Maui Wedding Cost

Hi I'm new here to this site and am just starting the planning stages. We're looking at getting married in Maui in October 2010. I was just wondering what type of budget everyone has had for their wedding. I'm not talking about travel costs. Just the ceremony / reception. There will only be abut 15 - 20 people going. I'm estimating $5000 for ceremony, flowers, hair, makeup, photographer, videographer, dinner for guests, and hopefully even my dress. Does anyone think this is doable? Or have a similar budget of their own.

I think it's doable... if you stick to your guns!! If you create a budget and you do your homework in order to find the cheapest prices, it's possible. Also, if you can recruit family and friends to help you with projects, you can save money.

I'm trying to keep it under $7000 for our budget, with 30 people attending.

Hardest thing I find is not going overboard with all the extras. Once you start researching and looking at flowers and decorations, you can get caught up on all the details. Biggest ticket items so far are the photographer, the dinner, hair and makeup, and the wedding ceremony venue.

Here's a link to a wholesale flower business in Maui that we plan to use for our reception table flowers: Hawaiian flower lei farm delivering fresh Hawaiian leis and flower bouquet: Orchid, Plumeria, Tuberose

My biggest tip is this... research, research, research.

i am having my wedding at the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua, the total of the ceremony is $4300 and includes, the photographer, cake, toast, limousine, flowers and other extra things, for the hair and make up im having it done at their spa and that is 160, and for reception we are having dinner at their restaurant and we are looking about 2000 max for 20, also our wwedding it is a thursday which is less expensive!, but i agree with

da.shmoopies, do a lot off research!!!

by the way da.shmoopies my FI lives in fremont!!!!!

Seeing that I just got married on Maui with 15 guests & my budget was $5000, I totally think it's doable We even lost some $$ b/c our wedding in Mexico was cancelled, so we lost some of our deposits, but we were still able to come in under $5000 for the wedding. The $5000 included everything (location, coordinator, flowers, hair/makeup, cake, luau, etc.) I totally agree that research is crucial. We lucked out & found a coordinator that was able to include everything (execpt the luau) in one package with one price. So we paid her & the luau company, which made our lives so much easier in the end, vs having to pay several different vendors. Talking about this makes me want to go back to Maui & get married again Good luck & congratulations!!!

Thanks Everyone. That is great to hear. My mother is a professional cake decorator so I am hoping she will do my cake to save some money. I don't know how she feel's about packing all her equipment though.

kstinson1503 where did you get married in Maui? I would like to get married in a garden but it seems like most couples get married on the beach. I would love any feedback you can give on any of the vendors / places you used.

Amanda,

We stayed at Aston Kaanapali Shores & we got married in a garden area that overlooked the beach; we did not want to mess with the sand & what not. Our location was beautiful, the grounds look like that of a golf course & our backdrop was the beautiful Pacific Ocean with views of Molakai & Lanai. We used The Salon (Maddie), who has an office inside one of the shops at the resort. She took care of everything from the cake to the flowers, etc. I was a very nervous bride b/c I wanted everything just how I had imagined it & she did an excellant job in fulfilling my dreams (the only thing missing were my tulips, but she told me in advance that they would not be possible b/c of the time of year - no biggie.) Maddie does photography on the side & I was skeptical to use her, b/c how good could she be if her business is actually wedding coordinating, but boy oh boy was I suprised. She took over 400 shots in the 2 hours that we used her & they were some awesome pics. I know she does weddings in several different locations, so I suppose it would be worth your effort to contact her & see what her suggesstions are. Keep in mind, we had our Mexican wedding cancelled 3 weeks before we were scheduled to marry & Maddie was able to make our dream wedding a reality in that little amount of time, so I might be a bit biased By the way, I don't know what you're looking for as far as a reception, but we did the Drums of Pacific Lu'au for our group (15 people) & it was the most fun we have had in a long time; the show is fantastic & the food is delicious. I think it was a great way to incorporate Hawaii into our wedding reception. Good luck & if I can help in any way, please let me know.

Wow Your the person I need to talk to. I was thinking of staying at the Aston Kaanapali shores as well. I was in Maui in 2005 but I never saw that resort. The pictures of the grounds look amazing. And I like the fact that there are several different unit types for my guests to choose from depending on their budget. I hadn't though of getting married at the resort, my idea was to go to one of the tropical gardens in the center of the island. But I'll check out the Salon's website.

I'm not sure about a lu'au as a reception. I did one before at the Royal Lahina and I was thinking of something more intimate than that. My big thing is to have a first dance. I heard the Seawatch has a dance floor but I was hoping to have something in the Ka'anapali area.

Aston Kaanapali Shores is a beautiful property; we have stayed there twice. The only thing I would caution against is that the units can vary greatly; some are upgraded/renovated & some have not been touched since the 80's. We called ahead & were able to get everyone in our party an upgraded room, but it's not guarenteed, just depends what they have available when you check-in. All the rooms are nice & clean, it's just some are outdated. Our renovated rooms were all gorgeous, with granite countertops, new cabinets & awesome views. The grounds are always immaculate & the staff is so helpful. I'm afraid that the website I gave you might not give you much insight to the resort itself & that the website, IMO, looks a little outdated. The resort has several areas in which to marry (grassy garden area overlooking the beach, the beach itself & the gazebo area in the gardens.)

As far as the luau goes, we went with it b/c we had a really nice, quiet sit-down rehersal dinner the night before at the Hula Grill. The luau was so much fun and we had unlimited open bar & food, plus we got a great show. They made us feel special by announcing to everyone that it was our wedding day & playing a song for us to dance to. We will never forget our wedding or the amount of fun that we had at the luau. If you need any further info on anything, please let me know.

That's awesome that some of you were able to stay within that budget. I had that in mind when I first started planning but it's out of control! I only have a month before I get married to it's too late to change coordinators but I'd be very careful who you select... My wedding of 25 is costing more than if I were to have a 350 people wedding here in Texas, which doesn't include travel costs.