Five Perfect Places For A Maui Wedding

Imagine your dream wedding on a sunny tropical beach overlooking the ocean or in a tiny Hawaiian chapel filled with fragrant tropical flowers. Maui is the place couples come to realize their dream and take away memories to last a lifetime. But where is the perfect place for you and your bride or groom to be? We’ve picked out five that are truly special. You can find photographs of each one on our website at: www.mauihi.com.

A great choice is Paako Beach, once known as Secret Cove. You’ll know you are in the right spot as soon as you step on to the prettiest little beach we could imagine for a wedding. You’ll find this dream of a public beach just South of Maui’s famous Makena “Big Beach” parking lots through an opening in a high black lava wall. A morning wedding gives you a spectacular backdrop of sky, sea, sand and black lava rocks for your photographs or video. And, sunset is a heartbreaker. Hard to choose.

If a church is in your plans, the coral block Keawali Congregational Church, is the perfect place. Built in 1831, Keawal’i means “calm harbor” and it’s worth taking a few quiet moments to enjoy the cove with its gold sand beach. The church is at Makena Landing and on Sunday Hawaiian language services attract a crowd. 190 Makena Road (808) 879-5557

Hotels are popular sites with their gardens, waterfalls and gazebos providing romantic backdrop. Major hotels have whole departments to coordinate weddings. The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, an elegant and sophisticated, luxury class resort with gently rolling lawns that slope to a white sand beach could be right for you. The hotel has the old plantation Kumulani chapel on its property. You can have your wedding in the chapel or in an oceanfront pavilion. Your wedding dinner can be in the famous Anuenue Room or you can host a larger group luau on the beach. What better place for a honeymoon than being coddled in the comforts of The Ritz. The Ritz has 550 garden and ocean view rooms with lanais, 24 hour room service, boutiques, pool, tennis courts and restaurants. It’s expensive and they really know how to take care of a couple. (808)-669-6200

Back to the other side of Maui for another first class hotel, The Grand Wailea Resort, Hotel & Spa. There is a private wedding chapel with stained-glass walls on the grounds. Along with koi ponds, there are wedding gazebos where you can take your guests to cut the cake. A 2,000 foot river pool wanders through tropical gardens with water slides and hot tubs. Money shows here, many millions. A water playground ($30 million), museum quality artwork ($15 million), 12 lounges, 5 restaurants and a 50,000 square foot marble spa, a mini-resort for kids. As you might expect, expensive. (www.grandwailea.com) (800) 888-6100

For a totally unique wedding site, we suggest the Waikapu Golf and Country Club. Known locally as "Marilyn's," this could be Maui's most unusual building. Frank Lloyd Wright designed the building. Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller wanted to build it in Connecticut but then they split up. One of Maui’s moguls had it redesigned (puffed up) and built for a clubhouse. The golf course closed and left this striking building where weddings of any size can be arranged and catered. There is a grand ballroom, outstanding views of Haleakala Crater and lovely gardens. 2500 Honopiilani Hwy. (808) 244-2011

Making it legal

The legal requirements for getting married on Maui are simple. Getting a license requires no blood test or waiting period, just a quick visit to a licensing agent. Call (808) 984-8210 for the name of an agent. Both the bride and groom must be present when the license is issued. The license is valid for 30 days. Both partners must be 18 years old to be married without parent’s consent. Divorcees will have to provide the date, county and state where the divorce was finalized. The application also requires the name and birthplaces of each partner’s parents. The marriage license which costs $60 payable in cash gives you permission to get married.

After the wedding, you need a marriage certificate prepared and filed with the Department of Health by your licensed marriage officiant or performer. You receives one certified copy of the marriage certificate upon payment of the marriage license fee. Marriage performers are licensed by the State of Hawaii to perform the marriage ceremony. For information about obtaining a marriage performer, you can visit The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau website or call them at (808) 924-0266.

Planning the great day

A Maui wedding can involve anything from one couple to 200 family and friends in a major traditional affair. All the resort hotels provide wedding services. Some have chapels or gazebos. There are more than 100 wedding coordinators to organize the photography and video, music, flowers, limousines, hair dressing, tuxedos and designer gowns, manicures and massage, invitations and balloons. The Merry Monarch Butterfly Ranch will even provide butterflies to be released during wedding ceremonies and hover around the wedding party.

It is easy to plan a wedding before setting foot on the island. Both the nonprofit Maui Wedding Association http://www.mauiweddingassociation.com and the for-profit Maui Wedding Network http://www.mauiweddingnetwork.com offer Web sites with links to a variety of vendors. Vendors offer wedding packages that range from simple and inexpensive (as low as $150), to an elaborate event with flowers, cake, musicians and champagne in a luxury hotel setting for more than $3,000. We maintain a list of wedding coordonators on our website. Don’t forget the mandatory T-shirts that say “Just Maui’ed.”

Hey! Have a great time!

About The Author

Keith Gilchrist, a 30 year Maui resident, is publisher of the Maui HI! CD-ROM Digital Vacation Guide and producer of the Maui HI! Website. Email: mindworks@maui.net

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