Hawaii Has Great Spots For Weddings
Q. Our daughter would like to be married in Hawaii in February. Do you have suggestions for particularly scenic spots? She has thought about the Kona coast but is also open to other suggestions.
We have been to Maui several times, but she is looking at the Big Island.
What little I have found out is that the large hotels are very expensive, so any ideas you have would be appreciated. She would like a sunset wedding, with perhaps around 15-20 guests. - V.R., Pembroke Pines, Fla.
A. Hawaii draws a lot of wedding couples, and often their attendants and families, from both the mainland United States and Japan.
The Hawaii Visitors Bureau offers a 14-page guidebook listing wedding services. Forty-six firms are listed, many with toll-free numbers, and four are on the Big Island. For a copy, call the Hawaii Visitors Bureau, (808) 923-1811.
The Big Island has its own Official Travel Directory, which can be obtained from the Hawaii Visitors Bureau, Big Island chapter, 250 Keawe St., Hilo, Hawaii 96720; (808) 961-5797. More information is available from Destination Hilo, which markets the east coast of the Big Island, including Hilo and Volcanoes National Park; contact Destination Hilo, Box 1391, Hilo, Hawaii 95721, (800) HILO-DAY.
The Hilo area, the east coast of the Big Island, is my personal favorite because it is less touristy than the Kona (western) coast, more laid-back, and has lush rain forests and botanical gardens, orchids and anthuriums growing wild, and the islands’ highest waterfalls.
Some hotels have wedding chapels or gazebos on their grounds, such as the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island, where the lowest-price wedding option is $529, the most expensive $2,959. The average wedding costs approximately $1,000, but they can be as little as $200. The average wedding party includes six people. Cost varies depending on what’s included: soloist, photographs, cake, decorated chapel, rented clothing, flowers, etc.
Hotels offering weddings also have honeymoon packages, and arrangements can be all-inclusive with airfare, rental car and accommodations wrapped in a single package.
A few of the companies that arrange weddings are: Affordable Weddings of Hawaii, (800) 942-4554; Aloha Wedding Planners, (800) 288-8309; Tradewind Charters (specializing in getting hitched aboard a boat) (800) 829-4899; Creative Leisure International, (800) 413-1000; American Hawaii Cruises (get married on a ship, followed by a cruise) (800) 765-7000.
Q. When is the best time to go to Hawaii for good weather, fewer crowds and reasonable air fare? Could the Hawaiian cruise ships be disappointing (are the “Constitution” and “Independence” decrepit?)
In the past there was a package travel agency that offered a very low standby price for a Hawaii trip with land tours if there were last-minute openings. - J.M., Coconut Creek, Fla.
A. Hawaii’s tourist seasons and weather parallel Florida’s, with the biggest season and highest rates in winter, lowest in summer through fall. The fall season runs through mid-December and has probably the year’s best bargains.
Winter is the nicest time for weather if not for cost, but you may find some winter price breaks this year because Hawaii’s economy is shaky with tourism down. Airlines that fly to Hawaii work with tour companies, so have a travel agent amass some of the dozens of Hawaii packages offered by airline tour desks, hotel chains and so on. Or you can start by contacting the Hawaii Visitors Bureau at (808) 923-1811.