Help on Resorts!!

Hello all. I am in the process of trying to decide where and when to have our wedding. I am considering having the wedding in October in Hawaii. My soon to be in-laws have stayed at the Hawaiian Village but for some of my guests it may be a little more expensive. Any suggestions on where to stay? And also we do want to get married on the beach but I called the Hilton and they said because it was a public beach they would not be able to rope anything off and the guests would have to stand. Any suggestions on where to have the ceremony? We have not booked anything so we are pretty much open.

First off, I'm super jealous that you are getting married on the Big Island!! I LOVE it there! Its actually where I got engaged but unfortunately its too far for our wedding.

Anywho- October is a great time to visit Hawaii. Its the hottest month (not that temps are tht different throughout the yr) and the chance of it raining especially on the Kona side are very slim. I was there for 10 days at the end of last October and it rained once. February-April is the rainy season in Hawaii, when I lived there it literally rained for about 4 weeks straight!

Along the Kohala Coast (North Kona) most of the resorts are quite pricey, however that is where you'll find the best beaches (unless you are willing to haul your guests off road down lava rock roads to the beautiful remote ones haha). One thing to know is that all beaches in Hawaii are public. Even if a resort claims it has a 'private' beach, it still has to allow access to the public. The Mauna Kea Beach Resort has a fantastic and beautiful beach (constantly voted one of the most beautiful in the world) and they limit public access to the public by only allowing 30 parking passes for the parking lot at a time. So although they are public beaches, resorts try to limit how much of the public can actually access them.

The Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel (Hawaii Hotels & Resorts | Prince Resorts Hawaii | Hawaiian Golf & Family Vacations & Packages) is absolutely georgeous, it's beach is quite private because the only access to it is from the hotel or by walking to it from the beach around the corner (lol). The beach next to it is a state beach park called Hapuna beach (another one often voted worlds best) and gets very crowded on the weekends, but I dont recall the Prince Hotel beach ever being terribly over crowded. They have beautiful gardens, a great pool and yummy drinks I'm not sure about the prices but it is a very nice hotel (I believe its cheaper than the Mauna Kea...) I've never been to the Hilton but I've heard its really great, since they have so many activites on site, but if you stay here, don't make it the only place you go on the island, you'll miss SO much!

Another option is to have the wedding down in Kona instead of North Kona or Kohala Coast. The Royal Kona resort is really nice (Royal Kona Resort | Oceanfront on Kailua Bay on Big Island Hawaii). Its ocean side and beautiful and they host a really fun Luau! It is right downtown Kona, within walking distance to all of the restaurants, shops, and other hotels along the port town. If you want any nightlife (there isn't much of it on the Big Island), Kona is pretty much your only option. Kona is prob about 30 mins from the Kohala Coast beaches but there are beaches in Kona, just not as nice (IMO, but its still a Hawaiian beach so none of them are bad!) One resort I personally would not recommend is the King Kamehameha Resort. It is literally next to the port where cruise ships come in, downtown Kona. It's a perfectly fine hotel but when I was in Kona this past October, it was totally empty and they appeard to be doing major renovations, and they have a tiny little beach that gets seriously overwhelmed by local teens, just fyi. Also, if there is any chance you are interested in a church wedding, the first Christian church in Hawaii is in downtown Kona and it is beautiful (and within walking distance to all the hotels) It is called Moku'aikaua Church.

Also, you could try vrbo.com if you are interested in vacation rentals.

Sorry this is a little long, but hopefully it will help you in your decision making. A few more quick suggestions of places you can't miss Volcanoes National Park...incredible, look up Lavaocean.com for boat tours if you want to get really close to the lava. Pu'uhonau o honaunau...a really beautiful national park with excellent snorkling next to it, tons of turtles! (this is where I got engaged but even before that it was my favorite place on the island!) Kayaking and snorkling at Kealakekua Bay, really fun, amazing fish! The farmers markets (Hilo's is best, but Kona's is good too) Beautiful, cheap flowers, yummy fresh produce and great Hawaiian crafts. South Point is cool and Punalu'u Black sand beach is beautiful. OK enough! Good luck with your planning and I hope your wedding is fantastic!!!

It will be difficult to find any resort that will allow you to do a ceremony on the beach due to the legal restrictions throughout the islands. But on the Big Island, yes, your best beaches are going to be up near the Hapuna Prince and Mauna Kea. If you wander south check out the Keauhou Resort. Not a great beach but central enough to Kona and a nice comfortable place. I agree, I dont like that entire area where King Kamehamea hotel is located. More like beach motels to me rather than "resorts".