Dear Knotties,
We just had our destination wedding on October 11, 2011 in Maui and all the knotties have been so helpful on this board that I want to share some of our insights and vendors so hopefully it will be helpful for you!
Wedding Planner: Cheryl Shoemaker
She currently lives in Kona, but she was amazing to work with. We live in Canada so we mainly corresponded through email but she was always responsive usually right away and very easy going. She let you plan as much or as little of individual things as you like and is very meticulous. Our wedding would not have been so spectacular without her. We met her when we arrived in Maui a few days for our wedding and she was always calm, collected, and professional yet super friendly and helpful. Love her!
Venue: Olowalu Plantation House
It's true - the venue speaks for itself. It is just completely gorgeous. That's all I can say.
Photographer: Jana Morgan (2nd shooter Matthew Alvarado)
Loved working with them... we will see what the photos look like! Jana shot in film and digital. She's super talented so we are quite confident! Too bad Jana moved to California...I'm so happy I booked her while she still lived in Maui!
Videographer: Erik Anderson (2nd videog Cedric Yu) from Love Story Media (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
It was difficult to find videographers in Hawaii because most of them hang out on Oahu... but Erik shot my friends from Vancouver at their weddings and I absolutely loved their work. They were also super fun to work with and we'll see if they can make us look good!
Catering: Aloha Events
They are absolutely amazing, professional, and the service is spectacular. The food was delicious. Michelle is also super responsive and helpful to cater to your needs and wishes. Need I say more? We were also allowed to purchase our own alcohol and drinks and they provided bartenders to serve it who were also amazing!
Rentals: Island Rents
Kara is probably wedding planner #2 when it came to making sure we had everything we needed at OPH for the wedding. She was amazing. Everythig was perfect. We did end up getting a tent from Maui Rents because I was paranoid about rain. Of course it didn't rain.
Flowers: Della from Dellables
BEAUTIFUL
Hair: Dan Sanchez
He's such a sweet guy...I told him I would re-name him Dan the hair machine. Him and his assistent were amazing. My mothers were happy. My girls were happy. I was thrilled with my updo. Stylish, chic, and trendy and super fun!
Make up: Jessica Waite
You have to pick her - she's amazing. I think I learned more about Maui then I ever could have in the few hours she spent with us. She's just an artistic woman with amazing talent and enjoys what she does. She's so great, I wish we were friends!
DJ: Jay Langworthy (DJ Boomshot)
Our wedding planner suggested him to us, and he did not disappoint. We got so many raving good comments about how good our DJ was...we had so much fun and the dancing was amazing at our wedding. Let's just say...when you can get ALL 70 people on the dancefloor jumping the night away...you gotta be good.
I hope I didn't forget a vendor...but the wedding was just perfect.
Vendors are one half, but our guests..friends and family definitely made our wedding the best it could ever be. That part is hard to guarantee
Good luck with all you future brides who are planning away. It's an amazing process, super fun, and I miss it already. Happy to answer any specific questions if you ever have any! Sometimes I get busy and don't check in all the time, but send me a message or drop me a line anytime!
Thank you knotties who helped with great advice along the way!