Aloha. I lived on the Big Island for a couple of years and always imagined having a destination wedding back in Hawaii (not necessarily on the BI, but in Hawaii in general). We live in NV but I go back to HI 2x a year.
We are having a small wedding just with family and close friends (so our party including us will probably be between 15-30), that's fun and low key. Ceremony and reception has to be at the same place or within walking distance. We want the ceremony on the beach and a somewhat enclosed reception or also on the beach.
We like the idea of having like a tiki inspired, 1960's Hawaiian wedding (what many would probably find tacky LOL).
We are thinking of having our wedding at the Royal Kona Resort in Kona since it seems like it meets a lot of the things we want but we would love to hear from people who had experiences there and at other locations! We are also thinking it would be the most cost effective to have a private ceremony and then just have the reception as part of a luau with other tourists. I know that probably doesn't seem that intimate but I think that's best for my fiance and I (we hate dancing and since our party will be so small, we think a luau would be a lot more fun than just lunch or dinner at a reception).
In general, are places say in Waikiki much cheaper than Kona, Maui, and Kauai for what we are looking for?
Thank you
Looking for some cost effective ideas for us.