Honolulu Airport 4:15am

 A BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT MY RECENT MAUI WEDDING

Getting married in Maui just isn’t an adventure for my couples, it’s also a day long conquest for myself as well!   For every Maui wedding, my day starts bright and early at 3am with my usual taming of my wild hair, and my normal routine to rid myself of morning breath.  Within thirty minutes, I’m dressed, packed, and on my way to the airport.  When traveling inter-island, I prefer getting the first flight out as everything runs rather smoothly.   There are no lines at the check-in kiosk, security lines (as soon as they open) move very quickly, there are no lines at the rental car companies, and traffic on both islands are non-existent.

Sitting in my Hawaiian Airline Seat, on my way to Maui from Honolulu

When I travel inter-island, I pack very light, and carry-on everything, including my clients bouquets and flowers.   Now that I think of it,  I must look rather strange carrying around bouquet in the airport.

The Shops at Wailea – my favorite place to kill time in Maui

The Shops at Wailea is about a three minute drive away from the beach where I conduct all my weddings, Po’olenalena.  I know this shopping mall rather well.  Well, I’ll be honest.  I know it’s parking lot rather well.  I don’t shop here, I just sleep in my rental car here for most of the day.

This morning was a little different though.

When I arrived at the mall, as usual, the parking lot was completely empty.  The sun still had not risen completely, but I still found myself a nice large shaded area that would shade me from the rising sun as I planned to catch up on sleep for the next six hours.   I parked my car, climbed into the passenger seat, reclined to lounge mode, and shut my eyes.

Within a few minutes, I heard the crackling of a dispatcher’s radio filling my car.   I cracked open my eyes to see that a handful of taxi cab’s had pulled up besides me.   They too had the same idea, sleep.  I closed my eyes and fell into a deep trance.  Then, I was awakened by the sound of a man who sounded as though he was pleading with his wife.

“We need to stay together for the children!”, he said.

I peaked my head above the passenger window to see a man pacing around his car, appealing to his wife for a second chance on his cell phone.  Interesting.   The taxi cabs were gone.  I glanced at the clock, it was only 7:30am.  An hour had passed, but it only felt like a second.  I was tempted to watch more this drama unfold before me, but it was too early for this crap.  I fell back asleep.

I awoke at around 11:30am.  Completely refreshed, I stepped out of my car to find construction workers sprawled along the lawn area of the mall, sleeping.   This mall was interesting.   Seemingly, the parking lot here was prime real estate for sleeping.

Just getting up

Lunch, shortly after getting up

At around 12pm, I had my first meal of the day at Cheeseburger In Paradise.   I had their original burger, supposedly, the one that put them on the map.  It sucked.  I wouldn’t recommend it.  I think I had better burgers here and  I should have ordered something else.

Now, I was ready to get to business.  I hopped in the car, headed to the beach to wait for my couple to arrive.

Rev. Tino, blowin’ the concshell

Mike and Annie exchanging rings

Probably my favorite shot of the day

The wedding, as usual, went great.   Mike and Anna were a really awesome couple to work with;  laid back, fun, willing to climb on rocks to get the perfect shot.   I’ll be posting a portion of their pictures later.  By the time we finished their shoot, it was 7pm, and time for me to head back to Oahu.

The trip back to the airport was a dark one!

Anyone who knows me, that before I leave Maui, I need to do one thing……

When that red light is on, it’s a guarantee that I’m stopping by.  Well, even if it’s not on, I’m stopping by..haha

My trip to Maui has been completed.

Here on Oahu, we don’t have a Krispy Kreme.  We have everything else, except…a Krispy Kreme, an Olive Garden, and Apple Bees.  Why?  I have no idea.   My nightly prayers consist of a Krispy Kreme franchise opening down the street from me, but so far, God has not answered my prayers.  I love their donuts, and when I travel to a location that features this heavenly operation, I try to gain at least ten pounds with each visit.  Once I have my donut, I’m ready to go back home.

My final sin.  Airport Thai Chicken Pizza at CPK, without beansprouts

I take the last flight out of Maui, the 10:30pm flight, for the same reason why I arrive first thing in the morning.  I also like to get some work done at the airport while I wait a few hours on my plane.  Work meaning blogging, touching up photos, or marketing my company, or working on my children’s novel series.  By the time I touch down in Oahu, it’s usually 11:30pm.   When I finally get back home, it’s midnight and I stay up working till around 4am in the morning.  Yes, I’m a night owl.

Traveling to Maui is quite a fun adventure for me, even though I follow this same pattern every time I do it, and spend most of my trip sleeping in my rental car.  I keep telling myself to stay a few days longer, but many times, I’m unable to because I have weddings the next day. I still plan to travel here to bike out Haleakala, which is over 10,000 feet in elevation!

For me to travel to Maui to plan your wedding, it cost $250 more for my travel, and $250 for ministry services.  My ministers are more expensive on Maui because everything on Maui is a lot more expensive than Oahu.   So you’re looking at $500 more if you need me to plan your wedding in Maui.  It may sounds like a bit more, but surprisingly, with my travel charges, I’m still cheaper than many local Maui wedding companies.

To view my Maui Wedding Package click here.

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Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my company cell at (808) 479-0685. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Super Bowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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When a bride dreams about flying across the Pacific Ocean to marry the love of her life, the last thing she dreams about is getting married in the backyard of a luxury condo, next to a sidewalk.  Pictured above:  the most popular wedding location in Oahu, Waialae Beach Park.  

THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

According to Government statistics, Waialae Beach Park is the most popular location for beach weddings on Oahu; not to mention, the State of Hawaii.  Out of the estimated 20,000 weddings that take place on Oahu each year, almost one-quarter of those weddings, happen at Waialae Beach Park.   Here’s a ridiculous fact: more weddings took place on that grassy twenty-square-foot plot (pictured above), than on the island of Lanai and Molokai combined.

At one point, Waialae Beach Park had gotten so popular as a beach wedding location for destination brides, that it forced the State to create a beach permit law with hopes of regulating the congestion of brides there (the state did not succeed).  Till this day, wedding companies still fight for the “choice” grassy patches to marry their couples; limousines, crowd the parking lot, and photographers blanket this area in search for that perfect shot.

Looking at a spreadsheet of statistics, anyone could mistakenly conclude that Waialae Beach Park, because of it’s massive popularity, must be a great wedding location.  In fact, one can conclude that it must be the best, the greatest.  After all, the majority of destination wedding companies here on Oahu, love this place….

So it must be great…right?

No.   It’s convenient.

It’s convenient for the bride, but more so, very convenient for the wedding company.  Planning more than one wedding at Waialae Beach Park is logistically a lot easier than planning multiple weddings across the island in one day..

If a family is watching TV in the living room of their condo, you can hear it from below. 

The beachy area of Waialae Beach Park.  It’s not too “beachy” if you ask me.

As you have probably have figured out by now, I am not a fan of Waialae Beach Park at all.  Here are my personal rants about this place

• Ceremonies take place next to a sidewalk
• Ceremonies are so close to the condos that you can hear people talking in their living room
• The beach is rocky
• Neither sunset or sunrise can be photographed from this location
• It can get very windy
• Parking is a bitch

I have been part of Waialae Beach Park weddings though.  I believe a local couple wanted to get married here because this was the beach where she was proposed to.  And there was another couple who had booked only my video services, yet utilized another company to plan their wedding for them, so I had no choice but to follow and not lead.

Despite my negativity towards Waialae Beach Park, it can be picturesque, especially if your photographer is talented.  Lets also remember though, that a talented photographer can make the homeless look great, and a 10×10 studio look like a castle.

A great wedding location is never just about the pictures.  A great wedding location, must look great not just within the viewfinder of the photographer, but in real life.

Now that’s a beach.  This is obviously not Waialae Beach Park

I have an incredible bias when it comes to choosing wedding locations since I want them to be real.  I’m not a fan of fiction when it comes weddings.

Choosing the right location requires a couple to escape “touristy Waikiki” and get out to either: the North, West, or East shore of Oahu.  Drives to these gems can range from 30 minutes to an one and a half hours. But the drive is worth it.  I constantly tell my couples, “You’ve planned this wedding for a year, flew across an ocean to get to copy Hawaii, now spend an hour to drive to a great location.”

As a last comment, and I have to try to phrase this very gently.  Something has to be said about the majority of wedding companies who only give you the “good angle” of Waialae Beach Park.  They elect to only show you pictures that are shot out towards the ocean, but knowingly hide the fact that behind the photographers lens, there is a three story condo.  Maybe it’s just me, but I feel they are truly not being honest with their clients. And it’s not just one wedding company that’s only showing the good angles, it’s the majority.  The majority are unfortunately engaging in unethical consumer ethics.

Our modus operandi as wedding planners is to have our clients interest ahead of our own.  I’m not sure how these other wedding companies can sleep at night.

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my company cell at (808) 479-0685. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Super Bowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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