8 Tips in Selecting the Right Maui Wedding Planner for You!
Maui has been voted "Best Island in the World" many times over. But perhaps you didn't know that Maui just happens to be the most popular wedding destination in the entire Pacific Ocean. Half of all the Hawaiian weddings taking place in the Islands of Aloha, are performed on Maui. It beats out Hawaii, Kauai and even much more populated Oahu (where Honolulu is located).
There are many reasons for this, including the great beaches, the awesome sunsets, the uncrowded conditions, and a romantic atmosphere like no other island in the world. But before you run off and book your own Maui Dream Wedding, it might be a wise idea to select a top-of-the-line Maui wedding planner. This article will give you just the information you need to make the best selection of your Hawaiian wedding planning company:
1. Find a Maui Wedding Planner who has a good website.
It is virtually impossible for any company to do wedding planning on the island of Maui without a website. A good website should make good sense. It should give you enough information so that you can make an intelligent decision about a wedding company before you even call. It should be well organized and easy to navigate, because you won't want a disorganized company coordinating your wedding. And the website should give you a good sense of the philosophy and outlook of those who run the company.
2. Choose a Maui Wedding Planner who gives you their names and business address and phone numbers right on their website.
In every wedding market, there are always a number of companies who seem to like hiding behind their website. In some cases, they have worked at making their identity hard to find because they don't enjoy too much contact with their clients. They will cloak their identity, giving no personal information. They may even cloak their business name and address so that you don't really know who you're dealing with.
Some go so far as to eliminate their phone number so that you can only reach them through e-mail. Any of these signs could indicate that you are dealing with a fly-by-night company or one who is only a middle-man, hiring another company on Maui to perform their actual weddings.
3. Select a Maui Wedding Planner who answers their phone.
On the surface, this may seem like a silly point. Doesn't everyone in business answer their telephone? Some companies may have an answering service, so they can call you back at their own convenience. You want to connect with a real person. If your call does go to a voicemail, please leave a message, the Planner may be on the phone or away from their desk, see if they call you back in a timely manner.
4. Pay attention to the way a Maui Wedding Planner treats you on the telephone.
You will want to do business with a planner who treats you with honor and respect. You want a wedding planner that you connect with, in the first few minutes, most importantly someone who will listen to what you want not what they want to sell to you. How you are handled on the phone is a good indication of how you will be treated during the planning process and on the day of your wedding.
5. Find a Maui Wedding Planner who has experience.
Over the years many young women have told us that they see planning weddings as a dream job. Here on Maui, there are many who have thrown up a quick website and begun to tell their friends that they are now a Maui wedding planner. Experience is so important, especially here on Maui where their are so many different things to know, including wedding locations, legal questions, types of flowers, the difference in wedding vendors, which ministers and photographers are the best, etc., etc. A company who has a track record of having planned and coordinating many different Maui weddings is more likely to be good, or they wouldn't still be in business.
6. Choose a Maui Wedding Planner who has planned and overseen a variety of different weddings.
You want a wedding planner who has the kind of experience which matches your needs. For instance, if you are planning a larger wedding with catering and entertainment with lots of details, you don't want to hire a Maui wedding coordinator who has planned only a few larger weddings. Make sure to ask if they have planned the kind of wedding that you want to have.
7. Choose a Maui Wedding Planner with the "Aloha Spirit."
"Aloha" means love in Hawaiian. Those of us who live in Hawaii enjoy the attitude that is here and which comes, first and foremost from the native Hawaiians. But all of us who live on Maui and who enjoy the incredible job of planning weddings for all our couples, want to practice the"Spirit of Aloha!" We want to treat you like you're family (or ohana, as we say here). It is wise to look for a Maui Wedding Planner who truly treats you like you're part of the family.
8. Choose a Maui Wedding Planner who is a member of the Better Business Bureau.
This final point is probably our most important tip. In any industry there are always companies who do not treat their clients well. Even companies who have been in business for years. On Maui there are wedding planners who have had several unhappy couples. The easiest way to avoid such companies is to check up on them with the Hawaii Chapter of the Better Business Bureau. You can be sure that a company with a number of black marks will rise to the attention of the BBB. A member company offers you one more guarantee that you will go home happily "Maui'd."
