Hi, aew-ga, I found some people online who enjoyed their weddings in
Hawaii.
One of them stayed at the Marriott and didn't mention a consultant so
I didn't keep the url; but, it turns out, the Marriott has their own
wedding consultant.
Here's an article on Hawaiian wedding organizers. It's very positive
and upbeat about each organizer mentioned. However, even if you use
the most stringent criteria for "reputable guidance," at least two of
them get a recommendation within the article:
An article on Hawaii weddings from island.com, an online guide to
islands of the world,
http://www.islands.com/weddings/articles/f1062002.asp
... Several professional wedding planners on Kauai are good at
controlling gorillas, cranky aunts, and other knotty nuptial problems.
... Popular wedding sites with coordinators on staff include the
Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort & Spa and the Sheraton Kauai Resort.
Stacey and John Hensley of Laguna Niguel, California, tied the knot at
the Kauai Marriott Resort and Beach Club, the island’s biggest,
splashiest hotel. They married on Kalapaki Beach. "I surf and we’re
all beach bums," says Stacey, "so the beach was the perfect setting."
Afterward they held a reception in the resort’s garden.
The bride had been to Kauai many times. For this visit she left
everything up to Kamika Smith, president of the Kauai Wedding
Professionals Association and former wedding coordinator for the Kauai
Marriott. ...
When the wedding planner is also the groom, he pulls out all the
stops. Steve Hunt, who owns Kilauea Lakeside Estate, a 30-acre
botanical garden and lake at Kilauea, had done at least 50 weddings at
the site. Then he proposed to his tennis student, Janine Hathaway, and
put everything he ever knew about weddings to use. It was a weeklong
celebration for 70 people.
"I actually called in an outside wedding consultant, Patty
Bergeron of Coconut Coast Weddings," says Janine. "That way Steve
could enjoy his own wedding more." ...
Sandra Wright, who coordinates the arrangements at Na ‘Aina
Kai, has her own favorite spot. "I’ve seen weddings where the bride
waits in the Japanese teahouse above the waterfall," she says. "When
the music starts, she descends the steps through the garden down to
the lagoon area. It’s so graceful and moving."
Sandra often works with Deanna Cook, owner of "I Do" Weddings.
"Na ‘Aina Kai has so many beautiful places to choose from," Deanna
says. "I’ve also done barefoot weddings on the beach. I have three
private beachfront homes at my disposal. ...
At the opposite end of the nuptial spectrum, Marleny Cotrim does
down-and-dirty weddings—in the mud. She works for Kauai ATV, which
rents off-road vehicles.
"The bride and groom show up in their wedding clothes, and we
give them grubbies to wear over them," Marleny explains. "They usually
bring their own minister, and we roar off into the mountains to a
waterfall. They pick flowers along the way for the ceremony. When we
get to the waterfall, they can shed the grubbies — and there they are,
the bride and groom in white or nice aloha shirts. We film the whole
thing on video. It’s a lot of fun."
Marleny says it’s more than just the youngest couples who go for the
bumps and jolts of an all-terrain vehicle instead of a nice long limo.
...
And then there’s that Elvis wedding. Local musician and composer
Larry Rivera, who owns Blue Hawaii Weddings, has the exclusive rights
to set up ceremonies on the grounds of the old Coco Palms Hotel, which
has been closed since suffering major damage in a 1992 hurricane. The
lagoons, coconut groves, and little thatched-roof chapel, however, are
beautifully maintained.
<ends edited extract>
* * * * * *
There is also a website that encourages people to post their love
stories, and wedding stories, related to Hawaii, through a competition
for a free vacation. http://www.bestplaceshawaii.com
Again, it's a commercial site (as opposed to a personal webpage
about a great wedding experience), but the stories seem genuine. Some
refer to wedding organizers, and you can go to the story and email the
authors for the detail.
http://www.bestplaceshawaii.com/lovestories/Wedding.html
List of love stories, and wedding stories.
Here are three stories that involve wedding
organizers:
" . . . Neither of us had been to Hawaii before and our honey moon
budget was modest, with the assistance of a local wedding consulting
company, we had chosen the Lao Valley State Park to save on expenses .
. ." http://www.bestplaceshawaii.com/lovestories/stories/S001266.html
" . . . We had both wanted to go to Hawaii for quite some time, so we
coordinated a wedding through a local consultant. ... When describing
the perfect wedding (and I often do to others), I talk about my
wedding day.. . ."
http://www.bestplaceshawaii.com/lovestories/stories/S000951.html
" . . . It had always been our dream to one day visit Hawaii, and what
better reason could we have than to get married and honeymoon there?
We chose Kauai as the location for our wedding ceremony, and asked
Bali Hai Weddings to coordinate our wedding since they were able to
marry us by a waterfall and provide a sunset cruise afterwards...."
http://www.bestplaceshawaii.com/lovestories/stories/S000970.html
* * * * * *
There are also a few sites of wedding planners where they provide
testimonials, and the photographs, along with the email addresses of
happy customers.
1. http://www.wedaloha.com/testimonial.html … This is a hyperlinked
list of about 70 testimonials for this particular wedding planner.
Some testimonials:
Dear Roger, This is just a note to say "hi", and to thank you so
much for helping to make our wedding so special. When we first decided
to go to Hawaii to get married, our family thought we were crazy! One
of my mom's main concerns was that I was not going to have nice
"memories" with good pictures and video, etc...
From http://www.wedaloha.com/testimonial_Tonya_and_Chad_Langley.htm
Dear Roger: We're three weeks into our marriage now and reminiscing
about our wedding day with friends and family. They're amazed to learn
that we had a beautiful wedding 3,000 miles from home and that it was
all arranged over the phone can the Internet.
From http://www.wedaloha.com/testimonial_Diana_and_Daniel_Leon.htm
2. http://www.jofoto.com/references_2.html Photographs of about
seven happily wedded couples plus links to their email addresses. A
note of caution: some of these email addresses are hotmail or aol,
three which are not belong to: Monica & Andrea, Shirley & Jim, Denford
& Yvette.
3. http://hawaiianweddingplanners.com/testimonials.htm
* * * * * *
And, finally, some tips reproduced online from a Canadian newspaper
article, written by a Hawaiian bride,
http://www.morrimostow.com/images/Just%20Mauied.htm
Where To Start. Order your free copy of the Maui Wedding Planner, from
the Hawaii Wedding Professionals Association, HWPA Office, P.O. Box
2255, Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii 96793. It provides a complete roster of
HWPA members, plus lots of useful information covering every aspect of
a Maui wedding. Check out http://www.maui.net/prof profwed.html for
supplier links.
Useful Contacts. Grand Wailea Weddings: (808) 875-1234, fax (808)
874-2412.; wedding services manager, Maui Prince Hotel (Makena): (808)
874-1111, fax (808) 879-6907; wedding co-ordinator, Kea Lani Hotel
(Wailea): (808) 875-4100, fax (808) 875-1200; wedding services, Hyatt
Regency Maui (Lahaina): (808) 667-4433; Making Maui Memories
Photo/Video: (808) 875-8461,
http://www.mauiphoto.com .
Something To Consider. Hawaiian culture and language are experiencing
a renaissance on the islands, but most native organizations are
seriously under-funded. You might consider asking your wedding guests,
as we did, to make a donation to a native organization in lieu of
gifts. For example, a donation to Kauahea, Inc. Building Fund, P.O.
Box 966, Wailuku, Hawaii, 96793, will help this non-profit
organization build a traditional learning centre where Hawaiian
language, art, culture, healing and spiritual practices can be taught
and shared. |
