Planning your Maui Wedding

PART 3.

6. Research reception areas to see what is available in your budget. Consider the usual reception halls but also look into historic buildings, museums, vineyards, art galleries, botanical gardens, community centers and parks.

o Determine if a reception location is available where you are having the ceremony. This will make things much easier to plan and more affordable. You won’t have to arrange transportation for the wedding party and this will be one less thing to book and put a deposit on.
o If you are having trouble finding an available reception location, call your local caterer and ask them for a list of local reception sites. They are usually more than willing to help, especially if you are a potential customer.
o Consider having a wedding around a major holiday where churches and reception halls may already be decorated.
o You can easily have a wedding with 30 people attending in vacant home by contacting a realtor. Not to mention a historic site or building, lovely private garden or exterior site with a view. With so few people attending you can easily move the event to a great spot out of town so don’t feel like you must plan within the city limits. Consider the beach, neighboring town, parks, outdoor site with a great view.

7. Contact an officiant to conduct the ceremony. Certain religions or churches require couples to attend pre-wedding counseling. If you want a religious officiant, your officiant will likely want to meet with you and your partner before the wedding to discuss the vows, how they usually conduct ceremonies and other details. Don’t wait until the last minute. Ministers book well in advance but they can usually do several ceremonies in one day. You may need to be flexible with your time if you must have your preferred officiant. If they aren’t available you can ask if an associate pastor is available or if they can recommend someone else.

8.

Shop for your dress with an open mind and one good friend.
Go find your dress! Wedding dress shopping can be fun but most places take up to 4-6 months to have your dress shipped to you. This is the last thing you want to worry about. Remember, there are alterations that may need to happen as well. Instead of going to a shop that special orders go to the bridal stores that carry multiple dresses in stock. Try to find a dress off the rack that doesn’t need to be ordered. You don’t have time for constant fittings. Remember that when trying things on. Sometimes that awesome dress seems a lot less awesome when you are dress-less on your wedding day or bald from pulling your hair out.
o Dresses that lace up the back are easier to fit and will require fewer trips to the seamstress.

o Keep the venue in mind. A Princess Diana cathedral train won’t work in every venue. The smaller the venue, the smaller the train. If you don’t know the venue yet, go with a shorter train and modest dress.
o Don’t be afraid of consignment shops. If the dress isn’t perfect you can always have them remove some of the bulk fairly easily but don’t go for the complete reconstruction unless you’re comfortable with your seamstress.
o Cherish your heritage and ask your mother, grandmother, aunts, etc. if anyone has their dress. Vintage gowns make the event much more special. Chances are good they’d be honored to have you wear their dress and won’t mind you having it altered. Just ask.