How Much Does a Beach Wedding in Hawaii Cost?
According to a 2019 Real Wedding Study * by Best Day Ever Hawaii Weddings, the average cost of a beach wedding in Hawai‘i is $4,200 USD.
Best Day Ever helps to plan dozens of beach weddings a year. Expert planner, Nicole Salmoiraghi gives a basic breakdown of actual real-life costs of a Hawaii Beach Wedding.
A beach wedding in Hawaii can be done well or inexpensively, but not both. For reference, this study is based on a thoroughly planned and executed, expertly designed Hawaii beach wedding. Not the type of beach wedding done on the fly that just includes an officiant and an i-phone camera. This study refers to the type of beach wedding that is simple yet pristine, a ceremony day that is beautifully designed and perfectly planned so that there are no hiccups or accidental mistakes. It includes a professional photography package, professional planner and an officiant. This average cost does not include flights, hotels, rings, dresses, shoes, or wedding gifts but it does include just about everything else. You can see the breakdown and details of the Real-Life Hawaii Beach Wedding Study* at the end of this post.
Let’s get into the details. What are the average costs incurred when planning a beach wedding in Hawaii? How much should I budget for this beach wedding? Here is a breakdown on exactly what the majority of beach weddings we have planned have spent their money on…
2019 Real-LIFE BEACH Wedding Study* Budget BREAKDOWN
$2,500 - coordination and wedding planning, officiant, photographer, beach permits, basic ceremony decor (aisle flowers, wooden signage), bride and groom Hawaiian leis, tossing petals
$200 - hair and makeup for bride
$250 - custom floral bouquet
$60 - 6 white orchid leis for guests
$250 - ukulele live musician
$350 - 15 passenger limo transportation to and from ceremony site, guests take uber back to hotel after dinner
$650 - dinner and drinks after wedding for a party of 6, private space in restaurant
$4,160.00 USD
Unless you've planned an actual wedding in Hawaii it can be difficult to grasp the actual costs. Many couples have no idea where to start with planning and no idea what their wedding is actually going to cost. I wanted to do a real-life budgeting breakdown on actual costs to help you get some insight as to how your Hawaii wedding will affect your bank account.
Many of the items included in the budget breakdown above are extras that many brides could choose to skip. This study was based on the "extras" that the majority of our couples decided to include. You could easily bring that total cost down hundreds of dollars if you were willing to cut a few things and go a cheaper route. For example, using Uber instead of getting a personal limo ($10 vs. $350) or using our speaker for music as opposed to having a live musician ($0 vs $250).
The hardest part about planning a beach wedding in Hawaii is finding good vendors and handling the logistics of the day. Both of these things are almost impossible to do if you are a bride planning a destination wedding and you don't live in Hawaii. We handle all of this for you so that wedding planning goes from stressful and overwhelming to exciting and FUN. Having a good planner can ensure that your wedding day is executed perfectly without any unexpected hiccups or added worries. We oversee all the wedding day details for you so that you can relax and enjoy every minute of your special day. It's an experience of a lifetime and one that you should place great value on. We're here to help!
For more information on our Beach Wedding packages, wedding budgets, or beach weddings in general, send us an email today!
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.
*Real-Life Hawaii Beach Wedding Study was based on 40 beach weddings booked between 2016 through 2019. The study only included weddings booked through Best Day Ever Hawaii’s “Simple Beach Wedding” package. The weddings were a mix a destination couples with wedding guest counts of 2-25. Hotel and travel costs, dress, rings, gifts, etc. were not factored into this study. Only wedding day ceremony costs were included in this study, specifically - wedding planning, photography, officiant, hair and makeup, musician, transportation and dinner costs. The total wedding ceremony day cost for all weddings were totaled and then averaged between the total count of weddings to come up with an average cost of $2,400.00 per wedding.