Gannon's venue question, please help!!

chinvicky

Hi everyone! I am having my wedding ceremony @ Gannon's lower knoll May 2012 and am now a little anxious because we are not having a wedding planner for the day of since we have such a small gathering with only one BM and MOH walking down the aisle. 

One thing that I noticed looking at more venue pictures as I'm thinking about the rehearsal we will hold on what order we are going to have people go down the aisle is...where are we coming from?!?! The brides seem to come from thin air! There is an entrance road next to the venue and some pics have a limo there and I presume that's where the bride is coming out of but I wasn't planning on getting a limo!

If you had your wedding @ Gannons lower knoll, please share where you came out of (sounds funny, i know) 

Thanks so much!!!

FSForever

We were going to have our ceremony at Gannon's on the Lower Knoll but decided we really wanted to be on the beach so we will just be there for the reception.  With that being said I have chatted with quite a few brides over the last 6 months who have married on the Lower Knoll and they came down the stairs from the restraunt down the grass.  I was concerned about this because there is a slope and I was worried about people slipping.  I bet you could park on the side road and enter from there.  I would email Susan and ask her.  She has been great responding to my questions and we are not using their WC. 

Regarding the limo.  We thought about it but our WC told us that it would be quite pricey for it to sit in the parking lot for so long and if people drank too much it would be much less costly to just call a cab. 

Hope this helps. 

chinvicky

oh great! that is really good to hear! did anyone come down that way from the knot that has pictures or personal experience? is it a far walk?

fabutan

Hi there!  I didn't have my wedding at Gannon's, but we checked it out during our scouting trip and had our farewell brunch there.  I seriously considered the lower knoll and the view is terrific.  As FSF mentioned, the 'bridal path' is quite steep.  I've seen them do this two ways:  (a) start from the restaurant stairs and go straight down the slope to the knoll, or (b) start off to the side around the bougainvilla hedge (towards the left when looking straight at the knoll) and taking a curved path towards the site.  The benefit of (b) is avoiding some of the incline...

FYI the slope is quite steep.  High heels + grass + incline + clumsy bride (i.e. me) didn't make for good prospects in my books.    Maybe another reason to consider option (b) above.  You can also check out the live webcam on Gannon's site and view weddings "in action" to see how it all comes together.  I haven't seen any cases of brides exiting directly from a limo onto the lower knoll (this is done at Molokini Lookout), but I guess it could be done.  It's nice to take time to prepare in the get-ready room and restaurant area with the bridal party, rather than coming direct (in my opinion).

The food at Gannon's is great.  They have plenty of weddings there, so you're in good hands.  Hope this helps!  

chinvicky

thanks for the details! so if I do option b (i am a clumsy bride), where youre off to the left, there doesnt seem to be any buildings there I can get ready or exit from, or am i wrong?

chinvicky

btw, i went on the gannons website to try and find some feed of weddings in action to see how it all comes together, i wasnt able to find that. do you happen to have the link to what you were talking about? thanks again!

FSForever

I never thought to watch a wedding in progress. Great Idea! You may want to try Island time this weekend around 4:30 ish.  You may be able to hit one at that time.
One of the reasons we were worried about the beach was the walk but when I checked out the lower knoll it seemed to be just as much of a concern.  Again I am not sure if you have chatted with Susan much but she has sent me some great pictures and she may have one that shows just what you are looking for. If I find anything I will PM it to you.

fabutan

chinvicky - whether you start your "bridal walk" from the top or to the left, you'd have to exit from the restaurant regardless.  It just makes a difference whether you do this right when the procession starts and all eyes are on you....or you do this before the procession and then prep off towards the side before starting the walk.  Hope that makes sense  

FYI - the getting ready rooms are the golf course changing rooms towards the back of the building.  The webcam webpage is here:

http://www.gannonsrestaurant.com/overview/webcam

I get nostalgic/restless everytime I see Maui through the webcam!  HTH  

BeardGonsalez

Hi there. I just got married at Gannon's last week. I got married on the wedding knoll. There is a drive up area in the front of the restaurant. Everyone parks there and hangs out in the huge waiting area inside the restaurant. Then your guests get seated. Your groom waits with the officiant at the alter outside. Your bridesmaids, groomsmen, and yourself go through the restaurant and wait on the patio just outside the restaurant, and your groom can not see you. You walk down the grass and to the alter, and you walk alongside the hedges and he never sees you until the last minute. Its perfect! And don't use the coordinator, she is AWFUL.

hgundy

Who was the wedding coordnitor at Gannon's that you DO NOT recommend using? I have only been in contact with Susan so far but am wondering if I should at least hire a DOC to help on my big day.  Any suggestions?

chinvicky

I kept reading about a coordinator named America that everyone did not like. I've mainly been workign with Susan with booking certain things and reception related details. The responsibility is split between her (who I believe works straight out of Gannons) and another coordinator Nicole. I think Nicole is a wedding coordinator that is offsite that handles Bev Gannon's wedding coordination. She would be the onsite coordinator if you chose to have one and she has been answering nitty gritty details. She is who you'd book the extras with (chuppah, etc)   

We are booking our chuppah with another vendor that is cheaper than going through Gannon's because they charge you 20% service fee. We had to clear this with Susan instead of Nicole. So it seems Susan is more about the rules and regulations of the grounds. You also have to book your wedding cake through Susan. The onsite pastry chef makes the wedding cakes and you are not allowed to bring another food/pastry vendor to your wedding.

Hope that sort of helps!