Maui wedding planners

jennayo

Hi everyone, just got engaged 1 week ago.

We're planning a destination wedding in West Maui for 2013, looking for recommendations for Maui wedding planners.

Looking for high emphasis on photography (digital rights, lots of pics!), 10-20 guests, no reception needed and prefer to get married on Kaanapali beach if possible.

Any recommendations that include photography or separate with reasonable costs?

Thanks!

dianalynm

Hi and congrats on the engagement!

I'm booking all of my vendors separately, but my photographer is very reasonable in pricing compared to a lot of the other photographers on the island. His name is Ben Pigao (www.benpigao.com). He's a Maui native, but based in Portland, OR. His family still resides on Maui, so he doesn't require lodging or a car rental, but might require airfare. He lists his starting price on his page ($2200), but is willing to work with you on pricing (at least for us he did). He's great and we just had our engagement session a few weeks ago with a gallery put up. 

Here's the link to the gallery: http://benpigao.com/stories/diana_and_armando_engagement/

I say book your photographer separate from your WC just because you'll have more options and usually a WC has a limited list of photographers that they like to work with...anyway, just a suggestion. Happy planning!

jessj336

Our WC is Lori Lawrence and she is amazing. She charges a flat fee and recommends vendors but since she isn't getting a 20% additional fee for every vendor she books she will also let you book vendors on your own. We chose Anna Kim as our photographer and Lori actually recommended that we book directly with Anna so we could select our payment plan options and work directly with Anna.

I must admit having a WC is super helpful as they act as your advocate on the island and are very familiar with all of the vendors plus they know how to deal with "island time" which many of the vendors seem to be on.

Congrats and Happy Planning!

dianalynm

I agree with what Jess said. Having a WC is useful in situations where vendors don't respond in a timely manner. We also paid our WC, Gabrielle Longhi of Blue Sky Weddings, a flat fee. If I want, I can ask her for recommendations (and when I do, I usually turn to the lovely ladies of this board for opinions/reviews on vendors) and also to book vendors for us if needed. So far she has booked our DJ and caterer and I'm also using her as our florist and for rentals.

We pretty much have the reigns on who we want as vendors, so we picked our own phtoographer and videographer--both of which she did not recommend.

Good luck and happy planning!

kimmykupcakes

I'm not using a planner.  I am DIY all of it.  Have't ran into any problems doing this or working with the vendors I've selected. It's all been pretty easy.

iallrd8it

I used Lori Lawrence as my WC and she was AMAZING!!!!!!! for photography I went with Shawn Starr from Oahu who takes stunning photos

jennayo

thanks for all the recommendations, I hadn't found Lori Lawerence yet but had the best info on her site. All the help is appreciated!