Advice NEEDED - Maui Wedding Planner!

angelageyer · October 2011

Trying to find a wedding coordinator for our Maui Wedding without any luck!

I am finding that they want an upfront deposit, getting "thank you for your inquiry" and then weeks go by and I don't hear anything from them?

I am looking for someone who is timely to respond to my e-mails, not shy to pick up the phone and call me, budget concious, and of course at the end of the day....can put a great wedding together!

Any suggestions?

Wedding Location: Wailea/Makena (not at a hotel)

Considering the Sugarman Estate.

tiggy5555 · October 2011

I really found that Kara Byrne from Your Aloha Wedding Company to be very responsive. We talked over the phone about my vision and within 24 hours she sent me an email with every little detail you could thinkk of. She is not on island time and very organized. When we met in person I knew I had nothing to worry about...planning is now a breeze and in fact I'm pretty much done with hiring vendors and I'm just under 11mos out....

She offers a ceremony only package and a reception package. She can also tailor a package based off of your needs and budget which is what I did. Before getting recommended to her I had hired another coordinator who is pretty popular on this board and I had a horrible experience. She was too busy for my small wedding and her vendor prices were more expensive than booking direct. Not cool!

Anyways....the best advice I can give is talk to them all on the phone. Email does not go very well from what I noticed. Ask them tons of questions and if they are unwilling to answer you because you haven't put a deposit down then maybe you should move on. Find someone who you feel confortable with and who listens to you.

Besides Kara I would look into Cherise from A Perfect Maui Wedding. She is so sweet and would be my next choice. Good Luck!!

jessj336 · October 2011

We are using Lori Lawrence of Tropical Maui Weddings. Lori is has been very responsive and super helpful with suggestions of vendors and ideas for our wedding. She only charges a flat fee instead of the usual retainer fee plus the 20% for every vendor booked so we are free to book our own vendors also

angelageyer · October 2011

Thank You! Keep the advice coming as my search continues.

Anyone out there already married with a great experience to share?

breaness · October 2011

I'm sure other girls will pop in here.

I know there are a few 'old marrieds' who still lurk and loved their coordinators.

I used Bill Armstrong from Maui'd Forever and have no complaints. It was a bit of a hands-off approach, i.e. I have no idea who did my flowers. But everything turned out perfectly and the price was certainly right.

FSForever · October 2011

We are using Lisa from Enchanted Maui Weddings. We did many phone interviews and had a lot of WC that seemed like they would be good but when I talked to her I knew she would work for the wedding we wanted. You definately need to talk to them to make a decision. We did have those that just emailed back, untimely, and did not respond to an inquiry for a phone conversation.

From my experience most of them ask for a deposit. Ours was $125 and she will give you the flexibility to use your own vendors or hers without a mark up.

Deborah at WeddingDesignMaui · October 2011

Hi
Just saw your post regarding a wedding planner on Maui. By the date noted, you may have already found someone, if not, we would be more than happy to chat with you to see if we could accomodate your wedding planning needs on Maui. Pls send an email to weddingdesignmaui@yahoo.com and visit our website at www.weddingdesignmaui.com.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Deborah at Wedding Design Maui
E: weddingdesignmaui@yahoo.com
W: www.weddingdesignmaui.com

Tanq&Tonic · October 2011

FYI - Tiggy, I've deleted your post since you quoted the vendor's post with their contact details. I've also removed the vendor - as you correctly pointed out, vendors are expressly prohibited on this board. Thanks!

akurys · October 2011

I used Lori Lawrence with Tropical Maui Weddings. She is the sweetest, most organized and creative person. I liked that she charged a flat fee, and I was able to book directly with other vendors she doesn't normally use if I wanted to. She helped keep me sane during the planning process and thought of things I never would have remembered. On the week of the wedding, there was a wildfire that closed down some of the main roads. I was freaking out, thinking my vendors wouldn't be able to get to Olowalu the day of the wedding. Lori calmed me down and came up with a plan B. It never came to that, but I was so glad she was there to handle everything. I would hire her again in a second. Her husband, Jaime, has a beautiful voice and a lot of Maui brides hire him for their ceremony music.

mauidandy · November 2011

Oops! That last post was by me, only I was logged in on my other email. Just thought I would mention it, because the above comment looks like someone who has only posted once just to rave about Lori. Ha!

jackcody · November 2011

I think I resent being called an "OLD married," haha.

We got married at Sugarmans and loved it! I used Jane at Belle Destination Events, http://www.belledestinationevents.com/

She charges the same commission fee % as all the other coordinators I contacted, but she keeps her weddings down to one a weekend. Her thing is obviously quality over quantity, which I was looking for. I've heard a lot of brides complain about how they may not have had the full attention of their planner bc they were busy with other events. I never experienced this.

Her office is in Wailea, and she grew up on that side of the island. So, if you're looking for someone familiar with everything, you're good there. She recommended heaps of "after-party" locations for us to try close to Sugarmans.

Also, I chose just a day-of package that was wonderful! $2k for all of her advice, recommendations re: vendors, timeline, logistics, pre-wedding activities. We had three meetings (in-person & skype) where she reviewed everything I had done and made comments and suggestions again. It's also common for brides to want to select their own photog, etc., so we got to pick everyone we wanted ourselves, and she tied up all the strings one-month out and I didn't have a worry.

If you're looking for a "package" wedding, this isn't it. Everything is new for her. Even her business cards are oddly shaped just to drive home how creative she is.

Check out my bios for info on Sugarman and Jane if you want.

memegrace · November 2011

maui dandy, i sent you a PM! I wasn't sure who it was but sent a question for yah anyhow! thanks,

m

NicoleS12 · November 2011

We are using White Orchid Weddings and they are amazing. They are very quick to respond to all of my questions and give me lots of suggestions for the different options in our package. I have to say they were the only ones out of about 8 different wedding planners that actually got back to me as we started planning our wedding back in September of 2010.

hawaiiwife02 · December 2011

Hi,

We're renewing in June 2012. I am currently working with Regina from Your Aloha Wedding Company. She has been great in responding to my e-mails and answering my questions. We were originally going with Cherise also from A Perfect Maui Wedding, but she was not able to do a South Maui wedding on our date.

Heather-AZ · December 2011

We used Cherise Shulman with The Perfect Wedding Maui and she was beyond amazing! We just returned from our wedding in Hawaii a couple of weeks ago and I can't say enough about how Cherise exceeded every expectation I had. She was so organized, sent me numerous vendors (besides the ones I already had my heart set on), and most of all, she was RESPONSIVE! She would never let 24 hours go by without responding and the day of the wedding (which was at 4pm) she was there at 9am getting everything set up and ready to go. We had 45 guests and they all were very impressed with her. I am pretty sure she is worth her weight in gold when looking back on our day.

Advice NEEDED - Maui Wedding Planner!

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