Featured above: Tamara and her bridesmaids at Lanikai.

photo by Steve Young

The Skinny on Hawaiian Weddings
My breakdown of the Hawaii Wedding Industry
by Steve Young

I love working with brides, bringing compassionate advice to an industry that at times, takes advantage of them. I've been in this business now for about ten years now. Probing, prodding, picking at it, to create new services and products for the wedding industry, many of which you will hear about in the next five years. As the clock ticked by, I've had a blast providing council and spreading my wealth of knowledge to many brides. I didn't matter to me whether they were a client or not. I always took my time to educate them on what I've learn.

So, now it's time to share my wisdom with you. You're going to love the information. Just a warning, I'm blunt, straight forward, uncensored. Some wedding vendors on the other hand, are going to hate my articles...WHY? Because I'm a blatent consumer advocate.

SO LETS START WITH THE PRO'S
THE FIRST THING TO REMEMBER: "HAWAII WEDDINGS, FOR THE MOST PART, ARE INEXPENSIVE..."

Yes, it's true. No "B.S'ing" around here. And while I'm at it, why don't I add, "relatively stress free" to the mix. See the largest expense to any wedding would is your reception bill (or in this case, paying for friends and family to have a great time.) Reception bills often total up to half of your wedding budget without counting an open bar tab. IF YOU GET MARRIED IN HAWAII, THERE'S LESS OF A PARTY, AND THEREFORE IT'S LESS EXPENSIVE.

Regarding the ceremony.
Since most weddings here happen on public beaches (and by the way, all beaches in Hawaii are public) the permit fee to hold a ceremony is very affordable. Around $25 dollars for a simple permit. And, if your wedding is very simple, consisting of a simple eloping ceremony with no structures, arches, or chairs, you could in fact, get away with no permit fee at all.

Strictly in my opinion, the greatest asset to having a Hawaiian Wedding is that they are very low stress and low maintenance. Low stress because again, we're dealing with very little family and family is usually the #1 cause of stress when it comes to planning ANYTHING. Second reason...a sound wedding coordinator can give your weddings a "set-it and forget-it" type of feel. You basically book your package, and all the deliverables show up on-time, on budget, no questions asked.

SECOND THING TO REMEMBER: "SMALL BUSINESS FACTOR..."

I love it for the fact that most of the wedding business here in Hawaii, is small business. This can work as a double edge sword (we'll get into that later), but in most cases, it works out for the better of the bride. More attention and personal service basically means you'll be treated like family. There is a sense of ohana "or family love" in Hawaiian, that exist at all corporate levels.

THIRD AND LAST THING TO REMEMBER: "IT'S BEAUTIFUL HERE..."

Hey, I don't have to tell you this. But Hawaii is a great place. Low crime rates, friendly people, great beaches, not to mention awesome sunsets. Talking safety, I'm not sure if you can find anywhere in the country where it's safe to loiter at a 7-Eleven at 2am in the morning. Not as though you would loiter here on your honeymoon, but it's just a personally tested example of how safe it is.

THE WEATHER AND ISLANDS.
Summer is probably the best time to have a wedding here as the weather is fairly predictable, providing many Kodak moments. While we're on the subject of islands though, lets get into a quick discussion about which island may be best for you. I'm going to be blunt here. Basically, you can break up the islands into two categories. Boring, and Oahu.

Tamara and Dave running on the beach at Lanikai

photo by Steve Young

I really have nothing against the outer islands as they are beautiful. I love to get away to these islands. I love to disconnect myself with the busy office life I lead to purposely bore myself. Some of you may be the same way. These islands have green mountains, inspiring valleys, great wedding locations. But there just isn't much to do other than lie on the beach and count sand. Two days, you may get bored out of your mind after awhile. I'd recommend island hopping to keep your vacation interesting. Maybe a cruise. But don't stay a week at one-place unless your ready to get rather bored.

OAHU
Regarding the island of Oahu. I think it's pretty close to perfect. There is a city here that consist of a handful of tall buildings. But it's nothing like a New York or L.A. And there are just so many things to do here so you really won't get bored. We have great beaches, hiking trails, lots of great restaurants (something that the other islands lack), not to mention, great surf spots. There's also huge malls and movies on the beach. The cons: basically traffic during rush hour. The freeways do get clogged. But the other islands don't have freeways, so their traffic is pretty bad as well. What I truly love about Oahu is for the fact that you are literally 30 minutes away from anything. Tired of the city, drive 30 minutes to the 2nd greatest beach in the world, Lanikai. Tired of the beach, drive 30 minutes to the mall..tired of the mall, drive 15 minutes to Movies on the beach.

So you've seen the good. Now what about the bad and the ugly of Hawaii... read on.

 

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