Aloha! So for a little over two years I had planned on writing reviews about the places we stayed and the services we used during our trip to Hawaii. Unfortunately it did take this long. But I feel I have the perfect outlet to share my experience with other travelers and those interested in taking the plunge in Hawaii, so here I go:
Planning a wedding is hard enough already, add in trying to do a destination wedding in a state that doesn’t do all inclusive anything, a specific idea of what you want, and trying to keep costs in check. The one thing that we knew we didn’t want was a bunch of people at our wedding. End up with pictures with or of people in ten years that we haven’t talked to SINCE our wedding? Ya you know who I’m talking about. I didn’t want a bunch of bridesmaids causing drama, hating their dresses, having to get up early for pictures, blah. My husband and I knew from the beginning we wanted to the four most important people in our lives, the ones who have always been there and will always be there for us, our parents. We wanted our siblings to come but it just wasn’t in the cards. I have placed titles above the different topics I will discuss so if you’re just interested in reading a review about a particular place to stay or a service you can scroll down to that topic.
The island of Kauai
I have to admit, when we first landed and got in our rental care I thought I’d landed in the middle of a twilight zone. Chickens on the roads, shabby looking homes, it was overcast to which didn’t help, and the traffic on the ONE road was terrible.
You definitely want to visit Kauai if you enjoying hiking, being outdoors, taking in breathtakingly beautiful views, and you sort of like the “country”. It’s a quiet island where the islanders are very friendly and the hustle and bustle that other islands possess doesn’t exist here. Once we got used to the island we didn’t want to leave and when we arrived in Oahu I cried because I wanted to go back. It grows on you that’s for sure.
Bed and Breakfast in Kekaha – Hale Puka Ana
I looked at several places to stay and there was something about the reviews that resonated with me about this little house. Not only was their view from the Lanai incredible, but there was a quaintness about it that was unparalleled, and they owned a boxer. That in itself is a story for another time.
When we arrived at the Hale Puka Ana and were greeted by Patrick, Jules, Koa (the dog), and Pico their baby girl. We were incredibly impressed with their friendless from the beginning. The breakfasts were OUTSTANDING, I am still addicted to pineapple from being in Hawaii. Like I said their view upstairs is great. There is one road that runs in front of the home and it isn’t really noisy, we didn’t notice it. There were 3 rooms so we occupied the entire downstairs area between the 3 of us, we each had our own bathroom.
We got in on a Tuesday and our wedding was on a Thursday. The evening of our wedding we came home to our room covered in Christmas lights, and fresh flowers all over the floors, and I believe like a sparkling juice or cider. We thought it was a nice touch considering you never know a guests preference on alcohol. I cried, it was so thoughtful.
Our parents left the morning after our wedding on Friday and we continued our stay through Sunday afternoon. Jules and Patrick surprised us by upgrading our room the following 2 nights so we got to stay in the little bit bigger room since no one else was going to stay there.
The only complaint we had was that the window unit for air conditioning caused the windows to be open slightly so in the mornings when they were up to water plants we woke up also. We were trying to recover from a serious case of jet lag while we were there, especially the first 3 days so that just made it a little more difficult for us to sleep. I would recommend earplugs just in case you feel this could be a problem for you. But you should know this going in, I mean it is a bed and breakfast and they do have a family.
You really can’t go wrong with your stay here, just know what to expect. We are so glad we decided to stay at the Hale Puka Ana and that we stayed on the west side of the island instead of the “busier” side. It’s only about a 45 minute drive to get to that side!
Wedding Officiant – Julie D. Wirtz

My husband and I neither one wanted to be married by an individual of religious background. I did a lot of researching and found Julie D. Wirtz. I reviewed her website, spoke with her on the phone and knew instantly she was the one. I felt her cost was appropriate and she was going to take care of everything for us. When we met her our 2nd day on the island she graciously helped us decide on the location and sat with us for about 45 minutes outside a little wine shop to get to know us better. The day of our wedding she had NAILED our vows. I actually had them printed on canvas and they hang in our living room now.
We wanted to get married in God’s temple, not the brick and mortar buildings others choose to get married in. God created Kauai with a special intent and we wanted to enjoy it’s majesty entirely. She captured that in our entire ceremony. I can’t begin to describe to you how absolutely appropriate it was, she was wonderful. You can watch and hear here in our video below.

Photographer – James Rubio
Ohhh I can’t even believe I have to write a bad review about our photographer, James Rubio. When we decided Hawaii would be the location for our wedding he was one of the first people I spotted, I HAD to have him take my photos. It was not even negotiable. Our parents were already helping so much so I decided I would put the money away to pay for him to capture our wedding day. He was easy to work with via the internet, he was also friendly on the phone, and when we met him in person he was just as sweet. Maybe a little timid but I won’t judge his personality. A few weeks after he photographed the wedding we received the images and I kept clicking through them hoping to see the magic I had seen on his website and Facebook page from other clients. I didn’t see it…… I had to click back through them again to get a good luck at some of the images and I bit my tongue a little because there were some great shots but I didn’t feel the magic that I did when looking through his portfolio. We did have a discussion about this and he did make some alterations to a few photos. We also look back at our pictures and find that we were looking at each other a lot or kissing during the photos. I wish he would have given us a bit more direction in terms of poses or to ask us to look at camera more. another reason I decided to have some additional photos taken later on. We wanted some where we were looking at camera.
My biggest complaint was that a few months later I tried to enlarge his photos (I had signed permission from him). I couldn’t enlarge anything over 8.5×11!!!!!! I was absolutely furious. He had not taken the images in HD or something. So there I was stuck with photos I had paid big money for and I couldn’t even enlarge them. We ended up having a smaller session back home with a friend, the images were just as good and we could blow them up for a large print in our bedroom. You can view some of those images here.
Overall very disappointed but we do have some very pretty images from our day.
Videographer – Techy 3 Studios
Now our videographers gave us an entirely different experience. We felt like we were in a reality television series and I’m not gonna lie it was awesome J. We met them the day before our wedding as we scoped out our ceremony location and they started filming me at the salon I got my hair done at the next day. Then, they followed us back to Hale Puka Ana, filmed my husband getting ready in one room and I in another. They captured the excitement of our families perfectly, especially as we were facetiming with our sisters back in Illinois. There were 4 videographers all who had very different but fun personalities. It was so much fun! We felt like they were old friends at the end of the night. I do in fact, still keep in touch with them. I guess you could say they were the groomsmen we didn’t have ;).

They also shortened our wait time to get our highlight video. They worked around the clock to ensure we would have it for our wedding reception back in Illinois just 3 weeks later. The day I received it I cried, everyone who has seen it since has cried. That magic I talked about earlier, this highlight reel oooooozed with it. It was even more special since our siblings, grandparents, and close friends weren’t there to witness our wedding ceremony. I was more than impressed with their professionalism and they made my disappointment from the photographer just about disappear. If there is one thing you need to drop money for it must be a video from Techy 3. You can watch our video HERE.

The one thing I was absolutely petrified about was my hair. How would I determine a salon to place my trust in on such an important day? I couldn’t have a practice updo done because, well I was in Illinois. I was going to have to bite the bullet and do my best to just research and trust my gut. Again, instinct kicked in and I knew I had found the right place just from one picture. Kristy’s salon had a sparkly chandelier, and like a bug to a bug zapper I knew this was the place. It also looked immaculate.
I met her briefly the day before my wedding. I showed her my idea, she assured me it was nor problem, played with my hair some and I was out the door. I was still incredibly scared it would be horrible but she did such a wonderful job. She was very pregnant and not overly happy by the amount of photographers and videographers in her salon but she dealt with it like a champ and kept me calm ensuring me my hair would turn out perfect, and it did. You can see my hair and some of the salon in the video above.
Oahu
I don’t want to discuss this island, I cried our first night there, I was miserable. There were SO many people, our hotel was like it’s own island it was huge. There were stores everywhere, buses, it was dirty, EW. Not the Hawaiian I had just come from over in Kauai and definitely not the Hawaii I’d seen in movies. I don’t think I could stay there again and if I did I would do a lot more research.
Oahu Hotel- Hilton Hawaiian Village
If you like huge hotels this is for you, the place is ginormous. The line to check in took forever and it was easy to get disoriented. There were a lot of children with their families which is fine if that’s the kind of environment you want but we were a couple on our honeymoon. Our travel agent said it came highly recommended and we went with it. If I could have a do over I would have tried to find a hotel myself that was more adult friendly.
If you’re trying to plan a wedding in Kauai please let me know I am always available to talk more in detail about some of the places I looked into before choosing the places and people above. Good luck and Mahalo!
Carpe the Hell Out of Your Diem —
Laci Jane

