Honolulu Wedding

Can anyone recommend some good Limo companies in Maui and Honolulu?

Thanks so much!!

Congrats on your big day! 

Aloha Photography based on the island of Oahu

specializes in natural light photography to bring out the best you!

PS I have a special offer for PW brides...

FREE engagement photos with all wedding packages!

I hope to hear from you soon.

Have a great day!

christy@aloha-photographer.com

Help! I need a decent priced DJ (under $900) that will show me, my family & friends a great time at my wedding reception. I haven't found too many recommendations and the one I did find, costs at least $1600! As highly recommended as he is, I cannot afford that much money!

Thanks for your help!

Mary

See my previous post on the Travel Itinerary Help post...but since you are an expert (IMO) I would really like to know where you recommend  us staying while we are in Honolulu? Thanks so much for all of your help!

To all my future brides...do NOT go with Stanley Ito for wedding flowers. Wrong order/color and complete disappointment!

Here's the story:

We ordered 1 hand-tied SA (South American) red rose bouquet for myself, and 3 hand-tied SA white rose bouquets for the bridesmaids. Also SA rose boutonnieres for groomsmen, and corsages for mothers.
And 19 centerpieces with SA roses.  

It was around $1000 order.

Stanley Ito got the order all WRONG!

We had made revisions with Kathleen 2 weeks before the wedding and had given her a very CLEAR & CONCISE, TYPED-out list of what we had wanted, she had signed it, made us a copy of it and put the revised list in their order folder.

Day-of:

We were SHOCKED and DISAPPOINTED when we received the flowers (2hrs before the wedding ceremony)

The bouquets were NOT hand-tied, instead the bouquets, were in CHEAP-looking plastic bouquet holders. The best part of this were that the color of the roses were REVERSED, bridesmaid got red roses and I got white roses.

The South American rose boutonnieres we had paid for (which are more expensive then regular roses) were TINY and bruised up.

Last but not least, we ordered corsages for our mothers, instead they gave us leis??????

When we went to our reception in Waikiki, the centerpieces did NOT have SA roses, instead had tiny bud roses...

Needless to say, there was nothing that we could do, because there was not enough time & we were not going to put our wedding ceremony in Ko'olina on hold so they could correct their mistake!

To all the brides out there.... You DESERVE to have a PERFECT wedding day with NO disappointments... learn from my experience and do NOT with Stanley Ito.

Till this day, I look at my wedding pictures and am so disappointed with the flowers!

Monday 5/21/07 - The longest day of our lives. We left NJ, flew to Phoenix and landed in Hawaii all on the same date.

Thursday 5/24/07 - Wedding day! It went buy so quickly and pretty smoothly.

Saturday 5/26/07 - Friends and family flew back home and we were off to our honeymoon! We flew to Honolulu for 2 nights.

Monday 5/28/07 - We set sail on Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of Hawaii ship for a 7 day Hawaiian cruise.

Tuesday 6/2/07 - Back home and broke.

I promise to post formal reviews in the review section once I get professional photos to add to each review but here are some informal reviews for starters:

Jekyll Island Club; Jekyll Island, GA - A+, I couldn't have asked for more from the staff. Everything was perfect. Beth Williams was my sales manager and handled our account from start to finish answering every little question. We didn't see the site until about a month before the wedding because of the military and being stationed in the middle of nowhere (three hours to a decent civilian airport...). Beth took the time to email me photos and contracts and made it almost too easy for me. Kristie Newsome was our catering manager. I loved working with her because we made so many adjustments to our menu in the week preceding and she rolled with each of them! She was so flexible and accommodating. Then our event manager, well we worked with different ones for the brunches but for the most part it was Darren. I didn't catch his name but he was so on top of everything. The weather threatened to rain on our cocktail party Friday before the wedding. I called his office to ask if we needed to move tables inside, he said he already had it taken care of! Then two guests had converted since college and decided to keep kosher without notifying me... Darren made the last minute change and got two kosher meals with moments notice! Then during our first dance, Darren coordinated the timing to be perfect so that the fireworks started once we hit the dance floor! It really exceeded my expectations in every way. The cake was phenomenal and the food was even better. The rooms were wonderful as well. Best decision I made in the wedding planning process! It was by some wedding standards extravagantly priced but not really considering all they did for me. And you really do get what you pay for. In the end our bill was way under my original budget.

Cargo Portside Grill; Brunswick, GA - A+, the food was incredible, the staff was knowledgeable and so friendly. We had a small, family-only rehearsal and they took care of everything. The food was even better than I could have expected. Wonderful atmosphere!

Katie Hill; Jacksonville, FL soon to be Honolulu HI - A+, Katie has phenomenal taste and can really make your hair look the way you want. She did all the bridesmaids hair and my make up. She was wonderful, easy to work with, really reasonable. My hair didn't move all night and she stayed through dinner to make sure it wasn't falling out. I was really pleased, especially since I was planning to DIY my hair but it was so much better with her help!

Faith Chapel; Jekyll Island Historic Authority; Jekyll Island, GA - A+, this historic chapel is just gorgeous, the stained glass windows donated by members Louis Comfort Tiffany and Maitland Armstrong were gorgeous during the ceremony. We really didn't decorate the chapel, its so beautiful in its own right, it didn't need it. Our contact was Meghan McKinney and she did a fantastic job helping time the ceremony, was very timely and very friendly.

Reverend Jim Kenney; Jekyll Island, GA - A+, Reverend Kenney was a great officiant. He had such presence and a wonderful air about him. He really organized and directed our rehearsal, I think it would have been chaos without him. The fee is a donation to his daughters work as a missionary. Couldn't have found anyone better

Anne Jennings; Pianist; Jekyll Island, GA - A+, Mrs. Jennings is an excellent pianist. I really didn't have to micromanage the music with her, she knew exactly what to play, how to time it, I mean it was really a blessing to have someone who could manage their own role. She played beautifully and it really added so much.

Julius Bridal; New York, NY - A+, the dress far exceeded my expectations. I was hesitant on choosing a gown since a endocrine condition had caused me to uncontrollably gain weight. I was so nervous about dressing myself in this foreign body, if you will. I spoke with Julius himself on a couple occasions and he was so helpful with deciding on a dress shape that is universally flattering. I ordered it a size too big and had it tailored to fit perfectly. I really was amazed by the quality of the material. Some of my guests included women who had bespoke wedding dresses from the big names (Vera, Ines, Monique themselves) and even they said the dress looked gorgeous and like it was made to fit like a glove. I would really really really strongly suggest that any bride (even those NOT on a budget) consider Julius, I couldn't have been happier. From orering to front door it was about 1.5 mos which was good since I ordered it only 2 mos before the wedding!

Janice Henderson Tailoring; Jacksonville, FL - A+, Janice really made the dress fit my body perfectly. She has made, from scratch, several other wedding dresses including hand making the lace. I was very confident she could do it considering how she had worked with lace in the past. I was really pleased with how she sewed in undergarments which made it so much easier for me. She really made the dress my dress and her services were very very reasonably priced

Wilson Photography; St. John's/St. Augustine, FL - A+, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to suggest Mike & Jess. They have a way of making you feel so comfortable, they are the sweetest people to work with and they are really talented. I sent Jess a 17 page slideshow of sample photos, some photographers would be really annoyed by that but Jess was thrilled to see what I liked. They were really flexible in trying to get shots that we requested and really to get the feeling of what we liked. Mike has an eye for it and can capture the most wonderful light. Because of my medical condition, I was really nervous about my body and how it would look in photos. Mike and Jess did their best to capture the most flattering angles and while I haven't seen the entire final product, I've been really pleased with the samples thus far. I would absolutely not hesitate to send someone to them. Also, included in your package is a free engagement session which I thought was awesome, just as a chance to get to know them so you can be relaxed and really enjoy the wedding day. Also, they were very discreet and agreed to allow my videographer to put some of my photos into the video as a montage. Again, do hire Mike & Jess, you will not regret it and to top it off, they were reasonably priced so even a modest budget could afford them.

Fiftyflowers.com - D/D-, Before I get into all the things that went wrong with my DIY flowers that I ordered from them, I will say the quality of flower is superb. I was really pleased with my Giant pure white hydrangeas but that is a testament to the growers, C.I. American Flowers, more so than the distributor. Now to the good stuff. This was the WORST part of my wedding experience. The roses I ordered were bright yellow and green instead of white and cream. No they did not change color as the phone operator told me they would. When I called they refused to send new flowers and started lecturing me in a patronizing tone. After going back and forth and trying to be nice I just cut in and started tearing the girl to bits over the phone. She still refused to fix the situation in any way so I proceeded until she hung up on me. I made her cry and I don't regret it for one second after how rudely I was treated. I called back and they refused to answer. I called again and the manager picked up, again the same extremely rude treatment, refusing to do anything to fix the situation. I finally negotiated a $30 refund but considering that I spent $400, $200 or so on flowers I couldn't use, I would still give them a D. Plus the stress of having to scream on the phone two days before the wedding was not what I needed. Also, I spent that same afternoon visiting and purchasing white flowers from every floral department of every grocery store in my area. Something I DEFINITELY did not need before the wedding.

DIY Flowers - A, I loved doing my own flowers. It meant a lot to me to make my own bridal bouquet, hand selecting every flower. I had a team of two friends help me trim them all the day of the wedding and put ribbon around the stems, without them I probably would have run out of time. I put a little white vinegar and 7up in six Home Depot giant buckets. I really did not save much money because I had to rent an SUV to move them to the Jekyll Island Club (haha there was no way they were going to fit in the two seater Porsche!) so my costs added up but I really don't think a professional could have done quite the job for the price, the number of blooms I used far exceeded what I would have had if I hired someone. If you have questions about supplies or tips, please PM me!

Flowers & Supplies; San Diego, CA - A, great value, loved my silver trumpet containers which I filled with hydrangeas, really turned out beautifully.

JW Cake Tops - A, I loved our personalized military cake topper and this seller was by far the best price. I paid around low $70's where others quoted me around $100 for the same exact topper. It was a hit, so kitschy, people loved it! They were very helpful in answering my questions and shipped it out quickly.

MyPublisher.com - A, I was really impressed with the quality of our guest book and how quickly it was shipped out to me. I also loved how simple the program was to use and really, the price is right!

Calligraphy - I do calligraphy and I did EVERYTHING from the seat cards to table numbers to the seating chart to the envelopes to the little signs around, it was probably my most time consuming wedding project but it was really worth it, people loved it and I recieved so many compliments.

Southern Charm & Swing; Savannah, GA - A, We loved our band. We signed them through East Coast Entertainment. We got so many compliments and saw everyone dancing. They really were able to manage themselves, they didn't need to ask me anything when it came to playlists or setting up. They played our requests and were really talented. It was such a relief to have vendors that could manage themselves! They really captured the atmosphere of what we wanted. I'm so glad we decided to have live music instead of DIY ipod. It really contributed to the feel of the party and while it was a percentage of our budget, it was a lot less than I originally thought it would be and was worth every penny.

Sarah Yarborough Nanny Services; Jacksonville, FL - A, I was really happy to find her since we were not sure how many children would show up. We originally though five or so but it ended up only being one. Sarah watched movies, kept them entertained and was really responsible. It was really worth it considering it was very reasonable and ended up being only a couple hundred for the night. I know it enabled the parents to really enjoy themselves at the party and even the little girl had fun watching movies and "hanging out" with Sarah!

Okay, more to come but I'm exhausted now!

My name is Tammy and I live in a small town in the metroplex area of Dallas/Fort Worth Texas, where I am a Public Safety Dispatcher for three cities. I get to tell grown men and women where to go and what to do all day long, I speak cop talk and can help provide life saving instuctions in your moment of need. If you haven't got the idea by that alone, my job has a tendency to leave me a bit high strung and often times, stressed out.

Now, let me tell you about my other, better half, Matt. Matt works for a local computer programming/fix it all company - he loves what he does and he's good at it. Matt has to be one of the most laid back people I've ever met and therefore we complement each other rather well, when life becomes to much he brings me back down to a neutral level.

Our story in a quick summary: Matt and I met each other off of Match.com. A truth that was first a bit hard to tell some members of our family and even some of the people I work with. Many people are weary of the "cyber romances" even though they have become rather prevalent these days. Alas, one day, when I had just about given up on men in general, I got on to clear out my e-mail and there he was, "winking" at me and I decided to give him a chance!

That was a year and a half ago, in the time lapse from then to now we've purchased out first home and decided to dedicate our lives to one another. I came by this website a little late actually, seeing as how we are getting married in June, but I have already learned so much. In many people's mind our wedding is a bit unorthodox, we are going to fly to Hawaii and board a cruise in Honolulu and on our third day away, June 22,2009, Matt and I alone will be married on the island of Maui. When we return we are having a reception at our home on the 4th of July.

 And that's it from me for now, thanks for stoppin by :)