sapphirebride

Hi Everyone, I haven't been on the forums much lately but am back to the planning after a hectic springtime and hoping to enlist some help/ideas on what activities I should plan for our guests. We have a group of 30 and ideally we've been hoping to plan 1 'welcome' event (ideas are welcome cocktails or a luau) and 1 'goodbye' event, which we had really been hoping to splurge on a boat/snorkel trip for everyone instead of doing favours at the wedding. The issue now is, with the vendor and hotel prices in Maui being higher then we hoped for just about everything we're feeling very strapped budget wise. Even though we're cutting back on a lot of items for our wedding we're still over budget so I'm not sure what to do about these events. Does anyone have suggestions where to look for affordable activities or a lead on where to get cheap rates with a group? Would it be rude to ask guests to pitch in some $ if they wanted to be involved? I would really hate to ask that if we're the ones planning the events but I'm at a lose of what to do. Any suggestions or advice is super appreciated!!

I'm not sure but I've seen other posts complaining about how long it was taking

Hi Scarlett! Did you end up finding anything with the same look/feel as the Haiku Mill? I'd love to know! I'm considering the Haiku Mill at the moment. We almost booked the Cloisters in the Bahamas but again thats pretty pricey as well.

Yes that would be so helpful! Haha hopefully a past bride comes across this post

They sent me their estimated costs list, while most things seem kind of reasonable but what worries me is that all the costs say "starting at" not a range of price (ex. cakes starting at $350), we had been planning on have pretty much the most simple cake ever (no icing or decor) - will they still charge us $350? I wonder. Also their policy about liquor really bothers me! If we order alcohol and it doesn't get opened it's still not allowed to be returned, but you need to take it with you. I mean what are we supposed to do with boxes of liquor when we're leaving the island the day after... hmm

Thanks for the reply Heather! It's great to see someone in the same boat - please let me know if you get any more info from them, have you been talking to Stephanie? Yeah it does get a lot more expensive this way but I would honestly prefer to pay them a few extra 1000's and handle the planning myself - I'm sure that sounds crazy but I really hate the idea of being limited to vendors. I think I need to call and ask for their vendor list before we decide. I wonder if they would be willing to be flexible at all - from what I've heard it isn't very likely *sigh*

Thanks for the responses! The Mexico hotels look nice, unfortunately we're heading to Riviera Maya for two weddings this year so hoping to go somewhere different

Hi Ladies! My fiance and I are thinking about having our wedding at the Haiku Mill with WC Stephanie Shepherd. It's a little pricey but absolutely gorgeous! I was originally wanting to plan everything myself (love the planning!) and was just going to hire a day-of wedding coordinator, but the only way I'm allowed to book the Haiku Mill is if I use their on-site coordinator Stephanie who's fee is 20% of all the vendor fees (which makes for a huge price jump ). Before jumping in I'd love to know if anyone has used the venue or is planning there? Or any other information I should know? Thanks so much in advance!

Sorry this was a mistake post, as previous attempts to post weren't working! Please see my other thread!!

Hi there! I'm a newbie here and am so excited to have a destination wedding! We originally decided on the Cloisters in Nassau, Bahamas. But a big factor for us was that we didn't want to stay in a resort with tourists, we want to rent a large villa or rent out a small boutique hotel. This was impossible to find in Nassau so we're back to location hunting! We're considering using the Haiku Mill in Maui but it's also quite pricey. Any suggestions welcome Excited to 'virtually' meet you all! Mallory

New here, just saying hi!

Hi there! I'm a newbie here and am so excited to have a destination wedding! We originally decided on the Cloisters in Nassau, Bahamas. But a big factor for us was that we didn't want to stay in a resort with tourists, we want to rent a large villa or rent out a small boutique hotel. This was impossible to find in Nassau so we're back to location hunting! We're considering using the Haiku Mill in Maui but it's also quite pricey. Any suggestions welcome Excited to 'virtually' meet you all! Mallory

Hi there! I'm a newbie here and am so excited to have a destination wedding! We originally decided on the Cloisters in Nassau, Bahamas. But a big factor for us was that we didn't want to stay in a resort with tourists, we want to rent a large villa or rent out a small boutique hotel. This was impossible to find in Nassau so we're back to location hunting! We're considering using the Haiku Mill in Maui but it's also quite pricey. Any suggestions welcome Excited to 'virtually' meet you all! Mallory

Paris is absolutely stunning and SO romantic. London and Berlin are amazing cities - but I wouldn't suggest them for a honeymoon. Especially Berlin, it's such a huge party capital.

Hi Ladies! My fiance and I are thinking about having our wedding at the Haiku Mill with WC Stephanie Shepherd. It's a little pricey but absolutely gorgeous! I was originally wanting to plan everything myself (love the planning!) and was just going to hire a day-of wedding coordinator, but the only way I'm allowed to book the Haiku Mill is if I use their on-site coordinator Stephanie who's fee is 20% of all the vendor fees (which makes for a huge price jump ). Before jumping in I'd love to know if anyone has used the venue or is planning there? Or any other information I should know? Thanks so much in advance!