Recently, I was asked by one of my brides why I offer specials that saves them money and also make a donation to a charity in their honor.     My answer was quite simple “it is the right thing to do.”

I came to Hawaii in 1984 and I was welcomed with open arms.      When my front desk clerk  hours were cut from 40 hours to 16 a week, I found myself struggling to make ends meet and literally survived on a 5lb box of gummy worms, popcorn and lots of cinnamon toast on my days off.  If you ever have complained about cafeteria food, I can tell you when that becomes your only meal, you have a whole new appreciation for what is offered and I would eat a mountain of food as if each were my last meal.

So what does a girl do?    I’ve never been one to give up and I’ve always stood on my own two feet, even though thoughts of living in my car had crossed my mind many times.   With a 90wpm typing speed, I worked part-time as a typist at Temple Emanu-El and also helped input hotel room reservations which helped to keep my head above water until the hotel occupancy was back in full swing.  I also took whatever training sessions that came up at work because you not only did you learn, but you got paid for training time and if it was enough hours, it gave me another meal.

Things of course, got better, as they always do, and I keep myself grounded by remembering the hard times and feel it is important to help others.   As the majority of my couples are both working and/or going to school, offering specials allows them the opportunity to afford a wedding coordinator which relieves stress and may not otherwise be an option for them.

It’s not exactly a rags to riches story as I still don’t own a home, or even own my car for that matter, but I am doing what I love, have a roof over my head, a family that loves me, live in a Paradise and have been able to achieve my dream of sending my two kids to college.  What else does a girl really need?

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In order to highlight the growing need for concern and awareness about autism, the Autism Society has been celebrating National Autism Awareness Month since the 1970s. The United States recognizes April as a special opportunity for everyone to educate the public about autism and issues within the autism community.

Want to get involved with the autism community this April? Show your support this month by joining the Autism Society in wearing the ribbon, bouncing for autism, texting, and more!

Spread the word. Helping the autism community can be as easy as updating your Facebook or Twitter status! On April 1, the Autism Society is asking supporters to change their status on Facebook and/or Twitter to “Autism affects 1 in 110. Text “AUTISM” to 50555 to donate $10 to the Autism Society. Help spread the word: http://bit.ly/bUAVRf.” For the first time ever, supporters can now simply text “AUTISM” to 50555 to donate $10 to the Autism Society. 100% of your donations will go to support the Autism Society’s mission of improving the lives of all affected by autism.

Last month we launched our “Charity Contribution Program” and were happy to donate $125 in “honor of” our four newest couples to the National Kidney Foundation.   As giving back is one of Hawaii Weddings and Events’ guiding principles, we will be continuing our program and supporting the Autism Society this month.

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March 23rd is Hawaii Weddings and Events Fourth Anniversary!

We would like to take this moment to once again thank all of our awesome clients who entrusted us with one of most important days in their lives.   Your continued support via referrals and references is priceless.  It was through “word of mouth” advertising that we not only sustained ourselves during tough economic times, but we actually grew our business by almost 20% in 2009 and are projected to do the same in 2010.

Throughout my career,  I was very fortunate to have great mentors that always told me to keep learning and giving, so two of my guiding principles is to give back and help develop the next generation of event planners with knowledge that really can only come from “on-the-job experiences” and I still continually educate myself by attending catering conferences.

So what does the future hold for Hawaii Weddings and Events?   First of all,  we are starting to interview candidates for “on-call” positions that we can train towards future coordinator positions.    Service excellence is our mantra, and I know from experience that some companies grow too fast in a short period of time and then they aren’t able to properly take care of their clients, so the next phase of our journey will be a slow and steady one to ensure our standards are maintained.

Other goals include:

• Continuing our monthly Charity Contribution Program with a new donor identified each month
• A wedding in a castle (my personal goal, haven’t figured out where and when yet, but I’m already visualizing it as you can see by the picture)
• Launching a new luxury division

In honor of our anniversary, we’re offering a very special $1000 savings on our “We’re Tying the Knot” Full Service Wedding Planning Package.  For more information see http://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-deals/1000-reasons-to-celebrate-our-4th-anniversary-honolulu/b21592eafc8689da.html .   This offer expires in 4 days (March 26th) is valid for NEW bookings only and may not be combined with any other offer.

Thank you again for allowing Hawaii Wedding and Events the opportunity to serve you, your friends and your family.

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Their theme was cherry blossoms and they used pink and brown as their color scheme.   Christine was very creative and made her own printed materials, including the reserved signs for the ceremony, own guest book, stickers and signage for her candy buffet and more.      In lieu of flowers, she also used pink and brown lanterns to line the aisle way for her ceremony that really popped in her pictures.

I had seen candy buffets featured at a catering conference in the mainland, but it had not yet made its way to Hawaii yet, so I was excited that she wanted to have one for her wedding.   We reused the reception table that was set outside the ballroom and surprised guests with the unveiling of the pink and brown candy buffet later in the program.    My daughter had the tough job of standing guard of the candy so that we could allow their photographer  an opportunity to take pictures, and also assisted guests to safeguard the tall wine glass vase which is still my favorite.    To help decorate the candy buffet, we brought in our chocolate brown bamboo runners and used extra cymbidium orchid flowers from her florist, and after her event, Christine graciously gave us her glass vases and scoops and that’s when we launched our candy buffet service which is used towards my daughter’s starving college student fund.

I always encourage my couples to incorporate elements that are unique to them.    Christine likes cupcakes and Brady likes donuts, so instead of the traditional wedding cake, their top tier was a cherry blossom decorated cake, the second tier was cupcakes and the last tier was donuts. Brady also had a creative side and made custom designed Nike shoes for himself and his groomsmen.

As with many of my brides, we still keep in contact and I recently had the opportunity to have lunch and visit with her in while I was in Las Vegas and met her 3 week old precious baby.   These are the moments that I truly cherish.

*pictures in this gallery are a combination of professional wedding pictures from Frank Amodo, non-pro pictures and the adorable baby picture by Christine’s iPhone

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As we approach our company’s fourth anniversary, I feel very blessed for the opportunities that have come our way to not only help our clients make their dreams come true, but also to give back to our community.

This past year we once again had the privilege of helping a deserving couple by donating our services for their “Wedding of a Lifetime” and also donated to the American Red Cross, Meals on Wheels, the Lokahi Program and food for Aloha Harvest.

Moving forward we are going to select one charity per month, and for every new confirmed booking we receive that month, we will donate between $25-$75 to the charity depending on the package selected.

March is kidney month, so we will be starting our new contribution program by donating this coming months’ proceeds to the National Kidney Foundation.   For more details on their organization, please see http://www.kidney.org/kidneydisease/kidneymonth/).

“It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.  It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.”  ~Mother Theresa~

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I’m very happy to showcase Hawaii Weddings and Events’ first “Featured Wedding.”

So, how did we select who to feature first?    With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching I’m quickly reminded of a very sweet and romantic couple from Washington DC who were married in July 2008.

Their wedding colors were a vibrant red and cymbidium green with a hibiscus theme .  They, like many of my destination weddings, used a combination of our virtual consulting time and day-of coordination which helped streamline the process of selecting their remaining vendors,  wrapping up loose ends and finalizing all details prior to their arrival in Honolulu so they truly could enjoy their wedding week.

Frank Amodo truly captured some amazing pictures of Ericka and Jeffrey (some are featured in the gallery along with a few non-pro pictures), including my favorite picture between the long surfboards and he also shot the winning image Swept Away for “Pacific Weddings” photo contest.   Reader’s remarked: “This photo reminds me of how I felt on my wedding day!”, “…a perfect example of a naturally captured moment”, “spontaneous, romantic, classic!”

Their ceremony was held at St. Augustine’s Chapel which was followed by what I heard was a very fun trolley ride with their bridal party prior to arriving at the Diamond Lawn located at the Moana Surfrider, a Westin Resort to join their guests.

Her bridal flowers and centerpieces were created by Su-V Expressions.  As usual, given a little creative freedom, Sue went above and beyond when making her centerpieces which were even grander and more beautiful than we both imagined.

Another highlight of the evening was a keiki hula performance and special “surprise” karaoke performances by the bride’s family and their ceremony highlights from the Big Picture which was followed by their own special slide show.

To  this day, we still keep in contact, and in fact, I encouraged them to come back to  Honolulu to celebrate their 1^st anniversary.  Fortunately there were some great travel deals ad they were able to make it.

We had a great lunch at BluWater Grill in Hawaii Kai and started reminiscing about the wedding day.    Ericka asked “did you know about my family’s surprise?” and I told her “no, it was definitely a surprise, and we had to figure out the best place to merge it into the program.”  The other thing I shared was that there was some technical difficulties that delayed their slide show, so we I worked with the other vendors and the banquet captain to make some adjustments in the program while it was resolved.   Ericka said “I didn’t know about that” and I told her “exactly…..that’s why you had a coordinator!”

We ended our visit by going to Bubbie’s Ice Cream which I have a feeling will become a tradition for years to come.   Ericka is very interested in event planning, so we always joke about me opening an office in Washington, DC…..trust me, if I ever do, she will be the first person I call!

I’m very thankful for having the honor of being their coordinator, cherish their friendship and truly appreciate their continued support of Hawaii Weddings and Events.

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In December, I was asked to create a “do it yourself” Valentine’s Day tablescape for the January/February issue of  “Chromatic” magazine.

Needless, to say, I was ecstatic with the opportunity and took a few days to contemplate what I could do that would utilize items that couples’ may already have in their homes, could be purchased locally and most importantly, could be re-used for other purposes.

This year, Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2010) also happens to be Chinese New Year’s.  With that in mind, I wanted to incorporate Asian elements into the design of the table, while at the same time,  keeping costs down by limiting the use of traditional Valentine’s Day flowers such as red roses.

Using items that I already had on hand, along with a shopping trip to Pier 1 (absolutely one of my FAVORITE places to shop) the design started to evolve.  I found a rich burgundy table runner with beautiful embroidery that would be more versatile than bright red, gold trimmed votive candle holders, heart bookends, bubble vases with candle holder, a rich red picture frame, red and ivory essentials plates and amber crackle stemware.

To keep costs down, I used beautiful red mokara orchids with bear grass at the bottom of the bubble vases with Island Orchard votive candles.   The bubble vases can easily be changed into completely different theme such as a sea theme with beach sand, shells and a blue candle.    The red frame featured a “Valentine’s Day Gift” poem for the evening, and may be re-used for a picture of the couple at one of their favorite places.

A few red roses were used along with the river rocks (which always lends itself to an Asian feel) along with the decorative chopsticks, wooden flatware and a Valentine’s Day menu printed on parchment paper which was custom designed to fit inside the plate and and printed on a basic HP Officejet printer.

Our non-pro picture is posted here, with professional images from Kris Labang are featured on pages 30-33 in the magazine alongside Elite Catering which is now featured on-line at http://www.chromaticmagazine.com/

“Chromatic” magazine which is a quarterly publication providing the people of Hawaii information on the latest fashion, beauty, hot spots, entertainment and lifestyle.

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Honolulu, Hawaii, January 19, 2010- WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced Hawaii Weddings and Events has been selected to receive the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Wedding Planning!

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

Hawaii Weddings and Events is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that Hawaii Weddings and Events is among the very best wedding planners within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™.

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Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.

~ Author Unknown ~

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Hawaii Weddings and Events had the honor of being the event designer and coordinator for Niko and Tazsha’s “Wedding of a Lifetime.”

Check out Hawaii Bride and Groom and OC-16’s one hour special tonight at 7:30pm on OC16.    If you can’t get to a television, you can also watch it online at www.oc16.tv tonight at 7:30.

Additional air times are listed below:

Tuesday January 12^th at 1:30am and 9:00pm

Wednesday, January 13^th at 9:00am

Saturday, January 16^th at 1:30pm

Sunday, January 17^th at 11:30am

Tuesday, January 19^th at 4:00pm

Thursday, January 21^st at 12:00pm

Friday, January 22^nd at 9:00am

Saturday, January 23^rd at 10:30pm

Sunday, January 24^th at 4:30pm

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the extraordinary Oahu wedding professionals who were involved in the wedding.  As with every successful event, it is a culmination of everyone’s talents that makes dreams come true.

Stay tuned as we highlight everyone’s contributions and additional pictures after the show has aired (non-professional pictures in our new blog photo gallery).

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