Eloping to Hawaii?

lhypse

Is anyone eloping to Hawaii? I am getting sick of all this planning and stress that i think me and my FI might just run off to Hawaii and get married on the beach. Not sure where though? Any ideas, suggestions?
Thanks!
We also cant afford to pay for anyone else to go. We have a very strict budget. I think we'd tell some friends and family that they are of course invited but we can't afford to fly them, etc. Is this tacky? Im kind of sick of focusing my day on everyone else, kind of just want it to be about me and my fiance...

AKWinterBride

Not tacky at all, no one should expect anyone to pay for them to come to a wedding.  Shoot, we had 49 people fly from all over the US to go to our wedding in Maui and we didn't pay for a single person.  If they can't make it, then that is fine, this is about you guys, not anyone else. 

And - it's insanely easy to elope in Hawaii!  You just have to get a license, an officiant, and a parks permit if you want to get married on the beach.  I know there is another gal on here who is eloping, she may be able to help you out with specifics!

Tanq&Tonic

Welcome to our board!  I have a few comments:

1.  For almost any of us that you ask, getting married in Hawaii was one of the best choices we made in the whole process (second probably to picking the groom!).  You can go big, or you can go simple, but either way, it is hard to go wrong.

2.  Not tacky at all to not pay for guest travel.  Some of us covered travel for key guests (family, dear friends that needed help, bridal party, etc) but the large majority leave it for everyone to cover their own travel.

3.  There's a great FAQ on the destinations wedding page that covers some basics / etiquette around destination weddings that you might find helpful:
http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_destination-weddings_destination-wedding-etiqutte-q

4.  We can totally help with logistics and locations if you have a better sense of what you want.  Which island?  Truly barefoot in the sand or resort? 

Looking forward to helping you figure out if this is the right answer for you!

rmontpas

Hi Ihypse,

My FI and I are eloping to Maui on February 7, 2012.  We also cannot afford to help with travel costs and unfortunately not many of the people we really would want to have there could afford it either.  We decided to elope partially for that reason and partially to get out of all the drama a wedding can ensue when you have dysfunctional family members!

We have never been to Hawaii before so I am not sure how much I can help but I will do what I can.  We hired an inexpensive wedding planner to help with some of the details and are going from there. 

We have decided on a sunset wedding at Secret Cove in Maui after asking alot of different people online their opinions.

What is your wedding date?

jtoly

Yep, I'm eloping also! My sister is getting married next year and this is our second wedding so we decided to elope, but we are telling people after we get back. I don't want family, esp my parents, to think they need to come to Hawaii for me when they will want to help my sister. I want her big day to be special so I'm just keeping this all a secret. I planed our wedding with myhawaiiwedding.com and they take care of everything, except the license of course. You can make it as simple or elaborate as you want! Good luck!!

Sara4242

We're eloping, too, and have never been there. Our family knows what we're doing though. I've planned everything in less than a month, and we leave 3 weeks from today! I hired a WC with a very basic package, but booked a photographer and a few other things on my own. I've been mostly impressed with how affordable it's been, not really knowing what to expect. Our biggest expense by far is lodging, but we're splurging there. You can totally elope on a budget! Good luck with whatever you decide!

Ginseng

We are eloping to Hawaii because we didn't want to spend the money on both a wedding and a honeymoon, so we are combining the two. Also neither of us have a big family so for us it makes sense.

alikatg

Anyone eloping to Kauai? I'm having trouble finding a planner and photographer for a simple beach wedding for just the two of us. Everything I find happens to be in Oahu or Maui, or rather bad quality. Any suggestions would be great!

FutureMrsBrandonLucas

@Sara4242 Do you mind sharing your budget? I'm in the beginning of planning our wedding and it has been nothing but a pain with family. No matter what we have decided to do, someone has complained. So we're saying forget it. I'm giving up my dream big wedding for 2 weeks in paradise!

Jewel1681

So glad to have found like-minded people here!

Very excited about the eloping option...  we are going to Oahu in late 2013 and staying on the Leeward (west) side of the island.

Would anyone have some excellent venue suggestions for either a gorgeous barefoot beach wedding or a cool, rockstar resort venue?

Thank you!

allisonpickup80

Just found this post......happy to see others are eloping ..... I kept reading the Hawaii boards and it seems like everyone is having an actual "wedding" with guests...and a wc...and all the trimmings.. But I am not. We are just doing a simple ceremony on the beach in Maui with our parents. I'd be interested in hearing from others who are doing everything themselves and are having a small wedding...like an elopement

Claire Owens

We've decided to elope to Maui... we're going to use a planner and have narrowed our search down to Wild Orchid Weddings and A Perfect Paradise Wedding.  Sounds like it's just easier to have someone arrange all of the facets... the location, the permits, the flowers, photographers, etc.  I wouldn't know where to start otherwise!  An intimate wedding - just you and the groom - is a great idea, so romantic!  Iwouldn't even label it as an "elopement" because that sort of makes it sound like you're running away and sneaking in a wedding!  It's just as important a celebration where there are 2 or 200 of you!

gretamarie12

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_hawaii_eloping-hawaii-3?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:73Discussion:46cf892e-c3fb-4528-9497-813f5aa15a09Post:89d8abe2-a954-443c-b8c6-10780c8aeed4">Re: Eloping to Hawaii?</a>:
[QUOTE]We're eloping, too, and have never been there. Our family knows what we're doing though. I've planned everything in less than a month, and we leave 3 weeks from today! I hired a WC with a very basic package, but booked a photographer and a few other things on my own. I've been mostly impressed with how affordable it's been, not really knowing what to expect. Our biggest expense by far is lodging, but we're splurging there. You can totally elope on a budget! Good luck with whatever you decide!
Posted by Sara4242[/QUOTE]

<div>Sara- how did you start to plan and where are you going? We are ready to go elope as well and I want a weeklong vacation/honeymoon with the smallest package availible--only care about the wedding and phototgraphy! Just so many options out there--not sure what makes the most sense?</div><div>Thanks!</div><div>kelly </div>

Knottie_22389096

Hi,
Im from Australia and have just decided to elope in Honolulu.

I have been a heaps of website and looked at their packages but am not having much luck.

Does anyone have suggestions of places which would have very smal ceremony for 6 people, and somewhere to go for dinner after.

We know we want an outdoor ceremony... bu that is about it so far....

VERY EARLY STAGES OF PLANNING.... But teh wedding will be in September THIS YEAR so need to hurry up and make some big choices!