Planning a Wedding in Hawai'i: Step 1

Photo by L'amour Photography

Decided that you would like to get married in beautiful Hawai'i?  Whether you are local, living here in our island state, or planning a destination wedding from afar, step one in the planning of a wedding here is all about making some key decisions.  I will be sharing the other steps with you, so please visit again for future posts on helping to plan your destination wedding in Hawai'i.

Here are the things I urge couples to consider when first embarking on the planning of their wedding in Hawai'i.

Budget:  Determine how much you would ideally like to allocate to your wedding budget.  A wedding budget serves as a framework for basing many future decisions on as it relates to your wedding.  Be realistic, and reserve about 5% of the funds for any unexpected costs or "must haves" you later discover.

Guest count:  Create a preliminary guest list and identify a rough number of guests you would like to invite.  The guest count of a wedding will help to determine what kind of venue will work and will also influence the breakdown of your budget.

Wedding date:  Even if you are open to the exact date of your wedding, narrow this down by selecting the year, and at least the month or season for your wedding.  Remember, popular venues get booked quickly, especially for Saturdays, and some venues will take reservations as much as 14 months in advance, so give yourself ample time to plan.  Fortunately, we have mild weather year-round here in Hawai'i, so even our winter months of December, January, and February can be great for weddings (just be prepared for a greater likelihood of showers or rain).

Wedding planner:  A wedding planner can be brought in to the fold at any time, but to maximize a wedding planner's know-how, expertise, and experience, consider hiring a wedding planner for your wedding at this time.  The planner can lend further insight into the topics above, and can create your road map for the rest of your planning, seeing your wedding through to the very special day.

Now that Step 1 has been taken care of, ready for Step 2?

Happy Planning!

Mona