Lanikuhonua Event and Wedding Expo TOMORROW

Lanikuhonua, one of O'ahu's most popular venues for weddings and events, is hosting a highly anticipated Event and Wedding Expo tomorrow at the venue itself, situated in the beautiful Ko'Olina area.  Anyone looking for an outdoor, oceanfront site for a special event will surely benefit by attending.  It is an opportunity to see Lanikuhonua all dressed up, and will feature drawing for great prizes, food, beverage, entertainment, and an array of vendors who can help make an outdoor wedding or event come to fruition.  Participating vendors include caterers, rental companies, entertainment providers, planners, floral designers, decor companies, and more!  To attend this event, which is open to the public, purchase tickets purchase in advance at tix.com or or pay at the door.  Admission is $25 for adults, $12.50 for children 6-12 years old, and it is free for kids under six.  For more information, e-mail or call 808-674-3360.

We love weddings at Lanikuhonua.  It offers stunning views of the ocean and coastline, some of the best sunsets to be found in Hawai'i, an abundance of free parking, and vast open spaces, representing a blank canvas for designing unique and special events.  Here are a few photos from events we have planned there over the years, to provide a sense for how the space can come to life and be transformed for weddings.

Photo by Chrissy Lambert Photography

Photo by Dave Miyamoto & Company

Photo by Stephen Ludwig Fotographi + Art

Photo by Christie Pham Photography

Photo by Marcia Campbell

Photo by Chrissy Lambert Photography

Photo by Eugene Kam Photography

Happy Planning!

Mona

neu events

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

Wedding Style Tip #5: "theme-ing" your wedding

When designing your wedding, the key is to create a comprehensive look and feel, infusing the theme into every element. Make sure to reflect the theme, style, and tone of the wedding in everything from the invitations and stationery (often times the very first "taste" of what is to come) to flowers, food, favors, music, etc.. To best illustrate, allow me to provide an example.

Janelle and Alex's "Sweet" Wedding
Janelle and Alex shared a love for dining, cooking, and above all, a love for sweets. It only made perfect sense that their wedding should reflect their common passion for dessert - cupcakes in particular, deriving from the yummy cupcakes that Janelle makes for Alex.

The first impression...
To kick off their wedding, Janelle and Alex went to work, whipping up a batch of frosted cupcakes, each decorated with a letter of the alphabet, that when lined up, spelled "SAVE THE DATE." They took a photo of their cupcakes and with it, laid out a sweet and simple postcard, informing guests of the wedding celebration to come. Naturally, Janelle and Alex chose a chocolate icing and pink letters, hinting at the colors of their wedding.

Do me a favor...
Naturally, what better favor would fit the occasion than a candy and sweets buffet for guests to help themselves to, filling their own custom-labeled favor jar with whatever they desired. Included in the sweet buffet, were home-made Rice Krispy treats in original and strawberry (to go with the color theme, of course).

Center of attention
To further allude to the theme of cupcakes and sweets, Janelle and Alex enlisted the services of none other than Hawai'i's rock star of cakes, Rick Reichart of cakelava, who created giant cupcakes to serve as centerpieces on every other table. A do-it-yourself cupcake kit in mixing bowls filled with cupcake mix, sprinkles, and marshmallows adorned the rest of the tables.

Sweet sips...
To keep things cool, guests enjoyed Thai Iced Coffee topped with little dollops of pink cotton candy in Irish coffee mugs, concocted by stellar caterer, Ginniberries.

Show-stopper...

What really made Janelle and Alex's wedding unique, was the most original and fun wedding cake ever, a giant turtle hugging a giant cupcake, another fabulous cakelava creation.

Photos by Stephen Ludwig

50th State Fair: a great venue for unique shots

Photos by Stephen Ludwig

It's true, nothing captures a wedding in Hawai'i like photos on the beach, but why not consider a unique location for great pictures and video shots? Last year, one of our favorite couples, Janelle and Alex, took fantastic photos at the carnival. I just have to show off their photos here.


Interested in something similar? Schedule some time with your photographer and videographer to visit the 50th State Fair at the Aloha Stadium. There's still time!

Here are the remaining dates:
June 11-12-13
June 18-19-20
June 25-26-27

The Challenge to Having an Outdoor Wedding…

Photo courtesy of Christie Pham.

When a couple is getting married, especially in a place as beautiful as Hawaii, they often consider outdoor venues. Just imagine, a wedding reception with a gorgeous crystal blue sky with that famous Hawaiian sunshine that just lights up the well-kept green lawns of Lanikuhonua. However, Hawaii does not always have ideal weather conditions every day of the year. A couple must hope for the best, but plan for those worrisome ‘what-if’ scenarios.

Many couples want to have their ceremony and reception outside to enjoy the natural beauty of Hawaii, but what if it rains? What if it is too hot outside? For such woes, the couple may consider using a tent. While some may not consider tents to be the most glamorous accent to their wedding, with the right decorations, the tent can add to the aesthetics of the wedding itself. Plus, it will protect the couple and their guests from unexpected weather, like rain, or provide a shaded spot to relax and enjoy the festivities without getting sunburnt.

Photo courtesy Stephen Ludwig.

cakelava's Food Network Challenge to Air in April

As many already know, Hawai'i's very own cakelava participated in a Food Network challenge; no one but the show's producers and the challenge participants know the outcome, so to find out, tune in to the Food Network for the much anticipated airing of "Food Network Challenge: Sponge Bob Birthday Cakes." Here are the dates:

Apr 04, 2010: 8:00 PM ET/PT

Apr 05, 2010: 3:00 AM ET/PT

Apr 07, 2010: 7:00 PM ET/PT

The Food Network, on several occasions in the past couple years, invited cakelava to take part in their show and this one in particular was a great one for cakelava to be able to participate in for their very first time, as Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants show is one of the most popular shows on TV. Challengers invited to compete in Food Network challenges represent some of the very best in the industry and invitation is definitely an honor.

We're all so proud of cakelava and are looking forward to rooting for them on April 4th when the show airs and the results made public for the very first time!

In the meantime, enjoy some photos of cakelava cakes for clients of Weddings by Grace and Mona, a small sampling of cakelava's beautiful cakes for weddings during their five years in business in Hawai'i...


Images from (L-R) by name of couple for whom the cake was created: Andrea and Pete, Annabella and David (photo by Chrissy Lambert), Candice and Timothy (photo by Chrissy Lambert), Candice and Timothy (photo by Chrissy Lambert), Carisse and Todd (photo by Chrissy Lambert), Carly and Matthew (photo by Dave Miyamoto and Co.), Heather and Randall (photo by Christiaan Phleger), Janelle and Alex (photo by Stephen Ludwig), Janelle and Alex (photo by Stephen Ludwig), Kindy and Will (photo by Dylan Dawson)