Maui Wedding Warning

lady faye · October 2010

Hi All

Please see my post under destination weddings...

Cheers

Lady Faye

kaesha · October 2010

Sorry things didn't turn out for you. Hopefully the vendors who let you down weren't ones that the girls here use on a regular basis. It's always a disappointment when that happens. And, as for your comment about Hawaiian weddings not being special, well, again, I'm sorry if you felt like your day wasn't special. I think just about all of the girls on the board here have had really positive experiences and not felt like they were just a number. The vendors I worked with were all super professional (most went well above and beyond) and I don't think it's fair to generalize everyone who works in the Hawaiian wedding industry there as not having a good work ethic or being uncaring. But, please post your reviews of individual vendors over on the Knot's sister site the Wedding Channel.

FWIW, the 10 pm curfew is pretty standard across the islands though - especially in the outdoor locations. Out of consideration for the 98% of people on the islands who don't want to hear wedding music every night, I can understand why they do it. And, I can also understand not having children in a nightclub after 10 pm either.

dianab0237 · October 2010

10pm is "quiet" time on all islands for most venues, which is respectable. If you want to continue to party, you can take your guests to a nightclub or bar. A big part of planning a destination wedding is to keep things simple and know that you do not have full control over all the aspects. If you are not comfortable with that, you should think about having your wedding closer to where you live. Hawaii is full of great people with the Aloha attitude. It's an island and those who live and work there are not as fastpaced as those in metropolitian cities on the mainland. Of course there are bad apples (I just had my first snag in wedding planning) and Hawaii is a major wedding and honeymoon destination, but I wouldn't say that you aren't special to your vendors. If you treat them with respect, they will do the same with you.

AKWinterBride · October 2010

Would you mind posting whom you worked with?

carrieoz_76 · October 2010

I'm not seeing your post. Can you link to it? Oops, found it here - http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_destination-weddings_maui-wedding-warning

I agree with Alyson - you do have to have a somewhat relaxed and easy-going attitude, and know that you can't have control over the smallest details from so far away (they don't really matter in the end anyways).

It also sounds like you had bad luck with your vendors. We loved all of our vendors, and they all made us feel special. The guys who run the inn where we stayed surprised us by setting up candles and tiki torches in their backyard for us on our wedding night and left treats for us in our room. Our officiant wrote our vows the day before our wedding because we called her in a panic and asked her to. My hair stylist did my mom's hair for free, and made live orchid hair clips for my BMs and my mom (also gratis). Our floral wholesaler called me to tell me our orchid stems had extra blooms and that I probably didn't need to buy as many stems as I'd thought I'd need. And on and on. It was truly amazing how great everyone was to us.

As for weddings in Hawaii being special in general, I'm really sorry you didn't feel that yours was. H and I (and our guests) all knew that there were lots of other weddings taking place on Maui (heck, there were two other brides with their dresses on my flight alone!), but when people saw us at the airport with my wedding dress bag they all smiled and congratulated us, when random people saw me in my dress, they told me how pretty I looked and congratulated me, when we arrived for our reception dinner at the restaurant, our guests - and the staff and other people eating in the restaurant - all clapped for us. Maybe they do the same four times a day, maybe they don't - I don't care. We felt great the whole time we were there, and our guests did too, and that's what mattered to us.

lady faye · November 2010

Kaesha

I'm glad you can understand that children should not be allowed in a nightclub after 10PM, but I cannot when I specifically ask them children's rates, 6-7 months before my wedding. I think they would think to mention the curfew. It is my belief that they didn't get their act together and therefore only told me 4 WEEKS before my wedding and yes.. .this upset me. I had a total buyout of the location.. eg my wedding only!!

I only mentioned the 10 PM curfew on outdoor music so that other brides are aware. I was aware of this and it was not an issue since I made other arrangements. The comment was meant to be helpful.

Lady Faye

kaesha · November 2010

... no need to get all snippy, my dear. You didn't mention the buyout in your original post and shockingly enough, I'm not a mindreader. Where I'm from, it's pretty common knowledge that children can't stay in a nightclub passed 10 pm, but if things are different in your area, I can understand your frustration.

It sucks that things weren't clearly laid out in advance for you. I'm surprised it wasn't in your contract. I hope you got some money back or recompense for that... because really, it sounds like they had you booking under false pretenses.

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