You may already know that we have two offices in Waikiki, and about 97% of our couples stay in in the Waikiki area. We recommend Waikiki for lodging because of all the hotel options available, the convenience of the area, and all of the events nearby!

As locals, we have tons of "things to do" that we’d recommend, but we also wanted to let you know about some current events and activities coming up.

Many events in Waikiki happen throughout the year, so if you’re reading this but coming later, you should know there will likely be similar events to choose from. We mainly want to give you an idea of some activities other than enjoying the beaches and natural beauty of Hawaii.

What Makes a Good Hawaii Wedding Planner?

When having a destination wedding, there are a few important things to look for in your wedding planners. Writing this article was a great chance for us to reflect an make sure we’re doing all the important things for our couples. We teamed up and went over everything we focus on to be successful.

We believe there are four important characteristics you should look for in your wedding planner:

1. Trust
2. Good Communication
3. Value
4. Experience

1. Trust - Weddings of Hawaii has been in business for over 40 years. Although we’ve grown over time, we remain a small family and know the importance of what we do. We’re helping you prepare for one of the most important days of your life, and we want everything to be perfect! We take great pride in our online reviews (Yelp, Wedding Wire, Google), and we’re always looking for new ways to continuously improve.

2. Communication - We work as a team to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible for your ceremony. We are open Monday through Saturday, and we even try to work a few hours on Sunday. Our goal is to never leave you waiting too long for an answer. While we’re not perfect, we try to reply as soon as possible. We also try to stay logged in to our online chat bubble as much as possible to answers those quick questions you might have.

Will reality meet your expectations?

When dreaming about your Hawaiian beach wedding, you probably imagine beautiful blue skies with a handful of white, puffy clouds. The trade winds are blowing. Your photographer’s snapping away, framing the moment around an amazing backdrop of ocean and mountains. The temperature’s a comfortable 83 degrees, which is around 27 degrees Celsius for our international couples. ;-)

You’re probably picturing something like this:

As your trusted Hawaii wedding planners, we do our best to make sure your day goes as smoothly and perfectly as possible, but there are a few things that are up to you. These are the tips and reminders we’re always trying to communicate to our couples.

We speak from experience here, so please trust us that these are some of the best tips you should consider for your special day.

Here Are Our Top 10 Tips for Your Hawaii Wedding Day:

1. Bring Your Marriage License and Wedding Rings

Don’t forget your marriage license and wedding rings! Your officiant needs your license, and your rings are part of the ceremony. You will need to pick up your marriage license from the Hawaii Department of Health or a license agent before your ceremony to be legally married. Here are more details on the marriage license process.

(Note: a marriage license is not required for vow renewals.)

It’s not uncommon for family and friends to reach out to us before your Hawaii wedding, and we often hear many of the same questions. We’re always happy to help, but we thought it’d be nice to provide some of the information ahead of time to help you and your guests plan better.

We focus on providing a stress-free wedding or vow renewal for our couples, but we want your entire party to have a relaxing, wonderful experience.

We feel this is a great link to send your guests, and we encourage them to send us an email (coordinator@wedhawaii.com) if they have a question not answered here. That’d help us improve the list!

And one bonus tip for all guests: Don’t be late! If the couple is waiting for you, that means they are losing ceremony, photography, video, and transportation time (depending on their wedding package). Be safe and arrive early!

Okay, here we go. We hope these help!

We have couples who book over a year in advance, and we have plenty of couples who decide on a last-minute elopement or vow renewal. Planning is obviously different for everyone, but we always like to provide you with a guide and as much information as possible, so we’ve put together a list to help you plan your destination wedding to Hawaii.

A Hawaii sunset wedding at Magic Island.