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PLANNING A WEDDING IN HAWAII! NEED INPUT!

savannahfoxsavannahfox member
in Destination Weddings Discussions

Me and my fiancé are planning a wedding in Hawaii for August 2015 and I thought id get a head start on the research. We have been to Hawaii twice but both times we went to Waikiki and we would rather not get married there it is too touristy for our liking. We would love to have a more intimate wedding on the beach with no more than 20 people. I have done quite a bit of research on locations but not being able to actually visit the places is hard so any input would help and be greatly appreciated!! Thank you.

 

Savannah

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Re: PLANNING A WEDDING IN HAWAII! NEED INPUT!

  • Julyet06Julyet06 member
    1000 Comments Third Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    A friend of mine planned her whole wedding on Maui (no wedding planner used at all).  Also very small and intimate.  I will see if she still has an active profile and/or links to her wedding planning blog!  It was very informative for the location she chose but can probably help you no matter what location you choose.
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  • rehlingarehlinga member
    First Comment

    We are planning a wedding for March 2015 in Kona, Hawaii. After looking at all the different islands Kona seemed to be the best fit.  They have the beautiful beaches, the lava flows, the plantations...everything that is great about Hawaii.

    For locations I did a ton of looking around and we decided on the Royal Kona Resort.  The packages are customizable and fit my desire for a small wedding (20-40 people), is on the beach, and the package comes with everything that we wanted.  Being that it is going to be a small wedding, and honestly to save money, we are doing a luau reception at the Island Breeze Luau which is a 5min walk from the Royal Kona (which is downtown). The luau is actually at the Marriott which also offers wedding packages too.

    The reason we chose the Royal Kona over the Marriott was due to a friend visiting Kona with a wedding planner friend on vacation.  They went to both locations and said hands down the Royal Kona was MUCH nicer...and the prices were comarable.

    Another option that we considered:  There is an obervatory in Kona that you can rent out for weddings.  They cater and you can have the reception there as well. Guests would be able to tour the observatory, do the interactive attractions etc.  The only problem was that we really wanted to do the beach thing, and the observatory was almost a two hour drive from Kona.

    I hope this helps!

    -Aftan

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  • Julyet06Julyet06 member
    1000 Comments Third Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    My friend is no longer active here and has been working on a new blogging adventure that the links to her wedding blog are sort of forgotten.  If they are found, I will gladly share! 
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  • samleanne33samleanne33 member
    10 Comments 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    I'm getting married on Oahu I don't really remember why I picked it hahaha but it has been going good so far and I am really excited! There are a lot of beautiful beaches on Oahu! I'm going to Kona the day after my wedding for my honeymoon haha we are staying at the Royal Kona Resort there as well @rehlinga :) There's so many cool things to do on the Big Island that is why we chose it for our honeymoon after the wedding. The reason we are hopping over to another island is because my fiance's brother got married on a cruise and he had to put up with family wanting to hang out and plan dinners and everything the whole time so it didn't really feel like a honeymoon for them. We did not want that haha so we decided to escape to another island afterwards :) Oh and my wedding is very tiny, just immediate family and then 2 grandmothers. There are a lot of wedding planners/coordinators that can help you plan on Oahu and probably any other island you choose. I am using Maui'd Forever. 
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  • a wolffa wolff member
    First Comment
    I'm getting married in Kauai!! It definitely has a less touristy feel to it than Waikiki. We have been there twice and it's absolutely gorgeous. We picked the Wai'oli Hui'ia church for the ceremony, but there are lots of really nice, uncrowded beaches. We are using Legacy Events Kauai for our planner. We have been working with Marie, who is a gem. The girl knows the island and all it's special nooks and crannies very well. She found us our reception site (Common Ground) that is perfect for us. I'd highly recommend getting a wedding planner. I tried doing it all myself in the beginning and drove myself completely nuts trying to find venues and whatnot. Most planners offer deals for ppl planning smaller weddings too (or at least marie does). Wedding planners know the location, vendors and are great resources for ppl planning destination weddings.

    Happy planning!! Whichever island you end up with, I'm sure will make for a beautiful wedding.
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  • luckystarzluckystarz member
    Sixth Anniversary 100 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    If we weren't going to get married a few hours from home (we pulled the plug on the big DW, due to FI's family being demanding), I really, really wanted to get married at Waimea Falls. It's gorgeous and fabulous. 
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  • aubreylynn2002aubreylynn2002 member
    First Comment
    My wedding is just 20 days away! We are getting married in Maui! We hired Simple Maui Wedding! They are wonderful! We are having our ceremony at Merriman's on the grassy overlook! We are having 11 guests! We have been to Maui twice so we knew this is where we wanted to get married! :)
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  • dolewhipperdolewhipper member
    1000 Comments 500 Love Its Third Anniversary First Answer
    My sister got married in Kauai and was able to find a private home with an area of beach. We had about 15-20 people and it was beautiful. It was in walking distance of the resort we were all staying at. Possibly something to look into


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  • ashley0138ashley0138 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    Kauai, hands down for a laid back & beautiful feel.  The South Shore around Poipu has lots of wonderful options like Shipwreck Beach and The Beach House.  Nicole at The Beach House is great, wonderful location, ceremony, reception, everything!
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