Maui Wedding Cost

[mplscold]

We had 9 people at our wedding and the total for everything (with a dress) was $2200.00. It was the perfect wedding!

[Amanda81]

I thought I would let everyone know how I have done with my budget.

 

For the wedding coordinator I am using Deanne from Precious Maui Weddings. I compared her rates with at least 20 others and her rates were the best. At first I was a bit skeptical about using her because her rates were so good, but she has sent me links to the photographers they use as well as shown me pictures of the types of bouquets they include in their packages and everything seems to be of good quality.

 

I didn't want to get married on a beach. So my Fiancé and I decided on a garden. Most resorts charge $450 or more just to get married in their garden. We're getting married in Kula Botanical Gardens. The cost is $8.50 per person if there are more than 13 people attending, and $10.50 if there are less than 13. They will set up chairs for $2.50 per person plus a $50 set up fee. So for 20 people it will cost me $270 including the chairs.

 

For the reception we are going to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. They have a private dinning room that sits up to 30. They just require a $1000 minimum spent for having the room the entire night. We have chosen a menu where we pick the appetizer, salad and dessert, but our guests get to choose an entree from a list of 7 options. The cost for this is $68.50 per person, which was one of the cheaper options for anywhere that I could find.

 

I hope that helps for all of the other brides that are frugal like me

[FutureMrsSharpe]

Married in Maui,

I am so glad to hear that you did just the coordinator and a luau. We're doing the same thing, and I too was worried that I would miss out on the first dance and cake cutting that you have at a traditional reception. I agree that having a wedding package that includes everything makes things easier and, in my experience cheaper. We're getting married on Kauai with 34 guests and our wedding with officiant, photographer, flowers, musician, leis, a champagne toast, wedding license and beach permit is going to be costing us less than $2,000. You just have to shop around and don't be afraid to ask for dicounts on everything. Most places that I have called have been really good about giving discounts.

[Married_In_Maui]

FutureMrsSharpe,

 

I think there are a couple ways to address the cake & first dance issue. We personally did the cake right after the ceremony so that we could have the pictures while we had the photographer still there. So, we cut just the first piece then saved the rest for dessert. As far as the dance, we had anticpated just having to do this at our AHR, but we were pleasantly suprised when the Luau emcee announced our congratulations & played a song for us to dance to. I think you would be amazed at what a WC can get accomplished.

 

I think you will have so much fun at the luau for your reception, I know we did. It lends a bit of Hawaiian culture to your reception, plus it was such a great show with great food & drink.

 

Good luck & I hope all your planning is stress free!!!

[Amanda81]

That is a great idea about cutting your cake after the ceremony when you still have the photographer. I may change my plans and do that instead!

[sdnative222]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amanda81 I thought I would let everyone know how I have done with my budget. For the wedding coordinator I am using Deanne from Precious Maui Weddings. I compared her rates with at least 20 others and her rates were the best. At first I was a bit skeptical about using her because her rates were so good, but she has sent me links to the photographers they use as well as shown me pictures of the types of bouquets they include in their packages and everything seems to be of good quality. I didn't want to get married on a beach. So my Fiancé and I decided on a garden. Most resorts charge $450 or more just to get married in their garden. We're getting married in Kula Botanical Gardens. The cost is $8.50 per person if there are more than 13 people attending, and $10.50 if there are less than 13. They will set up chairs for $2.50 per person plus a $50 set up fee. So for 20 people it will cost me $270 including the chairs. For the reception we are going to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. They have a private dinning room that sits up to 30. They just require a $1000 minimum spent for having the room the entire night. We have chosen a menu where we pick the appetizer, salad and dessert, but our guests get to choose an entree from a list of 7 options. The cost for this is $68.50 per person, which was one of the cheaper options for anywhere that I could find. I hope that helps for all of the other brides that are frugal like me

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amanda81 That is a great idea about cutting your cake after the ceremony when you still have the photographer. I may change my plans and do that instead!

It sounds as though you have everything ironed out.

I got married in Maui with a wedding party of 26 and the cost was under $5000. We were able to save a lot on the flowers wedding reception decor. We only had 4 tables to dress, so we used the bouquets as double duty. I had 1 MOH, 2 BMs, and 1 Jr BM. I hand-sewed simple purple table runners. I found boxes of one dozen white or creme colored votives in glasses for $3. The runners on white linens with 6 candles per table and the bouquets as the centerpieces looked amazing.

Right before I got on the plane, I printed a couple of childhood pictures of both myself and DH in sepia tone. I posted them on tri-folded paper to make the table numbers. Those were a hit. MIL loved them so much, she took them home to GA.

The most expensive thing for my wedding was the food and drink costs for the reception. Otherwise, we were able to haggle and negotiate everything else on the island.

Happy planning!

[piam0201]

I am looking at getting married at the Aston Kaanapali resort shores and was wondering if married in maui has some pictures that i could see?

[Married_In_Maui]

piam0201,

 

Let me see what I can figure out. I'm ashamed to say that while BDW was such a help in planning my wedding, that I have never posted any pics (mostly b/c I don't know how.) If I can't figure out how to post them in this thread, I will pm you with a link to see our pics online. Give me a bit to see what I can do.

 

Thanks!!

[almostmrshoward]

My wedding is at the Seawatch restaurant. I've got 12 people and my cost for EVERYTHING (including dinner, flowers, dress, hair, etc) is $4200. It's DEFINITELY doable.

[emaya77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mialonghorn That's awesome that some of you were able to stay within that budget. I had that in mind when I first started planning but it's out of control! I only have a month before I get married to it's too late to change coordinators but I'd be very careful who you select... My wedding of 25 is costing more than if I were to have a 350 people wedding here in Texas, which doesn't include travel costs.

Who are you using as your coordinator?