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Back from Maui w/vendor Reviews!

Just got back from Maui last night!  Wedding went great and wish the honeymoon was longer!  I'm posting some reviews on my vendors as well as some food rec's!

Venue (Wedding/Reception): Merriman's
The venue was AMAZING!!  We did a lunch buyout of the restaurant and I couldn't be happier with the choice!  The restaurant is located right on a little cliff type thing in Kapalua Bay and it's very private/secluded in comparison to some other locations in Maui.  I worked with the restaurant's coordinator over the past year and she was super helpful and always answered my questions (always responded within a few days, on some rare occasions, within 1 wk).  She was really easy to work with through email.  The day of, the events mgr was on site to make sure everything went smoothly and he was also super easy to work with!  The ceremony took place on the deck which i'd highly recommend and the reception took place in the dining room.  They have 180 degree views of the ocean in the restaurant!  The food was something that all my guests raved about as well! Our photog made reservations to come back with his wife and the hubs and I also ended up making reservations to come back for our last night in Maui! The food did not disappoint!  During my research for venues, I found very little information about Merriman's, but I have to say, it's gotta be the best kept secret here on the forums!  The views are absolutely gorgeous and the lunch buyout is a great deal if you'd like more privacy!

Here's a few pics taken by guests:



Flowers (bouquet, centerpieces/aisle arrangements): Dellables
The arrangements were ok, but I can't help but think I could've made much prettier ones myself for under $100.  I think flowers in Maui are just expensive in general, but for the price, I felt the wow factor was lacking.  I had to cut out a lot of things and find them elsewhere because I thought the costs were more than I wanted to pay.  They were very pretty, I just think I could've made better ones myself had I stuck with my original plan to diy them.  Della was very sweet to work with, definitely call her rather than email.  To help cut costs even more, I had asked her to make larger arrangements for the aisle and make them so they would be easy to transfer to the reception tables as centerpieces.

Officiant:  Pia Aluli
Pia was highly recommended by several folks we had talked to when we got to Maui!  He delivered a very lovely ceremony speech (not sure what that's actually called :P) and was a pleasure to work with!  

Hair/Makeup:  Koji Higashino
I booked Mira 1 year ago and i'm not sure what happened, but when I emailed her to confirm the details a week before leaving for Maui, she called and said she double-booked and asked if she could send Koji instead.  i was kind of annoyed at this considering I booked her well in advance, but Koji was a total pro!  He moved to Maui from NYC and is working on building his client base here after doing mostly fashion, ads, and music video work in NYC.  He was a total trooper waking up super early to drive up to Kapalua!  He gave lots of tips on makeup application and worked very effeciently!  All in all, very pleased with how everything turned out!

Harpist:  Celia Canty
Everything happened so quickly, that I didn't get a chance to really hear her play.  The few parts I did hear, she was great!  We had only booked her to play for the ceremony and I just remember at the end, she played Clocks by Coldplay!  Very cool to hear it on a harp!

Photographer:  Mike Sidney
LOVED working with Mike!  You can tell he really knows his stuff!  He was great to work with, he was direct but not in a rude way!  He definitely has a passion for photography and I can't wait to see how the photos turn out!  Price was a little steep to get edited/enhanced photos, but I'm thinking the final product will be worth it!  We also decided to do a family portrait session the following morning with him and am excited to see those photos as well!

Nails:  David's Happy Nails
This place was a little hard to find at first, the signage is not huge, but drive around in that plaza and you'll see it eventually!  They were very thorough with the spa pedicure!  The hubs also decided to kill some time while waiting for me by getting a pedicure and he also said they were REALLY thorough!  Lol!  We sat in our chairs for probably 45mins getting our feet/legs massaged!  Little overkill for me, but I'm the type that just likes to get the polish changed and cuticles cleaned up!  They were very nice and I would recommend going early as a walk in or make an appt if you plan to go after 11A.  I noticed a lot of peopel started pouring in around then and they had to turn some walk ins away!  This place was also the most affordable.  I was researching other places nearby and was about to shell out $85 for a basic mani/pedi "refresher" as our hotel called it (basically just a polish change).  I'm glad some of the gals on this forum recommended David's!  I got shellac on my nails and regular polish on my toes and they both held up amazingly well even 1.5wks later!

Flower petals for aisles/toss cones:
Dellables was charging more than I wanted to pay for much less petals, so I bought 2 boxes of rose petals from safeway ($8.99 each) for my petal toss cones (probably only needed 1 box..had A LOT in each box) and ordered about 1000 plumerias and white orchid heads from Paradise Flower Farms for my aisle petals.  They all held up very well in my air conditioned room overnight.  Paradise Flower Farms was great to work with and they delivered for $19 to Kapalua and were priced pretty reasonably - $.12 per orchid/plumeria head.  

Welcome Dinner - Old Lahaina Luau
I called them inquiring about group rates and they do offer I think it was a 10 or 15% discount as long as you're charging it all to the same card you reserved seats with.  They were great and very flexible to work with.  They had me estimate ont he higher end how many guests would attend (to ensure we all sit together), and you just call in 48hrs prior to confirm the actual counts. All you can eat/drink!!!  They had tasty cocktails and tasty food!  The location was great and the show was excellent!  I loved how intimate the setting was.  I've been to some of hte larger luaus in Oahu and this one was definitely a winner if you have a large group.  The stage is set in the center and regardless of your seat, you can see everything fairly up close.  Beware: no fire dancers at this show : /

Hotel:  Kapalua Villas
We initally booked the Fairway View Villas and those were very nice, initially, but then we saw my family's 2bd villa and got jealous so we upgraded to the bay view villas.  Wish we had stayed there to begin with!  The view was unbelievable and the villa itself was a gorgeous nicely upgraded 2 story!  The staff seemed very disconnected and unorganized at times, and we had a minor misshap with them getting our wedding attire and welcome dinner attire pressed, returned when they said they would, but other than that, I really loved staying there!  It's much more private and secluded and a little further to drive to, but well worth it!

Recommended places to eat:
Ulalani's Shave Ice - GET THE ROSELANI ICE CREAM WITH IT!!!!  I must've eaten so much of the ice cream!  I'm sad they don't sell it on the mainland!  The Haupia and the Vanilla Mac Nut ice cream was super yummy!

Merriman's - hands down THE best meal we had in Maui!  The restaurant itself is much more open and spacious than some of the other places we went to.  I think it's a great place for family gatherings and small parties as they have sections of the restaurant that can be separated for a little more privacy.  They also had some live music playing - would highly recommend Kalani Smith if you're looking for a musician!  I don't know the name of the lady who was also singing with him, but I really liked them!  They played lots of different styles of music but it was very soothing..like sade type stuff!  I youtubed kalani a while back and decided not to book him for my wedding, but man..i totally regret it now!  What I found online did not do him justice!

Star Noodle - I wouldn't recommend the hapa ramen (the soup was black for some reason)..but the hubs got the kimchi ramen and it was delish!  We also ordered the steamed pork buns and chicken karage..YUM!

Japengo - super fresh sushi!  The chow fun was also delish but a little on the greasy side

Mama's Fishhouse - Restaurant is on a beautiful beach!  A bit of a drive if you're staying on the westside of Maui but definitely a great place to see the sunset at!  I wasn't as blown away as I thought I would be with the food, but it was definitely tasty!  There was just so much hype around it that I had much higher expectations. 

Leilani's - Food was okay but nothing to rave about.  It was very crowded even close to 9P on a Wednesday and I thought it was just too loud in there.  I had thought of having a family dinner there but was glad I decided not to.

Duke's - Seafood risotto was soooo good as well as the appetizers and hula pie!  Our waiter was kind of rude and the restaurant was pretty noisy (lots of children staying in the honua kai resort...and running around near the restaurant).

Kimo's - great little spot for lunch!  We stopped by around 11A after an airport run and it was nice and quiet.  I had the chicken sandwich and the chicken was really tasty and juicy!  Cocktails were also yummy!  Tip: If you sit at the tables closest to the ocean, you might get splashed! LOL!

Mala Ocean Tavern - cute little spot on Front St!  Try the ceviche!

Foodland - okay..so it's not a restaurant, but in the back at the seafood counter, you MUST try the poke!!!  They were soooo delicious and they had so many kinds!




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