Part
two: Skinny on Hawaiian Weddings
"You've
heard the good...now for the bad...."
So
you clicked on the "read on" link and I guess you're bracing yourself
for the worse. Don't worry, it's not that bad my padwan. For you must learn
about the dark-side to master the true stregnth of the force.....
Now
here's the strange thing about the Hawaii Wedding Industry.
Surprisingly, the exact same pro's for weddings can work exactly
against you.
So
lets start.
ISSUE#1:
"HAWAII WEDDINGS ARE INEXPENSIVE?"
The
Hawaii Wedding industry is very robust. Lots of money can be
made in this industry in a very short time. Remember, the wedding
industry is filled with first time buyers, so there's really no consumer
branding involved. There's a replenishing amount of suckers...oh
wait, I mean brides, generated each minute, every second.
Weddings
in Hawaii can be very inexpensive. But as the buyer, you should
be aware of deals that seem too good to be true. There are a
handful of companies that engage in price wars that ultimately
jeopardize quality and service for price. You can forget about
customized vows, great photography, or even keeping the leis
that you purchased. Changing locations and working with your
coordinator prior to your wedding...well that's out of the question
for these companies. Customer service, answering simple phone calls...forget it. They (these rip-off companies) are really just looking to show up
to collect their money, and to leave. Even though the price
may be incredibley low, the quality of the service and products will
be far below par. All in all, given that you paid thousands
of dollars for a trip to Hawaii, it makes sense to pay a few
extra dollars to receive great services.
HOW
TO AVOID ISSUE#1: Simply ask these companies if they
would be willing to customize your wedding for you. Be very
descriptive on your needs and wants. A true wedding coordination
company should compensate for every movement for your wedding.
MAKE THEM EARN YOUR BUSINESS! The dollar amount between poor
and breathtaking quality is rather low. Say ...about a 50 to
a few 100 dollars more.
I have dedicated an entire article on wedding scam artist...click here to go there now.
ISSUE#2:
"SMALL BUSINESS FACTOR, revisited again?"
Back
to vendors. Because the wedding market consist of an on-going
replenishing market of brides, it is also fairly easy for a
corrupt vendor to pop-up out of nowhere and to start a wedding
business. It is also easy for them to stay in business. It does not take
a lot of startup or marketing capital to break in. Aspiring
photographers and videographers, whose quality is not good enough
for them to get a job in the commercial industry, can literally
decide over-night to attack the wedding industry, and overcharge
couples for poor quality. I've seen fly-by-night vendors who
make it a habit of picking up clients in coffee shops or bookstores
after seeing brides purchase or read wedding magazines. If this
happens to you, red flags should immediately go off.
Corruption?
What I am seeing now is a growth in over-night property
management companies popping up left and right claiming to couples
that they can hold weddings on beach front properties, when
in fact, they are legally restricted. They charge the wedding
couple thousands of dollars for property use, just to have cops
show up at their reception, ordering their party to be closed
down. I've been to a couple of these weddings just as a photographer
and couldn't believe it! Right now there are only a handful
of private estates that are legally eligible to hold weddings
(and you can count them on one hand). Do these property management
companies care about the couple. Not at all ....there just out
to make a buck.
Now
if I had my way, I would say, hey, let these weddings go on.
But neighborhood boards, community leaders, make it very difficult
for the weddings to happen on private estates. I know..it really
sucks.
HOW
TO AVOID ISSUE#2: Hiring a great coordinator that you
trust to look out for corrupt vendors is a must. Ask how this
coordinator makes their money, and if they are willing to work
with other vendors. They should have no problem explaining their
fees...and should answer "yes" to working with any
vendor.
Finding
legitimate properties: Simply do a search for that
estate and the word "lawsuit" or "petition."
You'll be looking for court documents and rulings. If there
are court documents, there's a good chance that the property
can legally perform weddings. If there are no documents...then
you're most likely dealing with an unlicensed property.
ISSUE#3:
"GREAT WEATHER, BUT UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER?"
We
really can't point the finger at anyone other than mother nature
when it comes to storms and thundershowers. The great thing
about Hawaii is that rain is usually centralized around certain
areas. So if it's raining cats and dogs, it's most likely to
be sunny somewhere else on the island. But here's what you can
do to avoid stormy weather:
