Those Crazy Little Extras

If you read bridal blogs and subscribe to wedding newletters, chances are you are bombarded with ideas of fun things to add on to your wedding celebration to make it so especially your own.


To the left, we have a signature cocktail served in an antique glass. Because, what is a signature cocktail served up in plastic or those thick stemmed all purpose wine glasses?


For beach weddings we love those flip flops (slippahs if you from here) where your footprints leave words in the sand.

If you go to this Etsy shop you can custom order them with your names, and of course "just married" is already there for a standard order.

Maybe they don't look all that, but for the photo op after the ceremony, may be irresistible.

Chair decor is a current trend.  Maybe just the bride and groom need the prince and princess of the event treatment, or possibly all the chairs require a slip cover, a bow, and perhaps a garland. Or at least the garland or mini bouquet on the aisle seats. And don't forget the carpet of flower petals if you are going all out with the chair covers and garlands.

Then on the tables all the small touches, like the place holders - not just a card, but something twiggy and sentimental. I am not meaning to poke fun at all these extras, as nothing is quite so special as a wedding. And nothing is quite as much fun as putting together all the little extras to make a celebration special.

From a practical point of view, you may want to consider that "less is more" whereas "more" is absolutely "costlier". You will rarely see an item by item price description of your choices until or unless you request that after you have done your ordering or you are in the midst of it and all signed up.

One way to save big on the cost of your wedding extravaganza is to put the money into the big stuff.  Photography is number one. Those photos in an album are with you for a lifetime.  How many people pull out their wedding videotape?  Do they get it moved over to DVD or does it ride out the change on the shelf?  Have one photo matted and framed. It need not hang over the fireplace. But on your 10th and 15th and 25th wedding anniversary you will like to be reminded of what that day did look like.

If you have chosen a destination wedding, the sense of place in that photo is all important.  A sweet hazy shot where your smiles are the main feature is lovely, but do choose a photo where you can see where you were, right in the picture.  Even a courthouse wedding deserves a shot of the sweeping staircase or the sturdy pillars in the front.

Ah, the wedding gown... To the right, a delicate Amsale Aberra concoction befitting the most formal of occasions. And you can make your destination wedding a formal occasion, and wear such a gown.  You are probably equally aware you can go to a bridal shop and buy a knock off gown at a far lesser price, or even rent a gown.  For most brides do not see themselves re-donning the bridal attire for another function.

If however you are planning a destination wedding somewhere tropical and hot, maybe with ocean or forest in the mix, non-traditional attire is entirely appropriate.  To the left, a rayon wedding dress available from jadefashion.com.  The bustle effect gives way to a softer, easier style, where your wedding lei will match the loveliness of your attire.

For your Hawaii destination wedding, if you want something extravagent to commemorate the occasion, it would not be the diamond on your finger but the shell lei.  These ni'ihau lei are made of thousands of tiny shells gathered from the sand of the island of Ni'ihau. The lei are crafted by a few remaining Hawaiian lei makers who are keeping the art alive.  The crazy little extras would be orchid lei for your guests.

The elegance of your destination wedding comes not so much from the amount of money you spend on the extras, but how you select the main elements.  That would be the venue, your attire, the music, and the sensibility of those you work with.

May your wedding be brimming with aloha.

The Beach Wedding, Hawaii Style

The so called toes in the sand Hawaiian wedding has such a universal appeal that couples from all around the globe select Hawaii as their destination wedding.

As those couples may suspect when they begin viewing vendors for these weddings, the quickie ceremony packages are more than a little bit like eating out at MacDonald's.  What's on your tray is pretty much what's on the tray next to you.  The wedding reality is there will be a couple ahead of you, then you step up to the front of the line, have your turn, and it's over.

Once you begin speaking to a wedding planner, you may find yourself steered away from the wedding on the actual sand.  There are many reasons for that. Hawaiian statute throws up roadblocks. All beaches are public. There is no way to simply reserve a piece of beach for a wedding. And this is just the beginning.  But take heart. There are ways to make it all come true.

The experience you may have had sitting out on a beach at sunset listening to a couple of guys play guitar while you sipped drinks and had coconut shrimp does not readily translate to a weddng ceremony with the same elements, because the beach is a place where children play and everyone with a camera phone stands up and starts walking between people's beach chairs when the light gets pretty.

All that being said, there are ways to have that beach wedding. The very best way is to reserve a beach front house or cottage.  This still does not guarantee you privacy, but it will allow the person who is setting up your wedding to stake out some territory and create what for lack of a more suitable phrase we call sacred space. This patch of sand dedicated to your wedding becomes a place even the children understand is special, and they respect it. The people bearing cameras get it that this is special, is yours, and they can generally be discouraged politely and kindly from intruding upon your ceremony.

If renting beachfront is not within your budget, we do have a choice spot where we can take you, away from the crowds. It means driving awhile, and walking a bit, and then you will be where it is just you, the sand, the waves, the palms. For this style of wedding, we recommend the party take place away from the ceremony spot. It can still be at the beach if you want it there, but it will be at a place not so isolated, where bringing in your cake and so on is much easier.

A third alternative is the lawn.

Here you can see the beach just beyond the lawn. The lawn is private. Here, your event designer can bring in an arch or chuppah and decorate it.  You can rent an open sided canopy as rain is highly unlikely, and in the middle of the day, you will like to have shade. Would you rather have cake and champagne or a fully catered party? Either is possible. And you can have photos done right on the sand, after the ceremony. Or before.

Now you maybe thinking, hey, I like those guys with the guitars. I like that beach. Can I just rent that place and get those guys to come out? Yes and no. Or, not exactly. You can only share the restaurant, and those guys will be playing for the restaurant.  As for the happy people in the background, even though you did not invite them to the party, they will come.

Perhaps now you are thinking, but wait! This is my wedding! Can't I just have a couple of guys with guitars, a nice beachfront, and a few dozen of my closest friends and family, without the paparazzi and the children running in and out of the water?  Yes ! But, that would be the beachfront house. Even the poshest resort on the island has myriad other guests, and they will have equal access to your sacred bit of beach. The beachfront house will be away from the public area of the beach, unlike the resort, and that is its secret.

Having thought about all this, you might mull over the recipe we have for a perfect beach wedding. There are some very nice houses in spectacular locations around the island that are available for rent. They generally rent with a five day minimum stay. Visually, some are like private resorts.  The per bedroom cost on these homes can be comparable to staying at a mid range resort in a garden view room.  These houses can be the party site, with the wedding a sweet walk away along the sand, on a part of the beach away from the crowds at the resorts.

And sure, the guys with the guitars can come to the party if you like.

Your Wedding Photographs

There are two kinds of wedding photographs - bold statement, yes?  Those two types are your wedding photos and other people's wedding photos.

I have photographed enough couples now that I have lost count. The setting for these photos recently has been the Big Island, Hawaii Island. I love this place, and the couples who choose to come here to become married generally love it too. But nothing is guaranteed in this life.

Awhile back, the bride in the photos was unhappy with the shots I liked best. I felt dreadful for her, and sought to understand what was amiss so I could edit appropriately. She told me she didn't like her expressions in some photos, her husband's in others, that they generally did not look interested enough in each other, and that the photos were not flattering. Most of that commentary is not subject to editing. She was unwilling to discuss further, leaving me to sort through the experience from this end and learn from it.

I wish I could put up that selection I liked from that shoot so you could see their photos for yourself, but she has forbidden their use. To my eye, they are among the best I have done. Based on her remarks and looking at the photos, I think she would have preferred a more animated set of photos on the one hand, and something more studio-like and posed on the other. I am also pretty certain that in future years, perhaps as few as two or three, when she looks at those photos, she will be stunned at how pretty she is, how handsome her husband, what a great looking couple they are.There is also something else - during the shoot she repeatedly remarked about how little she cared for this island, for its culture, and for what it is about.  Perhaps that has something to do with her perception of her photos as well. 

The photo above is of other people. I have chosen to use it here to illustrate what wedding photography is for me as a photographer - it is an opportunity to make a record of what this experience was for these people, in the context of this place, Hawaii island. Here the couple is studying the ground, the a'a and pahoehoe lava in a somewhat recent flow. There is a look of geologists about them, because they had a sincere interest in the lava. Their intelligence and sparkle and shared enthusiasm comes through, despite the sunglasses. They are in a place they have not been before, and it is fascinating. This is both one of their favorite photos from the shoot and mine as well. It is right for them - it is them. For you, it would be another sort of picture altogether. 

So here is my take as a wedding photographer. If you are looking for verve and animation, dress casually and be prepared to jump about, run, and be excited. That sort of look does not happen in a dress with a long heavy train and a suit, tie, and heavy dress shoes. As a wedding photographer, I always suggest the couple take some photos in their wedding attire and the remainder in casual dress. Both sets look lovely, and the contrast tends to be between the solemnity and joy of taking marriage vows and the playfulness of having succeeded in becoming married and being happier than you had even imagined. If you are looking for studio shots, use a studio photographer. There everything is controlled. The camera person sets you in position and moves you and the lights until everything is as flattering as it can be, for each shot. 

If you have seen an effect or a set shot in someone else's photos you would like to try, by all means tell the photographer about it. But do not keep trying to recreate it as your photos are being done. This is likely to have peculiar results. In the photo session that disappointed the bride, she repeatedly asked her husband to lift her vertically into the air. She was wearing a dress with a long train. The effect was that she appeared over him in a surreal column. She did not look like she was floating, being held down like an unruly balloon, but more vampire like. And no, she did not see any of the photos where she looked like that! And there were dozens of them, because everywhere we went, she would repeat the pose  And yes, I included a couple of them that sort of worked in the set of photos she received. Be prepared to find out that the set shot you imagined is not at all what you envisioned. It was someone else's photo, not yours. 

In viewing Pinterest wedding boards, I note there are certain genre shots that are popular now where a heart appears in the photo. Sometimes the heart is drawn in the sand. Sometimes it is fashioned from rocks or shells or flowers. More often it is formed using the hands and arms of the wedding couple, the setting sun behind.  If you desire shots like this, it is vital to tell the photographer. Do not expect your photos to duplicate what you have seen elsewhere. Your photos are not and cannot be what you have seen somewhere else, of someone else. I know that sounds remedial, but that is a fact.  You may have been told you look like a certain celebrity. Do not expect that in your wedding photos you will look like her double.  If you ordinarily do not wear makeup or wear very little, and then have your face done for your wedding or your photos, you will look different than you usually look. Be certain you like that look. Makeup is not an essential part of wedding photos. The best photos of you are the ones that look like you. Again, this sounds so very basic, and yet we do not always think in basic terms. 

Everyone and anyone, any couple, can look wonderful in wedding photos.  By wonderful, I mean like your own best self.  As a photographer, that is what I am after.  You as your shining, happy, most radiant self.  I am also after the you of you, whatever person is beneath your skin.  This is why I love doing this work.  It is a treasure hunt, and there is always treasure to be found and shown.

When we do wedding photography, it happens on the scheduled day, out of doors for the most part. We can do some indoors, incorporating the sense of place. We can always use the treehouse, even in the pouring rain, and get sweet results. We can also go somewhere the weather is nicer. We have not had a wedding shoot yet where we could not find good weather and pretty light. We do half day and full day shoots.  Half day seems to work the best. You do not want to appear tired in the photos. What every couple always comes away with is an experience that was unlike any other - a journey around and about the island that was recorded for them in dozens of photos, where the context of the island frames who they are, in this time, in love, in this gorgeous place. 

Why Choose Hawaii Island for Your Wedding?

Those who have either been to or dreamt of the Hawaiian Islands have heard them call "come to me, come to me...". From the ultra blue water and skies that change color at dawn and dusk, to the scent of the very air the moment you step from the plane, these islands are softly alluring. Hawaii's romance is a guitar softly playing as waves lap against the shoreline in the moonlight, while your hand lingers on the sun warmed skin of your lover.



Hawaii Island is where you will find Kilauea Volcano, lava churning and spilling down the sides of the mountain, falling in burning orange rivers down the cliffs into the sea.  It is where the ferns of the rainforest grow to be thirty feet tall, and the curved beak red apapane greets you with a morning song in mid-canopy of the rainforest when you stay in a treehouse for your honeymoon.

On Hawaii Island you will find world class dining
You may choose amongst the oceanfront restaurants of Kohala and Kona, where in the winter time the whales breach and spout as the sun goes down and the sky changes through an array of colors from gold to deepest red or brilliant pink, from peach tones to gleaming carnelians then purple.  You can arrange for a special post wedding photo shoot to capture those colors that have decorated your evenings on the Kohala Coast.  The musicians who so casually entertain you as you enjoy your evening meal are among the finest in their genre.



When you choose Hawaii for your wedding,  you will then select a destination within your destination. Many hotels offer wedding services on site. Should you prefer something more personalized and private, wedding coordinators like Mahinui Na Lani can help you find the venue that meets your expectations, whether beachfront, rainforest, waterfall, or private residence.  All details are handled according to your wishes.  Your ceremony and celebration will unfold like your fondest dreams of Hawaiian paradise.
www.mahinui.com
PO Box 531 Laupahoehoe HI 96764
808-238-0633

Best of the Best Hawaii Wedding Destinations

Aloha from Hawaii Island.

When you begin planning a Hawaii wedding while living on the mainland, or on some other continent, what you will notice right away is there are so many choices it can be bewildering. Maybe you have a picture floating in your mind of how your wedding will look or even how it will feel.  Or perhaps you have the romance of Hawaii firmly rooted in your being, and being married in Hawaii is perfection.

Where do you start?

Your venue matters.  Many people think of a beach wedding, and that can absolutely be your first choice.  Bear in mind that all beaches in Hawaii are public.  Some are more remote than others, and if very remote, getting there can pose difficulties you do not want as part of your wedding day. The very best way to have a beach wedding in Hawaii is to rent a beach house. We have thoroughly researched what is out there, and frequently check all over again. There is one rental house that is a complete stand out from everything else.  It gives you privacy, a lovely lawn, beach beyond, and an open lanai leading into the house itself that is gorgeous.  It has a turquoise infinity pool and sumptuous interior.

The lanai of this house is broad and deep enough to hold several tables for the wedding feast, and beyond the pool is the beach.   Picture this lanai simply decorated with hanging candles in glass bubbles at sunset, the tables in pristine white linen, table runners of tropical flowers with candles nestled amongst them.

The venue cost for this house is $4000 for up to 50 guests.  If you rent the house at $1500 a day for 4 nights, the venue cost drops to $2000.  Cost of table and chair rental is additional.   When you choose this as your wedding location, we take care of every detail while you relax and think about how spectacular it will all be.

This home offers you a level of privacy simply not attainable at a resort, and the cost is about half what you would expect to pay for the use of a comparable home at the island's premier Kohala Coast resort complex.

At the right you will see a large and enchanting older structure from the sugar cane days.  This location is just outside Hilo, and is available as a wedding destination.  The cost to use this venue includes their wedding tent, as well as the set up and removal of the tent after your celebration. The cost for tent and venue is $3800 for up to 4 hours, and $4200 for up to 6 hours.  What you get is a venue for large celebrations and privacy. The beauty of the location is rooted in its history and ultra tropical location.  Future blogs will have some photos of the grounds.

We can arrange for large weddings here and coordinate catering and decor.  Specialty lighting, live music, lei, a profusion of island flowers, an amazing cake, your photography and videography, sounding of the sacred triton shell and custom ceremony are all a part of what you can expect should you choose this venue and ask us to handle the details.

The venue costs can be pushed way down by staging your celebration at a beach park.  Costs for the tent, chairs and tables will drop price by 2/3.  However, you will sacrifice privacy, and not have the use of the kitchen for catering.  This venue adds the option of a sunset wedding, whereas beach parks close their gates when the sun goes down.  An East Hawaii sunset means colors in the sky but no setting sun in your eyes as the sun sinks low on the horizon.

Our specialty continues to be weddings in the pavilion at Kilauea volcano.  If you are planning a small destination wedding, this setting can be yours. The pavilion is perfect for a romantic wedding or civil union if it is just the two of you, or if you are including a few people who matter most.  The $2500 cost includes everything, even a 2 night honeymoon stay in the treehouse nearby.  For a look at the treehouse, come visit it virtually on Facebook at Hawaii Treehouse.

What is everything, you may wonder.  Flowers and music, cake and a toast.  Custom ceremony.  Tiki torches if your celebration is late in the day.  Candle light.  The sacred triton shell is sounded to announce the beginning of your celebration.  You will have the use of the chalet on the grounds to dress and relax before the ceremony.  You will have fully edited professional photographs to commemorate your ceremony, digitally delivered and easily converted to a photo book or slide show or video.

The caterers we use can offer you resort quality menus and preparation of the highest caliber.

If you have friends who need a place to spend the night, the chalet is available.  If you would like to spend the night before at the chalet, that too may be arranged.

Our goal is to give you the wedding of your dreams and desires with no stress, always with an eye on your costs.

We leave you now with an East Hawaii sunset as illustration of just how glorious they can be.

Contact information:  gail@mahinui.com or by phone  808-238-0633

Mahalo nui loa ~ thank you so much!

Weddings, Wedding Planners, and Costs

Aloha!  Today there are three photos of candles on the page.  These photos will illustrate how weddings can end up costing less rather than more, and how a wedding planner is invaluable as you put together your wedding.

At the right is a simple candle in glass.  There are bits of fern from our rainforest, called uluhe, tied to the candle with a bit of raffia.  The fern fronds shield the candle flame from the eyes, and bring a perky bit of rainforest feel to the candle.  As it happens, this candle treatment is a bit work intensive.  The fern pieces need to be gathered and trimmed, as in their natural state they are too long and curly to be of much use for this.  Then they have to be tied to the candle.  Prep time for say 40 candles will be maybe 3 hours.  If you add an hourly wage of $15 for someone to put this together, this adds $45 to your wedding costs.
This is not a lot in the grand picture, but as it happens, almost every addition to a wedding carries a cost.  It can be mind boggling if you are paying for your wedding a la carte.  At Rainforest Weddings, we try not to charge a la carte prices.  Instead, we try to work within your budget.

To the left is another candle treatment.  A piece of ribbon is tied in a bow on the same candle.  The ribbon can match any color scheme.  It can tie into the orchids or other flowers for the wedding, match the bride's sash, be white...  This is not nearly as work intensive.  Although the cost to the planner is higher for the materials, the time to tie 40 pieces of ribbon to 40 candles is only about an hour.  Savings:  not $30 as there is a cost for the ribbon.  So, $25 or $20.

Are you thinking, maybe you will do this yourself?  On your wedding day?  Maybe you have a friend who will do this.  Savings:  $35 - $40!

We are not counting the costs of placing the candles, as that will be the same no matter what.  Where will they go?  If depends on your venue.  Perhaps on a railing, like this one.  Perhaps defining the edge of a swimming pool, or as part of the table decor.

At the right is choice number three.  The flame is clearly visible here.  If the candle glass was frosted, the flame would be hidden.  Maybe you like the look of the flame.  And, notice how the ribbon color matches the orchid.  And there is the uluhe in its natural form.  For this treatment the uluhe still must be gathered, and the orchid purchased, and those costs are absorbed at Rainforest Weddings into the standard package.  The placement is also absorbed in a standard package.  Savings on this treatment is $45.

The wedding planner ~ where does the wedding planner factor in?   Wherever your wedding will take place, there are things to think about.  Lighting is one of them.  When you rent a venue, you get the house lights.  Candles are more romantic.  How many candles do you need?  Where will they be?  Are they going to be an important source of light, or mainly for the mood? And how much do you want to spend on candles?

At Rainforest Weddings, when we do everything at our own venue, we include candles in the basic package price, with the orchids and ferns included.  When we go off site and have to bring everything along, the pricing is different.

If you were to go online and purchase candles like this, you might end up with votives in glass, and those are different.  They will burn out after a couple of hours. Tea lights burn out even faster, and are not good at staying lit. The candles need to be lit before the guests arrive.  We use candles with a 9 hour life.  Your chances of spending from $7 to $10 per candle are pretty good.  That is $280 to $400 for 40 candles.  And if you need 80, the costs begin to crescendo.  We will not spend your money like that.  If you are spending $280 for candles with us, maybe you are getting candles suspended in glass bubbles because in your dream wedding there is that effect.  It is costing more because having just sourced glass bubbles the best we can do for the cost of each is $11.  And that is without the candle.  You probably will not need forty bubbles.  But chances are you will need 40 candles, or like one wedding, "a million" candles.  We asked for a candle budget, and it was $200.  They had a dazzling array.

Maybe you are wondering what you are paying the wedding planner, and if it is worth it.  At Rainforest Weddings, you get a wedding planner, with every package.  You can't have a wedding here without the planner.  The cost is built in to the package.  Elsewhere, you will pay $60 an hour, or perhaps $1500 to start.  What you get is a wedding where someone else thinks through every little detail and makes sure everything is as you wish and dream.  That someone will look after you like a fairy godmother.  And when you walk into your wedding, it will be like magic.

Dreams Come True

Rainforest Weddings began as an idea that it is possible to have a elopement style wedding that has in it such elements of romance that it brings to life dreams of a fairytale wedding.

It began with the forest itself, emerald green understory of giant ferns, mossy paths, swaying ohia high overhead.  We found a high point in the forest, and added a Balinese style pavilion for creating private space and shelter.  We had an altar carved with shell ginger flowers, the flowers that grow at the end of the drive onto the grounds.  The altar converts to a bar for parties, and serves to add a sense of the sacred to the place that is already heavily imbued with the aura of Pele.  This is her sacred forest, and you can feel that as you walk up the mossy path set with beach washed lava stones.

Fire bowls bring Pele's element right into the pavilion and add warmth to cool afternoons and evenings.  Tiki torches illuminate the path.  Balinese benches and moss green velvet chenille upholstered chairs provide seating.

Island flowers such as the ones pictured to the left flank the pavilion entry.  The flowers that greet you there always depend on what is in season.  An ultra large arrangement of island flowers adorns the altar, usually a mix of anthurium, ginger, heliconia, fern, orchids, maybe bird of paradise, tuberose - again, the flowers of the season.

Clusters of candles sit amidst greens from the forest upon the railings.  A crystal and sea glass chandelier hangs overhead.  When you look out into the forest, you overlook the mid canopy of tree ferns due to the elevation of the pavilion.  In summer and fall, you will find the fragrance of ginger and tufts of bright yellow flowers.  Orchids planted in the ohia and hapu'u re-bloom year round.

And this is just the setting.  It is also just one setting, one venue, you may choose from for your remarkable island wedding.  If a beachfront wedding is what you have in mind, there are some locations that are far more spectacular and more private than others.

If you bring us your dream, it is with the same sense of place and beauty and respect we brought to our forest, to Pele's forest, that we will help you make that dream happen on this island.

Aloha!