Destination Wedding at the Mauna Lani in Hawaii
Meagan & Mark Duarte - Walnutport, PA
"Definitely plan to go back!"
Hawaii Destination Wedding Review:
Hi Jennifer,
Married life is great, thanks! I attached some wedding pictures!(you can share these with your bride). Additionally, we used Anna Kim Photography. She was great and also located on Maui. Anna flew to the Big Island to do the photography. We did the wedding and then she stayed night and did a honeymoon session the next day.
I’d definitely recommend a destination wedding. Our friends Billy and Ashley are actually doing one next summer (I think they contacted you, Ashley Hugo, I recommended you to them). You can make it as big or small as you want and you can make it fit whatever budget you want. We just had close family and friends and everyone stayed for a week. The resort was great and large enough for everyone to have their own space. We did group activities like a luau, 4 wheeling, and ziplining on the Big Island. Picking an island is hard. It depends on the feel you want for the wedding. I loved the Big Island but when we landed at the airport I thought I was on the moon. When we went to Maui later on it was all green and very much like here, Oahu is very party central. After seeing some of the other resorts on the Big Island, I definitely think Mauna Lani was the best value. There’s also a grocery store within walking distance so we bought water and snacks there and that saved a lot of food costs.
I worked with Jennifer at VIP and you are great to work with.
For the wedding, you can either do everything yourself, like find a photographer, dj, videographer, etc or she can set that all up for you. One thing I will warn you/her about is if she needs to ship things (centerpieces, welcome bags, etc) do not go through USPS or give yourself 2 months. My stuff didn’t arrive until a month later. We tried to locate the boxes and the post office said they’re on a barge in the ocean. So definitely pay UPS or Fed Ex and expedite, it’s worth the money.
I definitely thought using VIP was an easy and stress free experience. The options you gave were good. When I wanted to see one thing or another you had the resources to get that info to me.
If your or the bride need any other info let me know. We had such a great time in Hawaii and definitely plan to go back!
Thank you again — for everything!