Maui Wedding Planner

"Maui Wedding Planner: 10 Tips for Selecting the Right Hawaiian Wedding Coordinator" by my husband, Rev. John Souter, has been re-written and put back up on our website.

We discovered that we had several key things wrong with our Maui Wedding Planner article (at least as far as the search engines are concerned). So we fixed those problems and re-wrote a good percentage of the article and re-published it again.

If you haven't selected your own Maui Wedding Planner, this is a great article to read so you can get some key tips on avoiding the wrong Maui Wedding Planner. Believe me, we've been involved on Maui with our wedding service for enough years that we have heard many sob stories from people we've met who've had bad experiences.

In the vast majority of cases, most Maui Wedding Planners are completely reliable and will do a good job. But you certainly want to choose the best one you can get, at a reasonable price.

The groom at our wedding two nights ago commented that he was surprised how much we did for them; the fact that we choreographed their Maui wedding so neatly and then stayed with them right up through the sunset to get the best possible photographs and videography really surprized him.

So use our article to choose the very best:
Maui Wedding Planner

Maui Vow Renewals

Maui Vow Renewals -- on the 50th Anniversary:

Last week John published an article on his blog about a 50th wedding anniversary blog we did a week ago. I just had an email and a phone call from the bride and told her about his blog, so I'm going to quote it here on mine:

"Last night we coordinated a surprise Maui Vow Renewal for a couple on their 50th wedding anniversary. Their kids had a catered dinner for them and their family on the beach, with the biggest limo of Maui, photography, a vow renewal (with their son as the minister), flower arrangements, music, cake cutting, and a fire-knife dancer. The entire affair went off without a hitch.

"Afterward, I talked to the 71-year-old groom. I asked how he first met his wife. He told me she was 15 when they met. They fell instantly in love, and both of them knew, almost immediately that they would get married. But because of her young age, they got engaged without their parents knowledge. He bought her an engagement ring which she would put on each evening at the beginning of their dates, and then put it back in the box when they said "good-night."

"On her 17th birthday they "came out of the closet," announcing their engagement to her folks, who took if well. (The groom was surprised). And they were married after her 18th birthday.

"That was 50 years ago and today they have kids and grand kids to spare. The groom just recently had cancer surgery and wasn't sure if they could pull off this joyous vow renewal and reunion with their family. You never know when there won't be another anniversary to celebrate, and that's why it is so important to celebrate every one of them in a special way.

"After watching just one Maui vow renewal like this, you can see how valuable such an experience is for the couple and their entire family. This is the kind of renewal when I usually do my Legacy Spiritual Ceremony (although in this case their son performed the ceremony because he is a licensed minister). You can see my Maui vow renewal ceremonies here where you can read them for yourself.

"Lately we have been doing a LOT of Maui vow renewals. Because of that I added a great new page on our Maui Me website that will give you our Maui Vow Renewal discount prices."

I must admit it is so much fun to do these vow renewals for a couple who has been together so long. I have a few more in the works right now.

Susan

Maui Weddings Booking Time: Vacation Over

John and I went on vacation last week in Honolulu with our daughter Lauren. We had an enjoyable time shopping, going to the water park, shopping, doing some jet skiing, eating out, going to a dinner and a magic show, and did I mention shopping?? Anyway, your Maui wedding planner is back, ready to serve your Maui wedding needs.

During last week we still did book four weddings. Which is nice when you're on vacation. We will be taking off for four days next week, but because we always work weekends and evenings, and we won't be gone a full week, I don't expect to get too far behind.

Again, now is the time to book your Maui wedding.

Maui Wedding Chairs on the Beach

For some time now the County of Maui has been laying down strict new guidelines about bringing chairs and wedding arches onto the beach. We've just learned from our Maui wedding professionals at the government committee that the County has now set heavy fines and penalties on any larger Maui wedding that has beach chairs or arches without a proper permit.

This is still a confusing issue with County versus DNL (the State) jurisdiction being a question. It all depends upon who you talk to as to what answers you will get. But one thing is clear, the permit for having chairs on the grass near a beach is set at $400. But if a Maui wedding company fails to get that permit, and the County authorities catch them on the beach, the fine has been quoted as anything from $1000 and up. That's just for a first violation. So this is a serious issue that we as wedding professionals simply cannot ignore.

The Maui wedding professionals meeting we went to was poorly attended. There are many people who coordinate weddings on Maui and it is likely that 90% of them are not aware of these regulations at this time. But as they say, ignorance is not a defense against legal penalties. We know personally of a coordinator that was approached by the County. And they are now actively policing the new regulations.

If you book your Maui wedding with a coordinator who does not get a permit, perhaps because she hasn't heard of these new regulations (or thinks that she won't get caught), you can bet that she will want to pass that $1000 fine back on you! If you have a larger Maui beach wedding in which you will need chairs for your guests, or if you want to have an arch, this means that you will have to get your coordinator to file the correct application, and you will have to pay $400 for the privilege of having chairs and/or an arch on a Maui beach or nearby grassy area.

Keep in mind, whenever we have to deal with the County, it takes them time to issue a permit; it won't happen at the last minute, so make sure that you do not wait until the last moment before booking a Maui wedding that requires chairs.

If the County gets complaints from beach goers who can't enjoy the beach because companies have taken large wedding groups to small beaches like Makena Cove, that will be a problem. Eventually, there will be a permit process for all weddings but at the moment we are encouraged to be unobtrusive with small weddings and only get permits for chair arches.