pinklilikoi

Hello fellow brides - Please take this tip if you participate in this forum: be careful what you say in the forum because it will be Sharpied permanently here, and there's nothing you can do about it. I am a fairly new participant in this community and have found you all to be immensely helpful and I am grateful for all the advice. I have an upcoming wedding in Maui and it's been difficult trying to plan a destination wedding as you all know. I have to share with you how strict the admins on this forum are much to my shock. They are threatening to BAN me because I requested they help me modify my post just above this one RE: my wedding planner. I wrote that post in a moment of wedding planning frustration, and later regretted the tone. My planner has been wonderful to date and I'm sure our wedding in Maui is going to go off without a hitch. So I reached out to the MODs on BDW to help me remove or edit my post above, and expressed my concerns as to why: My private message: Hi there - I wrote a post about my planner that I would like removed. She's been good so far and I don't want others to be misinformed about her and her work. Thank you for your help! Responses back from various MODs: It's actually against our policy to delete posts. You can certainly post again with an update or explanation of what you thought before and what you think now. Hope that helps! To which I responded back to see if there could be an exception made to remove or delete my post. I told them how concerned I was about misinforming other brides about this planner who deserves a chance. And this evening I get this message from the Admin: One of my moderators contacted me about your concerns. Just so you know, they do not have the authorization to delete any posts as it is NOT something we do. All of the moderators have given you the same answer. If you continue to harrass my moderator, I will have to remove your forum priviledges. I honestly do not believe I was harassing anyone. I was sincerely asking for help, and have SEEN other posts where admins/MODs went in and edited content (i.e., someone had help to remove their real names in the post). This community exists because of each participant. I am very shocked at the response from the people behind the curtain and their lack of tolerance and understanding unique circumstances. I learned my lesson the hard way. Here is a tip to all brides: please be careful what you say in the forum because it will be Sharpied permanently here.

I looked at Jessica's work and she seems to do makeup beautifully. Unfortunately, she is not available for my wedding date and is recommending her assistant Leah. Has anyone worked with Leah before? I'm also looking for any other great makeup artists. Thanks!

Ooh, the Proteas are gorgzzz. I'll definitely let her know you said "hi". And congrats on your recent wedding

just checked out your site and what a gorgeous wedding! you sparked several cool ideas for me, like the adorable "ring security" shirts and the sentimental hankerchief gift. mahalo for sharing!

Thanks for the tip! I may order some floral arrangements for our private welcome dinner / BBQ at our condo.

your bouquet is breathtaking! I jumped on the horn and called Della. She is super nice and working on putting together a quote for me. thanks for sharing!

thanks, you rock!

Thanks ladies for the info. We hired Kelly a few months back - put down the deposit and all - so I'm just crossing my fingers at this point. She's actually getting married this March 2011 at our same spot, which is one consolation that it might go smoothly. She said she used to work for White Orchid Weddings before spinning off her own company. She is charging us 20% commission off everything she touches. That's one of the main reasons we decided to split our ceremony, which she is managing, from our reception at an entirely different location where we can manage food, drinks, music, cake, flowers and decor without getting whacked for 20%. It's been working out great for us. So far Kelly has been okay communicating via email. My fiance and I were very specific and clear about what we wanted exactly for our ceremony. She's been pretty good about providing estimates, and very quick to send us the contract and request for deposit and cashing it. I haven't heard from her in several months now... so she's not proving to be a high touch planner. I will keep you posted on The Perfect Paradise Wedding by Kelly.

That little mobile is so cute! I'll have to run it by the Mr. Funny thing is, I'm the car buff out of the two of us! My sister did a red Mini Cooper on O'ahu, which was so cool. That's an idea for one of the brides out there.

We're looking for a cool getaway car and having a hard time finding something. Would love a well maintained retro VW van or vintage luxury car (Benz, Bentley). Just some ideas and doesn't seem to be available?! What are some cool "just married" cars you have used or saw in Maui? mahalo!

A luau sounds like a treat for all the guests! We thought about doing one too for our welcome dinner, but it was just too spendy at $100/head. We looked at a bunch of other ideas to try to keep it friendly on the pocket book (under $25/head) and while still doing it nice. After looking into options in South Maui: Capische -- broke the bank Da Kitchen -- fantastic local grinds, but way too ghetto and hole-in-the-wall BBQ on the beach -- too risky not getting a good spot with other tourtists/visitors We finally settled on doing a casual BBQ at our private rented condo for a more economical and intimate option. We had to search high and low for a nice condo with BBQ and grounds to accomodate our party of 30, but we found several in Wailea and Makena. We're planning to get drinks and alcohol from Costco (yes, they sell alcohol & wine!!) and platters of BBQ and pupus from Da Kitchen (in Kihei). Fun and hits all our criteria. good luck!

I totally understand wanting to keep a tight budget on a photographer. In my humble opinion, this is one area that I think if you skim on price you get what you pay for. I've heard numerous horror stories from friends and friends of friends who tried to find a cheap photographer and cried afterwards because their photos didn't turn out as nice as they had hoped. Be prepared to pay upwards of $1k for great photography. I would think you could negotiate a 1 hour shoot with a reputable photographer on the island? We decided after much debate to spend the money and bring in a fantastic photographer from O'ahu - Frank Amodo www.amodophoto.com. He did my sister's wedding and several friends, and they're breathtaking moments captured on film. best of luck and congratulations on your upcoming May wedding!

Has anyone worked with Kelly before of A Perfect Paradise Wedding? Please share good, bad, ugly. thanks!

Would you mind sharing how much you spent with them? I'm shopping around right now and would love to get a sense of how much I need to budget. Glad to hear things worked out for you! I'm going to have to book hair and makeup without a dry-run (no time to do it ), so I'm looking for someone who's proven.

Thanks, very helpful to have a strong recommendation. I'm getting married in Wailea and would ideally like someone in the area. Looks like Dan is based in Kihei? Would you mind me asking what you spent with Dan and Jessica? And is this for on-site or did you go to their salon? thanks so much!