So overwhelmed! Destination wedding in Maui.

nixietink

Hi everyone! I recently got engaged and am so new to all of this. I would love some input on planning a Maui destination wedding.

I cannot take my mind off of a wedding in Maui, but I feel as though my parents and my fiance's parents have been less than positive of the idea. Any ideas on getting them on board, especially cost wise? My mom feels as though this option will be more expensive than getting married in Northern California.

I absolutely love the Olowalu Plantation House. Here are my other questions...
Do most people work with wedding planners when doing a destination wedding?
Do most of you travel to Hawaii to check out the caterers, locations, photographers, etc. before booking?
My budget is between 15k and 20k. Any tips on getting the most 'bang for my buck'? Is this doable for max 50 guests?

If these questions have been answered, or you know of any helpful threads, please point me in those directions! I feel so overwhelmed at the moment.

DazzlingDeb23

Welcome to the board! As you will find, the ladies on this board are more than helpful! I am getting married at the Olowalu Plantation House in June 2013, and my budget is $20,000 for 50 guests, so YES it is totally doable! I was asking your same exact question a couple months ago! However, with that said, you have to be really careful with Olowalu because you have to bring in EVERYTHING and that adds up really fast! But if you figure out what is most important for you, and you look around to find the best deals for what you want, and you are willing to DIY a bit, it can be done! I am also having a day of coordinator, because I felt that would take a lot of the stress away, and she is helping in the planning process too by suggesting vendors! And I am not taking a planning trip to Maui, although I have been there many times before so I am somewhat familiar with the area. 

As for getting the fiance and parents on board, my suggestion is get an idea of what it would cost for what you want in Northern Cal, and compare the costs.  When I did that for myself, a wedding in So Cal was going to be about the same as in Maui (comparing wedding costs only, obviously), so in the end I decided to just go with what I really wanted!

Hope that helps!!

marriedonmaui

You don't necessarily need to travel there ahead of time, but do whatever makes you comfortable. Congratulations!

kaesha

Welcome to the board! Olowalu is amazing. =D

I think 20k is totally doable for a 50 person reception. We had 31 people and spent 15k on the reception itself - and since a lot of that was the fixed price of things like renting Olowalu, bringing in a generator and lighting, those prices don't change based on the number of people who arrive.

We did (happily!) without a coordinator/planner. And, for us, it made more sense to put the work in in terms of research and building relationships with our vendors than paying someone else to do it. That was money we wanted to spend on our guests! We really didn't need a DOC either because, really, as long as everyone knows where they're supposed to be and what they're supposed to do, what's the point of having one? But, I'm a drama teacher, so putting together productions is kinda what I do. My father is also a logistics officer in the navy, so between the two of us, we were able to get all the guests to move seemlessly from one place to the next.

We didn't do any scouting trips (again, money better spent on the day itself), but this board TOTALLY helped me with everything.

dianalynm

Welcome and congrats on your engagement!

In terms of convincing your fiance and family, maybe make a pros and cons list? I know you want to please everyone, but I say do what makes you (and your fiance) happy. If they are opposed to a wedding on Maui, maybe have a ceremony with just the two of you, perhaps, then have an AHR in NorCal? Something to think about so you get the best of both worlds...

Here are my responses to your questions:

Do most people work with wedding planners when doing a destination wedding? From my observations, most people do work with a wedding planner because of the convenience factor. However, I say that a wedding planner is a bit more necessary with a larger party. Some brides (like kaesha above) were able to do everything without a planner, so it depends on what you feel you are capable of doing. We are having a wedding planner because we expect to have a fairly large wedding (~120 guests).
Do most of you travel to Hawaii to check out the caterers, locations, photographers, etc. before booking? Personally, my FI and I have traveled to check out vendors. Some I actually booked prior to meeting with them because I felt confirdent in most of my choices, however it does help. But, if you have the luxury of going, go for it. But if not, everything is easily book-able from afar.

My budget is between 15k and 20k. Any tips on getting the most 'bang for my buck'? Is this doable for max 50 guests? I feel like that is completely doable! We are budgeting $25k for 120 guests, so for 50, that's totally doable. The other girls are right in that you have to bring everything in, which can rack up the overall cost pretty quick. However, there are vendors that are all-inclusive. For instance, our caterer also provides rentals (chairs, tables, place settings, dishes, flatware, glassware linens, etc...), service, food (of course). So instead of having to keep track of our rentals, she has them covered! So convenient. 

Happy planning & hope that helps!

nixietink

Thank you guys so much for all the help!

Next question...does anyone have a sheet/excel file that they used for a budget? I'm going to break things down, but don't want to forget anything. I know that you guys here are probably pro at this.

Thanks!

kaesha

I used the Knot's as a guideline and then adjusted from there. So, for me food was a priority and we went with a pricey (and outstanding) caterer, so we spent more in that area than recommended. We compensated for that by using cutting costs on rentals (we reused the ceremony chairs as reception chairs), going with fewer flowers (Bella Grace Floral was amazing for working with my budget), ditching live music/dj in place of an ipod reception (which is also really cool, because we listen to our wedding reception playlist every anniversary).

marriedonmaui

Like Kaesha said, TK has a decent budget tool, and the guest list tool is incredible. You can use it to keep track of invites, responses, addresses, gifts and you can create a seating chart from it. There is a lot of good stuff here in terms of resources

PiliLaniEvents

Congratulations!!!!

I would suggest hiring a wedding planner to get the most bang for your buck. 

Your budget is absolutely doable, but would depend on the details

Feel free to check us out.

www.pililanievents.com

We are Northern California based wedding planners that specialize in Hawaii destination weddings.