Hawaii Wedding Ceremony Locations
About Locations:
We use what we consider to be the best wedding sites at the times we recommend. Our primary selection criteria for locations are 1). scenic value for photos, appropriateness for the number of guests, accessibility for you and your guests, the servicesyou want, and of course, cost considerations. We generally do not use other locations not listed because if they were any good or made any sense to use and for our clients, we'd already be using them, but you can ask us.
Public beach sites:
All beaches, even those fronting hotels are public (except those at Ko Olina where weddings are not allowed).
If you are having a small wedding party (under 30) and want it to be as simple as possible, a public beach site is your best choice. While these sites are not "private", most of these areas are large enough and Hawaii people respectful enough (they see weddings all the time), that you may experience as much privacy as you would expect anywhere else. If you go to the locations we tell you at the times we suggest, your chances are even better in most instances.
Note: As per beach permit rules, chairs, arches, Tiki torches, altars, or any fixed set-ups (except a small cake table), and Champagne or any alcohol, are not allowed.
Hotels:
If you are having more than 30 guests or want many of the traditional ceremony set-ups i.e. gazebo, chairs, aisle runner, stanchions, a paid site like a hotel ir probably what you need. There are of course many hotels on Oahu though, only a relative few have the scenic value, appropriate facilities, and services for weddings. All weddings are done on the hotel property (usually not the beach fronting the hotel which is busy and it may not be allowed). It's a certainty, given your desires and wishes, that there is only one or possibly two hotels, among the many you have to select from, which will be best for your wedding. Unfortunately, hotels for weddings are very expensive and in our opinion, not worth the cost. We suggest you forget about all that extra set-up stuff, cut down the number of people you're inviting, and do it with us on a beach :) If you muct have a hotel, we suggest you use the event planner/coordinator we rely upon.
Private Estates:
There are semi-commercial locations and residential homes which are commonly referred to as "private estates". You can have your ceremony and reception at most of these locations though some do not allow food service. If you are renting a vacation rental, check with the rental agent before to make sure you can have a reception and any rules or conditions which may apply. Generally, if you are having a small ceremony, want something simple, or have a limited budget, we'd recommend using a free public site over a private estate and allocating those saved monies to other products and services of more lasting value. We suggest you use the event planner/coordinator we rely upon.
Churches: There are a small number of churches which provide universal wedding services to non-parishioners and these churches are becoming fewer and fewer. Unfortunately, most are now contracted out, all day, to Japanese wedding companies who only really desire to service their Japanese clients. Find a church and let us know.