Hawaii Wedding - where to start?!

orchidaloha

Hi ladies,

This is my first post and I'm looking for some info regarding Hawaii weddings

We are planning on getting married this October/November and we're not sure yet if it will be an elopement or if we will have some family there. The maximum size of our group would be 12, if family decides to come. Ideally, we would like to have a ceremony with a view of the ocean but it doesn't necessarily have to be on the beach (kind of like the Ala Moana Surfrider lawn), then we would like a nice dinner somewhere (doesn't have to be private, just really nice!!) and then afterwards we plan on going somewhere for drinks.

This is both of our second weddings so we don't need anything

Does anyone know of any great locations where we could do all of this? We have only ever been to O'ahu before but we are definitely open to any other islands... we have been looking at the Four Seasons in Maui and thinking this might have all we want, but if there are other locations to consider that would be great! Budget isn't really an issue.

Thanks in advance!

zachsmommy11

I got married on Maui in November, and it was my 2nd wedding. We had a total of 12 people there, 3 of whom were kids. If you have kids, The Fairmont Kea Lani is awesome, because all their rooms are suites. Plus, it's an absolutely beautiful hotel! They have an all adult pool as well as having 2 other pools with a water slide connecting them. The rooms are around 750sq ft, and they have a living room with a pull-out sofa and a bedroom as well as a very large balcony. We really loved it! 

I ate lunch at The Four Seasons, and it is beautiful as well! My brother and his family have stayed at the Grand Wailea and really like it, but it's huge and not quite as intimate as the other resorts. My mother-in-law spent her last night on Maui at the Makena Beach and Golf Resort. She said it was beautiful as well! 

We got married barefoot on the beach, and if you decide to go that way, I can certainly help you. It sounds like you're looking at south Maui, and all the hotels down there have wedding coordinators and great spots to get married overlooking the ocean where you wouldn't be right on the sand. 

We did a live-stream of our wedding so that any of our friends and family on the mainland could watch. We loved our videographer and photographer. I also loved my florist, but I was not happy with the wedding planner. 

We ate at several restaurants all over the island, and if you need any ideas for a dinner after the ceremony, let me know. We had our dinner at Capische?. It is a beautiful restaurant, and the food is very good. However, it ended up being a little too formal for our taste. They did our wedding cake, which was a disaster. The icing was melting off the sides of the cake, and the cake was very dry. If you end up eating there, I'd plan to have a cake brought in from a bakery. In place of a rehearsal dinner, we went to the Old Lahaina Luau. It was awesome!! I've been to one other luau on Maui in the past, and this one is fantastic! It's a very authentic Hawaiian luau, the food is great, and the people are extremely hospitable. 

We honeymooned in Hana and Ka'anapali (west Maui). I LOVED our hotel in Hana, Travaasa Hana. We were very spoiled by the time we got to Ka'anapali, so our hotel, the Hyatt Regency Ka'anapali,did not meet our expectations as it was showing it's age. 

If you need any help with planning activities, where to visit, or advice on vendors, please let me know! 

orchidaloha

Thank you so much for this post, it was super helpful! And it sounds like we have similar tastes in weddings. I love the live stream idea!

How long did it take to plan your wedding?

I have a lot to research now