wedding — Blog 1

After putting off a celebration for three years, my wife and I decided to have a casual party where friends and family from the U.S., Japan, and elsewhere could gather, have fun, and enjoy each others’ company. We decided to do it in Honolulu in the fall of 2023.

Even though we intended it to be casual, planning it was a lot of work. In this blog, I’ll share who we worked with for our wedding and our experiences with them.

Circumstances and wishes

Accommodate approx. 120 guests
No ceremony
Fully outdoors
Easy for guests to get to and from
Sophisticated yet casual vibe
No sit-down buffet or course dinner
Minimum number of speeches and formalities
Accommodate English and Japanese-speaking guests

Being that this wasn’t typical, all hotel packages didn’t fit and every time a coordinator or vendor we’d reached out to responded with an overly romantic message, we’d get the feeling that they wouldn’t be a match.

Despite these challenges, the night was a success and exceeded all of my expectations.

Here’s what we used and who we ended up working with from to make the night happen:

Invitations & Management

Wedsites

Having guests that needed both English and Japanese communications added a challenge to finding a wedding management service. Wedsites was the only service that we could find that provided multi-lingual online invitation, email and website templates.

It wasn’t a perfect system. For example, it was difficult separating guests by their preferred language when sending out emails as there wasn’t an option to sort by it, so we had to check them one-by-one when sending. And because everything revolved around a template, we couldn’t control things such as how to display dates and time in a manner that was native to Japanese.

Overall though, it seemed like the best service that we could find that had some ability to accommodate multiple languages, and it did the job relatively well.

https://wedsites.com/

Venue

La Pietra School for Girls

The Great Lawn at La Pietra School on an afternoon in Honolulu — The Great Lawn at La Pietra School was the main area for our wedding party

La Pietra was our first choice from the start, but they don’t open their schedules up until March, and that would be too close to our September target date to bet everything on them. We actually had the Hawaii State Art Museum lined up, but their communication with us was spotty at best and overall, they weren’t really helpful. We also found out later that due to their location and lack of parking, it would be basically impossible to have valet service, and the nearby area is not the safest for night events with friends and family.

Luckily, La Pietra notified us that we could select a target date with them and it happened to still be available. While they’re not the cheapest option and they come with some strict rules and limited parking, they were very responsive and helpful throughout the process. Their location at the foot of Diamond Head is fantastic, their campus is beautiful, and they made for a great location to have our celebration.

https://www.lapietra.edu/about/facility-rentals/inquiry

Planner/Coordinator

Lauren R.

Finding a planner/coordinator was a bit difficult, especially because we started our search only a few months before our date, and because most wedding planners have their set approach and teams. We, on the other hand, were looking for something a bit different from the typical.

Our planner/coordinator happened to be someone who had never done a wedding before.

We got connected to her through my mom’s friend. Moving back to Hawaii a few years ago, Lauren’s experience centered around doing events and corporate parties for companies on the U.S. Mainland, and her non-traditional approach and experience getting people to socialize and interact was perfect.

Throughout the process, she was very helpful and made sure everything went the way it was supposed to. She doesn’t have a website or anything that I know of (this was just a side gig, after all), but if anyone’s interested, contact me and I’ll reach out to her and see if she’s open to helping out. I’d definitely recommend her.

Catering

Livestock Tavern & Tchin Tchin! Bar

Salmon Mousse Profiteroles

Livestock Tavern

Bar

Tchin Tchin! Bar

Pork Belly Bao

Livestock Tavern

Shrimp & Garlic Sausage Skewers

Livestock Tavern

Ricotta & Fig Jam Bruschetta

Livestock Tavern

Two of Downtown Honolulu’s hippest spots, they’re actually run by the same company. While we reached out to a few other vendors, Livestock / Tchin Tchin! were the ones we were hoping for from the beginning because we wanted to have food and drink vendors that we actually liked at our party.

They were really good at working with us to adjust our menu as well as offer services to us so that we wouldn’t have to find someone else to help out. They provided cocktail foods and drinks, had wait staff walk around the party offering the dishes and bartenders handing out beer, pouring wine and mixing the cocktails.

At the end, they did all the clean up and everything went really smoothly. They even kept our leftover drinks for us to pick up at their restaurant a few days after. If you want friendly service and a crew that does things well, I recommend them.

https://livestocktavern.com/

For non-alcohol drinks (seltzers, coffee, water, kids’ juices), we bought and packed them ourselves, then brought them to the event. Livestock / Tchin Tchin! were willing to man those stations for us for the evening.

Black Sheep Cream Co.

Perhaps our favorite ice cream in Hawaii, Black Sheep Cream Co. was our first choice when we thought about having a dessert vendor. They have an amazing list of flavors to choose from, and we could choose 3 for our party, a cookies-and-cream one, coffee and black sesame.

They came about an hour into our party, discreetly set up a little cart under an umbrella that we were asked to get for them, and began serving. We were also able to pick up the leftovers from their Waipio location which was great since we like their ice cream so much.

https://www.instagram.com/blacksheepcreamco

The Alley @ Aiea Bowl

Serving a slice of lemon crunch cake from The Alley at Aiea Bowl — Lemon crunch and strawberry crunch cakes from The Alley at Aiea Bowl were among the desserts served at our wedding party

We’re not fans of most American cakes, they’re too sweet. But how can you have a party without cake, right? One of the cakes that we like is the lemon crunch cake from popular local spot Aiea Bowl.

We ordered lemon crunch cakes and a strawberry crunch cake of the same style, had someone pick them up and bring them to our party. Cake stands and servers were prepared by us, and our planner/coordinator helped with managing their set up and clean up. It seemed that everyone else liked them too as I think they were gone pretty quickly.

https://aieabowl.com/restaurant/bakery/

Hauoli Pastry

A bowl of mochisadas covered in a layer of sugar — Chewy mochisadas from Hauoli Pastry were dropped off and placed for self-service

Hauoli Pastry and their mochisadas were introduced to us by our planner/coordinator. We had planned on having malasadas, the doughnut-like pastry that’s popular in Hawaii, but when I went to try these mochisadas at a school fair, I wanted to find a way to have them instead.

Mochisadas are small chewy, mochi-like doughnuts with a light sugar coating on the outside. John, the pastry chef and owner, had options to either set up a booth and cook them on-site or do a drop off just before dessert time. We chose the drop-off, our planner/coordinator handled it, and everything went smoothly. I’m really glad we were able to have these at our party, although I wish could’ve eaten more!

https://hauolipastry.com/

Tables, linens, etc.

Event Accents

An outdoor wedding party on a big lawn with Waikiki buildings and a sunset in the background — Furniture was rented from Event Accents, and they transported, set up and took down everything

After browsing catalogs and reaching out to a few different furniture rental companies, Event Accents had the most options at reasonable prices, and they were able to accommodate our weekend event.

Their rental minimum for a weekend event was $5,000, but our order exceeded that mark. About 4 hours for set up and 2 hours for clean up was requested, so this did add to the time we needed to rent the venue. Everything was completed without issue and the staff was responsive and helpful throughout the process.

https://eventaccents.com/

WedCycle

A garland of leaves and small white flowers in a circle on a white table with small candles, a disposable camera and a sign encouraging guests to take photos — Tables were decorated with a combination of rentals from WedCycle and The Wedding Linen Company, florals from Watanabe Floral and items we made or provided ourselves

We bought some of the small decorations ourselves on SHEIN and Amazon, and at places like Target, but we also rented a lot. WedCycle, a boutique rental service located in West Oahu, was a great option as it helped eliminate waste since we only had plans to use a lot of decorative items once.

While they asked to change the exchange time from what was planned, the owners were personable and everything went smoothly.

https://www.wedcyclehawaii.com/

The Wedding Linen Company

While Event Accents rented out linens through their partner, Fine Linen Rental, their prices were quite high and many of the options had to be shipped in. The Wedding Linen Company had the linens we needed for a lot less and they came pressed when our planner/coordinator picked them up.

https://theweddinglinencompany.com/

Wasara

Due to the casual nature of our wedding party, we decided to have disposable plates and utensils. As you know, most of these types of things are unstylish. We decided to buy matte black plastic forks from Sabert, and we bought paper plates from Wasara.

Based in Japan, Wasara adds class to typical paper dishes and disposable utensils, items that almost always get overlooked in the U.S. Square-shaped and designed with a slight wave, these plates were easy to hold, just the right size for the cocktail foods, and they looked nice. A lot of guests made positive comments about them as they’re not known or seen.

https://wasara.jp

Floral

Watanabe Floral

The go-to place for flowers on Oahu, Watanabe Floral had options to customize floral arrangements for pick up or delivery as well as individual items for purchase.

Having Watanabe make the arrangements were ridiculously expensive, however. For an 8-foot garland for a farm table made of an arrangement of mainly greens and a little bit of small white flowers, we were quoted $640/each. For a 4-foot version, $320. Delivery would’ve been $40.

This would’ve totaled to quite a bit considering there were several tables to cover, so we decided to purchase the items individually and put them together ourselves. It was a lot of work, but it saved us a lot of money in the end.

https://watanabefloral.com/

Cindy’s Lei Shoppe

Located in Chinatown, Cindy’s Lei Shoppe had a nice catalog at decent prices. Some leis we were considering weren’t available and a couple of our orders needed to be adjusted, but that can’t be helped as they depend on the flowers coming in.

Their staff was really friendly and patient, especially with me since I don’t know much about flowers and leis. We’re very satisfied with them and recommend them.

https://www.cindysleishoppe.com/

MC, music & entertainment

Torch Hawaii

For lights, sound, MC and DJ, we went with Torch Hawaii as we’re connected through a mutual friend. They were able to overcome some big external issues that was out of either of our hands, and were flawless for our event.

The MC, Kaulana, was really personable and always made us feel relaxed and reassured that things were being taken care of just how we wanted it. He’s amazing at reading the crowd and their energy, and responding accordingly.

Prior to the party, we submitted a short song list so they could get a feel for what we wanted them to play throughout the evening, and the music was on point for the whole time. We’re really happy to have been able to work with them and would easily recommend them.

https://www.instagram.com/torchhawaii/

Jordan Paul

What’s an outdoor wedding party without live music, right? To set the mood at the beginning of our event and for the first hour or so, we had local singer songwriter (and my cousin) Jordan Paul perform. Based on Kauai, Jordan not only performs locally but has also toured as far away as Europe, performing for enthusiastic crowds there.

He was a breeze to work with and was exactly the vibe we were looking for. Guests who didn’t know we were related came up to us complimenting him, so I definitely recommend checking him out.

https://www.instagram.com/jordvnpaul/

Photography

Colby and Jess

As someone who takes photos myself, I was a bit particular about who I wanted to work with. I looked around at potential candidates but would find reasons to not go through with them. I was referred to Colby and Jess by a great photographer we worked with in Japan, Sam Spicer.

Colby flew into Honolulu from Maui, was really chill and easygoing, and helped us feel relaxed in front of the camera. He was able to capture great photos of us, our event and the moments that happened and delivered 385 shots from the evening. We're very happy that we worked with Colby, wouldn't hesitate to work with him again, and would recommend him to anyone.

https://colbyandjess.com/

Signage

Zazzle

Due to their wide range of customizable products, Zazzle proved to be a good one-stop option to get our signage and thank you stationary from. We ordered directional signs for parking and guidance, a welcome sign, drink and food menus, and tabletop directions on what to do with the disposable cameras that we had left out for guests to use.

Products could be designed on the site simply by editing existing designs, and everything arrived as ordered with no issues.

https://www.zazzle.com/

Guest Photo/Video Sharing

Guestpix

We wanted our evening to be documented as much as possible, and getting the guests involved is a great way to do that. Guestpix allowed guests to easily upload the photos and videos they took into a gallery that could be downloaded and shared by us after.

This could be done by providing a link to an online drive, however this service was more seamless for those who may not be as tech-savvy. QR codes were generated by the service and we printed them out and left them around our event for easy access. We were able to download all of the content submitted and everything was separated into folders according to which guest uploaded them.

It’s a pretty easy tool to use and a great way to easily collect the photos and videos from your event.

https://guestpix.com/

Insurance

The Event Helper

Insurance was required for us to have by the venue, and we were able to get coverage quickly through The Event Helper. I’m not sure how they compare to other options, however I had no issues and getting coverage was pretty simple as it’s just going through a few pages of online questions.

https://application.theeventhelper.com/

Security

Honolulu Police Department

Officer presence was requested by the venue, and we were able to apply for an off-duty police officer through an online application. Payment was made by check directly to the officer who reported at the time of the event.

https://www.honolulupd.org/police-services/hire-a-special-duty-officer/order/

I hope my comprehensive list and reviews give some insight as to who you could potentially work with for a casual yet classy outdoor wedding party on Oahu. While planning was still a lot of work and at times quite chaotic, the actual wedding party went smoothly, guests had a great time and so did we - and that’s what matters.