Maui Brides ~

KellyandBrett · 07-07-2008, 11:29 AM

Good Morning!! I hope that everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend.. It was beautiful out and nice to have a long weekend :)

I have been doing a lot of research on Wedding Venues (as we all have) and have been looking specifically at Southern California, Los Cabos and Maui... more specifically in Maui I am looking at the Olowalu Plantation House, White Orchid House and Maui Hyatt. Does anyone have any information or pictures for these three venues or have any recommendations? I have seen a lot of pictures on websites, but would like to see pictures of real weddings to get more of an idea of what to expect. I have been in contact with Lori Scott who is wonderful and has been extremly helpful, but haven't been to any of the sites to get a personal feel for them.. I am going to have a smaller wedding with 30-40 guests. Any information would be helpful...

Thank you in advance!

~Kelly

litl_april · 07-11-2008, 03:24 PM

Hey Kelly! I don't have much for detailed information on those locations; the best I can do is say that after my long google search of Olowalu that was my dream location! Until I got some estimates from the wedding planner. She gave me some low estimates by using some numbers from weddings she had recently priced out for or done for other brides. She told me that one simple wedding that she had, with about 50 guests ran the couple about $15,000 and that didn't include their photography or video as they didn't coordinate this through her. The biggest issue with the estates is that everything (linens, chairs, tables, etc) must be rented. She quoted the best price she can get those for at $25/person I believe. Then there's the food, wait staff, and such. Wait staff she said was $200/staff and most caterers say 1 for every 10 guests. For us all of this would be out of our price range as we expect our guest numbers to be somewhat higher. Let me know if you'd like any more of the prices she told me. Good luck in your planning!!
Oh, another thing, I think a lot of pictures I found for Olowalu from searching came from couples personal websites or knot pages so you could check that out for pictures!

KellyandBrett · 07-13-2008, 10:38 AM

Thank you so much for the information April, I truly appreciate it :)

Pisces · 07-13-2008, 11:43 AM

Hi Kelly-
Sorry I don't have any information. A whole bunch of us are getting married at the Seawatch (reception anyways). I looked into a couple of private estates, but it was outside our budget and our group size did not warrant it (we have 16). Both places look beautiful though! Good luck with your decision. Once that one is made everything is easy.

Nic Dragomire · 07-13-2008, 11:52 AM

I heart Maui x 10

My wife and I have been there 3 times in the 5yrs that we have been married and Ohau 2x... we love the islands.

good luck on your planning, Im sure your wedding will be amazing!

lulubrie · 08-26-2008, 05:00 PM

Hi Kelly,

I have booked my May wedding at the White Orchid Beach House. I fell in love with this location and so far I am really happy with it. With this location you have to use White Orchid Weddings as your coordinators, and like the other private estates EVERYTHING has to be rented. It is definitely starting to cost a lot more then i had hoped, but I just have to keep reminding myself how beautiful our wedding and reception will be. If you have around $12K (on the low end) to spend on a 30-40 person wedding then use a private estate, if you want to keep the budget lower then I suggest using seawatch like some of the other brides.

If you have any specific questions on dealing with WOW so far just PM and I will be happy to share my experience so far!

Happy planning!

litl_april · 08-27-2008, 06:31 PM

I just noticed that your wedding date is 2 days after mine! Maybe we'll see each other around!

SAM · 08-28-2008, 09:14 AM

Hello Kelly,

The White Orchid House is run by "White Orchid Weddings". They are high end...out of my price range but responsive to emails.

For the Olowalu Plantation House-The only down fall is their beach is rocky, not ideal for a "beach wedding". I think they have the ceremony on the lawn.

I had the same issue with finding "real wedding pictures". I looked at photographer websites.

Leah Robb with Island Wedding Memories is very nice, professional and her website is great. She has a photo of her family on the site. Great connections too!