Hi Ladies!
I'm finally ready to write my reviews! I feel that my reviews may be more helpful for those planning a small simple wedding ceremony which seems to be more rare on this board. I hope this can help some of you who are just starting to plan! I had a small beach wedding in south maui with 7 guests.
We had an amazing time! I'll reserve the A+'s for those vendors who really knocked my socks off! All together, everything went perfectly and I wish I had worried less about little things... lesson learned.
I'll divide the reviews in to Maui in general and then wedding specific reviews. I hope that is helpful. I will apologize now for all the spelling mistakes, I don’t have time to look up the correct spelling of towns etc J
GENERAL MAUI REVIEWS:
Lodging: We stayed in the Ho'oilo House (A+) in Lahaina. It’s a small bed in breakfast about 10 minutes from Front Street. This place was AMAZING and perfect. It was quiet and secluded so very romantic and perfect to relax before the big day. It only has 6 rooms and has the best outdoor showers. The view driving down the street to the main road was the best view I saw anywhere in Maui. Seriously, check this place out, you won’t regret it. The inn keepers were very helpful.
RESTAURANTS:
Lahaina Grill: A, very good food, little pricey, little noisy but so delicious. This was where we ate the day after our wedding. They took a picture of us and emailed it to us which I thought was nice.
Lahaina Coolers: A, very good food, chill atmosphere, highly recommend
Cool Cat Café: A, Went here before we went for marriage license apt so we were a little rushed, but the burgers and fries were delicious! Servers were great and knew we were in a rush, food was out in 5 minutes!
Sea House: A+: Went here for lunch after relaxing at Napili Bay (which was beautiful). The food was soooo good and the view was amazing.
Ono Gelato company: A+++: I loved this place but not for the gelato, for the coffee. We had coffee at many different place sin Maui but this was the absolute best, so delicious. They also had great pastries in the morning, I had the salted caramel chocolate croissant, and it was to die for. We went here twice a day some days for coffee.
Dukes: A+, I loved this place, the sunset view was just amazing and the service and food was so good. It’s a relaxed place and the prices weren’t too bad, I thought theyd be more with such an amazing view. I had actually thought of doing wedding dinner at this place when I thought I was going to get married at ironwoods beach and it actually would have been a good choice for the feel I was looking for. I didn’t want anything too fancy. I know it’s not one of the popular choices for a reception but I think it would be great there.
Old Lahaina town Luau: A+, I thought that this was such a great Luau. It was classy and so well organized. They take sunset pictures for you if you walk to the water, do them, mine came out amazing so we bought all of them. If you are thinking of doing this for a reception, it’s doable however, the timing may not work out if you want a sunset wedding. I think it may be better to do it the night before your wedding like we did. It was a great way to see our guests who flew in for the wedding. Everyone just couldn’t stop raving about the food. The chicken was sooo good!
ADVENTURES: Trilogy Snorkel Excursions: A++, This was a great company to choose. It took off from Ma’alea which is south of Lahaina but before Kihei. It was a great location to leave from. The crew was so nice, the food was so good. It was different snorkeling there then the Caribbean as it was a little rough, but I guess that’s normal for Hawaii. As an added bonus, one of the crew members who was born in Hawaii sang with his ukulele at lunch time and then again at dessert time. He was soooo good and really made the excursion feel so authentic, it was great. They even give you ice cream on the way back. I highly recommend the morning tour even though it’s early since the seas get even more rough later. We were so happy with this trip and didn’t mind having to get up so early the day after our wedding!
Kaanapali Golf Course: Bay Course: A++, My finace did this the morning of our wedding with my dad so I thought I’d throw in this review. They both said it was amazing. They both kept taking pictures with their phones and said that they had never seen a golf course so beautiful. Good idea for your groom to do to keep him busy while you get ready.
Napili Bay Beach: A, we went here on our last day in Maui which was a Saturday. It was pretty crowded but we didn’t care as it was soooo beautiful The water was crystal clear and blue. This was the nicest beach we saw while in Maui. I would not recommend getting married here as the beach is narrow, especially with high tide and it’s very popular. We ate at the Sea House for lunch which is on this beach. What a great day! I did try to snorkel here, I rented equipment at Snorkel Bobs up the street but it was tough, there was a strong undertow so it was tough to even get out there, so instead I just enjoyed the water.
WEDDING RELATED REVIEWS: Reverend Tino: A, He was perfect. he was the first vendor I picked and I knew I wanted him because a friend of mine had him for his wedding a few years ago. His wife Patty is so great to work with, she’ll help you with any questions.
Simple Maui Weddings, Karma Hill and Marissa Hawke: A++++, this is what I booked second. If I had found this company first, I could have booked Rev. Tine through them, but I had not found them yet. If you haven’t checked out this company yet, check them out now! They will make your whole wedding planning so much easier. They have packages you can pick from or you can design your own. They do not offer every thing you’ll need (like hair and make-up) but they do suggest vendors. I picked them initially because of their photographer, Karma Hill who is the owner of the company. Her style is just what I wanted. Check our her blog, we are on it under “East Coast Energy”. When you buy a package with simple Maui weddings you also get a coordinator, Marissa. Marissa was amazing, I know I have mentioned her several times on this blog, so much that I was hoping people didn’t think I was from their company lol, but Marissa really was that great! She answered so many questions from me and offered great advice. I felt like she was a friend. I really recommend this company.
Dellables Florist: A+, This is the florist that simple maui wedding company uses when you select a package that includes flowers, so I worked through the company for my bouquet. I was going to do my bouquet on my own but then decided I didn’t want the hassle, I’m sooo happy I got my bouquet through them! My bouquet was beautiful! I just said that I wanted something that had purple and orange in it, and I liked white roses and I wanted it to have a Hawaiian touch to it. It was exactly what I pictured it would be, I couldn’t believe it! A bonus of booking with simple maui weddings is that you can have your flowers with Dellables. If you try to get your flowers from Dellables without using simple maui weddings, you have to have a minimum order, which I believe was 1,000! I also got a maile Lei for my husband from them and it was perfect, what great quality work!
Karine Cummings, Hair and Make-up: A, I loved Karine. Her prices were right and I loved her website with all the pictures of brides which made me confident in her abilities. We talked a little before I arrived in maui and about what I wanted. She arrived early to where we were staying and just did such a great job with my hair and make-up. She was very calming and easy to talk too. I felt like she was my friend just hanging out. Everything was just the way I wanted it, I couldn’t believe it… it’s like she just knew what to do even with little instructions from me. I definitely recommend her…. no need to spend the extra money on the higher price stylists!
Sean Hower, Videographer: A++. Sean was so easy to work with, he communicated so quickly back and forth through email. I wasn’t worried about anything with using Sean, I even paid in full upfront. Sean even made a custom package for me because the packages on his website were more coverage then what I needed. I’m so thankful he was willing to work with my small budget. He was so good that I didn’t really even notice the camera on the beach and the best part is that he shot some extra footage before and after actual ceremony which wasn’t in my package… what a great guy. He’s so chill yet so professional. I haven’t received my video yet but I’m just so pleased with him so far. He provided mics for my husband and the reverend so you will be able to hear us in the video. Sean is also a photographer as well, so he worked really well with my photographer sharing the space etc. I cant recommend him enough!
Sarento’s on the Beach (Kihei): A, I had such a hard time picking a restaurant, I don’t know why! Finally I asked my cake lady what she’d recommend out of the 2 I was torn between and she recommended Sarentos so I went with them. It was perfect! We had a part of 9, and they had the perfect little area for us outside and it was sort of separate from everyone else so it felt special. The staff was so professional, serving the proper way etc, yet it felt so relaxing and we didn’t feel out of place. The food was great! They even come around and took a professional pic for us. At the end they presented our wedding cake to us that we had delivered to the restaurant and it was just set up so nicely! My cake had 2 different layers and the staff even cut little pieces of each layer for each guest so they could sample both! They were just so accommodating. The only downside was we drove right by the restaurant and had to turn around because the sign is hard to see as it’s under a big days inn sign.
Maui Wedding Cakes: A+, Cheryl was so great to work with! She offered great suggestions and always got back to me so quickly! I also paid in full right away because she was just so great to work with. My guests are still talking about how good the cake was. I recommend going with a 2 tier even if it’s small so you can try different flavors. I highly recommend Maui Wedding Cakes, I also loved her designs online. They were very simple, but just what we wanted. South Maui Beach that we married on: A++++++, I’m so hesitant to say which beach it was because it’s a lesser known beach which made it so perfect because there were no other weddings there at the same time. This is also my photographer’s favorite beach so she likes to keep it a secret! Lol, I know I’m being silly but I feel like I should keep it a secret for them! You can message me if you want to know the beach. Or, if you go with Simple Maui Wedding Company, just tell them you want Karmas favorite beach!
Lastly, I ended up not scheduling a musician as I had thought about and I’m glad I did not bother. Between the waves and the wind and just being excited etc, I don’t think I would have even noticed music. I wanted to keep it more simple with less vendors and I’m glad I did.
So, I think that’s everything! I will write some Big Island reviews of places we went to for our honeymoon in another post. I hope this was helpful for some future brides!