My daughter is trying to plan a wedding on the Big Island. We are looking into a Kona Village wedding package. We were going to set her up at the Kona Village for 3 nights while the rest of the family stays at Royal Kona or Outrigger Keauhou Beach. She wants a beautiful wedding on the beach with tiki torches. We were thinking of having a ukelele/hawaiin singer, releasing of doves, conch shell blower. Does anyone have any suggestions on another way to do it? Or is the Kona Village a good way to go.
Also, the day after the wedding her and her new husband will leave for another island. Which island should they go to - Oahu or Maui? They are in their early 20%26#39;s. I am thinking that Oahu looks good for them. They want to snorkel, scuba dive, horse back ride, surf, parasail, bike ride, go to a luau.
We haven%26#39;t talked to a travel agent yet.
Thanks for any suggestions
wedding on Big Island
Aloha and WOW how exciting!
I think Maui would be my choice for her second island, but Oahu would work as well. Both offer what the newly weds are looking for so it is a win win situation. I just happen to associate Maui with Honeymooning.
As far as your wedding plans go, how many people will be coming?
I am a big fan of Kona Village, and their wedding package offers lots of exciting things.
There are so many places that offer so many options! The Four Seasons, Hilton Waikoloa, Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel Turtle Point...
Also, if your party is large enough you could consider private homes.
I went to a wedding at a Mauna Kea Beachfront estate that rents out for weddings, gosh it was yummy. A friend of mine went to a wedding at Honuala鈥檌 Estate, she was awed.
You can rent Hulihe鈥檈 Palace in Kona!
I will email you a URL of a planner that friends used.
wedding on Big Island
Given their interests. Maui sounds like a good choice for the second island. For the rest of the famiy, read the TA reviews carefully and be sure you get guaranteed a renovated room! For what it;%26#39;s worth, the Outrigger would be my choice over the King Kam.
People who love KVR really, really love it. I personally respect the place but want air conditioning! (Sorry for being so shallow!)
AC is a good thing, especially when all dressed up!
Not shallow at all ;o)
hi, what Honu said about A/C made me look for what month this is going to happen, and I don%26#39;t see it.
Despite the fact that our temps don%26#39;t swing wildly with the seasons, our combined heat/humidity gets oppressive in certain areas, certain seasons. Water conditions vary widely on different shores of the various islands according to time of year --affecting snorkeling and surfing spots in particular.
So let us know.
Re Oahu -- a beautiful island but much of it is either the big city (just the Honolulu area) or sprawling suburbs. Lots and lots of things to do. Not a good choice if they want seclusion and to feel like they got away from it all. Maybe you could say what kind of island feel they%26#39;re looking for -- busy and exciting or are they envisioning moonlight walks on the beach in relative solitude? Do they want to feel far away from the madding crowds, or what? Lots of choices.
Thanks for all the replies.
The wedding will be the beginning of June next year. There will only be about 12-20 guests. I was checking out some of the wedding planners and noticed the private homes. I will have to check that out again. I saw one that had a private beach and an outdoor patio to have a reception on - forgot the name of that one. I liked some of the ala carte things that you could add on like the dove release and things that I mentioned before. I didn%26#39;t notice that with the Kona Village wedding package. So we will be seeing if we can add things on their package. We were going to talk to a travel agent tomorrow.
I read her the replies and she thinks she will probably go with Maui. She does want the seclusion. I will have to get some info on Maui.
Another question - What is the best Luau on the Big Island? We were talking about everyone getting together for a luau the night before the wedding.
Thanks so much for all the help.
The Kona Village Resort has the best lu%26#39;au, hands down.
You say they want the seclusion -- then I would say go to the Big Island and Kaua%26#39;i, especially in June, because no better time to visit the north shore there. Maui is a busy place too; the only time I would call Maui relatively peaceful is when comparing it to vacationing in Honolulu.
Looking at the activities list:
%26gt;%26gt;They want to snorkel, scuba dive, horse back ride, surf, parasail, bike ride, go to a luau.
All these things can be done on the Big Island.
Big Island has the best snorkeling and diving in the state.
Kaua%26#39;i has wonderful snorkeling in June.
The ';famous'; bike ride is to go down Haleakala at sunrise (Maui).
Caution: it%26#39;s a little hot for riding bikes here in June (Haleakala is high elevation and done before sun is really up). Riding bikes in 90 degrees with 90% humidity -- is that what they want? This is the tropics in summer.
We have great horseback riding on this island. (also riding on Maui).
Parasailing -- sounds more like Maui or Oahu.
Surfing -- beginning lessons can be taken here at Kahalu%26#39;u beach on the Big Island. Have they ever surfed before? It%26#39;s demanding!
Kona Village Resort has a variety of activities guests can do.
I think they should be looking at some photos of the various islands, accompanied by reading, and reading some trip reports here. This is a big decision, worth their doing some basic research to see what clicks with them.
Honestly, I would recommend they extend the time on the Big Island to do some of their activities, and follow up with 3-4 days on Kaua%26#39;i (not sure how long the total trip is).
The plan is that we all arrive on Saturday (still playing around with ideas - talking to the travel agent and wedding planner tomorrow to answer our questions). She will stay at the Kona Village Resort for that night and the next night with the maid of honor which is the best man%26#39;s wife. We all will stay at either the Royal Kona or Outrigger Keauhou (trying to keep it inexpensive for everyone but decent). On Sunday they will go get their wedding license (if it is able to be done on a Sunday, if not we will have to change around the days). They will also do a couple spa treatment and hopefully do some sightseeing. While the rest of us will all do our own sightseeing. We will all go to a Luau that night - hopefully there is one on Sundays. On Monday the wedding will be at sunset on a beach or possibly one of the private homes. We will do a small reception. They will leave on Tuesday morning for the next island for 4 more nights. And we will all have another day of sightseeing and leave on Wednesday. He thinks he only has 1 week vacation time - will find out next week.
As for the island that they will move over to, I gave them some info on Oahu that I had and ordered a free brochure on Maui from gohawaii.com. I guess I should order a brochure on Kaui too. We will see what the travel agent says tomorrow too.
Thanks again
always good when you provide more details to work with!
%26gt;%26gt;On Sunday they will go get their wedding license (if it is able to be done on a Sunday
Nothing is issued by the government on a weekend. This is Hawai%26#39;i.
The KVR lu%26#39;au is on Friday, and they%26#39;ve added a second one on either Tue or Wed (I can%26#39;t remember, check). On Sunday your choice might be the Marriott. Not sure about the Mauna Kea night. The Marriott event doesn%26#39;t compare to the KVR in authenticity or quality, but if you must have Sunday, it would work. (it used to be Wed and Sunday, but these things change, so don%26#39;t take my word)
As I said, if they really want to snorkel and scuba, they are missing the best waters in the state by not doing it on the Big Island. As for horseback riding, we have the biggest working ranch in the USA and horses are a big tradition here. Either Waipi%26#39;o Valley or something in Waimea/Kohala Mountain would be a wonderful choice.
*personally I think with only one week of vacation that they should stick with ONE island. Transit will waste a precious day.*
You have been given some excellent advice already. I%26#39;ll only add, definitely stay on the Big Island especially if they only have 1 week. If they move to another island, one day is lost in the move. The Big Island is so big, they could just move from KVR to another great place in another area for the remainder.
As a diver, I can tell you the BI has the best diving and snorkeling of any of the islands. Tell them not to miss the manta ray night dive. It is awesome! Go with Jack%26#39;s Dive Locker if they can. Don%26#39;t go with Neptune Charlies, also known as Manta Ray Dives and don%26#39;t plan to go on a Tuesday. They all take off except Neptune.
The reason that they wanted to move over to another island is because they didn%26#39;t want to be around any of us after the wedding. I told her that the island is big and everyone will be doing their own sightseeing. But we will see.
I figured that the Sunday license thing wouldn%26#39;t work. I told her a little while ago that maybe we should see about leaving on Thursday and them getting their license on Friday and have the wedding on Saturday. He will just have to take 2 personal days before his vacation time. He will find out just how much vacation time he has on June 5. That way they will have 6 nights for their honeymoon portion plus the 3 nights for the wedding.
I also told her that I wasn%26#39;t sure of any luaus on Sundays. I knew that I read on here somewhere that the Kona Village had a good one on Fridays. So if we can rearrange the travel dates to leaving on Thursday, that will be perfect.
Thanks
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