Your botanical garden Wedding
Step by Step planning guide
1. Wedding Questionnaire.
Fill out General Wedding Questionnaire here ➡️ WEDDING QUESTIONNAIRE FORM
2. Meet your Personal Planner.
A Best Day Ever professional wedding planner will be assigned to your wedding and will review your questionnaire. She will be in touch once she has had a chance to look over your wedding details. Each of our planners is very passionate about weddings and has tons of experience so right from the start you are in good hands! She will guide you through the planning process and assist with booking all of your vendors. You’ll be most likely working directly with Nicole, Alyssa or Danielle. We will be guiding you through the entire planning process so just wait for our emails and answer our questions when we have them. We’ve designed planning to feel stress-free so we won’t be sending you too much info. at one time and will be trying to space things out accordingly. We will be in touch with you if we need more info. at any point.
3. Invitations.
Once your date and location are set, you can order and send out your wedding invitations. Invitations can be ordered online through sites like www.Minted.com or through www.Etsy.com or you could order through a local graphic design company. If you are sending out invites by mail, here is the info. you’ll need to know.
Wedding Ceremony -
Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens
45-680 Luluku Rd
Kaneohe, HI 96744
O’ahu, Hawai’i
If you are not sending out a printed invite, this can also be set up through a wedding website. Websites can be made for free or for a small fee through companies like www.appycouple.com. We would suggest sending out invitations a minimum of 3 months before your wedding date to allow your guests time to plan for travel. Having a set guest count will also be helpful to you in the planning process and the earlier you know your guest count the better. This step is one that you will handle on your own.
4. Finalize Your Travel Plans.
Book hotel, air, car and all travel details. The earlier you do this the more money you'll save. We always suggest www.TravelZoo.com as a great spot to find the best travel deals around, often saving you 50% or more! This step is one that you will handle on your own.
♦️ Keep track of what is going on with the Covid19, quarantine and travel changes in Hawaii - HERE ♦️
5. Meet your Officiant.
As you are working out your travel details and invitations, your wedding planner will be checking in with our most trusted officiants and hand-picking one special for you based off your personal wedding details, notes and needs. She will introduce you to your officiant once the details are set. You will be able to email and talk to your officiant to personalize your ceremony as soon as she sends you his or her contact info. All officiant fees are paid by Best Day Ever and included in your wedding package. To learn more about the marriage license process here in Hawaii please click here.
*If you are bringing in your own officiant (ie. a Friend or Family Member is marrying you), please make sure that they are legally ordained and that they have registered with the State of Hawaii at least 2 weeks prior to your wedding date. He or she will need to register online here: https://emrs.ehawaii.gov/emrs/public/registration.html. Fee is $10.00. Once approved your officiant will receive an electronic notification with their approved license number and certification.
6. Book Transportation.
Once the officiant is booked and the hotel and beach locations are set you can now also look into securing transportation. If you are planning on taking guests to lunch, dinner or a luau after the ceremony you may want to skip this step for now and come back to it later. Not sure who to book? No problem, just check our "Preferred Vendor List" under the top right tab that says "INFO”, or ask your planner for help with this step. To book transportation you will need to know all pick up and drop off locations plus pick up and drop off times. We do assist with setting up transportation upon request. For the botanical gardens location we’ve found it most convenient to drive yourself as there is lots of parking here. OR you can get an Uber or Lyft ride.
7. Meet your Photographer.
The next thing that your wedding planner will be working on is securing your photographer. With each of our wedding packages comes a top rated, professional wedding photographer. Your wedding planner will introduce you to your personal wedding photographer after she has gone over all details with him or her and secured the date. If you have not received a formal introduction email to your photographer yet this step may still be in progress. Your photographer will be chosen for you based on availability. In this introductory email you will receive info. on his/her website, portfolio and reviews. Photography fees are included in your wedding package. We will pay your photographers first hour and for the first 30 edited photos. If you'd like to add on additional time with your photographer at the beach or in a separate location, please check with him or her for their fees. If you do not want to use our photographer and would prefer to book your own please let us know. We can credit you $250 if you decide not to use our photographer.
Note: You will get professional photos of the wedding ceremony, photos after the ceremony (with family/friends), solo and couple photos and may request to get some beach photos as well.
8. Order Flowers.
8. Your package already comes with 1 beautiful brides lei, a grooms lei and rose petals (for tossing after you say "I do"). The brides lei is usually a Pikake lei but Pikake florals are seasonal, so if they are out of season we usually substitute white tuberose. If there are two brides or two grooms, the proper leis can be substituted as well. The grooms lei is usually a green leaf maile lei with floral wrap (this is also seasonal so if it’s out we substitute with a ti leaf grooms lei). If you would like to additional flowers like a bouquet, boutonniere, flower circle, florals for the aisle, additional tossing petals or additional leis, we will help you with all of this. Don’t worry about this step yet. Your planner will check in with you on this when it is time and will send you the floral questionnaire. We will work with you and the florist to secure all flower decor. We will also pick up and drop off all flowers for you on the day of the wedding and help you to set-up everything. If you’d like to get started on this ahead of time, or just want to get ideas, you can view the decor and additional floral options by clicking the link below.
9. Book Vendors
If you have checked off that you would like to add in any extra vendors on the wedding questionnaire form (hair and makeup, video, musician, livestream, etc), your wedding planner will be working on assisting you with these bookings of these vendors one by one. She will reach out to you with questions (if she has any) and will get you custom quotes complete with detailed vendor descriptions and special pricing negotiated down for you. Once you have received the vendor quotes from us you will need to book and pay each of the vendors directly.
If you are more of a DIY Bride, you may also reach out to vendors on your own by using our PREFERRED VENDOR LIST
Please send us copies of all of your vendor contracts so that we can add them to your wedding file and keep note of the new details.
10. Apply for your Marriage License.
Please fill out the online Hawaii Marriage License form. You may do this up to a year prior to your wedding. Once the application form is filled out you will just need to bring a copy with you to the marriage license office when you sign the paperwork. You will sign the paperwork no sooner than 30 days prior to your wedding day. Most couples take care of this when they arrive on island about a week or two prior to their wedding. Don't forget to fill out the application before you go in! If you are already legally married, you can skip this step, we will still have a marriage license keepsake for you to sign on the day of :)
11. Last Items.
- Refer to our ULTIMATE CHECKLIST for all other last items. These include your dress or suit, bridal party clothing and gifts, rings, shoes, choosing ceremony songs, etc. The list above is just the items we will be assisting you with, but there will still be several other misc. items that you will need to handle on your own.
12. Timeline.
Your planner will spend the last few weeks putting together your timeline and detail/contact list. Please make sure you have sent her all your vendor contracts no later than one month prior to your ceremony date. She will review all vendor contracts and add in all relevant information to that timeline. She will contact each of your vendors separately and send them a copy of your timeline along with any other necessary details (set up times, hair and makeup times, etc.). She will also send you a copy of the timeline once it is finalized.
13. Arrive in Hawaii, get your Marriage License.
MEET MARRIAGE LICENSE AGENT - Once on island, go to the Dept. of health with your marriage lic. application to get your marriage license. It is a pink paper and you will need to give that to your officiant on your wedding day. Make sure you've already filled out the application form before going to the office. The marriage license office is located in Downtown Honolulu (about a 15m drive from Waikiki). The address is: 1250 Punchbowl Street, Room 101, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96813. You may also set up an appointment with an agent who can meet with you if you don't want to drive downtown. More info. on that can be found on the - HAWAII MARRIAGE LICENSE WEBSITE
14. Wedding Day.
- Your wedding day is finally here, now what?
I cannot stress this one enough ~ ENJOY IT !
The day will fly by and it's a really special one, so please don't let anything ruin it, make the most of every second and really soak it all in. It's a magical, perfect day, and we really want you to take in every minute of your "Best Day Ever". Everything is done and ready to go, you just need to follow the timeline and enjoy the day.
Nicole and her team will be at the ceremony location early to set up and to go over instructions with your vendors. Transportation and hair and make-up will be coming to you (if you decided to book these items). Everything else - don't worry, we are taking care of it.
Is it raining? Don't worry about that either, we are checking the weather report from the moment we wake up and working out a plan. 95% of the time, rain will just pass by and shower your day with blessings, clearing right before you say "I do". If it doesn't pass, we'll work out a back up plan for you.
No questions, even better, just relax, have a glass of champagne (or coffee!), and get ready for your "Best Day Ever!"
🤗See you soon!
~ Nicole & the Best Day Ever team