planner we fired a few weeks ago. We were able to cancel all bookings with her, including Olowalu. I knew that Olowalu's deposit is refundable, so I was expecting our fired planner to mention that she would be refunding it. Instead, she sent an email to me stating our business was "concluded" with no mention of our deposit whatsoever. Shady, much? This isn't the first time she has done something shady. And did she really think she could take our money and run?? I don't think so... I emailed her and mentioned that Olowalu has confirmed sending our deposit back to her and that the deposit is rightfully ours and that she SHOULD be getting it back to us. She replied after a couple days saying she has to go over my details this week. She is terrible and I will be writing a review for her once this situation is 100 settled! She has been shady since the beginning through the very end! It's so upsetting and a great disappointment...

Cost of Wedding Day Coordinator

amwong22 — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 04:46:32 +0000

Hi All,

Just wondering what is the average cost of a wedding day coordinator. I really only need them for the day, and most of the packages I have seen include 2 months of planning/timeline assistance for the wedding day. I have looked into Milestone Weddings and Hawaii Weddings and Events, and they are both around $1500. I know they are one of the best, but not sure we want to spend that much as we are getting married at the JW Marriott, and we will also have a banquet manager and team coordinator from the hotel helping us out. But they did recommend we have a day coordinator to help facilitate with all the other vendors. Any recommendations of day coordinators and average prices would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

For the couples who would like to bring their Pets to Hawaii

Philamer — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:37:48 +0000

We are having our dog, brought over to Hawaii for our wedding since she's such a big part of our family. I wanted to share the info I found on how to bring your domesticated pet to hawaii, Via Hawaiian Airlines.

Hawaiian Air Pet Policy
http://help.hawaiianair.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/657#avail

State of Hawaii Quarantine
http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/Info/doa_importing/traveler/importing-animals-to-hawaii