LSUHawaii

We just got married in Maui on October 11th. I highly recommend Darren with Bliss Weddings - http://www.blissmaui.com. He's also a florist - http://www.kuolanifloral.com. He's been in the floral business for several years now but has recently started his wedding planning business. He truly created the wedding of my dreams! He's extremely sweet and was very cautious of our budget. Good luck! Aloha! Jenny

If you want to get married on a beach in Maui, I believe its a relatively low fee for the actual ceremony, then you'd have to do a reception somewhere else. I highly recommend going with a wedding planner. I used Darren with Bliss Wedding Designs - http://www.blissmaui.com. He's also a florist and did an amazing job with all of our flowers - http://www.kuolanifloral.com . Our wedding was on October 11th, and I can truly say that Darren created the wedding of my dreams. We had approximately 45 guests with a buffet style dinner at a house in Makena. He can arrange everything for you, or just bits and pieces - he just charges a % of whatever vendors/services he arranges for you. I am pretty sure that if you decide to have the wedding at one of the resorts, you will have to use their vendors and usually a wedding coordinator and/or planner will be included with your package. However, there are plenty of lovely estates in Wailea and Makena that you can also have your ceremony and reception at. Just depends on your style. Good luck with everything!! Aloha! Jenny

Also, we actually arranged a special rate for our guests at Hotel Wailea. I've heard mixed reviews about them, but we had 10 rooms reserved there and all of our guests were very pleased with our choice of hotel. It's more of a boutique style hotel - each room has a suite with a small kitchenette. Also, the Grand Wailea is AMAZING! We actually had a cocktail reception the night before the wedding at the Botero Bar, but there are definitely plenty of hotels that are gorgeous in Wailea and lots of lovely private estates that you can rent in Makena as well. If you are truly working on a budget, I think you picked one of the top 3 most expensive resorts on Maui. If you really want to have your wedding there, I would recommend that you stay there for a few nights right around the wedding, and maybe stay at less expensive (but still beautiful) hotel for the rest of your trip to cut costs. Also, another option to give your guests would be hotels/condos in the Kihei area (about a 5 min drive from Wailea). They aren't great resorts, but they are clean affordable condos to give people a less expensive option. Allrighty...that's all I have for now..haha! Aloha! Jenny

Hi there! I just returned from getting married on Maui, and I completely understand your feeling. I have family on Maui, so I at least had the benefit of getting advice from them, but it's still a very overwhelming process. I used Darren Keala with Bliss Wedding Design - http://www.blissmaui.com. He's very conscious of budget and actually has a floral company too - Ku O Lani Floral - http://www.kuolanifloral.com. Darren pulled together every last detail for me. Too be honest I don't think the pictures on his website do his work justice. I can honestly say he pulled together the wedding of my dreams. If you'd like to see some additional pictures from the wedding just let me know, and I can send you a link. Let me know if you have any other questions. I'm not really on these forums very often, so feel free to email me directly if you want some more information. [email protected] Jenny