SOo many questions and soo little time

Andy Jo · April 2011

Hey brides! I am getting married July 1 in Laie, Hawaii. I am currently on the main land and do not have a lot of connections to vendors in Hawaii. I am hoping some of you may help me out. As far as a wedding lunch, we were planning on having it at the BYU center. We recently found out that the center may be under construction and I don't want to take the chance of having to move it the day before my wedding. We are renting a home in Laie, and my FMIL rented a home in Sunset Beach. They are both reasonably nice, should we just have the lunch there? If so, what do we do for decorations/set up? There are approximately 25 people coming to our wedding.

Next question: do I get a bouquet and a lei for myself, or just one or the other?

We are getting married in the LDS temple and are planning on having a short ring ceremony for those that are not able to come in. Do we absolutely have to have a license to do that on the beach? Or can we just do a quick 5 minute ceremony?

Do I need to make welcome bags for all guests?

Please help me out! It's difficult trying to plan 2000 miles away!

Thanks in advance!

Tanq&Tonic · April 2011

I don't think there are really rules on any of the questions you listed, other than the beach license. If you have a house rented, why not do the ring ceremony there and not worry about permits? Maybe out on the yard before lunch?

Everything else is personal preference. I did a bouquet, no lei, but we wanted a non-Hawaiian ceremony...it just happened to BE in Hawaii. Groom had a boutonniere, no lei as well. A bouquet + lei seems a little much to me, but I like things really minimalistic.

For lunch decorations at the house, I think simple centerpieces, and a basic place setting should be more than enough. It depends how fancy you want the lunch to be. Tablecloths add a nice touch, but aren't needed if you're going for rustic or super simple.

Our welcome bags were a huge hit. We did one per couple / family -- if the guest came alone, they got one too. They don't have to be fancy or expensive, but the basics are really appreciated. Water. Snacks. Bug wipes. Advil. Welcome words, a map / event calendar, bridal party contact information. The rest is gravy. We bought almost all of it at Costco except the bug wipes & sunscreen which we got from Amazon. We printed the brochure at the business center at our hotel.

Good luck!

AKWinterBride · April 2011

I'm not sure about the questions regarding temple or your ring ceremony, I wonder if there may be a Mormon board on which you may be able to share some more information regarding that aspect of your ceremony?

Otherwise, I agree with Tanq, you can make this whatever you want! We are having lei's for myself and my groom as well as having bouquets and bouts for us and the bridal party. You can make this day whatever you want it to be, which is the fun part about DW's, there's not as much outside influence!

Good luck with your planning, the girls on this board are great! I also recommend that you check out the Destination Weddings board, lots of great info!

sparklegirl84 · April 2011

I'm getting married on that side of Oahu in august and have some vendor info in my bio. Being in Laie you'll be off the beaten path a bit, we're having to pay extra delivery fees on stuff since ours is outta the way too. I'll be having my own boquet and a lei exchange during our ceremony probably.

carrieoz_76 · April 2011

On the question about whether to have leis in addition to bouquet/bouts - I had a white orchid lei, as well as a medium-sized bouquet, and I was really happy with how everything turned out. Remember, you hand off the bouquet once you meet your FI at the end of the aisle, and you don't start wearing the lei until a lei ceremony during the wedding ceremony, so you end up having lots of pics with just the bouquet, then just the lei, then both. Plus, you can decide how big or small you want your bouquet to be, and you can select quite small flowers for the lei (pikake for example is very small).

I would just encourage you to take your time to look around and see what your options are. Look at lots of HI brides' bios for ideas (I know I did!). Then when you've had some time to figure it all out, narrow down your details to what you love the most, and don't look back. Details like these are totally up to you and your FI, and you needn't worry about any rules - it's Hawaii after all.

breaness · April 2011

Just one last addition to the lei/bouquet question-- adding on to what carrie said (which is exactly why I don't think both will be too much!)

I went with a bouquet simply because I LOVE bouquets in wedding photos. The ring/flower pictures are some of my favorites. Also, I love that I have the option of one or the other (or neither, or both) in my pictures!

TripleAubs · April 2011

Ooh, I absolutely LOVE La'ie! It is one of our favorite places to go, and we are lucky because DH's aunt and uncle have a house on the water up there and we can visit whenever we like!

I second PPs about doing the ring ceremony at your rental house. Just seems easier in my opinion.

It should be your choice on whether or not you have a bouquet and/or lei! I had both, but chose not to wear my lei until after our ceremony was over (and we didn't have a "lei exchange" as part of our ceremony either). I loved having it because it smelled so good and I wasn't carrying my bouquet around all day either, so it was nice to have some flowers on me.

SOo many questions and soo little time

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