Sorry this is so long!
My Wedding Planner - Makena Weddings, Laurie TerryWonderful People - Great Service! Our wedding took place June 29th, 2011. I cannot say enough about Makena Weddings and how amazing Laurie's services were. From the very start she was quick to respond to my emails, and was willing to work with us and our budget for what we wanted BEFORE we even chose her as our coordinator. I contacted a good 8-10 other agencies and hotels that provide coordination services, and none of them made us feel as valued as Laurie did. We encountered a lot of folks who seemed too busy to really focus on us and what we were asking, or failing to answer all of our questions. Some of the agencies rushed us into making a decision, whether we would choose them for services before even giving us clear answers on how much money it would cost for what we wanted. Laurie, however, took the time to go over every detail with us and answer our many, many questions. Doing a destination wedding can feel like a daunting experience, especially when you don't have the ability to visit the location and see with your own eyes where your special day will take place. Laurie put all of our concerns at ease, she made us feel confident that it was going to be absolutely beautiful. She went above and beyond what I expected for a coordinator to do, always giving us advice on where to go after the wedding in case folks wanted to continue partying, what to do for ladies night out and recommending restaurants and hot spots to visit while on the island. She was very organized and provided us with a clear and easy to read spreadsheet listing out all the details and pricing for the ceremony and reception. We originally were going to do an outdoor reception at the Hotel Wailea with Capische doing the catering, but when the price hiked up we found out that she had already reserved Gannons for us as a backup in case we decided to change our minds. So glad she thought ahead! We were able to have a reasonably priced ceremony and reception that EVERONE was blown away by. Once we were in Maui, she met with us and finalized everything. She had already set up our appointment with the marriage license office and we were able to get that done in less than 15 minutes. She has great rapport with all her vendors so we didn't have any problems. Not only that, but we originally told the reception site we were going to have 35 people and Laurie realized a day before it took place that we only had 31 people in attendance. She convinced them to give us back some of the money for the 4 additional spots and even though they have a 75 hour policy - they agreed! That's the kind of relationship she has with her vendors, they all trust her, work with her often and know she'll continue to bring clientele to their venues. She made planning our wedding so easy. She had great suggestions on photographers, musicians and DJs. I was very pleased with all of them. Reverend Al Terry performed a GORGEOUS ceremony - his voice is so pure. He really made an effort to make us feel comfortable and worked really well with the photographers. He was amazing and far exceeded my expectations! Lovely, lovely, lovely - can't rave about them enough! My Officiant - Reverend Alapaki Reverend Al has the silkiest, smoothest voice around. He used to be a singer so you know he's good. He is such a jovial man, and really knows how to put everyone at ease. We felt honored to have him perform our ceremony. I also really appreciated the fact that he tried to get our photographer to take good shots of important moments in the ceremony. He was just fantastic and has the entire ceremony memorized, so never an awkward moment.
My Wedding Venue -Gannon’s Beautiful Grounds! We were blown away by the beauty of the grounds at Gannon's and the friendliness of the staff. We had our reception at the lower lawn site. The food was great, and the cake was amazing! We originally counted 35 people in attendance, but realized a day before the wedding that it was actually 31. Our coordinator asked if they could credit us back the money for the 4 empty spots and they agreed even though they had a 72 hour policy. That was fantastic of them to do. If you have your reception here, you will not be disappointed. My Photographer -Marbelle Photography Jen and Fred are fantastic! Fred was the videographer and he did such a great job of making us feel comfortable while shooting the video. Originally, he was supposed to film up to the cutting of the cake and that was it. We asked if he could stay to film our first dance, but there was going to be an additional charge. He ended up staying late anyway without charging us for the extra time. That was so nice of him!! It really meant a lot and we could tell they were quality people. We are so happy with how the video turned out - great editing, song choice, all of it. Jen was a fantastic photographer - the sunset pictures she took, WOW! She is the sweetest person, and really made sure we were on time for everything. She tried to get a lot of actions shots during the reception which I really appreciated. She created a brag page for us, and it was absolutely beautiful. All of our friends and families said that the pictures blew them away and looked like they belonged in a magazine. Top Quality for sure. I can't rave enough about them.