7 Tips to Save Thousands on your Hawaii Destination Wedding
With over a decade of wedding planning experience here in Hawai‘i, we are experts in cutting costs and staying within budget. Most brides have no idea what things should cost or how to create a reasonable and realistic wedding budget. These 7 tips could easily save you thousands of dollars if applied in the right way. Many are easy to do and could be done with minimal effort.
Want in on the secret? Let’s get into details -
Best Day Ever’s Top 7 Tips to Save Thousands
1. Re-use wedding flowers.
This is a simple trick that can save you hundreds of dollars. Something we suggest to all of our couples and something that most couples don't realize is even an option.
You can re-purpose your ceremony wedding florals at your reception, bouquets included.
Pro-Tip: After the wedding ceremony, ask your florist to take down your wedding arch florals and re-purpose that amazing floral masterpiece on the head table. Re-use the florals on the ceremony aisle seats at the cocktail tables. You can even have your bridesmaids re-purpose their bouquets in vases on the head table as additional guest centerpieces.
Your florist may charge you a small extra fee to handle multiple breakdowns, but it's very likely that he or she has done this before and is very familiar with the idea of re-purposed flowers. Your florist will design the florals so that they work in both areas and so that the flowers are created to be multi-purposeful. The small extra set-up fee you pay to your florist will be a minimal cost compared to what you would have to pay for double the flowers.
This simple little trick saves our couples hundreds of dollars and is something you can definitely implement as well. Just ask your florist or your wedding planner about it and request that your ceremony flowers be re-purposed at the reception. You’ll save a ton of money and your beautiful florals get double the use and don't go to waste!
A final thought - consider donating flowers at the end of the night to a charity like our Share the Aloha charity which shares wedding florals with nursing homes and children’s hospitals around the island. This isn’t a money saving tip, but something nice you can do to bring a little extra cheer to those who may need it. Learn more here.
2. Choose a weekday over a weekend.
In Hawaii, weddings on weekdays (Monday - Thursday) tend to less expensive than weddings on weekends (Friday - Sundays). Why? Mainly because a larger majority of couples prefer weekends. Sometimes brides will choose a weekend because they have friends on island who are working during the week. In general, weekends tend to be more sought after dates so to take advantage of their popularity, many venues and vendors have a higher weekend rate.
If you are having a destination wedding in Hawaii, having a weekday wedding over a weekend wedding should definitely be a considered. Especially since all your guests are likely all on vacation and won't have to work during the week anyway. Weekdays are less crowded and more relaxed. Many venues and vendors including photographers, videographers, hair and makeup artists and musicians offer weekday special pricing. Why would'n’t you want to take advantage of these amazing savings?!
3. Create a wedding budget.
Yeah yeah, make a budget. You’ve herd it before, but trust me - this tip will seriously make a huge difference in ensuring that you don’t go nuts overspending. When you’re planning a destination wedding, this is much easier to do than you realize so knowing how much you want to spend before booking any wedding vendors is key to keeping costs down upfront.
How to create a wedding budget in a nutshell: Do some research and get quotes from different vendors. Then put together a list of the venue options and vendors that you want to include in your Hawaii wedding. Use an excel or google doc spreadsheet. Decide in advance how much money you want to spend in each area. Price out the venue, the flowers, the photographer, the planner, the videographer, etc. Write down actual numbers. Even if you aren't sure what these things should cost, take an educated guess. As you reach out to different venues and vendors you will get a better idea of pricing and you can adjust each depending on which areas are most important to you.
Having a wedding budget in writing, at the start of planning will ensure that you know exactly where your money is going and how much you are spending. If you spend more in one area, just make sure to adjust in another. This may seem time-consuming but this little tip is essential if you are on a budget and want to make sure to save some of that money for your honeymoon.
To get started with creating a budget for your destination wedding in Hawaii and and for real-life Hawaii destination wedding budget samples, check out - The Average Cost of a Hawaii Wedding for inside tips on how much Hawaii vendors and venues should cost on average.
4. Use Uber.
Yup, I said it... Use Uber (or Lyft) for transportation instead of getting a limousine. Limos are amazing and they definitely make you feel like queen, but are they they essential? Probably not. Choosing to grab an Uber or carpool over getting a limo after the wedding can save you $400++ and is an excellent way to save a little money.
Most transportation services or limo-services here in Hawai‘i have a 3-hour minimum. When you are needing a ride from your hotel to the ceremony site, it is likely that you'll be in that car for 45 minutes max. If you are only looking at a one-way ride to a ceremony or a one-way ride back home, you'll have to pay for 3 hours each way regardless of how long your actual ride is. Add in tax and tip and this short ride can easily cost you hundreds of dollars.
If you are a bride on a budget, this is an easy place to save. Decide to carpool or Uber instead of taking a limo. Put this money towards your honeymoon or hotel stay instead!
5. Hire a wedding planner.
A big misconception many brides have is that wedding planners only manage the day of the wedding. What many couples don't realize is that your wedding planner may also your biggest ally when it comes to making sure you don't overspend.
A good wedding planner will negotiate pricing for you from other vendors like photographers, officiants, and hair and make-up artists. A well-established wedding planner is often able to get you special 'vendor pricing’, passing huge savings directly to you!
Additionally, your wedding planner should review your contracts and make sure that there are no extra, unnecessary charges tacked in that you don't need. She should advise you as to how much specific wedding services in Hawaii should normally cost and if you are getting over-charged in by a vendor, she will be able to catch this before the service is performed, adjusting your services and contracts as necessary.
Hiring a wedding planner early in the wedding planning process can ensure not only that you have a killer wedding day, but also that you don't get taken advantage of financially.
6. If you're doing a full wedding reception, choose a hotel venue.
There are two types of wedding venues - hotel venues and non-hotel venues.
What are non-hotel venues? Non-hotel venues are wedding spaces that may be rented out for a large event or party. It may be a large open grassy space on the ocean or a private estate on a beautiful cliffside. These types of venues are usually exceptionally pretty locations that you pay a large fee to rent for a certain amount of hours.
These non-hotel venues do not come anything except for the land (and occasionally the use of a home or bathroom space). This means that everything needs to be brought in that day, and broken down that night. You will need to rent everything from an outside rental company including a tent, tables, chairs, linens, lighting, silverware, plates, a bar, a dance floor, and even trash cans.
Many times you also need to rent portable toilets and pay several unexpected extra fees like a 'trash removal fee' or a ‘valet fee’. You also need to bring in your own catering company who will handle all the food and a bar company to handle the drinks, glassware and ice. You may end up paying three full staffing teams a set-up and break-down fee to handle your wedding day - the rental company, the catering company, and the bar team.
It surprises me that the large majority of brides I speak with assume that getting an outdoor, private, non-hotel venue is going to be less expensive than getting a hotel venue when it turns out to be really quite the opposite.
Hotel venues already include everything - the ceremony and reception space, a full set up and catering staff, a bartender and bar, all linens, tables, chairs and lighting - and so much more.
If you look at the entire wedding budget, an ocean-front wedding venue is almost always less expensive than a non-hotel ocean-front private venue. This tends to be one of my biggest tips to couples on a budget. If you want an ocean-front setting - choose a hotel with an ocean-front space! You still get the outdoor Hawaii destination wedding feel, without creating a huge hole in your wallet!
7. Look for a venue with an awesome wedding package.
Being one of the most sought after destination wedding locations in the world, Hawaii has tons of amazing hotel venues. The majority of these hotel wedding venues also have awesome wedding packages. These wedding packages can be unbelievable deals that you should definitely look into.
A hotel wedding package can include the venue fee, dinner, drinks, bartender, dessert, staffing, tables, linens, chairs, a ceremony set-up and an arch. Many times the wedding package may also include a night or two FREE for the bridal couple in one of their amazing suites. It is also not uncommon for many hotel packages to throw in additional discounts on pre-wedding dinners like the rehearsal dinner or post-wedding brunches or offer bulk room discounted rates (for your guests).
Many Hawaii hotels have a pricing system that works in wedding tiers. So if you spend a certain amount of money, you could get a free room for a night or a free wedding cake, etc. When getting in touch with wedding venues, specifically hotel venues, make sure to ask about the wedding packages. Booking a good wedding package with a 4 or 5-star hotel can often save thousands of dollars up-front.
Some of the hotels on O'ahu who have the best wedding packages are The Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki, Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore, and The Four Seasons in Ko'olina. If you are military be sure to also check out The Hale Koa Hotel in Waikiki for amazing savings and amazing wedding rates.
I hope you enjoyed my top money-saving tips and that you are able to use put them into practice. With all of our planning packages we make it a priority to help with budget planning. To learn more about our all inclusive packages like the Simple Beach Wedding or the Secret Island Wedding packages get in touch with us today!
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Happy Planning ✌️
Nicole
Nicole Salmoiraghi is the author and owner of Best Day Ever Hawaii Events + Weddings, where she helps brides + grooms bring their dream weddings to life. She is an expert planner and has over 10 years of planning experience. Follow her on Instagram, on Facebook and on Pinterest for more wedding inspiration, and Hawaii wedding insider tips.