Planning a Wedding in Hawai'i: Step 2

Aloha and welcome back to my blog!  In a previous post, I wrote about the first step in planning a wedding in Hawai'i, which was to determine approximate budget, guest count, wedding date, and wedding planner.  Ready for the next step?

Ocean Crystal Chapel at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.  Photo by Mike Pham Photography.

Once you have taken care of step one, the next step is to choose your wedding venue.  Some questions to consider when contemplating wedding venues:

• Is it important to get married in a place of worship, such as a church or temple, or are you preferring to be in an outdoor location or other, non-religious, indoor spot?

• Would you like your ceremony and reception to take place in the same location, such as at a hotel, resort, or private estate?

• Would you like your reception to be indoors or outdoors?

 

Erin and Matt's Evening Cocktail Reception at the Honolulu Design Center.  Photo by Derek Wong Photography.

Ceremony and reception in the same location - Having a ceremony and reception in the same spot comes with many advantages.  For guests, there is no need to navigate getting from the ceremony and reception.  From a cost perspective, you maximize your spend on photography and videography, as these vendors usually have packages which include a number of consecutive hours, so staying in one location means that time is not wasted getting from the ceremony to the reception.

Photo by L'amour Photography.

Outdoor receptions - Often times, outdoor reception venues offer a great deal of flexibility, since you are not limited to the confines of four walls.  You can get creative with the floor plan and really personalize the space.  That said, bear in mind that most outdoor venues insist that the reception end around 10:00pm due to noise ordinances.  (If celebrating past 10:00pm is a priority, you can "have your cake and eat it, too" by planning an after party.)  Something else to note:  if the space is a blank slate, where everything must be brought in, such as tables, chairs, catering, etc., it often times becomes more costly to host a wedding at these locations than at a hotel.

Places of worship - Many times, churches will have fixed times at which wedding ceremonies can take place, and often times, these are mid-day, leaving a gap of time between the ceremony and reception.  If planning a destination wedding in Hawai'i, consider what your guests will do during that "break."  If the space of time is rather short, and if providing transportation for guests, you can have your transportation company take your guests on a brief, scenic tour between the ceremony and reception to fill the time.  If the gap of time is lengthy, then consider whether to offer transportation to the ceremony, then back to their accommodations, and then from their accommodations to the reception.

Sacred Heart Church.  Photo by Kris Labang Photography.

There is much to think about when choosing your wedding venue, and working with a wedding planner can certainly lend more insight tailored to your unique needs.  Hopefully, exploring the options is part of the fun and anticipation in imagining what is to come!

View of Waikiki's "Gold Coast."  Photo by Dave Miyamoto & Co. Photography.

Happy planning!

Mona

neu events

(formerly known as "Weddings by Grace and Mona")

Why Do I Need You; a question frequently asked of wedding planners

A question frequently posed to me when meeting with couples for the first time, is "why do I need you, if I already have a wedding planner provided by the hotel [or venue where my wedding will take place]?"  In reality, many couples mistake their catering or event manager as being a hotel/venue-supplied wedding planner.  Catering or event managers, however, differ greatly from wedding planners, particularly when it comes to roles and responsibilities.

The catering/event manager's primary responsibility is to ensure the proper and smooth function of the catering operations of the facility.  This means clearly defining the meal and beverage specifics for each event, ensuring a positive customer experience, communicating internally amongst the related departments as to what to expect and execute for each event, and sometimes, can even involve helping clients to find other services providers, such as entertainers, floral designers, linen/rental providers, and yes, even wedding planners!

Catering managers work with the chef and with the couple on menu selection as well as options.  Photo by Perfekt Photo.

The wedding planner, on the other hand, really takes into account a couple's wedding as a whole, and can be involved with all aspects of the wedding.  Wedding planners connect couples with vendors and service providers , coordinate with these different professionals, advise and guide the couple, represent them when dealing with their venue/vendors, and oversee things on the wedding day.  Typical areas of a wedding that a wedding planner might cover, and a venue's catering manager might not, are attire, emcee, favors, hair and make-up, invitations/stationery, limousines/transportation, and extras like photo booths.

Although the specifics of what each planner offers may vary, one thing that we (and other wedding planners) can assist with is gown shopping or the scheduling of appointments at bridal salons.  Photo by Mike Pham Photography.

There are many "grey" areas where there is potential for overlap (such as entertainment. flowers, specialty rentals, audio-visual, officiants, wedding cakes, photography, and videography), particularly if the venue offers these services in-house, but the wedding planner will often delve deeper into discussing the specifics of each area and customizing it to the couple's unique needs and wishes.  For example, a hotel or venue may be able to contract the photographer on behalf of a couple, but a wedding planner will discuss things like preparing a photo shot list, considering attire and hair and make-up that work well for something like an engagement shoot, or even helping the photographer to identify key family members on the wedding day for picture-taking.

As wedding planners, we ask musicians for their repertoire and encourage couples to consider their specific song choices, not just for the ceremony, but for key moments during the reception as well.  Photo by L'amour Photography.

The truth is, wedding planners and venue catering/event managers work hand-in-hand with the same goal of providing quality service to a couple to make sure that their event is as special and memorable as possible.  Entrust us, as your team, to make your wedding day wishes a reality.

Happy Planning!

Mona
neu events
(formerly known as Weddings by Grace and Mona)

Venue Spotlight: JW Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa at Ko 'Olina

Of the many beautiful locations for weddings in Hawai'i, the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa at Ko'Olina has got to be one of our favorites.  Their stunning Lagoon Lawn makes for an amazing, oceanfront ceremony location, and the resort offers many fine options for receptions such as their Ocean Ballroom, Malolo Room, Lurline Room, Hokulani Ballroom, and the Lagoon Lawn, for those wanting open-air dining with a view of the water.  From a planning perspective, we love weddings at the Ihilani due to the flexibility with decor possiblities and the great staff that makes events there come together.

Here are a few photos of weddings we have planned there over the years...

Happy Planning!
Mona

The bride and her 'maids make their way over to the "first look" location.  Photo by Mike Pham Photography.

A romantic kiss by the water at the Ihilani.  Photo by Eugene Kam Photography.

Culture Note: the "Banzai" Toast at Weddings

Photo by Mike Pham Photography

Ask a local in Hawai'i if they know about "banzai" and two things might readily come to his or her mind:  the Banzai Pipeline surf spot on O'ahu's fabled North Shore, and the banzai toast at weddings.  Particularly popular with those of Japanese descent, the banzai toast is often reserved a spot in many wedding reception programs in Hawai'i.

"banzai"

The literal translation of banzai is 10,000 years (of life), but a closer parallel to English would be "long live."  Traditionally, the banzai toast is actually comprised of two toasts, led by two separate people, the first being from the guests to the bride and groom, and the second one being from the family to the guests.  The first toast giver, on behalf of the guests, asks everyone to rise, and shouts, with gusto, "Shinro shimpu, banzai," imparting well wishes to bride and groom.  The guests then respond in resounding unison by shouting back, "banzai."  The toast giver repeats "banzai" two more times, each time followed by the guests responding with a loud, "banzai!"  The toast is concluded with with a sip of drink.

This process is repeated with the second toast in honor of the guests.  The second toast giver/leader, on behalf of the family, shouts, "raihin shokun, banzai" three times, each time followed by the audience shouting back, "banzai!"  As with the first toast, a sip of beverage concludes the toast.

A note about verbiage for the second toast:  the word shokun in Japanese, meaning "ladies/gentlemen," suggests that the people who are being addressed are of a junior status.  For this reason, a more modern or honorific version would be raihin no minasama, which would be loosely translated as "all of you, our esteemed guests."

Also worth noting:  the word banzai is often associated with World War II, as Japanese soldiers would shout tennouheika, banzai or "long live the emperor" as they were dying.  Because of this association, it is becoming increasingly popular to replace banzai with the word kampai, which is more like saying "cheers!"  (In fact, at one wedding we coordinated, an entire table of guests chose not to participate in the banzai toast, and I suspect that this is because their ancestors were subject to the rule of imperial Japan.)

Being Japanese-American, born and raised in Hawai'i, and finding the banzai toast quite commonplace at weddings and key birthday celebrations, I was surprised to learn that is a tradition unique to Hawaii.  You will never hear banzai shouted at weddings in Japan and guests from Japan who attend weddings in Hawaii always find the banzai toast a bit of an oddity.  I suppose this attests to how the culture of a immigrant group evolves over time.

To recap, if planning to incorporate the banzai toast into your own wedding reception, here are the verbiage options:

Toast #1:  from the guests to the bride and groom:

• shinro, shimpu, BANZAI
• shinro, shimpu, KAMPAI

Toast #2:  from the family to the guests

• raihin shokun, BANZAI
• raihin shokun, KAMPAI
• raihin no minasama, BANZAI
• raihin no minasama, KAMPAI

Happy planning!

Mona

neu events

(formerly known as "Weddings by Grace and Mona")