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Married on Maui

alohakevin

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We are currently planning a wedding on Maui in Feb of 2018. I have read what I can find on the forums but was wondering if anyone had any words of wisdom. Have gotten several referrals from acquaintances on Island but am looking for any input anyone would care to opine. Any help is very much appreciated. Thanks
 

DaveNV

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We are currently planning a wedding on Maui in Feb of 2018. I have read what I can find on the forums but was wondering if anyone had any words of wisdom. Have gotten several referrals from acquaintances on Island but am looking for any input anyone would care to opine. Any help is very much appreciated. Thanks

Do you have an officiant, or are you going to hire someone on the island? I officiated my brother's wedding on the Big Island two years ago. I had to register my Mainland credentials with the State of Hawaii, and pay a fee. If you intend to get married on a beach, you'll have to register with the State of Hawaii, and pay a fee. If you'll be married on public property you'll need to get an insurance policy that is payable to the State of Hawaii, and pay a fee. (Noticing a trend here?) There are websites where all this sort of thing is discussed. Here's one: https://dlnr.ehawaii.gov/permits/welcome.html

My recommendation is to hire someone on the island who can handle all the arrangements for you. It's a lot simpler that way. We did it ourselves, and it wasn't all that expensive, but it was a hassle jumping through all the hoops. Every time i turned around, there was another document to provide, or another permit to get or something. There seems to be a reason why wedding companies make it look easy.

I wish you great success, and a very happily ever after! :)

Dave
 

Henry M.

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My daughter got married on Maui in August 2015. She used Olowalu Plantation for the venue. She bought her cake at Stilwell's bakery and it was very good. She also catered the food from Cafe O'Lei and they did a great job. They brought everything and cooked at Olowalu. The food was excellent.

She had a wedding planner helping with tables and such but made most of the arrangements herself. She knew the location and the food sources. We helped getting things like drinks from Costco and she brought her own table decorations. She also got most of the flowers from Costco and made her own bouquet that turned out very nice.

We hired a singer that we knew from WKORV (Damien) for the ceremony and a DJ for later in the evening. She also found a photographer she liked online, and found an officiant the same way.

The ceremony was at the Plantation, followed by the reception at the same place. The bride and groom prepared inside the plantation house.

It started to rain close to dinner, but it was a small event and we were able to quickly move the tables to the lanai of the plantation house. The rain subsided after a short time and we still had a great time. In fact, the rain added some character to the event.

All in all, it was a very nice wedding.
 

taterhed

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I reviewed the option of 'renewing our vows' last year for an upcoming anniversary.

I second the advise above: find an established local who is very familiar and can handle the fine points...
Also, although this may be overstepping or obvious: try and think of having an 'island wedding' vs having a traditional wedding on the island. You'll quickly find that there are valid and practiced reasons for handling weddings the 'island way' vs the mainland way. It made sense to me once I discussed it with a few folks. As cited above, the weather can be fickle (wind, rain, heat etc..) and so the ceremony should be flexible and appropriate for the swings in temp, winds etc...

I think you'll have a wonderful day--Feb is a great month--and wish you many happy returns.

The best gift you can give to any newlywed is patience... too bad it's in such short supply these days. :rolleyes:
 

NTP66

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My wife and I were married on Po'olenalena Beach back in 2010 by Rev. Ron Lowery, the former "Maui Marrying Man", and couldn't have been happier with everything. Ron retired a while back, and I don't know anything about the person who replaced him.

That said, there are two things I'd personally be on the lookout for - locations (have a backup), and time of day. Our ceremony started at 9am, and even by then it was getting scorching hot (mid-September). The beach was actually empty that year, but when we returned the very next year at the same time of day, it was packed.

I also wouldn't worry about the fees. They are minimal at best, and any good local company will be able to handle the beach permit on your behalf. The only thing you should really be responsible for is obtaining the marriage license, which took about 20 minutes for us.
 

Henry M.

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My daughter and her husband went somewhere to get their marriage license. Other than that, they didn't have to pay anything, as far as I know. Perhaps the location took care of anything beyond the marriage license.
 

Denise L

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We were married on Maui on the beach at Kapalua Bay almost 20 years ago :), so we didn't need any permits. We found an officiant by calling 1-800-MAUI-IDO (I have no idea if that is still a valid number), and I ordered a bouquet of flowers from a local gal who lived near where we were staying (tiny condo called Lokelani, on the lower road). We used John Henry Photography (he was great). Dinner for 29 of us was at what was then Swan Court at the Hyatt Regency. Loved it. We ordered our cake from them as well. The best part was having to go to Maui a few times prior to the wedding to try restaurants, meet the photographer, and pick out flowers :whooopie:.

We loved chartering Trilogy for a "rehearsal dinner" the day before. It was actually a BBQ lunch snorkel dive excursion. I'd recommend something like that if there is a group that would enjoy such an activity.

How many people are you expecting? Have fun planning :cheer:!
 
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