Back to the grind…

Yes folks, I’m back from paradise. I was in Hawaii last weekend with Matt scoping out wedding locations. In case you haven’t already heard, I’m planning a destination wedding. Mainly because I thought it was going to be easy and I couldn’t screw it up. I’m finding out that assumption is the dumbest one I have ever made. I’m hoping to have a stress free wedding. Ideally one that I can just throw a dress on and show up. But there is the location to be found, a budget that both Matt and I can live with, and one very important factor is making sure that Mom is happy. Ugh… I have my work cut out for me. I am planning on hiring a wedding planner to handle a lot of the details so I don’t go completely bananas but still…

We visited two islands, Oahu and Maui. Here are some pictures of locations that we are seriously considering.

This first set of pictures is of the St. Catalina Chapel on the east side of Oahu. Very pretty church with stunning views of the ocean and a nearby island. The bummers are this is about 30 minutes from Waikiki and any kind of lodging. So a reception on the site is a must. I talked with a wedding coordinator and he says that he can bring in a private chef to cook in an adjacent building.



The other chapels that we saw in Oahu were nice but not what we were looking for. One concept that I thought was really interesting is that someone constructed a chapel right on the water. Neat idea but the chapel wasn’t the nicest one that I saw and definitely not somewhere I want to get married in. The person who built it could have done a better job let’s just say.

This next location is absolutely stunning and is my first choice. We’re trying to reconcile the budget so that maybe we can get married here. It’s the Grand Wailea in Maui and let’s just say that as soon as I saw it, I wanted to put a dress on and walk down the isle. The grounds were absolutely breathtaking and there are 3 gazebos where you can take pictures in. The resort has a wedding package that includes pictures, a wedding planner, flowers… basically, I can show up with a dress and get married. However, holding a reception there would also be pricey. I’m planning on having 30-40 guests so this may be a bit much. But a girl can dream can’t she?

This last place is the Maria Lanikila Catholic Church in Lahina. Very old historic church with lots of character. The cons are that Matt and I would have to attend marriage counseling (which I think is a good idea for any couple) which could mean delaying our wedding. Matt’s not Catholic either which may be a problem. Basically, we have to get our parish priest to convince the Maria priest to let us get married in the church. Hmmm… for a couple who isn’t really into attending church I wonder what our chances are….



If anyone has any pointers for choosing a location, please help me! I hate feeling lost. To end this post, here’s a pic of the high surf on North Shore Oahu. Absolutely stunning.

In case you’re wondering if I did any cool touristy stuff, I did get to the USS Arizona memorial which is highly recommended to those of you who have yet to go. It is amazing to see what people went thru both on the civilian and military sides of Hawaii. I also got to take a swim on my last day on Maui. Absolutely heaven. I’m thankful that I don’t have any pictures of those to show you