Reccomendations for a Hawaiian or Fijian Wedding

[MustangFan]

Which places aren''t cheesy and ceremony mill weddings? Please share your experiences!

 

[surfgirl]

I thought you were getting married in NJ???

 

[MustangFan]

I''m not ruling anything out yet!

I am inbetween the two choices, both have their perks and cons
Nothing is written in stone yet, I''m curious about it, that''s all.

 

[surfgirl]

Well I can tell you that if I had my druthers, we''d be eloping to Fiji...but the really nice places I wanted to go to were about $2000/night (w/ 5 night minimum) and the wedding packages were at least $7000 just for a "for two only" package...so that tops out a minimum of $17k for a 5 night honeymoon that includes a wedding ceremony for two. That is of course the very top end. I"m sure there are other packages out there at cheaper places but if I''m going that far I wanted the best. So we''re not doing it

Hawaii has too many options to list. First you need to decide which island you want, then what type of ceremony (no frills beach all the way to high end resort locations), then which hotel/resort you want to stay at, etc. I looked into the Four Seasons on Lanai because we didn''t want lookiloos strolling past our ceremony but even there, a wedding "for two" was $7k! Of course you can get packages for a hundred dollars where its on a public beach with a local Hawaiian minister...just do a search for "Hawaiian wedding packages" and you''ll see a ton of links come up.

 

[sk8rjen]

Having just gotten back from Hawaii, I'd recommend it in a heartbeat! It's everything it's hyped up to be, and we adored Maui. My mom visited Oahu first and said she would have spent her entire trip on Maui if she'd realized how great it was... we snorkeled in Lanai --- not much there, but it's just across the channel from Maui. The nightlife's in Oahu --- my mom's pics were all of this big city and we got none of that (thankfully). Anyway, sorry this is long --- Hawaii's wonderful, IMO

jen

 

[MustangFan]

Jen-

Do you have a website of the place you used?

 

[firebirdgold]

We adored our wedding at Kona village resort on the big island of Hawaii. It was so friendly and easy. The whole resort made us feel really special. Besides they had a marriage license person right there at the resort. Totally painless and fast.

The wedding package itself wasn''t too bad just a little over $3,000 which covered alot of things including an emmy-winning guitarist and a good photographer. I''m sure it''s gone up this year but they''ve updated their website so it doesn''t play well with my mac. Staying there can be pretty expensive. The least expensive hut is $625 a night. On the plus side that''s all inclusive for 2 people which covers simply amazing multi-course meals, and water-sports equipment. You just walk up to the beach-shack and they had you whatever you need a a pile of fluffy towels. On the morning of our wedding we went snorkeling and my sister and her husband went kayaking. So while it''s expensive I felt it was a good deal.


I can''t imagine a better way to get married. No stress (not counting finding the perfect dress), no bridesmaids, no drama, just a beautiful and happy wedding.

 

[nomissjane]

The hubby and I have just returned from THE most fabulous honeymoon in Fiji....
Stayed at the Namale Resort which is a 1 hour short flight on from Nadi and is just gorgeous.

Another Aussie couple that we met while we where there had been married at the Resort and raved about how beautiful it was.
Only max 32 guests and no kids....fab private bures (we had our own deck with plunge pool and spa with stairs down to our own private beach)
It''s an all inclusive holiday....snorkelling, kayaking, horseriding windsurfing, bike riding etc....including all meals - which where really amazing and alcohol (as much french champagne as you can manage - they brought us lunch and a bottle of Moet while we were sunning and swimming on our private beach, we felt very spoiled.)

There are plenty of lovely resorts in Fiji but IMO this one and another called Vatuluele (sp?) are definately the most beautiful.

It''s owned by Anthony Robbins, but we were pleased to find that there was no mention or reference to his ''workshops'' at all - nothing against those who like this sort of thing, just not at all my cup of tea!

 

[littlelysser]

As someone who considered a destination wedding in either Fiji or Hawaii and lives on the east coast of the U.S. - and you are in NJ, correct...well, it isn't very reasonable price wise or time wise.

We looked at a number of places in Fiji, Bora Bora, etc...and the airfare alone is well over 5k for the two of us. Also, you are looking at over a day in transit. In our case, that cost meant a lot of the people we'd want there simply couldn't afford it and even those that could, well, I'd feel silly asking my friends to fork out all that money for our wedding - and to stay for a few days and then fly home. It just doesn't make sense for those of us in the east.

Although Hawaii is also expensive, it is a bit more reasonable, but again will likely be cost prohibative for a number of guests. And again, you are looking at like 12 + hours of flying time. I wouldn't think about asking my friends to do that for me!

If you are serious about a destination wedding, and you care if other people can come, I'd suggest looking at the Caribbean and Mexico.

 

[sk8rjen]

Mustang -- sorry to take so long to reply -- haven't been on here for a few days... we used merrymauiweddings.com If you contact them, please tell them Jennifer and Matt recommended them (April 11th wedding) --- no we don't get any kind of perk for recommending them, but I'd love them to know we were so pleased with everything! Vincent is the photographer and he and his wife do this together -- they spent SOOOOOO much time on the phone with me, not only about the wedding, but places to stay, good weather/bad weather areas, you name it... they were awesome!

Let me know if you contact them...
jen

ps their prices were excellent for pics/video and all of ours turned out beautiful...