Hawaii Weddings and Events is committed to providing a safe environment for its staff and vendors and preventing abusive conduct in any form.

Hawaii Weddings and Events has a zero tolerance policy against any physical, sexual, emotional, or verbal abuse or misconduct from couples, their bridal party, family or guests to our staff or any vendors we have contracted on your behalf at your wedding.

Paying a fee for services does not grant anyone the right to be disrespectful to our team of professionals, or the other vendors working at your wedding celebration.

A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant who will make sure you are treated like royalty  on your wedding day.

Unlike your wedding planner or “day-of” wedding manager whose main focus is to ensure that your ceremony and reception are completely set while you are getting ready, your Lady in Waiting’s sole responsibility is to make sure you are treated like royalty throughout the getting ready process.

Your Lady in Waiting helps to enforce peace and quiet to keep stress levels down, especially with large bridal parties which can tend to be chaotic.

What do ladies-in-waiting do?

1.      Field those inevitable last minute phone calls from relatives about directions or issues that are not related to the ceremony or reception.

2.      Assist with any emergencies (errands, last minute fixes, etc.).

3.      Be the messenger for the bride

4.      Keep track of the bride’s personal belongings (veil, purse, make-up, bouquet, room key, etc.

5.      Bringing snacks and drinks to the bride and bridal party (provided by client, or we may arrange for you at additional fee).

6.      Making sure the bride has everything she has to step into her dress.

7.      Keeping dressing area organized for optimal photographic moments.

8.      Remain with the bride until that all important walk down the aisle when your coordinator/planner takes over until the end of the event.

9.      Straightens up your “getting ready” location while you are at the ceremony.

Our “Lady in Waiting” service is included in our new “Oasis Living the Dream” package specifically tailored to Kathy Ireland Worldwide’s Oasis Oceanfront Estate or Beachfront Oasis http://www.oasisworldestates.com/and may also be booked in conjunction with one of our other planning packages.

For some couples they know hiring a Hawaii wedding planner is a necessity, and for others they feel that they can save money and do everything themselves.

A big misconception is “I do not need a planner because I already hired all of my vendors.”    Yes, getting your vendors is a big checkmark, but it is just a small part of the total wedding planning process.

Did you get the RIGHT vendors in place?

Are your vendors going to be looking at ways to save you costs and maximize your dollar?

Are your vendors selling you more than you need?     Think of it this way, you don’t want to pay for a BMW when you only need a Toyota.

Is your caterer too busy to make sure that updates are made to your rental order in a timely manner so that you are not paying for anything more than you actually need on your wedding day?

Allow us to give you one simple example of wasted money:     Client contracted a caterer/florist that is supposed to be full service and take care of food, staffing, rentals and all flowers as well as their cake.

As the rental company that the caterer contracted requires all final changes two weeks prior to the event and does not own a special table size that was sold in their floral design, the client is now ”overpaying” almost $650 because of extra china, flatware, chairs, glasses, plus an additional $80 delivery fee for the subrented tables.   The caterer also does not own basic catering equipment (water pitchers, tongs, chafers, etc.) which is also added to their invoice.

If we were involved in their pre-planning process, we would have made arrangements through a different rental company.    This would have not only saved the additional $80 delivery fee as they do have the special table size they need, but we would have been able to make adjustments based on their lower guest up to three days prior to the event so they are not paying for items that are just going to sit there unused.

Are you REALLY saving money by NOT hiring a Hawaii wedding planner?

Our Hawaii Weddings and Events team is honored to be selected for The Knot Best of Weddings 2012 Pick!

We’re so very grateful to all of our “Knotties” who have taken the time to write reviews about our services and have continued to support us by helping other brides understand what “Amazing, Fun and Stress-Free” really can mean for them.

We know that trusting someone with one of THE most important days in your life, especially our destination brides that we often do not have a chance to meet until the week of the wedding, is not easy, so we do consider it an honor to serve you.

The best part is being able to share this award with our past Knotties, many of which have become friends, some have started their families, and others are following their dreams by starting their own businesses.

We love exchanging holiday cards, keeping in touch via Facebook and knowing that we’re always there to support and inspire each other.

 “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ~Epictetus~

It never ceases to amaze me when a prospective vendor or sales person calls when I specifically requested in my correspondence that e-mail is my preferred method of communication.

The reason for my e-mail request was not to be anti-social, but for a matter of efficiency.  I was going to be out of the office for a full pre-planning day and I also wanted a quote in writing so that I could just forward it to my client for their review, versus having to write everything down and then retyping to e-mail to my client in Japan.

Sequence of events:

Sunday :  E-mail was sent to prospective vendor with specific needs and request to e-mail quote.  Response from vendor:  I will call you tomorrow.   My response, will need to call Tuesday because I will be out all day Monday for a pre-planning visit.

Tuesday – Telephone tag and didn’t connect, advised will be off tomorrow, so please e-mail quote (specific details of needs defined again which were very clear).

Wednesday – our scheduled day off  – missed call from vendor although we advised that was our day off.

Thursday – Left vendor another message, please e-mail quote so I may get it to client who has been waiting.     No response, e-mailed another vendor the same request noting my preference for e-mail communication.

Conclusion:   Second vendor responded with e-mail quote on the same day which was forwarded to client who will be booking their services.    First vendor wasted five days, did not respect request for e-mail communication or note the scheduled day off and lost the business.

Are you listening to your customer?    We always ask our clients what their preferred method of communication is (telephone, e-mail, Skype, in-person (if possible) so we may note it down, and we also let them know that they can update their preferences at any time.

No matter what you do in life, you shoud have some sort of path to your Visions and Inspirations.   Yours may be in the form of a goals list that you will mark off as completed, or you may have a photo board displayed next to your desk, or another means of reminding you of your goals.

One of my favorite quotes is “Begin with the End in Mind.”   ~Habit 2 from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People~ which basically teaches you that you need to determine where you want to be before you can create the path to get there.

As we’re most often on a laptop computer, we chose to create our Visions and Inspirations Board by creating a photo album in Facebook https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150484453069834.392675.831309833&type=3

Some may wonder why we “put it out there” for all the world to see, but think about it……are you going to accomplish all of this on your own, or are you going to do it with the help of your family, friends, colleagues, peers, etc.?     If the “universe” is aware of your goals, you have a greater chance of achieving them because you are supported.

We encourage you to take a few hours to figure out what is most important to you at this time in your life (both personally and professionally) and make your list, cut pictures or find the pictures that will continually remind yourself of your goals.   We’re all human and may not achieve each and every one of them, but we sure do stand a much greater chance of achieving most of them if they are in the forefront of our minds.

January is always the month that everyone sets New Years’ resolutions, which more often than not last a couple of weeks and then they are forgotten. 

In lieu of making resolutions that fail as you did not create a plan of action to achieve them, develop a SMART plan which may be used for your personal goals, business and may even for your wedding planning.

Specific -Be precise about what you expect to achieve.

Measurable – Include amounts, times, days and other milestones for gauging success

Achievable – Be reasonable; is your plan attainable given what is presently happening in your life?

Relevant – Be sure your plan is meaningful/important to you.

Trackable – Record your progress regularly to measure your achievements.

I’ve been very fortunate to have some great mentors throughout my career, each bringing their unique talents and honest feedback to ultimately help me grow.     I have to say, there were times that I really hated some of these people for they made me do things that was out of my comfort zone, but in hindsight, each and every one of those things I despised made stronger, more confident and much wiser.

Onf of the biggest lessons that I learned is that you need to not only educate your team, but you also need to empower them and most importantly support them.

I remember when I was Director of Catering and Conference Services at The Kahala Mandarin, Oriental and one of my staff came into my office with her tail between her legs (figure of speech of course).    It had taken her all day  to muster up the courage to come see me and let me know she had misquoted something.    When she approached me I asked her “what’s the matter” and she said “I made a mistake and misquoted a rate  to a new client.”  Much to her surprise I told her “okay” and she was like “okay?!?”    I replied “yes, everyone of us has misquoted something at some point in time.  What you need to do now is call the client back and let them you misquoted a rate but you will honor it for them only.  This special rate will not be extended to any friends or family members, only you.”     She was still in shock and said “I was so worried, I’ve been sick to my stomach all day.”   I told her “the important thing is to learn from your mistake.  If you come in next week and do the same thing then you’ll get a different response.”

Over time, I ended up starting my own event planning firm and the young lady explored opportunities in Singapore and Hong Kong and came back to Honolulu.   We reconnected and I’m proud to say she started with Hawaii Weddings and Events as a coordinator and was promoted to Special Events Manager last year.    There have been many events that she has taken on that I know was “way beyond” what she thought she was capable of handling, but she successfully rose up to each challenge as she knew that I believed in her and was always there to support her and guide her.

Like a butterfly, she came out of her cocoon and gradually learned to spread her wings with grace and confidence.

Some of the ways I “pay it forward” is:

• Teaching a “Wedding Management” class at the University of Hawaii for students from Japan
• Having students from Ka`piolani Community Colleges’ event management class gain practical experience by working with us on events.
• Offering a non-paid internship program
• Continually developing my Hawaii Weddings and Events team to help them achieve their dreams and goals.

We encourage you to “make the time” to mentor someone who has a passion in your industry.  Imagine what would have happened if nobody took the time to mentor you?

I recently had to let a caterer know that we would not be able to refer their services until they are “back on track” with their business and able to respond to our clients in a timely manner.    The business is experiencing what I call “growing pains” which is when you take on more than you may handle with your existing staffing levels.

I’ve had this same conversation about “response times” with a couple of florists as well.  One florist took my “words of wisdom” to heart and has since added on administrative support a couple of days a week, trained the staff to handle the smaller orders and their business is flourishing.  The second florist still continues to try and do everything on their own and is losing potential business as a result.

How do you raise the bar?     Hawaii Weddings and Events has always been known for its high standards and dedication to service excellence.    This core principle is exemplified in the many kind reviews that we receive from our valued clients http://www.weddingwire.com/reviews/hawaii-weddings-and-events-honolulu/20e45160b6edc0ab.html.

As a professional planning firm, we also expect the vendors that we refer to have the same standards of excellence and genuine concern for the guests’ experience.

By taking the time to “coach”‘ others we are raising the bar so that vendors know they need to continually strive to improve their services and products to meet the ever changing needs of our clients and we will not settle for less.

By taking the time to educate interns about the true “ins and outs” of event planning we are teaching them the things they will not learn in a classroom, set the expectation bar high and teach them how to use a Visions Board to visualize their goals and create the stepping stones to achieve them.

Raising the bar may only be achieved by continually educating yourself and always finding new ways to exceed the expectations of your clients.

“Hawaii Salute to the Congressional Gold Medal Veteran’s” banquet which will   be held at the Hawaii Convention Center on Saturday, December 17, 2011.    This “once in a lifetime” celebration is to honor the Nisei veterans from 100th, 442nd, MIS and 1399 who served in World War II.

We’ve been very busy finalizing details with the Congressional Gold Medal planning committee which is comprised of many dedicaetd sons and daughters of the veterans, Go For Broke, BAE Systems (the title sponsor), volunteers from the Japanese Women’s Society Foundation and students from Kapi’iolani Community College event management class assisting on the event day.

Please visit www.congressionalgoldmedalhawaii.com for more specific details regarding the Victory parade and banquet to honor the veterans.