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.

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’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.

As the peak of our 2011 wedding season draws near, our Hawaii Weddings and Events team will be putting together our 2012 vision boards for both personal and team goals.

Moving forward…..

- Dianna will be handling a limited number of full service and event design packages. She will continue to develop new concepts and is developing “value added” options with business partners for our valued clients.

- Wai will service full service and partnership-in-planning packages.

- Ramona will be handling our day-of wedding management packages, beach weddings and a few full service events.

We invest alot of time, hard work, devotion and long hours to ensure the success of each and every event. This dedication to service excellence is continually reflected in our positive reviews from our past clients.

We realize that our new direction will result in taking less events, but we feel it will be in everyone’s best interest.

Consultations are taken by appointment only with a recommended two week advance notice as our schedules do fill up quickly.

Evening appointments are available upon request.

Sundays – OFF
Monday – 10am to 6pm
Tuesday – 10am to 6pm
Wednesday – OFF
Thursday – 10am to 6pm
Friday – 10am to 6pm
Saturday – 10am to 6pm

We understand that the secret of our success has been to  meet the ever-changing needs of our clients, to continually educate our team be attending national catering and special event conferences, close relationships with our valued vendors and maintaining our core principle of “service excellence” which is reflected in our reviews http://www.weddingwire.com/reviews/hawaii-weddings-and-events-honolulu/20e45160b6edc0ab.html

We have been blessed to serve clients from all over the world, many of which have become our friends and we still keep in contact with them.     We consider it an honor to serve you and we’re so very grateful for your continued support.

Personally, I own Hawaii Weddings and Events and also serve as President of the Hawaii Event Group, which is comprised of a team of individuals which does large scale events such as festivals, fundraisers, corporate events and conferences which are typically held during the “off season” for weddings or managed by another team member.

We wanted to inform you that our Special Events Manager, Wai Phungpradet, will be starting a new full time job today and will no longer be taking consultations for new clients.

Wai has worked with Hawaii Weddings and Events on a part-time basis for the past 2 1/2 years and also worked part-time for a bookkeeping company and other odd jobs during the “off-season.”   In a time when full time jobs are still hard to come by, the opportunity for a stable income with benefits could not be passed up.

Please rest assured that arrangements have been made with her new employer and Wai will be finishing all of her current events for Hawaii Weddings and Events.  Wai will still remain as an “on-call” assistant so don’t be surprised if you still see her working with us on future events.

Moving forward, our Special Events Coordinator, Ramona Char, will be our primary coordinator for beach weddings, day-of wedding management, partnership-in-planning packages  and will also assist with full-service packages.

Our Director of Special Events, Dianna K. Shitanishi, CPCE, CMP, will focus on full service packages, training administrative support staff, business development and identifying and training another part-time coordinator who has the same passion, work ethics and dedication to service excellence.

During this transition period, we will be limiting the number of events that we take each month as our focus is continued quality events as reflected in our client reviews http://www.weddingwire.com/reviews/hawaii-weddings-and-events-honolulu/20e45160b6edc0ab.html not quantity of events.

Hawaii Weddings and Events offers a non-paid internship program whereby you let us know what your availability is and we will have you work with us on actual events.    Our rules to the program are quite simple, we ask for a commitment.    School and/or other jobs come first, but as we may be figuring out our scheduling/timing for the day based on having an extra person, it is imperative to know if you will be there.

How do we train?  We actually start you off with the basics, meaning that you will physically set-up tables and chairs and table settings.    Why?   By doing it, you will know it, as you will understand how important it is to lock the legs of a table, you will understand how far the tables need to be set apart, you will understand the “lumps and bumps” of the ground and how to level a table or make adjustments.  You will learn the difference between table sizes, what size linen you need to order and how many settings it can comfortably accommodate and although you may never have to set a table again, you will know how long that process takes which is important when you’re creating event timelines.

Why do we offer a non-paid internship versus paid?  It has been our experience that those that truly have an interest in our industry and want to learn, are willing to do so without payment as they know it is an investment in their future.    For those that we did pay, they really didn’t have the same passion and were just looking for extra income, and I don’t mind taking the time to teach others, but time is precious and I also do not want to waste time on someone who isn’t sincerely interested.

Internships, in no matter what field you are interested in, truly are an investment in your future.    Our coordinator, Ramona, interned with us for six months last year before she started working on her own events which is still with our support and guidance and has received rave reviews from her couples.  Through the internship period we got to see how she handled herself with our team, other vendors and also with the guests, even in challenging situations.

Another of our interns just returned from the mainland, and is now looking for a paid job.  We currently don’t have anything available, but being that I am kept abreast of openings by my peers, I was able to refer to her a job opening and give her a recommendation as well.    If a potential employer has two resumes in front of them and has 1)  had a person work with them as an intern and they did a great job, or 2) received a recommendation about a potential employee from a respected industry peer, then that person will have a higher chance of getting the job than just the person submitting the resume.