Finding Rachael from Maui Event Planning was serendipitous. We were looking at Olowalu as a venue but couldn't afford the services of a wedding planner, which Olowalu requires that you have (for insurance purposes or something probably). We were talking to a planner that was charging around $3000 basically just for her services. We had already looked at vendors on our own, so we didn't really need help in that area, so I wasn't too sure what she would be doing apart from the day-of coordination (maybe answering our questions here and there). She was perfectly nice and super friendly, but it came down to the bottom line. After we decided that $3000 was not in our budget, we were slowly accepting the fact that we couldn't have our wedding at Olowalu. We had talked to a couple of other places about day-of coordination, but no one really seemed to do day-of, only full service.
Then, we found Rachael from Maui Event Planning through a friend. She was exactly what we were looking for. She would take care of everything on the day of the wedding, have a half-hour meeting with us the week prior to the wedding, and be available for phone/email consultation for 1 hour. We were totally cool with taking care of contacting vendors, etc., since that's what we wanted to do anyway. Her rates were $300 management fee, $1 per guest for liability insurance, and she also charged for assistants, depending on how many guests you have. It was the perfect arrangement. I'm sharing this info because I feel like a lot of knotties are really into the do-it-yourself stuff, and only need a coordinator for the day of the wedding.
We didn't really use Rachael's services until our meeting with her the week of the wedding. She was EXTREMELY helpful with our layout and seating and just the little things that you don't really think about or have no idea who to ask. She was the one who told us about Olowalu's unadvertised dance floor.
On the day of the wedding, she was on top of her game. She had brought one assistant, and they basically ran the show. I was sequestered in the ridiculously hot house (Rachael made sure we had fans, but Olowalu really needs air conditioning), but Rachael kept me updated as to what was going on outside. She checked to make sure the various vendors were there and made sure we adhered to the timeline.
Our wedding was fabulous, and it is probably to her credit that our wedding went so smoothly.
The only catch is that Rachael is also the owner of Island Rents, and you have to use them for your rentals. I had no problem with this, as they were also a great company to work with--very professional, very prompt in emailing, and they made sure we had what we needed. Also, I believe you can rent from other companies if Island Rents doesn't have what you need (e.g. tent with barrels). We didn't need anything extra. I also like Island Rents because they actually publish their rates online, so this makes it easier to do comparisons with other companies.
Overall, Maui Event Planning gets an A+! Highly recommended!