Hawaii

Olowalu Plantation House Budget

Hi everyone!  
I know that this question has probably been brought up time and time again, but I wanted to get some budget estimates for those having a wedding ceremony and reception at Olowalu in the upcoming year.  I plan on having a max of 50 guests, and would like to keep it under $20,000...is this reasonable for a nice, not-bare bones, wedding?  I only ask because my fiance is leaning more towards having it at a hotel (specifically the Ritz, which will be over my desired budget), so I'm trying to crunch some numbers to show him that we can get more bang for our buck at Olowalu.  Any feedback, advice, etc, would be appreciated! THANKS!!

Re: Olowalu Plantation House Budget

  • tiggy5555tiggy5555 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011

    Totally doable!

    To save more consider a weekday rental, not having a photographer all day, limit the bar options, choose your coordinator wisely (not all are willing to shop around to save money), and get your estimates sooner than later. I have just under a year and I have booked everything except my cake and lighting. It can be done....shoot I wanted to do it for under $15,000 total but if more than 30 show I will go over that amount.

    HTH

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  • dre222dre222 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Aloha Japonesa1!

    That is exactly our budget and approximate guest count too for Olowalu. (March 23!)  I believe it's doable (it better be!).  Will your $20k include dress, invites, rings, etc? We are almost committed to our planner but the things we know for sure that are the food and beverage are the next highest items, along with venue.  If your wedding date is a weekday (Mon-Thurs), the venue fee be lower.

    Our flowers have to be on the simple side (venue is so pretty, there's no need to go overboard with flowers), menu is mostly vegetarian because I am a veg and I think that helps keeps costs down.

    From what I've read, I think anything is doable. Start with your vision and your must haves and go from there. Good luck and keep us posted!  Smile
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  • edited December 2011
    I went with Tina at Food for the Soul for the Catering at Olowalu for our wedding in July.  She ended up being our wedding planner for both the ceremony and the reception and does it for 500.  A regular wedding planner does it for about 1500, plus with Food for the Soul they do all their own rentals (tables, chairs, etc) Another plus of doing it at an estate is the cost of alcohol is about 5 dollars per drink at a hotel, and for pretty cheap you can have an open bar all night at Olowalu.  Tina is so amazing, and when i did the numbers Olowalu was going to be cheaper than a resort. Our budget was 15k for about 40 ppl, so far we are right at our budget. And i agree our photographer is for only 4 hours. But capturing everything i wanted. good luck :)
     
  • dianalynmdianalynm member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I definitely think that $20,000 is doable for a wedding at Olowalu for 50 guests! We're trying to do $25,000 for 125 guests!!! So, hopefully we stay in our budget, but I definitely think that 50 guests is totally doable. 

    My advice is to shop around with vendors. Get different quotes, etc. You can definitely get a wide range of quotes, especially for big ticket items like rentals, flowers, and catering. I also agree that going with a weekday saves a good amount. We're getting married on a Wednesday, so that definitely helped.

    If you are organized and up to planning it on your own, I suggest getting just a day-of coordinator to save on wedding coodination costs.

    Congrats on the ucoming wedding and happy planning!
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  • AKWinterBrideAKWinterBride member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Yep, definitely do-able!  We got married at Olowalu and had 50 guests and ended up spending about $25K although we could have cut that back if we needed to.  It is so worth it, and much prettier and more personal (in my opinion) than The Ritz. 
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  • edited December 2011
    Wow, thank you everyone!! Your fast replies definitely give me hope that this is more than doable. I'm going to start shopping around and will look into having the ceremony on a weekday.  Thank you for the vendor recommendations as well.  ...I'm getting really excited about planning everything now that I know where I would like to have the wedding.  I'm just hoping my fiance will fall in love with Olawalu as much as I have, especially now that I can show him we can do it under budget! :)
  • DazzlingDeb23DazzlingDeb23 member
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Just as an addition to what these ladies have said, it is doable.  I posted the same exact question a few months back, and I decided to go with Olowalu because I had my heart set on it.  I knew I wouldn't be happy with anything else, and so I have decided to MAKE the budget work (budgeting $20,000 for 50 people).  I will be having my wedding on a weekday in June 2013 at Olowalu. 
  • edited December 2011
    We had 31 people and spent about 18k. I think 20k is totally doable.
  • dianalynmdianalynm member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_hawaii_olowalu-plantation-house-budget?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:73Discussion:d103e2ab-0fd6-4515-b895-55039c111832Post:f680044e-d712-4968-9dbe-b30eb06612a5">Re: Olowalu Plantation House Budget</a>:
    [QUOTE]Wow, thank you everyone!! Your fast replies definitely give me hope that this is more than doable. I'm going to start shopping around and will look into having the ceremony on a weekday.  Thank you for the vendor recommendations as well.  ...I'm getting really excited about planning everything now that I know where I would like to have the wedding.  I'm just hoping my fiance will fall in love with Olawalu as much as I have, especially now that I can show him we can do it under budget! :)
    Posted by japonesa1[/QUOTE]

    Don't worry, he will! My fiancé is not big on wedding planning but when we visited Olowalu, he was convinced! He could totally see my vision and he felt it was the perfect place to get married... :)
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  • tiggy5555tiggy5555 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_hawaii_olowalu-plantation-house-budget?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:73Discussion:d103e2ab-0fd6-4515-b895-55039c111832Post:4d3ef74a-187a-4acb-8509-03476aee81d9">Re: Olowalu Plantation House Budget</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: Olowalu Plantation House Budget : Don't worry, he will! My fiancé is not big on wedding planning but when we visited Olowalu, he was convinced! He could totally see my vision and he felt it was the perfect place to get married... :)
    Posted by dianalynm[/QUOTE]

    Same thing with mine...He is sold on that place! :)
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  • AKWinterBrideAKWinterBride member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I agree, the pictures don't do Olowalu justice - it is a piece of heaven on earth.  So gorgeous! 
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