vivrant_thing

Anyone know where I can find where to buy these in Honolulu? If i were to buy them here would it be too much of a hassle to bring them over? I'll probably only need about 5 or 6 Thanks!

Welcome! I'm catholic too & was planning on having a catholic wedding.. while doing research i realized that they do not approve of non-church weddings... (only under special circumstances, such as at a hospital if someone is sick/dying) Beach Wedding? - Catholic Answers Forums it may help you to read their discussion.... although it does get REALLY technical to the point where i just decided to have the outdoor DW & a church wedding at home

last week we put the deposit down on the ceremony, & today we got our flights booked, along with 8 other family members!! it's getting more & more REAL to me and i feel like i can relax a little now! wooohoooo!!

Happy birthday! enjoy your day

My estimated guest count for the DW is between 25-35 people. they are pretty much our immediate family (5 on each side) + us + bridal party ( + godparents/sponsors + closest friends, relatives, and guests' significant others. I was wondering if anyone was still doing things like the garter & bouquet toss, having a dance floor, head table etc. or just saving those things for the AHR? I'm askin bc for our group, it seems like it won't be as lively to do these things... but i'm not sure.. anyone w/ experience with this? also would it would be easier to do a restaurant reception? how does that worK? just eat & leave? would love to hear some ideas!!! thanks

Quote: Originally Posted by damaris Hi Stacey, I think many of us know that feeling Anyway I'm getting married next July and I was going through issues with my WC similar to yours. I went on a site visit in April and met my WC face to face and this is what I learned. 1. Weddings are a business to them. On one day I saw 4 weddings back to back. This is the height of their busy time so usually Mondays are best for them to answer back. 2. Unlike most of us that can't function without checking our emails every 2 minutes, they barely sit at their desks and they don't have PDA's 3. I have noticed and it was confirmed by my WC that they don't really focus too much on us 2010ers because to them the dates are far off and we brides bombard them with numerous emails. I will say that after my site visit and meeting her face to face she is a doll and gets back to me a lot faster then before and I also now understand her hectic schedule. At the beginning they will only do the necessary paperwork and as your date gets closer you will most likely see more of a response. I have found this site to answer pretty accurately most of the same questions I asked my WC on my site visit. Good Luck thanks for the helpful points to remember! will keep that in mind next time i get anxious about the same thing ETA: Especially the 2nd point about them not having PDA's... LOL its true i do check mine like every 5 mins and wonder why others dont do the same

Quote: Originally Posted by Tammy Host i have to agree with TA maureen as well. it does not take just a few days to get group rates as you have to see if the space is available, then get the contract, go over the contract, negotiate terms, etc...this is not done isntantaneously. also, to be honest, if i had a client that changed their dates a bunch of times, it would really make me think twice about where to focus my time and energy....and i am NOT saying that vivrant_thing, you did not have good reason to change your date but i like to focus my energy on clients that are committed to their location as well as date. they are the clients that get my priority. I get what you mean... I'm worried that she may think I'm about to change the date yet again (dont worry, we won't.. we've already booked the ceremony venue). we get alot of people that contact us just to "kick tires"...i have even had people contact me before they got engaged for a wedding 3 years out.. Quote: Originally Posted by TA Jennifer Just to add my two cents- I too would be hesitant to prioritize someone who is on their third request for pricing/dates.There are only so many hours in a day and I need to be able to assist my clients who need me immediately and are settled on what they really want. In a typical day I write out approximately 50 emails and in a week I usually will receive about 25-35 requests for destination weddings and/ or honeymoons. omg.. thats a LOT Many of those are people who recognize the value & knowledge that a TA has! They want to pick my brain for the knowledge I've accumulated with hard work & training over the years but they plan on booking elsewhere, for a literally a couple of dollars less. We've all had this happen and most often the client won't give the TA a chance to price match or explain why theirs may be a little higher. Not saying that is what the original poster is doing but it is what we deal with on a daily basis. Her TA at this point may be a little gun shy to expend any more time & energy for this DW. Quite honestly if I have a super demanding bride who doesn't respect me or my staff then I will fire them. I've done it. lol don't worry!!! she is one of my girlfriend's mom so i have been completely respectful to her... although i know shes probably pretty annoyed with me & the date changes by now :S Yes, I am in a service industry and I will go the extra mile but I will not be abused nor let a super demanding bride take me away from assisting my other clients. It's not fair that a bride who is respectful & patient would not get the time, attention and service level that she deserves because one bride is super demanding. That is usually the straw that breaks this camels back! Most DW group bookings are also not as lucrative as all of you may think- the amount of time spent on a 3 or 4 night group, from starting to work with a bride, assisting their guests and answering questions, problem solving and addressing any issues that may arise ( like the lovely swine flu !) till they return home - can have us actually making under the per hour minimum wage ! I love what I do and it's great to be an integral part of such a wonderful event but please keep in mind that you are dealing with a real live person! Treat your TA as you would like someone to treat you at your job. Be patient, understand that we do have to triage our clients into what we have/can do on any given day- we may have a group that is having issues with flights that needs our undivided attention, we may be putting in final payments on a large group where we had to track many of them down to get said payment - we may have had other quotes that were requested prior to yours ect ect! good point... i think many ppl especially brides get so caught up in it being "my day" that we sometimes forget to consider other ppl & things like this I would contact her again, let her know that this is really the final change and that you are ready to go (only if it is). That you apprecaite her work and that you will use her to book (only if you truly will) . Quote: Originally Posted by TA Maureen Thanks Tammy and very well stated Jennifer! I just want to again state that we don't necessarily think the original poster, vivrant_thing, is trying to waste the TA's time or not serious about booking. We are just saying that this is how things look from our end and what we have to deal with. So hopefully it gives some insight. no no i did not feel that way at all.. i honestly have no idea what goes on behind the scenes, so i truly needed a heads up on that. even one of my BM told me that 'oh they should be used to the date changes' but obviously she ISN'T one and hasn't even used one so i'm glad i found this out too. thanks for all your help & thoughtful replies ladies! i'm at work reading/replying to this so i may be back later just to read it over again. thank u!

just a preface... this is my first time dealing with a travel agent, so please feel free to tell me proper ways of doing business with them! How long does it take for rates? After having to change the date on her for the 3rd time, I told her that we finally settled on the week of feb. 12-18th '10 (fri-thurs). This was last Monday, and back then, on orbitz.ca the rates were about 1057 pp flight +Hotel , taxes included. now they are going up to 1121... i know its not SO much but i would really love to start booking our flights already before they go up even more! My parents have also been asking me every day about whether its okay to book yet (On their own) and I've been tellin them to wait since i haven't heard back from my TA yet... but finally iwas like go ahead if u really want to.... so i'm jus wondering.. how does the process work? i hope she's not already upset that i changed the date so many times already... although, both dates i asked her for weren't going to be ready yet til july & august, plus i'm sure i'm not the first dw bride to change her mind on the date or whatever... just wondering what ur thoughts & experiences were with your travel agent... how long it took, how big of a discount you actually got.... oh i should add that FH's side (parents, brother + wife + daughter) can get free flights bc his dad & brother work for an airline so they will only be needed hotel rooms) thanks!

yay! I'm glad there was a happy ending to this story!

very helpful thread! thanks!

wow, that is too cute! i totally admire you for your positive attitude!!

thanks!! very useful!

ugh that sucks! I hate when ppl say they're not going to go just because they're jealous... I'm not talking about the ones that really cannot afford it but the ones that purposely blame it on money so that everyone can feel sorry for them.

For those considering marrying in Oahu... They are AWESOME. They always answer their phone right away, are very professional, and have been super friendly & tremendously helpful with my planning I'm so glad I decided to go with the Ocean Crystal Chapel wedding!

thanks! I called them today & they referred me to someone who can do it on saturdays so that's a huge relief!

thats awesome! unfortunately we have to do it on our own. i emailed the wc about our situation though , maybe they will try to work something out? *crosses fingers* if not though, i'll try callin the number posted on the site. btw your wedding photos are absolutely BREATH TAKING!! omg... i would love to have my wedding at the Kona village but its too pricey for us.. it looks totally worth every penny though! i'm in awe. LOL!

Our wedding plans involve arriving in Oahu on a Friday night, with the wedding on the following Sunday. Then I just realized that the Marriage license office is only open on weekdays until 4pm!! After doing a little research, however, I found this information - "However, special arrangements have been made to accommodate visitors needing a marriage license who arrive on Oahu on Friday with plans to get married over the weekend. Private marriage license agents who currently serve the public and issue marriage licenses after hours, on weekends and holidays will be available by appointment to issue immediately-needed marriage licenses on Fridays. Couples immediately needing a marriage license because of same weekend wedding plans may call the following agents to schedule an appointment for a marriage license. " [taken from ]Welcome to Visit-Oahu.com Can anyone please verify this?? I would really like to know before I book our flights (which actually already went up from last week ) Thanks ladies!!

thanks for your replies, i decided to call them to follow up about it, and i kept getting the receptionists and one of them said she'd call me back after checking in the back for my files. so about 5 mins later joann called me back apologizing for the misunderstanding because she was just waiting for me to send my info back since she didnt get it... so i just re-sent it and we've been communicating back & forth thru email. im so glad i called bc i was gonna wait til next week, thinking it would be coming in the mail. yay! now i can get to finalizing the wedding plans & ppl can start booking. just waiting on my TA with the travel details. last weekend the flight + hotel prices on orbitz were 1057 for th week we're staying... but when i chekced yesterday they went up to 1111 :S i hope they dont go up again for a while, or that my TA can still get us a good deal. if it goes up to about 1500 that would suck because the only reason why we changed our date from july 1st to feb. 14th was because we figured it wuold be more affordable for our guests to come. but if its the same then i'd rather do it in july! im just tired of changing the date on everyone, esp. my travel agent as this would be the 3rd date change anyways im rambling lol as u can see i'm such a noob at this wedding stuff. with that said, i really really appreciate everyone's helpful replies u guys rock!

Ohh wow, so I should be getting the contract through email & mailing it in.. i haven't received it yet, but i want to reserve it asap so we can go ahead and book our flights & stuff. Plus it's going to be in February now instead of July so we gotta step our planning game up since we have less time.. i think i might contact them today about it (before the weekend cuz they'll probably be busy w/ weddings) also i would like to be able to meet their May 31st deadline for their deals

all my suggestions were taken from other Oahu brides from this forum but i'll say them anyway * outdoor luau - paradise cove or the polynesian cultural centre * tiki's grill & bar - you should look at their private events page. i like the coconut club one Tiki's Grill & Bar * i REALLY loved Aaron's Atop the Ala Moana but apparently it has closed down this past march! im hoping someone will open it up again so we can have our reception there... here's their site: Aaron's Atop the Ala Moana Dining Menu

omg. why didn't i think of googling their name LOL! f'real u are such a great help! i looked at the first video, and i think i might have to agree... they're just not 'our style'. kinda reminds me of a video that would be playing in the background of a karoake song. so yeah anyways, i finally got a hold of them & emailed the manager Joann. she's supposed to send me some info about reservations, confirmation & all that.. did you get yours in the mail or thru email? I'm sooo impatient!!

Will you be using their photographers? I would like to see some samples before I choose their package ... $970 sounds like a lot to me!

OOH! thank you soo much for that info!! ur a great help!

UGH sorry i got too emotional reading the original post that i don't have the patience to read the others.... but i too am experiencing the same thing, about ppl complaining about our DW in hawaii, asking why we can't have it here or there or why not in the carribbean for an all inclusive, blah blah blah. the worst part is, the people asking these q's EVERY DAY are my PARENTS! meanwhile, they were the ones trying to FORCE a shotgun wedding on us when i was pg back in '06. like he FINALLY popped the questions & decided on his OWN to marry me, and you won't even be happy about it? UGH. Honestly, I'm NOT budging from my Hawaii wedding and if it ends up being just me, FH, and son, then i'm cool with that.. just SHUT THE f*** UP already & don't come!

How soon did you guys contact them to have your wedding date reserved? I sent in my "planner" thing online 2x (once last month and again last week) but still nothing. Did you email them directly?