My husband & I wanted to review our vendors from our January 2014 wedding since we used this message board so much in our planning process - thanks to all the previous posters for all your great advice & suggestions - it definitely helped make our wedding day amazing! In general everything went extremely well & if anyone is wondering whether its worth it to have a wedding in Maui - go for it, it definitely is!! Also worth mentioning - we're from Canada & planned everything from here, so don't be intimidated by long-distance planning
VENUE: Olowalu Plantation House: A+.
This place is as amazing as everyone says it is. Its completely worth the cost. It's beautiful - brides, if you can, get ready there - sitting on the porch relaxing with my bridesmaids & getting all made up before the actual ceremony was one of my favorite experiences. The house & grounds are well-kept and the scenery (the sunset!!) was absolutely amazing. None of our guests could stop talking about how much they loved it there - as I said - completly worth it.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Trish Barker: A+
We loved working with Trish so much. She was easy-going, funny & made us feel very comfortable - she was great at directing us but also keeping everything laid-back & natural. We did both an engagement session & the wedding itself - all the pictures came back very quickly & look amazing - both the 'formal' posed shots as well as so many great candid ones - we have received so many compliments & will treasure our photos forever. Trish was also very quick to respond to emails & give advice/suggestions if we asked - very much appreciated.
CATERING/COORDINATION: Food for the Soul: A+
Food for the Soul was amazing - absolutely nothing but great things to say about Tina, Rob & their staff. We loved their 'all-inclusive' service: we could get tables, plateware, decor items etc in addition to their catering service - so convenient & much easier than contacting all the various rental companies. We also secured Tina's services as a 'day of' coordinator - which was great - she was the perfect balance of letting me book what I wanted (I did want to do most things myself) but was always there to assist, suggest & support us if needed. Her response time was impeccable (so appreciated for long distance planning) and she definitely went 'the extra mile' with some of our requests such as getting decor items shipped over to Hawaii from Canada.
On the day itself - Tina, Rob & their staff ensured everything went smoothly - we had no issues at all as far as I know (thats how well they took care of things). The decor items, table & plate ware looked great & were set up as we wanted, the service was great and most importantly - the food was amazing! All the items we ordered looked beautiful & tasted great - everyone enjoyed their meals & my only regret was not being able to eat more of my food (although Tina was nice enough to set aside some appetizers for us to eat when we had a little break). My possible only comment was the cake serving size - the guests received very small portions (which I know is usually the way for wedding cake), but we had ordered extra so we had a fair bit left over - perhaps offering another slice to those interested could have occured.
Overall - highly, highly recommended for the great food, excellent service & very helpful coordination assistance!
OFFICIANT: Rev. Pia Aluli: A+
Rev. Aluli did a great job - he was very accomodating with our special ceremony requests, agreed to meet with us beforehand & was always very quick to respond to emails & open to speaking on the phone. On the day of, he was able to come early to go through the ceremony with the groom & groomsmen, and the ceremony itself was beautiful, very inspiring and sincere. Overall Rev. Aluli was kind, open and helped make our day special. Everyone enjoyed the ceremony & it suited our wedding perfectly.
FLOWERS; table & other arrangements: Valerie Spalding: A-
Overall my feelings towards the florals were mixed - I was not very particular about flowers but I did have a few things I definitely wanted/did not want. In general, I was happy with the table & other arrangements, even if the color schemes & flowers used were slightly different than I had envisoned. As I said, I wasnt' that particular so I was fine with that - the flowers themselves were of great quality & the arrangements lasted for the rest of our vacation in Maui (& were even going strong when we left!). Val was great with responding to email as well & her prices were very reasonable. My only issue was my bridal bouquet - I must say I was a bit disappointed with the size (very bulky), color (fairly monochromatic orange when I requested a mix of tropicals) and the wrap (I requested and was confirmed a ti leaf wrap but on the day received a white ribbon - which someone had placed in water so was soggy & dripping water on me!). Tina (FFTS) stepped in and I ended up with a ti leaf wrap so I was happy.
I realize this sounds very bridezilla - it was really the only minor thing that came up during the wedding and overall I would still recommend Val for flowers, especially if like me its not your main focus.
FLOWERS: guest/bridal party leis; Costco/A Special Touch: A/A+
We decided to give our guest the 'basic' purple sonya orchid leis from costco - inexpensive, but of good overall quality. They really added a fun tropical feeling to the wedding & we were happy with them. We pre-ordered our Costco leis for pick-up the day before which I would recommend as the quality of these was better than the ones on display in the store. The bridal party leis were from A Special Touch in Lahaina - these turned out very well & were of great quality - they were very fresh & lasted far beyond the actual wedding.
CAKE: Maui Wedding cakes: A
Very tasty, simple & elegant cake - we ordered the vanilla with lillikoi buttercream - delicious! All our dealings with Maui Wedding cakes went smoothly and we ended up with the cake exactly as we had requested. The cake held up really well & even tasted great a few days later (as mentioned we had lots left over!)
MAKEUP/HAIR: Jessica Waite/Karine Cummings: A+/A
Overall the 'getting ready' experience for myself and the bridesmaids was probably one of my favorite parts, as mentioned. I had never had my hair & makeup done professionally so I was nervous at first - both Jessica & Leah & Karine & her assistant (I apologize for forgetting her name!) made us all feel very comfortable and answered our questions/addressed our concerns. We had a great morning - both teams listened to our ideas but had great suggestions & ideas of their own - and we all ended up looking amazing - I was actually very hesitant to spend that much money on myself on 'primping' - but I defintely think it was worth it. Both the makeup (we were airbrushed) and the hairstyles lasted pretty much all day, looked very natural & fit all of our personalities - and the pictures looked great.
Sorry it's a bit long but overall - our Maui wedding was definitely more than I had ever hoped it could be - my new husband & I have been together for 9 years now, so we didn't think the wedding would be that much of a 'big deal' - but it was
I hope these reviews help you all in the planning stages, and feel free to contact me for any more info.