Hawaii wedding on a budget

[Disneymom2AA]

so to speak. A friend of mine is wanting to get married in Hawaii. Although she's never been this is what she wants, but doesn't know where to begin. She tried on Yahoo-Travelocity and hasn't had anyone return a phone call or help.

Is there anyone on this wonderful board that can help me help her?

Any help would be appreciated! If this is the wrong board then sorry, but I was thinking since she is looking for a nice place that doesn't cost much this would be the place to start.

TIA

 

[accruise]

I don't know what island in Hawaii she is thinking about, but unless you live in the West cost, air is not cheap. If she wants to PM me, maybe I could help.

 

[myprincessgirlisa]

destination weddings are big business now a days

have her go to & register on "hawaiis" website.. its a pretty neat one

http://www.hawaii.com/visit/maui/romance/weddings/index.php

start here & this site allows you to checkout the other islands

 

[christopherrobin]

Hi. You should check Norwegian cruise lines. They are always offering deals to Hawaii. Cruising is a great way to introduce yourself to multiple Hawaiian islands. I flew from the east coast and cruised for under $1200.

Best of luck.

 

[Disneymom2AA]

is the question I guess I should ask her so we could hear different opinions.

Thanks for the replies so far!

 

[aclov]

She could look at this website
http://www.gohawaii.com/

 

[swilshire]

I have no suggestions to offer, but we were fascinated by all the weddings we saw when we were in Hawaii last year. One beach that we enjoyed going to usually had two or three weddings coming in every day as we were leaving for the day. Clearly they all had wedding planners of some sort involved.

I saw one priest that was just marvelous because he looked so traditional. Others were just dressed in normal shirts and pants. The silliest bride I saw was the one with heels (what was she thinking) and a train that dragged in the sand. Others were more casually and sensibly dressed.

We also watched one photo session where the photographer had the wedding party jumping up in the air over and over. I guess he was trying (unsuccessfully perhaps) to catch them all in mid-air.

Sheila

 

[beachbunny]

Many of the larger hotels have wedding planners who will do some or all of the work for you - including ceremony and reception, flowers, cake, invitations, and a place for the guests to stay. For example, check out www.Halekulani.com

After they arrive in Hawaii, they'll need to go to the Department of Health to get a marriage license.

If they want a minister, pastor, etc. to officiate, they'll have to arrange that themselves - maybe their local church can help? If they want a judge to officiate, then they can contact the Circuit Court of the State of Hawaii on the island they want to be married on.

 

[kinntj]

We got married in Hawaii. Getting married in Hawaii is expensive no matter how little. There was just DH and I there. We stayed on Maui at the Kea Lani and we booked through a travel agent. The Kea Lani had their own wedding planner and I discussed everything we wanted with her.

We did a wedding with honeymoon tied in, obviously. We were in the perfect place. I think the whole bill came to $8,000, including airfare, hotel, car rental, and wedding. If you hire a great wedding planner over there, your friend will have no problems. We got a beach wedding at sunset, a videorapher, photographer(s) (we had two), and a private dinner for two after by the pool with twinkling lights. They can set up anything. We were going to have a quartet, but our bill was already getting higher than we wanted. Also our travel agent was able to get an upgrade on our room to ocean view on the top floor. They sent up champagne and little strawberries dressed in tuxedos. I also had my hair and makeup done at the salon before. I also did the spa in the morning to relax.

I'm sorry, I don't have any idea of forums on wedding in Hawaii, but I'm sure there are some out there. Even the traditional wedding forums would have a section for distance weddings. I just got lucky to have a travel agent that got married there herself and she goes to Hawaii every year.

Good luck to your friend, but I wouldn't change our decision one bit. We had a reception for family and friends when we got back. I LOVED IT!!!

 

[kinntj]

Many of the larger hotels have wedding planners who will do some or all of the work for you - including ceremony and reception, flowers, cake, invitations, and a place for the guests to stay. For example, check out www.Halekulani.com

After they arrive in Hawaii, they'll need to go to the Department of Health to get a marriage license.

If they want a minister, pastor, etc. to officiate, they'll have to arrange that themselves - maybe their local church can help? If they want a judge to officiate, then they can contact the Circuit Court of the State of Hawaii on the island they want to be married on.

On Maui we went to a person's house to fill out paperwork for the marriage license. Wasn't hard at all and easy to find.

Our planner sent different vows to us and whatever vows we picked, that's the pastor/priest/minister we got with them. We picked great vows and we had a wonderful pastor. He was dressed in traditional robe with a sache that had a palmtree print on it in black and white. Very classy and traditional looking with a hint of Hawaii to it. Very nice. He talked to us a little before the wedding and he was very nice and happy for us.

We're going back to Hawaii after our WDW trip to relive some memories. We hope to have our vows renewed while there with the kids. We hope to stay at the same hotel, but that place was really expensive. I'm not sure we will, but I would love even a partial stay.

 

[kelleigh1]

You could also refer her to a website what I was a member of when planning my own wedding. We got married in Jamaica. It is UltimateWeddings.com. The message board there could prove to be extremely helpful for her.

 

[Dznypal]

my son got married in Hawaii 3 years ago and it was beautiful

we were there on our family vacation so there were 16 of us on the beach at sunset!!!

We were on Maui and they got married I think the town was Mckena we were staying in Kaanapalai and the beach was around half way to Hana beautiful drive.

The only thing they had to do was go to Lahania to meet the offical and get the license--they just needed driver license and cash only.

Very simple yet very nice

the dress she had was really a bridesmaid dress but she had it made in white and it was perfect for a "barefoot on the beach " wedding"

good luck