Tuesday, March 31, 2009

How do I choose which island to get married on?

From far away, it can be confusing knowing which of 4 beautiful and exotic islands to choose from for your beach wedding in Hawaii. Here is a brief breakdown of the 4 main Hawaiian islands based on my 10+ years living and traveling on these islands:

Oahu-This is where Waikiki and Honolulu are located. It is NOT the Big island, which is a common misconception. This island is where most of the people in the state of Hawaii live, and thus it is very much like a big city you would find on the United States mainland dropped onto an island setting, at least until you leave the Honolulu/Waikiki area. If you are looking for nightlife traffic and tourists, this is a good place to go. If you are looking for a quintessential trip to tropical Hawaii, this is not the best choice.

Maui-This is the next most populated and busiest island. It is not really like a major city, but it does have a lot of people, city grid-like streets, and reminds many of southern California put on an island. However, it is possible to get away on Maui if you head to the west side (which is dry) or around the other side of the island towards Hana (where unfortunately there are few to no places for tourist accommodation). Maui is full of social butterflies and its great nightlife is not consolidated into one place like on Oahu.

Kauai-This is the beautiful garden island and it is filled with tropical flowers, botanical gardens and lush beauty. Kauai does not have grid-like streets and is considered the ‘country’ get away from the ‘city’ of Oahu. It is the least populated of the Hawaiian islands. Kauai has a valley called Kalalau valley which many guide books and people consider to be the most beautiful place on the islands (I think it’s actually the most beautiful place on Earth!), so you will often find Kalalau on the cover of a book on Hawaii. (It’s like the cover girl of Hawaii, your quintessential gorgeous vista.)

Kauai does not have the nightlife options that the previous 2 islands have, but there are options of some bars and places to dance. There are many options of things to do during the day/night ranging from all of the normal tourist attractions (snorkeling, helicopter rides, luaus, boat rides etc.) to things found specially on Kauai such as kayaking, horseback riding, tube rides, taro patch tours, ziplining and much more.

It has great natural diversity, including a large colorful canyon, steep cliffs, jungle, and desert. Many people consider it to be the best of both worlds because you can have your tropical island getaway and romantic Hawaii wedding on a beach without 100 unwanted guests, yet you still have options of many things to do.

The Big Island/Hawaii- The Big Island, or the Big I, is the largest of the main islands and is very large with very few residents. There is not much nightlife, but you certainly can get far away from everything. The Big Island of Hawaii also has an active volcano you can hike out to and actually see the hot lava enter the ocean. Other than that, you will not have so many things to ‘do’ (there are of course all the normal tourist activities), but it does have immense natural diversity. (Out of the world’s 33 climatic zones, the Big I has 26 of them.)

So, there is my personal overview of the 4 main islands (there are 7 in the state of Hawaii but almost all visitors go to these islands only). Having a Hawaii beach wedding is a wonderful experience. Having a Kauai beach wedding is even more special in my opinion because of the special nature of this garden island. Kauai has so many secluded spots and gorgeous backgrounds that the pictures always turn out better. There are beaches where you can stand facing one way and have a mountain scene behind you, face another way and have mountains and a beach and a pier, and face yet another way and have cliffs and a river next to a beach behind you! You can imagine how stunning the wedding photography is when you have that much variety in one spot.

Of course, no matter which island you choose, having a wedding coordinator or wedding planner will make your special Hawaii beach wedding day run so much more smoothly. It’s so comforting and relaxing to know that someone else is running around doing your worrying for you! Luckily for all the brides and grooms-to-be, there are many attentive and experienced wedding coordinators in Hawaii.

For more information visit: www.alohaeverafter.com

Thursday, March 26, 2009

What you need to know about Kauai beach weddings, and Hawaii beach weddings in general

1 At this point in time you must have a beach permit from the state of Hawaii (DLNR). At current moment (2009) the judge is still making a decision as to the legality of the legislated permit requirement for all Kauai weddings (actually all Hawaii weddings on all islands) taking place on public property. Nonetheless, until this is settled in court it is still required and without this permit the state still has the power to shut down any beach wedding on Kauai that did not pay for and obtain a permit (with proof of insurance) before the wedding.
Aloha Ever After will obtain this permit for you. You do NOT have to do anything extra besides pay the $30 fee that we are required to pay. Aloha Ever After does not make money on this; in fact it costs extra time to do it for you. Aloha Ever After does not charge you for this service or the time it takes to do it, since we want your romantic Kauai wedding to go smoothly and easily and will make sure it is completely legal and safe.

2 All Kauai/Hawaii beaches are public beaches and therefore anyone can use any beach at anytime. This is good news for you, but this also means that there is no way of guaranteeing a private Kauai/Hawaii beach wedding. Having lived here since 1999 Timory can however offer expert advice as to which beaches are usually deserted and what times are the best times to have your Kauai beach wedding. There is at least one beach that Timory use where there have never been other people near us on the beach nor many people even walking past. Timory is happy to share this beautiful Kauai beach site with you. There are other beaches where lots of people take walks (with and without dogs) and use the beach for swimming, surfing, cliff diving and sun bathing. This does not need to be an inconvenience - it can really offer an authentic Kauai beach wedding flavor, and after all, that’s what people do on an exotic tropical island!

3 It’s always windy. Brides, if you don’t want your hair to blow everywhere during the photography shoot and ceremony, get it put up/back and out of the way! It will look better back than being windblown.

4 High heel shoes are awkward in the sand - don’t bother with them if they aren’t totally necessary.

5 The hair/makeup always takes longer than expected. Plan 30-45 minutes minimum extra into whatever the person says she/he needs!

6 Your photographer does not know the names and relations of everyone in your family. Plan out what family shots you want ahead of time. Give a list of who you want in what group pictures to a trusted family member/friend and instruct that person to stand next to the photographer during the after ceremony pictures. Have this person call out the names of the next group at least one picture before the photographer needs them. This way you will get all the shots you want plus extra pictures. It takes a lot of time to get people together and organized. If the photographer is not required to play group leader she/he will have more time to take more quality photos.

7 Having a Kauai beach wedding will be one of the most memorable events of your life. Having captured moments to treasure and share forever by utilizing our professional Kauai photography community is one of the most crucial steps in planning your big day, so don’t forget to set up your photographer early to assure getting the date you want!

For more information visit: www.alohaeverafter.com

Monday, March 23, 2009

Why get married on Kauai?

Kauai is the most beautiful of all of the Hawaiian Islands. As a world traveler who has traveled to 45 countries I consider Kauai to be the most beautiful place on earth. I could have chosen to get married and live anywhere in the world, but after seeing much of the world and traveling extensively, I chose to come back to Kauai and make her my home, again. Why?


Kauai is the hidden jewel of the Hawaiian Island chain. Its called the garden island because of its vast lush tropical diversity. Kauai is the getaway from the chaotic main island of Oahu, where people from the Hawaiian city of Honolulu and beyond go to get away from the rat race. Kauai is a perfect blend of things to do in an exotic and gorgeous place, yet getting away from the things that distract us from who we really are and who we really want to be. Kauai is the perfect choice for a destination wedding because you have a neverending choice of exotic places to choose from for the perfect wedding site. Beautiful long beaches, hidden jungle locations, private pieces of land overlooking the ocean, waterfalls, canyons adorned with rainbows, mountains, forest, jungle, cliffs, valleys, sand dunesthe choices go on and on.


Kauai is the perfect place to get amazing wedding or honeymoon pictures taken. How could you go wrong with one of the most beautiful settings in the world around you? All you need to do is decide what kind of scenery and backdrop you want behind your amazing wedding photography.


Most importantly Kauai is magical. It really is. Kauai has an uncanny way of manifesting that which you want and focus on faster than almost anywhere else on the planet. You will be amazed at how many times on your trip you are blown away by the synchronicity of how you were just talking about somethingand just an hour or two later you find it (or a book about it, etc.) at some shop down the road. Weddings/honeymoons happen anywhere everyday, but on Kauai dreams really do come true. Sounds corny? Come check it out and see for yourself!


For more information visit:www.alohaeverafter.com