Just engaged! Maui wedding and I need major help!

tiggy5555

Let me start with the fact that we will be paying for this wedidng ourselves along with the accomodations of 5 family members. OUCH! We picked Maui (Sept. 2012) for a very special reason....my FI's father passed recently and they're last trip together was to Maui. It will be a very special day not only because of our marriage but also because it sort of pays tribute to his memory.

Ok...down to business. We have about $6000 set aside for wedding stuff:
Invites(DIY), flowers, coordinator, venue, ceremony, reception, cocktails, minister, photographer, dinner, cake, rehersal, etc.

Our rings are bought and paid for already. We will still need our attire for the wedding but I'm not including that in the 6k. We have 19 people who have already commited and about 6 more family members who probably won't be able to make but haven't gotten back to us yet.

I do not want to get married on the beach because I want it to be very private. I like Merrimans but the cost is pretty high so....

1. What other restaurants have private areas we can have cake, first dance, and dinner?

2. Are there other grassy overlooks we can have our ceremony at besides Gannons? I do not like the idea of being married so close to the main entrance road.

3. Are there condos that let you have a ceremony on their property, please provide names?

4. What coordinator did you use or can you do it all alone?

5. How much did you spend on alcohol for dinner?

Here is my last dilema...

Although Maui would mean the world to FI and his family, a somewhat close friend/co-worker has offered his home to us to get married. It is a beautiful estate with a tropical pool, etc (located near San Diego) and would save us a lot of money. I really want our wedding to be nice and I may have to give up some of my dreams to be able to afford a decent ceremony/reception in Maui. Not to mention we would not be able to stay too long after for a HM. What would you all do???


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carrieoz_76

Five Palms has a grassy area overlooking the ocean, but it's not terribly private - just outside from the indoor and outdoor dining area.  I want to say that Mulligan's on the Blue has a grassy area they'll let you use, but you'd have to check.  I think you'll find that with your budget and other planned expenses you may need to decide what few things really matter the most to you, and compromise on some of the rest.

There are very private small beaches, as well, in South Maui, so you might consider some of them before crossing beaches off your list completely.  We got married at a small little beach and there were only a couple swimmers off to the side - no one else was there.

Tanq&Tonic

I agree with Carrie...you'll have to prioritize what is most important to you and go with that.  Plenty of coordinators have packages under $6k that will cover most of what you listed, but you won't have a lot of flexibility to choose your photog, caterer, etc.  You can contact a few different coordinators and learn more about what they can offer you before making a decision. 

Our coordinator had mentioned a private beach house in Kihei that has a reasonable rate for a small group. 
http://www.mauiisland.com/_sitesInfoKiheiBchHouse.htm

We used a coordinator because our chosen venue required it.  Most of the major sites require a certain level of insurance, but you may not need it depending on which location you pick.  It's always helpful to have a coordinator, but for a small wedding, and with plenty of time, and the input of folks on this board, you could certainly do it on your own.

We spent $700 on alcohol for 50 people...and used almost all of it.

You have plenty of time.  No need to panic or fret!

motoLyn

I think Kimmy on here is doing her wedding and reception at Mama's Fish house.  I would have done it there but they have a limit of 30-35 people attending the wedding.  I believe they have a place there that you can do the ceremony on premises and then have the reception there afterwards.  How many people are you estimating to attend?  It depends on where you want to have your wedding and reception, some places have an in-house coordinator.  Good luck and no worries you still have time to look and plan!

AKWinterBride

I'm no help on this one, I had a very limited budget in mind when I started planning.  20K later, we are going to have an awesome wedding at a private estate in Maui.  You can definitely make 6K work, but in Hawaii it all adds up fast!

If I were you, I would really consider the offer of the use of your co-workers house.  Hawaii is beautiful and special, but you can go there on your honeymoon! 

ShantinaMarie

i think if you were open to a public beach you could easily pull this off. I am having my ceremony on the same beach as carrieoz I'm pretty sure, and right after I booked it I was so worried about people watching or big crowds but how many people get the experience of having their wedding in the sand in Maui? I think it will be amazing no matter who is there Now with that being said. You can get great packages through coordinators that have everything bundled together if you wanted. That would make it easy to know how much your spending and what your getting? We are doing dinner at Three's Bar and Grille and we rented their Surf Lounge so I can have dancing and cake cutting in private. We just had to rent the room at a certain rate and that covers your food. We also don’t have the max amount of people so whatever amount of money isn’t going to food goes to drinks, plus we added a $200 drink limit so for 25 people its about $550.

 

WOW this was long I'm sorry, LOL I must be getting excited talking about all this stuff is so FUN.

tiggy5555

Thanks everyone! Since Maui means so much to my FI and his family we are dead set on getting married there. We did however want to have a casual AHR with those who can't make it and we plan to do that at the co-workers place. I did some soul searching and reached out to Lori from tropicalmauiweddings. She was amazing to talk to and gave me some really good location ideas that would suit my budget.

Deep breath I have plenty of time! When I went over some of her ideas she was able to save me a lot of money I didn't think was possible. Thanks for everyone's input and I will be sure to provide updates as we go along.....

maui2011

Congrats!!! I second Mama's Beachhouse.  Also the Kahana Village which is a small resort does weddings on their property.  Aloha Events Catering has a private estate that they use exclusively i believe.  Timba which is a dance club in Lahaina also does weddings on property although all persons must be 21 i believe...so i am not sure if that is an option for you.  I would google wedding planners and the maui wedding network for ceremony and reception options.  If you really want to get married in Maui i say go for it!  You can definitely make it work on your budget. HTH! J. :-)