schmizer

We just got married at the Royal Lahaina on April 21st. Our party was on Maui for 8 days and spent a lot of time at the resort. Sometimes it was windy and other times it was more of a gentle breeze. On our wedding day, the wind kept picking up my cathedral veil, but honestly, it just added to the moment. We got married at 3:00 pm. The luau can be noisy, but most receptions are held on the lawn on the opposite side of the resort, which, if this is true for you, the noise can't be heard from. We didn't have our reception there but stayed in an oceanfront suite on the luau side and could hear the noise some nights 12 floors up.

Discount Hawaii Car Rental is inexpensive and consistently gets great reviews. Because you do not pay until the day you pick up the car, we did this first and then played with Priceline's Name Your Own Price until we got the bid excepted at the rate we wanted. We are also getting married in April. I suggest you book your rental car as soon as possible, because Maui only has a limited fleet of vehicles and, depending when you are going since Easter and Spring Break are this month, prices will start to sky-rocket as they sell out. When I booked our wedding, the first thing we booked was a rental car reservation.

We are paying for everything ourselves. Destination weddings are traditionally non-traditional:)

Here are my girl's dresses. My maid of honor is in the coral and my bridesmaids are in the two stylesof blue (the color blue is the same as the short version).

I am doing coral, french blue and tiffany blue as my accent. Here's my color inspiration.

I am also doing coral. Here is a pic of my Maid of Honor's dress.

June 2011 Alisa & Kevin~Aventura Cove Palace~6.11.11 Missy & Aaron (geminiwanderlust) June 11, 2011 Dreams Tulum Riviera Maya Adrianne & James (adridashanne) - June 17, 2011, Grand Palladium Riviera Lisa & Omar (lisa203) - June 21, 2011, Moon Dance Cliffs Negril, Jamaica Shari-Ann & Kofi (AfricanVenus) - June 25, 2011, Grand Velas Vallarta Resort and Spa, MX Heidi & Francois (heidilynn2 - June 28th, 2011, Valentin Imperial Maya, MX July 2011 Chris & John (sunstarsmoon) - July 8, 2011 Couples Sans Souci Ocho Rios Denedra & Eron (sorord) - July 30, 2011 Negril Jamaica August 2011 Sarah & Michael (Espejo2be) - August 8th, 2011 - Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Jamaica Tanya & Bob (mrssylvester2b)-August 10, 2011 - Beaches Turks & Caicos Mallory & Glenn (Mallory57)-August 13th, 2011-Moon Dance Cliffs-Negril, Jamaica September 2011 Kate & Garry (harkatea) - September 3rd, 2011 - Koh Samui, Thailand Heather & Marcus (hdinsmor) - September 10th, 2011- Grand Palladium, Lucea, Jamaica October 2011 Anthea & Alphonso (MrsJones2be)- October 9, 2011- Nassau, Bahamas Tammy & Ian (takelly) - October 21, 2011 - Grand Sunset Princess, Riviera Maya, Mexico November 2011 Eden & Eric (Eden) - November 11, 2011 - Michigan, USA Jeanine & Reuben-November 11, 2001-Rose Hall Suites, Montego Bay, Jamaica Selina & Landerick - November 12, 2011 - Dreams La Romana, Dominican Republic December 2011 Jen & Nolan - (JMikla) Dec 3rd 2011 - Las Caletas Puerto Vallarta Mexico January 2012 Kristyn & John (perry1217) - January 6, 2012 (Little Christmas!!!) - Playacar Palace, Riviera Maya, Mexico Stephanie & Alex (celticgirl) - January 7, 2012 - Breezes Trelawny. Jaimee and Ryan (Avens) - January 12, 2012 - Barcelo Maya Palace, Riviera Maya, Mexico Jaynee & Mason (jaykay) - January 13, 2012 - Gran Bahia Principe Jamaica, Runaway Bay, Jamaica Liz & Robert (lizzdee)- January 21, 2012 - Beaches Turks & Caicos Kya & Mike (kya101)- January 25, 2012 - Las Caletas, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico February 2012 Tori & Patrick (torilynnsmith) - February 4th 2012 - Majestic Colonial, Punta Cana Dominican Republic March 2012 Mackenzie & Eric (MJB3172012) - March 17, 2012 - Iberostar Bavaro, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic April 2012 Jamie & Mark (J-me) - April 21, 2012 - Aentura Cove Palace, Riviera Maya Gina & Jim (ginalynn22) - April 11, 2012 - Breezes Curacao Liza & Howard (schmizer) - April 21, 20012 Royal Lahaina Resort, Maui May 2012 Sharon & Dennis (Sharon99) - May 3, 2012 - Excellence Playa Mujeres June 2012 Shannon & Kostya (ssapper) - June 9, 2012 - Dreams Riviera Cancun August 2012 Cathy and Charles - August 2012 Adrienne & Adam - August 11, 2012 - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic October 2012 Chelsea & Eric (DWBride615) - October 13, 2012 - Rome, Italy (Odescalchi Castle)

Congratulations! We will be getting married on April 12th at the Royal Lahaina with our reception at the Feast at Lele:) I booked Dan and Jessica based on reviews. Our flowers will be through our coordinator. Sorry I can't be more of a help at this time since I am still in the planning process myself...

I have not used your source, but can tell you that most vendors take your CC number to charge deposit and payment.

I used to use it, but found that there were too many things that I eat that I had to guesstimate. Otherwise, it is a really great app!

Do you mean the road to Hana?

Welcome Asia!

Oooohhh, and to all my Chicago ladies, I just had to say... "GO PACK, GO!"

Welcome Natalie! Congrats on being a home owner! We have started looking, but I don't think we will purchase until after the wedding. Too much stress as it is... I agree with Beachbride. The first thing you need to do is apply all the research you have been doing to a budget. I actually started doing mine on Wedding Wire which has a great template that you can also view and modify on your iphone (if you have one) and then transferred it to an excel spreadsheet later. Once you set your budget, the rest will start to fall into place. Another good thing is to have an idea of how many people are going to attend. Most vendors will ask you this question and some venues will be determined by this. If you choose an AI, the rest will come easy as you are probably booking a package. If you are like me and don't choose an AI, there is still alot to do at this point, but it gets MUCH easier. Once we picked and secured our date, the whole thing became real and I found myself so much more engaged in the process! One you pick your resort, ceremony location and reception venue, IMO, the most important step is the booking your photographer. Prices seem to continue to rise, and the earlier you book, the more likely you are to get the person that you really want. Let us know what we can do to help you along:)

Hour of weight lifting, Hour of Zumba

I have the current rates for Dan and Jessica. If anyone is interested, pm me...

Weights: 1 hour Zumba: 45 minutes Me: Exhausted:)

Have you been to Hawaii before? How long is your honeymoon? My favorite island is Maui (which is why i am getting married there:) It is incredibly beautiful and tropical but still has some nightlife. We are honeymooning on Kauai which is much more remote. Kauai is the island that is filmed in the opening scenes of Jurassic Park. If you have not been before, Oahu is the most visited island and the most urban. What i love about Hawaii is that each island has it's own unique personality. Feel free to PM me with any questions:)

My fiance's dad passed away from terminal cancer. To make a long story short, Fi was left here in the US to care for him while his mother and sister moved back to Taiwan. He was only 10 years old. I know how close they were and when we were talking about not having his physical presence at the wedding, FI broke down and cried. I have racked my brain for ways to honor him in our ceremony. One of the things I am doing is something like this... Found this on etsy and I think it is perfect for inside his lapel. I am also having his dad's watch fixed (doesn't work) so he can wear it that day...

Awesome! What island are you honeymooning on? Are you going immediately after your wedding? We will be honeymooning on Kauai and Oahu after our wedding week on Maui!

Merrylee- I hear you! I have a much easier time dragging myself to the gym when I am not driving in a foot of snow. Ugh! I am also on a mission to get fit for my April 2012 wedding. I was in really great shape two years ago, but I had some major life changes happen after that (a horrible breakup) and then ended up getting an injury skiing in Colorado last December, which resulted in more angst, depression and overeating. I want to knock off 25 pounds. I used to be a machine in the gym and just started going back 2 weeks ago. (I know New Year's resolutions are cheesy, but I needed a starting point.) I was so out of shape my first day and was completely frustrated, but I have stuck with it and am starting to feel stronger. FI has been really supportive which is a blessing, although he says I don't need to change a thing:) Together, we have gotten rid of our junk food and are cooking at home more and eating healthier. My biggest issue is that I can not get motivated if I am by myself. My competitive nature needs a class atmosphere to work hard. Otherwise, I slack off. The gym I belong to has alot of classes, but not any that I am really into (I recently moved). I am still determined that I am going to do this. I am waiting until April to go dress shopping and am standing up in a wedding in May which I purposely ordered a size smaller dress for. More motivation...

We are getting married in April of 2012 on the west side of Maui:) Yes. ONE week! I did nothing but research for the first 3 months. We mapped out our budget using wedding wire, and I put together an outline of everything we wanted to book and do. It's making the booking process really easy, because we have a good estimate of what everything costs and what exactly we want. Trust me, it all comes together quickly once you have everything figured out. I would rather have most things planned ahead of time instead of scrambling last minute to get things done, and booking so early has allowed us to get every vendor that we have wanted so far!

I have checked all three, to no avail so far... The problem is that I am not looking for collectibles, which everyone has. I just want old blue glass bottles. I am hoping to stumble on a lot somewhere unexpected, so I am checking everyday! Thanks for the advice. We are in Chicago ALOT, so I will check out Alsip. I still have alot of time to figure it all out:)

Are these sold? I would also need more than 9. Could you pm me the cost and link?

I think it's important to give your guests an idea of cost. I think that your pricing is in line with most tropical resorts and you are right, it is all inclusive. Our guests will be spending a little less on the rooms, but without an AI option. It equals out to about the same...