Beach park wedding + Beachhouse at the Moana?

majorelle · September 2011

Hi everyone!

My fiance and I recently went on a short vacation to Oahu and came back with tons of wedding ideas! If it's not a bother, I'd love to gather advice and suggestions regarding a few of our favorites.

We've both come to favor the idea of doing the wedding somewhere around Honolulu. We're both city people and don't mind a few crowds here and there, and in addition it gives a lot of hotel options for our guests. To keep costs down, we're particularly interested in doing a small Hawaiian style wedding at a beach park with about 15-25 guests. One person suggested that we take a look at Diamondhead Beach Park, but from a few internet searches, Waialae Beach Park looks interesting too. Has anyone gone this route before, or have any other ideas for an inexpensive Honolulu-area beach wedding?

Then after that we're pretty set on having a dinner reception at Beachhouse at the Moana. We're going to email their events planning coordinator for sure, but in the meantime, does anyone have a ballpark idea of their price range for a small dinner event?

Suggestions and advice would be much appreciated, and thanks in advance!

Dimplz1401 · September 2011

We are thinking of a restaurant style reception! Let me know what you find out from the Beachhouse because I am interested!

WinstonsGirl · September 2011

I haven't been to the beach house, though it looked nice when we walked by. I have heard that a lot of people use Magic Island, which is off of Ala Moana beach park (not an actual island). Actually, Ala Moana Beach Park is also a super nice place that is a little less busy than Waikiki. Apparently, there are fewer people on Magic Island and you get spectacular views of Diamond Head from there. We're looking at doing some photos there. Don't forget though that you need a beach permit (I think $20, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong) to have a wedding on a public beach, and you can't have anything like arches or chairs. Good luck!!

SavvyLittleBride · September 2011

Hello Ladies, we did exactly that, had our ceremony at the Wai'Alae beach park and a dinner reception at Hoku's restaurant at the Kahala Resort. See my planning bio and blog for a complete wedding day description and let me know if you have any questions. I'll post our wedding pictures soon. HTH

icode4food · September 2011

I have all tje PDF files from the Moana with the menu options for a private party at the Beachhouse. I have copied and pasted the menu options below from them.

I looked at having my reception and the Beachhouse and decided against it. I did not want a fixed menu. Also, I would avoid getting married at the beach park near Ala Moana. That is where a lot of the homeless gather and the water in that area is not sanitary due to the run off from the Ala Wai.

beachhouse dinner menu A

1st course choice

nalo field greens

yuzu vinaigrette, candied walnuts, fresh pear

2nd course choice

served with seasonal vegetables and mashed potato

free range bbq chicken

organically grown half chicken grilled with a maui pineapple glaze, natural jus

3rd course

mango sorbet with fresh berries

coffee or tea

$69.00 ++ per person

beachhouse dinner menu B 1st course choice maui onion soup made in the french onion style with sweet maui onions, generously covered with a four-cheese gratin featuring gruyere, mozzarella, swiss and parmesan 2nd course choice served with seasonal vegetables and mashed potato pier 38 fresh catch 3rd course choice kona coffee spring rolls kona coffee & chocolate in a crispy spring roll wrapper served with a grand marnier & white chocolate sauce coffee or tea $75.00 ++ per person
beachhouse dinner menu C 1st course choice kona lobster bisque creamy lobster soup with accents of paprika garnished with crème fraiche and a green onion crouton 2nd course choice caesar salad romaine hearts tossed with marinated anchovies, brioche croutons, parmigiano reggiano and house dressing 3rd course choice served with seasonal vegetables and mashed potato filet mignon (10oz) cabernet jus 4th course choice dark rum crème brulee vanilla custard infused with spiced dark rum & torched caramel crust coffee or tea $95.00 ++ per person
beachhouse dinner menu D 1st course choice seared blackened ahi sashimi-grade fresh island yellow-fin tuna prepared with cajun spices, and served with wasabi aioli, soy-sesame glaze and micro-greens 2nd course choice iceberg salad iceberg lettuce served with a buttermilk dressing topped with gorgonzola, smoked bacon and grape tomatoes 3rd course choice served with seasonal vegetables and mashed potato filet mignon (6oz) & king crab legs merus-cut legs with clarified herb butter 4th course choice upside-down maui pineapple cake dressed with pineapple mint sauce coffee or tea $120.00 ++ per person
chef rodney uyehara presents the “flavors of beachhouse” tasting menu first course appetizer sampler: blackened ahi, mango shrimp cocktail, lomi lomi salmon reverdy sancerre loire valley france 2008 5oz second course entrée sampler: new york strip, king crab leg, australian lamb chop beachhouse cabernet sauvignon “napa valley” 2006 5oz third course dessert sampler: kona chocolate spring roll, mango sorbet, kula strawberry shortcake justin “obtuse” paso robles california 2007 2oz $90 ++ per person wine pairing an additional $32 ++ per person

majorelle · September 2011

Thanks for all of your helpful replies!!

Dimplz~ I'm going to be emailing the Beachhouse sometime this week, so hopefully I'll have more concrete information from them soon But when my fiance and I had our farewell dinner there during our recent trip to Oahu, we were absolutely smitten with the restaurant! The waitstaff were all so friendly and incredibly patient and informative in answering my thousand+ questions about hosting events there. The restaurant itself is cute, well located, perhaps a little overpriced, but well catered to a slightly more upscale dining experience for a general audience, which is exactly what we need as half of our guest list is from California and the other half from Japan. We definitely walked away feeling like it was the ideal for us and for our guests. I will keep you updated on any more info I get from them for sure!

kje~ Thanks for letting me know about the beach permit! We did kind of check out Ala Moana Beach park but right now I'm a little biased toward the idea of going either to Wai’Alae or more towards Southeast Oahu.

Savvy~ Your planning bio is adorable!! And I'm so glad to hear that you did something similar to what we're thinking, because honestly I feel so lost trying to plan a not Resort wedding! I saw on your vendor reviews that you were happy with Suzanne from Aloha from Hawaii Weddings—would you particularly recommend going with them, or were there any other WCs that you considered during your planning process? And of course, I so look forward to seeing your pictures!

icode~ Thank you so much for posting the menu!!! Luckily their prices were not quite as brutal as I’d initially imagined they’d be. I am surprised that they may have insisted on a fixed menu, though~ do you mean as opposed to buffet style? When I visited the Beachhouse two of the waiters there seemed very encouraging toward the idea of replacing certain event menu items with dishes that I was more interested in. One even offered to import the wine list from my favorite winery in California. Just out of curiosity, which other restaurants did you look at?

Beach park wedding + Beachhouse at the Moana?

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