BigIslandFan

I am new here and found this website by Googling "Royal Kona Resort wedding". I just realized this topic is a year old, but a couple of you responded within the past year hah. I stayed the hotel last year and immediately said that it's the place where I want to get married. The mixed reviews are probably more for the rooms itself however keep in mind the out of date rooms are in a particular tower. I stayed in the Lagoon Tower in an ocean front room and my room was comfortable, clean, and beautiful. I had a view of the ocean and of the luau that they hold. I found the grounds of the hotel to be beautiful and exactly fits the look of how I would think a hotel in Hawaii would look if I have never been to Hawaii (been there 4x). The packages are also great deals if you plan on having a small wedding. Ideally we want a really small intimate wedding with no more than 30 people. Since it is a destination wedding for us with most people having to fly in from California and New York we figure we won't have that many interested in coming based on the airfare so our ideal head count may in fact work (we really just want close family and really close friends there). With the food, I didn't care for the hotel's breakfast buffet. It was okay food, but it was nothing special. I also drank at the bar and drinks were pretty good. I don't know what food you plan on getting, but we want pretty much the same food that they have their luau with the exception of pork (religion). I never made it to their luau, but I have heard good things about the food they serve for it. I never thought I would want a destination wedding because it would worry me that the day of my wedding, things wouldn't look how I would have wanted them to look, and that my ideas never really came alive (I am a control freak). What's great about RKR is that they actually have a wedding coordinator at a on site "shop" that basically coordinates everything for you so you don't have that many people you need to go through. The only thing about planning a destination wedding that would bother me is that I don't get to do a tasting. We are thinking though of making a special trip to Kona a couple of months before the wedding just to have an in person meeting to go over plans, and to taste food. We have enough FF miles saved and would plan to just stay at hotels through Priceline so it wouldn't be that expensive of a trip Does anyone know though if the cute white wooden chairs that they have for the ceremony are also the chairs for the reception? I know the chivari chairs you have to rent from an outside rental place (I hear that they are $10 per chair in Hawaii!), but also saw those conference style chairs which I hate. I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on chivari chairs so that is out. We would be happy though if we can have the white, wooden chairs for the reception as well though at no added cost. The only thing I assumed about the packages offered is that the floral arrangements are very small and basic.