Newbie-Oahu

jenmags · June 2012

Aloha Beautiful Hawaii Brides!

I have been lurking here since I got engaged almost a month ago (yay). We knew we wanted to get married in Hawaii for a while!

I am hoping to get some ideas from you girls on what might fit our wants:

-My DF wants the ceremony on a "grassy area overlooking the ocean".
-We both also want to have our reception preferably outside. Worst case, at least an open balcony.
-We plan on doing a Thursday wedding with a flight in on Wed.
-Us and all our guests are from Southern California, so it is definitely a destination wedding. We plan on 40-50 guests max. (I will cut down my list to no more than 50)
-I am hoping we can have the wedding in the waikiki area so my guests don't have to go far since they will be staying in the area. If reasonably affordable transportation arrangements can be made to get my guests to the venue, I will consider it.

Please help with ideas!!

Thank you!!

Jen

kimmykupcakes · June 2012

Aloha and congratulations! I don't have any tips for you for Oahu being a Maui bride, but I know some of the other ladies here will. Good luck in all of your planning.

dianalynm · June 2012

Congrats and welcome! I am a Maui bride so I wouldn't be much help, but noticed you mentioned having a Thurs wedding, but fly in the day before? There is no way you can get in sooner? You still have to account for getting the marriage certificate prior to the actual wedding ceremony and also if you plan on taking you dress, you want ample enough time for it to get steamed. Then of course other prepping as needed... Just a concerned fellowbride! : good luck!

jtoly · June 2012

Congrats!! I just got married last month on Oahu! I wouldn't suggest a wedding the day after you get there. If something happens with the flight it may not work out for you and you'll have to get your license when you get there. We flew in on Monday and got married on Wednesday, that was pushing it. I wish I had an extra day, but I was coming from PA so the time change killed us. We married at Waialae Beach Park. It was so beautiful there. There is a grassy section and then the beach with an island and palm trees. It was about 10 min from Waikiki. Any other questions just ask!

jtoly · June 2012

I guess my siggy pic shows a nice background of the area I was talking about!

WinstonsGirl · June 2012

We did our at the Outrigger Reef Hotel on the Voyager Deck. It overlooks Waikiki Beach, so not a grassy area, but it does overlook the ocean. Cara was the Banquet Coordinator and she was fantastic!! I would also echo looking at flying in a day earlier. We had no problems, flew in on a Wed and got our license Thurs morning, Married on Monday, so it could have worked for us, but we've also had problems with some flights (the American airlines, not Canadian ones) and took over 26 hours to get their once. You never know what might happen. Photo below of our location.

Orange813 · June 2012

Whoa.... wedding twin.

I'm from Southern Cali originally (San Diego) but moved here to Oahu. Also getting married on a Thursday 10/11/12

I was looking for the exact same things you were looking for. So depending on your budget in no particular order:

All equipped with grassy areas next to the beach and not far from Waikiki with an option for outdoor/semi-outdoor reception

1) the bayer estate

2) Da Pink House

3) Royal Hawaiian

4) Kahala Hotel and Resort

5) Oasis World Estates

equipped with grassy areas next to the beach and NOT IN Waikiki with an option for outdoor/semi-outdoor reception

1) Loulu Palms

2) Turtle Bay

3) Kualoa Ranch

4) Lanikohonua

5) Paradise Cove Luau( if you want to share your reception with strangers)

No grassy area but ceremony over looks the ocean with outdoor/semioutdoor reception and close to or in Waikiki

1) outrigger

2) Moana Surfrider

3) Halekulani

4) The Modern Honolulu

5) Aloha Tower

6) Sheraton Waikiki

7) Hyatt Regency

8) the Coconut Club/Aston Waikiki

and just for fun, no beach but still Cool and out-of-the-box places

1) Haiku Weddings/Haleiwa Joe's

2) Hawaii State Art museum

3) koolau ballrooms

4) La Pietra Private School

(can you tell I did my research?)

I happen to know the owner of the Wedding Cafe on Oahu which helped me out a lot.

Oahu Bride · June 2012

Congratulations!

We are getting married at Paradise Cove which is located approx 45 minutes from Waikiki, we are organising a charter bus for all our guests. We are getting married on a grassy area with the ocean in the background.

Our reception we are having back in Waikiki at the Coconut Club which is located on the 21st floor of the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel, it is not outside but on a balcony with amazing views of Waikiki Beach, Diamond and Waikiki itself.

I would also suggest flying in a day or two earlier, we are getting married on a Monday and arrive the Wednesday before but we are flying from Australia. Our wedding planner suggested 2-3 days before the wedding.

marriedonmaui · June 2012

I would also recommend getting there at least two days before the wedding. We got our marriage license the day before but the wedding dress needed to be steamed and the lady that did that required at least a day's notice. Espeically with the possibility of flight delays and cancellations I would not want to cut it that close!

Congratulations on your engagement and good luck with your planning!

FINALLYtobeMrsM · June 2012

Congrats!! I'm a Oahu bride too, but we're getting married directly on the beach so I do'nt have any suggestions for you as far as location is concerned. Like everyone else has said, definitely get there a couple days ahead of time. We arrive on a Monday and get married that Thursday, it gives me plenty of time to have my dress steamed, get our license and relax before the big day.

Orange813 has given you all the info (you are one awesome lady for that!) so hopefully you'll find something that fits your needs. Best of luck to you and congrats again!

LaurenM2013 · June 2012

Congratulations! I'm getting married in Oahu also, but my wedding will be on the North Shore at the Wedding Cottage.

cass_k20 · June 2012

yay! I'm an Oahu bride too. Also mostly a lurker when I have time, but an occasional post here & there.

We're also doing a Thursday wedding, May 2013. We were able to find a vacation rental home (after months of searching and deciding) in Waialua that is within our budget & will allow a wedding.

FI's family is from Oahu, so they all have sleeping arrangements, but my family def isn't. We're spending the week there in this house. The owner is amazing & so helpful! This house/ranch has been in their family for a long time; they're a kamaaina fam

We only have 25 or less (immediate fam only) but they do allow larger groups for a larger fee. We're paying $500 to host our ceremony & reception there from 10am-10pm. We love it! http://www.vrbo.com/259031

jenmags · July 2012

First of all, I want to thank all of you for responding to my post....your advice is priceless!! I am feeling so overwhelmed with everything and I don't want to spend all the money in the world. My fiance and I bought a house and have big remodeling plans so i'd rather invest in that!

My date is set for 8-8-13 so I have time to pull this together....I won't dress shop till January but wanted some piece of mind with regards to the venue/reception.

Jtoly, beautiful pic!! Omg I didn’t realize I needed to get the license before! I guess I can come in on Tuesday? I am trying to push it as close as possible since the wedding is the first event for our time there. We are doing the wedding Thursday, beach BBQ Friday, luau on Sat, etc.

Hey Wedding Twin!! Thank you for the list!! Yay now I can see what’s what! My head is literally spinning!

Oahu Bride – Can you give me the charter bus info? That would really relive a lot of the worry. If my guests have transportation, then everything will be wide open!

Cass – Thanks for the venue referral…checking It out!

laurenpoc · September 2012

Hello Newbie-Oahu:

Wowwww!! We are both getting married on August 8, 2013 in Oahu!!

We are travelling from Sydney, Australia and have just sent out STD's now.

We plan on sending invites in May.

We are having our ceremony at the Ocean Crystal Chapel in the Hilton (I really wanted to wear high heels on my wedding day..so a beach wedding was not for me!)

Our reception we are thinking of taking everyone to a traditional Luau..but we know we will have to share it with strangers.. and possibly any other bridal parties!?

Look forward to hearing how your planning is going!!

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