The day was perfect! The sun was warm in the country and the breezes gently cooled us on the famous Shipwreck Beach. In Hawaiian the beach is called “Keoneloa”, meaning “the long sands.”

Long love and many years of happiness to you. Judi and Mike celebrated 2 years,  February 14th, 2010.

Kalona

Graced with the sweet sounds of the ukulele, the graceful hula and Hawaiian chant, Erin and Jason were truly in a blissful heavenly paradise. Please see the lovely photos taken by one of our best photographers, Jeanne.

Kalona

The couple wrote: 

Nice to hear from you and glad you had a great time on your well deserved vacation!
Thank you very much for all your time and hard work planning our wedding. We could not have done it without you!

Take care for now and let’s keep in touch! 

Cheryl and Yasir 

DJ, Chris Childress of Twilight audio at www.twilightaudio.com installed the lighting and sound for the evening. He is not only a very cool and savvy DJ, he can do fabric decor draping as well. Bottom line is: Chris is the DJ that will go the extra mile to make sure the bride and groom are always happy!

Here we used a very interesting lantern call Jigsaw Lamps. The lamps gave a very nice effect in this clear top tent at one of our favorite venues. They come in various colors, sizes and shapes. We did not go over the top with decor because of expense but a little can go a long way and we can help you stay on budget with simple designs.

The evening ended with a Hawaiian hula show and Samoan fire dancers! Hana Hou!

Our Ministers on Oahu and Kauai have all been certified since the 1st of January to legally perform the ceremony. I have come across a few couples that were not able to find a simple service just so they can get the basic paper work done. We are ready to do smaller service if that is all you require. Many wedding ministers simply do not want to be part of a Civil Union.

Rev. Kahuhine Rosemary Cuccia

Our Rev. Rosemary Cuccia has been performing ceremonies of all types with us for 4 years and has experience in many different types of cultures and is also Christian. She will customize your ceremony as you wish. Whether you prefer religious or non religious ceremony she is happy to write it up your way.

Minister Amorosa DeGracia

On Kauai we have the Rev. Amorosa DeGracia. She will also assist you with the creation of your ceremony by sending you samples to work with to edit as you please. She is a joy to work with! We also arrange simple ceremonies with Unity Church Ministers.
Our goal is to embrace you and to always give you the ceremony you envision!

Jason and Erin chose to have their ceremony in a quite garden setting in Honolulu, Oahu. We will celebrate with them with Hula and Ukulele music and an authentic Hawaiian ceremony. See details in our Heart of Hawaii, Oahu Packages.

Our apologies for not informing everyone sooner. We had to make sure we could reach Erin and Jason first before we made the announcement.

As both days are legal holidays where Hawaii Department of Health is closed, we have an authorized agent available who can meet couples on either day and issue an official Hawaii Civil Union license.

• If you are already in a Hawaii Registered Reciprocal Beneficiary Relationship (RB), you cannot enter into a Hawaii civil union or be issued a civil union license until you terminate your RB relationship. The Hawaii Department of Health is collaborating with Equality Hawaii to make representatives available to process RB terminations by the end of business on Fri., Dec. 30.
• Before a civil union license can be issued, you must first go online and complete a civil union license application and pay the required fee. The Department of Health Web site will go live at midnight on Jan. 1, 2012. For details visit http://hawaii.gov/health/vital-records/vital-records/civilunion/index.html.

Equality Hawaii is also collaborating with Lambda Legal on producing a civil unions “Frequently Asked Questions” fact sheet. You can view this info in a few days on the Equality Hawaii website at http://www.equalityhawaii.org

Here are  a few important things to keep in mind when planning your wedding on the islands:

Do Your Research

To start planning your wedding in Hawaii the best place to start is on the web. Do a general search to see what companies are out there. Look carefully at the website to see what they offer and if you see what you like do a review search on them.

Then start sending out emails and see what responses you get. I get a lot of clients that never get a response to their emails. Sometimes emails do not make it for what ever reason, so make a phone call, leave a message and see if you get response in a timely manner.

Ask Questions

If a wedding provider does not want to answer all of your questions and just goes straight for the sale that usually turns off many brides. They should take the time to get to know what you want and answer any general questions or make time for a phone consultation. This shows that they care and want to help you make your day a success.

Decide on a Budget

Break down your budget for your trip in these categories to start:

Hotel and flight:

If this is your first trip to the islands, staying in Waikiki will be your safest bet. Waikiki’s urban setting  is very familiar to most tourists and everything is very accessible. Expect to pay at least $80.00 and up plus taxes per night for any Waikiki hotel. One rule of thumb to remember: the closer the hotel is to Waikiki Beach, the more expensive it usually is.

Most airlines are always giving out deals on air fare particularly at certain times of the year. This is particularly true of Hawaiian Airlines. If you live on the West Coast, chances are good that Hawaiian Airlines flies from your city to Honolulu, Maui or even Hilo. Sign up for their newsletter to keep abreast of any fare promos.

Other sites such as Kayak, Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz can make your hotel and flight pricing comparisons a simple and convenient process.

Wedding:

Includes flowers, minister, photos, transportation and location. Beach locations only require a small fee for a beach permit. Private locations are possible for a fee.

Reception:

Includes location, food per head, wedding cake, flowers and photos. For smaller weddings a good alternative to a private location is to make reservations at a nice restaurant or luau. Private locations require a higher budget.

Extras:

Video, Music, Butterflies or Dove releases. If you have some budget left over these services add nice extra touches, or you may want to include them and cut back on something else.

Activities:

There’s so much to do in Hawaii after your wedding aside from resting and relaxing on the beach! While on Oahu, consider taking a tour around the island with a reputable tour company such as E Noa Tours. Or go on your own by renting a car and grabbing a free guide book from your hotel’s concierge or activity desk agent. Fun water activities such as snorkeling at Hanauma Bay or Waikiki Beach are are also easy to plan.

Don’t forget to add a luau activity in the evening! Luaus are a great way to end a day filled with activities, or to start off the evening.

Pick a date and Island

When planning for a wedding and reception combined, try to plan at least a year or more in advance.

Good locations and dates book up fast! Summer is busier but lower seasons can be less expensive to hire certain vendors and even some locations.

For choice of island do a little research for photos online. See what appeals and then ask your questions. Some islands are a little more remote then others and require extra fees to travel to.

Weather can be a factor as well and some islands are rainier than others.

Hire a good Hawaii Wedding Coordinator

Hire a wedding coordinator to take care of all the planning especially when trying to plan for private locations and a reception combination. Their service is invaluable especially when planning a wedding from thousands of miles away even if it is just for a smaller guest count. There are many levels of coordination and you may only need partial coordination services. Even the do it yourself bride can benefit from a good coordinator on Oahu or Kauai.

Happy planning!
Kalona

As a lot of our readers know, Hawaii’s Civil Unions Bill was signed this year and goes into full effect starting January 1st, 2012. To mark this tremendous opportunity for many couples around the country wishing to get married, we’re giving away a FREE Hawaii civil union ceremony for one lucky couple in 2012!

We’ve written about this a few months back and we’ve received a tremendous amount of entries so far, but that doesn’t mean that the collection of entries is closed. We’re still encouraging couples to put in their names for this exciting contest. Here are a few details of what the lucky couple will be receiving:

This ceremony is valued at $300.00 with details as follows:

• The ceremony can be customized with different vows and readings to choose from as well as your own.
• The ceremony can be non-denominational, Hawaiian, Christian or other mixed cultures.
• Can be performed in Kauai or Oahu.
• On Oahu, the choices for the ceremony location are as follows: Waialae Beach, Makapu’u Beach or Waimanalo Beach. Please visit our Oahu wedding locationsfor more information and photos about each individual location.
• On Kauai, the choices are Lydgate Beach or Anini Beach.
• Minister is of course included. For Oahu ceremonies, the minister can be either Kalona or Kahuhine Rosemary Cuccia. For Kauai, the minister will be La’akea Daphne Therese. If they are not available on your specific date then a suitable replacement will be made.
• A keepsake Certificate of Union and beach permit is included.
• Travel fees to locations other than the mentioned beaches are not included.

Giveaway rules and other information:

• Drawing will be on January 1st at midnight Hawaii time.
• Entries can be made via this blog, a post on our Facebook fan page, or through our contact page.
• Each entry will be assigned a number for drawing purposes. The winning number will be picked via Random.org.
• The winner will be notified via our blog, our Facebook fan page and through e-mail. Failure to respond within two weeks of published notification will result in forfeiture of giveaway and a new winner will be selected.
• Giveaway cannot be transferred to a different couple.
• Giveaway cannot be exchanged for monetary value.
• Giveaway value cannot be applied towards a pre-existing package.
• Additional services such as photography, flowers and other ceremony elements may be added based on our a la carte rates.
• Please check the Lambda website to see if your State will honor the civil union documents issued from within Hawaii and also your resident State to make sure you are within all needed requirements.
• We will not substitute any monetary value if your State does not recognize Hawaii’s civil union documents.

We will assist you with a customized package and recommend the best location for your party and even a few intimate and out-of-the-way spots. Good luck!

The State Legislature approved Senate Bill 232 in February 2011 to recognize and establish the status of civil unions in Hawaii. Senate Bill 232 was signed into law by Governor Neil Abercrombie on February 23, 2011 and became Act 1. The Act makes same-sex and opposite-sex couples eligible for civil union recognition beginning January 1, 2012, and grants civil union couples many of the same rights as married couples in Hawaii.

The new law establishes all unions entered into in other jurisdictions between two individuals not recognized under Hawaii’s marriage law shall be recognized as civil unions beginning January 1, 2012, provided that the relationship meets the eligibility requirement of Hawaii’s civil unions chapter, has been entered into in accordance with the laws of that jurisdiction, and can be documented.

For more information:

http://hawaii.gov/health/vital-records/vital-records/civilunion/index.html

This is exciting news for couples who are looking forward to getting married in the islands.

As one of Oahu’s wedding coordinators specializing in civil unions, we’re inviting you to take a look at our Oahu wedding packages.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Not often we have the honor to serve Japanese couples due to the language barrier.
However Kanako was a college student in the USA and she and her fiance wanted to get married in paradise at Sunset.

This awesome North Shore wedding started out with a little Hawaiian rain blessing and ended up with their dream wedding a reality!

Kristen graduated from Brooks Institute of Photography with a BA in Film and Commercial Advertising. While in California she worked for a large corporation. To pursue her dreams further, she moved back to her home in Hawaii and now specializes in wedding and portraiture photography.

A job well done!