Makena Weddings

Our Maui Wedding

Laurie and her team planned my dream wedding! Everything was perfect. My now husband and I went to Maui a year ago to pick our wedding planner and venue. When we met Laurie she made me feel so comfortable and got my vision right away. We planned everything over the year with... Read More phone calls, emails, texts, and Pinterest. Laurie has great relationships with all the top vendors on Maui and everyone she chose did an incredible job! We got married at the Sugarman Estate with close to 100 of our family and friends from around the world and it was the best day of my life! The setup was even better than I envisioned...Laurie went above and beyond. From the wedding arch with a petal aisle to the clear tents with strings on lights and chandeliers...it was all executed with perfection. She even surprised my husband and I by getting us a six foot locally hand painted Seating Chart. It was so elegant and beautiful and I was so touched by her generosity. It was actually raining the day of our wedding up until I put my wedding dress on. Laurie had everything ready to set up as soon as the rain stopped and everything looked so perfect once I started walking down the aisle you would never have known it was pouring 20 minutes before. I am so thankful for the incredible wedding Laurie and her staff executed for us. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT!! THANK YOU LAURIE!!!!

We had the best, most PERFECT wedding!!

Makena Weddings, is in our minds, the pinnacle of top wedding and event planners, they are truly the best, and it shows from their attention to detail and their genuine love for their brides and grooms and what they do. We love Laurie and Al, and haven't just had the pleasure... Read More of working with them, but have gained friends in the process, whom we will I am sure try and visit every time we go back to Maui in the future! Maybe that makes it not quite fair that I am reviewing, since, why wouldn't we give them the highest stars (though I would give them 10 stars if I could!), but I think that speaks to how great they and the team (especially Amie) at Makena Weddings conduct themselves, especially in such a stressful event such as a wedding, and all the personalities involved. Laurie was recommended to us by my fiance's family, who kept hearing about Laurie and Makena Weddings from family friends and people they met in Maui. Al was recommended to us by my fiance's uncle who used to live in Maui, and attended Hope Chapel in Kihei. The pastors there recommended Al only, they would not recommend anyone else, for a true Hawaiian-Christian-based minister. We did not want a generic officiant, we wanted someone who embued the spirit of Aloha and would bring our Christian faith into the start of our marriage, and the only one that we kept hearing about was Al. The fact that the recommended coordinator and pastor were married... made it destiny for us to not only want, but NEED to have them help us with our wedding! Al made everyone at the ceremony at ease. He made everybody laugh, cry, and have a genuinely good time at our ceremony, which I know can often have the cookie-cutter feel. I could feel everybody's love for us at the ceremony, and did not once worry that people were thinking about the cocktail hour or food/drinks after, Al kept their attention and focus on us the entire ceremony, and we thank him for that. We would recommend Al to everybody! Laurie was with me from the very beginning, planning, coordinating, organizing, contacting the vendors, and making sure all the details and big ideas came together. Through our conversations, she brought our ideas to light, and I trusted her enough to have free rein with some ideas of her own, which enhanced and added to what I imagined my wedding would be. I was completely comfortable and confident in her abilities, and I knew she always had our best interests at heart, no matter what anyone else suggested or requested. We had the perfect wedding, everything came together beautifully and I didn't have to wonder if a vendor would show up, or how everybody would work together, Laurie took care of everything behind the scenes and always had a happy smile when she came to check in on us to make sure we were happy and having the best day of our lives. My only complaint is that there wasn't enough time!! Makena Weddings made our wedding so much fun that nobody wanted to leave after 6 hours of ceremony/cocktail/reception/dancing, that's how good they were, we could have probably gone for another 4 hours and never have known what time it was!! BEST WEDDING EVER!!! Mahalo nui loa Laurie, Al, Amie, and the entire Makena Weddings ohana!! Me ke aloha, Mr. & Mrs. Danny and Leslie Ward

Laurie and Makena wedding team is amazing!!!!!

Laurie planned and delivered the fairy tale wedding that we had hoped for. In fact, she exceeded our expectations. My friends and family stated that the wedding was something that you only saw in a movie, and we were finally in one. We hired Laurie as our wedding planner for... Read More Sugarman's Estate in Maui, HI. At first we wanted to plan the wedding ourselves, but we quickly realized that we were not locals and it would be hard to connect with vendors from California. She drove us around West Maui and South Maui to pick a location. She was very insightful in terms of explaining the pros and cons of each location. Also, she gave us a quick estimate on the spot for each location. We chose our location and reserved Sugarman's one year in advance. Within that year, my husband and I began to brainstorm various ideas for the wedding. We sent these ideas to Laurie who gave us suggestions when we ran into stumps. I am a very detailed oriented person, and I wanted every aspect of the wedding to be perfect. I gave Laurie my grand dream, and she executed that plan to perfection. Imagine yourself looking at some amazing photographs online, and you think to yourself "I want this for my wedding." After you do that a few times, you think to yourself that this might not be possible because it's so amazing to plan something that beautiful. Well, it did happen. Laurie took those gorgeous photos and turned them into reality. She even added some extra finishing touches to make the dream even more memorable. We are so glad to have chosen her as our planner. One thing to note is that we live in a fast paced society where we want e-mails answered right away. We had contacted her a few times very early on. She didn't respond as fast we had liked, but remember that she has many weddings per week, so if you contact her 8 months in advance, don't expect instant responses. Just believe that your dreams will come true, and they certainly will. If you let her, Laurie will take the stress of planning off your shoulders. That's what she is there for: to make your experience amazing and at the same time unstressful. Laurie, from the bottom of hearts, Tony and I are grateful for everything you have done for us to make our wedding a fairy tale.

Laurie and Cindy are the best wedding planners you could ever chose for your destination wedding in Maui! It's such a daunting task to plan a wedding from overseas, but when we first met these ladies, my then-fiance and I knew we were in good hands! We had three wedding... Read More events: a day-before welcome cocktail reception, the actual ceremony and reception, and a day-after brunch. Everything, seriously everything, went so smoothly and miraculously enough for us, completely stress-free! Like us, all of our guests were blown away as well! Practically everyone has told us, both during and after our wedding, how "chill" and smooth our wedding flowed. We had so many people come to tell us they had the best time at our wedding and that our wedding was by far the best wedding they had or would ever attend! In fact, it's almost a two months later and everyone is STILL talking about it! Honestly, all my husband and I had to really do was tell Laurie and Cindy an idea of what we would like, and they exceeded all our expectations! Laurie and Cindy are complete pros at what they do! They helped give my husband and I THE dream wedding we never knew we wanted, but are so happy and feel so lucky to have had.

Laurie and Cindy were SO amazing to work with! I had a chance to meet with Laurie and Cindy about 11 months before our wedding as we live in Oahu and went over to Maui for a short wedding planning trip. They set up a food tasting and cake tasting for us. We met Laurie and Cindy... Read More and also met two photographers that we were interested in. Everything turned out beyond perfect. I was the kind of bride who was on top of everything and sent the planners pictures of everything I imagined and it truly was our dream wedding. Also, Al was such a great officiant. Laurie told us we would feel like we've known him for years even though we did not have a chance to meet with him before the wedding and she was right, he made us feel so comfortable and relaxed during the ceremony. We met with Laurie and Cindy in Maui a few days before the wedding and they walked us through everything and made us feel at ease. We did not have to worry about a thing the day of the wedding! Thank you Makena Weddings!! *The only thing we would change was how quickly the waiters took our guests food and cake. The cake was cut and a piece was delivered to each seat as we were all dancing. I got to take one bite of my cake when I went for a drink break during dancing, I went back and my piece of cake was gone, and I was SO looking forward to our cake. They cut it all even though some people did not want it and I would much rather have had a few pieces cut and had it sitting on the cake table and have people take it as they want it so we could have had the rest saved and eaten it the next day.*

I just got married in Maui last weekend and can't say enough great things about Laurie and Cindy! From the start, Laurie was quick to respond and patient with my questions. When the flowers I wanted for my bouquet were being delivered in a less than desirable state as they were... Read More technically out of season, Laurie found a way to get some that were perfect. When it was raining as I arrived to my venue, she ran out with an umbrella to greet me. When the humidity was almost overbearing due to a lack of the trade winds blowing through, she had fans waiting on the chairs for each of my guest. Also, after looking at photos of the many weddings she has planned, I gave her free reign to decorate how she wanted based on my color scheme and a few photos I posted to Pinterest.... and yes, it turned out to be gorgeous and dreamy. I found myself sitting at the reception table trying to fully comprehend how absolutely beautiful and magical it all was. When Laurie wasn't available, her assistant Cindy was there to help me. I seriously can't say enough great things about them. She made the whole planning process so easy and made me feel secure in that she knew exactly what she was doing.

Makena Weddings is Amazing!!! It was an absolute delight to meet and deal with Laurie and Al. Our sunset ceremony was simple but magical. Everything was organized so perfect even though mostly we talked over the phone and personally met only a 1 day before the event. Laurie made... Read More everything so stress free and her guidance was priceless. Thank you so much for everything :) I am thinking maybe to renew my vows in 10 years  just to repeat the moment

I can't express enough how wonderful it was working with Laurie and Al. We arranged everything online and our simple ceremony was more than I expected! We could not have asked for a more touching ceremony. It felt like we'd known Laurie longer than the 6 months of email... Read More correspondences and on the morning of our ceremony and meeting Al, there was an instant connection and a trust that he would conduct a beautiful and heart felt ceremony. He did that and more. Mahalo Makena Weddings :-)

Laurie at Makena Weddings made our Kukahiko Wedding absolutely incredible. In fact, on their website is a short blog about our wedding and vendors and details to see for yourself! Laurie & Cindy make it happen. They ensured us that everything we wanted or needed, they would do... Read More their best to provide and figure out. They made the day of execution so comfortable as we knew they were handling every detail. Laurie is such a great person, great to talk with and share ideas and stories. Her passion is so evident and she is a joy to work with. With the Makena Weddings Team and all of the vendors that we had, we were able to have the wedding of our dreams. Thank you to Laurie and your wonderful team!

What great people to work with! My wife and I were married last week after coordinating our wedding with Makena Weddings from our home in Seattle. The whole process was easy, reasonably priced and most importantly to us, we were able to work with people who clearly care about... Read More what they do and those they help on this special day. Al, Laurie and Cindy were all amazing. You can't find a better person to marry you than Al - guaranteed! We instantly felt a connection with him. They also recommended a photographer that GREATLY exceeded our expectations (Michael Stuarts who works for Chris Evans). There was an additional charge for this higher end photographer but he was worth every penny. We didn't really have the money to add this additional cost, but I have zero regrets. What great photos. And what a great wedding. Do yourself a favor and reach out to the kind folks at Makena!

We can’t say enough good things about Makena Weddings and what an incredible job that Laurie and Cindy did in making our wedding something that everyone is going to remember for a lifetime! No detail was left out and Makena Weddings was able to accommodate our budget without... Read More sacrificing the elements of our wedding that we wanted. It really made the experience as stress-free as possible with next-to-nothing to worry about! Reverend Al was wonderful and conducted the ceremony beautifully. Our venue (Olowalu Plantation House) was the perfect setting and the food provided by Café O’Lei in Kihei was beyond delicious! Many of our guests have commented on how our wedding was the best one that they have ever been to and we owe that to Laurie and her team. We would recommend Makena Weddings time and again to anyone looking to get married on Maui! Mahalo!

Our wedding on the beach will always be a magical memory thanks to the Makena Weddings Team. All expectations were exceeded! The planning was easy. After the first call with Laurie, any concerns we had about a destination wedding were put to rest. The ceremony was perfect.... Read More Every detail was taken care of, and Rev. Al made it more personable than we thought possible. We look forward to working with this team again in the future for our vows renewal ceremony, and have already highly recommended them to friends considering a destination wedding. Thanks for making our perfect wedding a reality!

My husband and I are from Canada and, with the help of Laurie at Makena Weddings, we were able to plan our entire wedding from home without meeting our vendors ahead of time. I must admit that I'm 100% type A, which meant that I had a long excel spread sheet comparing 10... Read More different MAUI wedding planners AND that I had a very specific vision in mind. While many of the wedding planners that I emailed had great ideas and were able to accommodate our budget, none of them quite compared to Laurie. Laurie was kind enough to offer a phone interview to help with the decision process and after speaking to her, I instantly felt at ease. She very kindly explained that she can make any budget work for a Maui wedding and promised that she'd do her best to help my vision come to life. We had about a year of emails & phone calls back and forth- talk about patience! My questions were always answered, my ideas were always acknowledged, and any discrepancies in cost or budget were always reconciled quickly. Because she has been in the business for many years, Laurie has intimate connections with all of her vendors and so I felt comfortable trusting her suggestions. We got married at Olowalu resort and our wedding day was a magical dream! Everything turned out better than expected, and Laurie was there to keep everything running smoothly. From start to finish, Laurie handled the planning process in both a professional and genuinely-loving manner. It's obvious that she's passionate about what she does, because her heart seemed to be in it every step of the way. I would highly recommend her to future brides.

Several of my guests told me that our wedding was the best they've ever been to. This is certainly do to, in no short way, Laurie, Cindy, and Al. What an exceptional team! Laurie and Cindy coordinated with me for over a year and managed to give me my dream wedding in Maui. They... Read More were efficient, responsive, calming, and creative. They went above and beyond to deliver my vision and helped me deal with stressful issues (like our hotel being under construction) that did not add to their commission in the slightest. Laurie knows all the right people and the vendors they suggested were just perfect. Al was fantastic - warm, funny, and authentic. I could not have envisioned a better ceremony. Endless thanks to this outstanding team!

Absolutely Amazing! Everyone that went to our wedding has told us it was the most beautiful and amazing wedding that they have ever been to..and it was. From the beautiful venue, to Reverend Al who made the ceremony special, to the decorations, music and performers, all were... Read More exceptional. Being the bride and letting Laurie handle all the details once we made our selections made my wedding day easy. She calmed any nerves before they started. She and Cindy made the day perfect. Everyone she recommended did an outstanding job and made our day something to truly be thankful for!:) We feel blessed to have found them and worked with such wonderful people. They are truly the best and bring the best out in people. Words can't express how wonderful they are at bringing your vision to life. MAHALO

Laurie is an amazing coordinator! She made the planning process for a destination wedding so easy and a breeze. She made sure everything went perfect and looked amazing on our wedding day. Reverend Al made us feel like we had known him for forever. He made our ceremony all that... Read More much more special. Anyone who is considering their wedding in Maui should definitely go with Makena Weddings, they are a great team and I couldn't thank them more for making our day a day to remember.

Our wedding was the most special and and wonderful evening of our lives. Reverend Al and his lovely bride Laurie took us in and embraced us with much love and the aloha spirit. They walked us through every step to make sure it was just as we wanted it to be. We wanted simple... Read More and it was much more than we imagined. Laurie took all the photo's and captured every moment. It was a day we will always cherish and have the photo's to look back on and share with our loved ones. The best choice to begin your journey together is Makena Weddings. Al and Laurie know just what to say and how to help you put it all together . They will share the love and warmth and magic of the beautiful island of Maui Aloha and much love Kathy and James

Laurie Terry planned my daughter’s Maui wedding two months ago. She did a fabulous job and helped us all have a wonderful wedding and phenomenal experience. She knows Maui and the providers and which options we should explore with her. Right away she sent us a list of... Read More photographers and we chose Scott Drexler who did an incredible job. Laurie took my daughter’s rather vague description for flowers and had it executed to perfection. There are so many things involved in planning a wedding and we could always get a hold of Laurie and her excellent team to work out the details. Laurie also offered excellent suggests for pre- and post-wedding activities. Laurie has an expression she uses a lot “Don’t worry. It will be fabulous.” With Laurie on your side you won’t worry and the wedding will indeed be fabulous!

We cannot say enough about how Makena Weddings made our wedding day absolutely perfect. Without a doubt, choosing Makena Weddings for our destination wedding was the best decision made in our entire wedding planning process. Laurie and her team walked us through every step of... Read More the way and really took our every desire into consideration and made us feel completely comfortable and cared for. After choosing the venue (Kukahiko Estate) and the vendors, we took a more "hands off" approach with our planning and told Makena Weddings our main requests and general feel that we wanted to achieve. From there, Makena Weddings made the wedding magical for us. We knew that our wedding day was going to be special, but the amount of care that went into all of the small things that were planned out for us did not go overlooked or underappreciated. They really took the time to make every detail just right. But aside from all of the details of the wedding itself, the entire process was fun and all the stress of planning a wedding was non-existent. They made us feel completely comfortable and cared for and treated us like we were family. There is something to be said about wanting to stay in touch with our wedding coordinator even after it is all over. We can't tell you how much we enjoyed working with Makena Weddings. We wouldn't have had it any other way.

My sister/maid of honour and I met Laurie by accident while waiting for another planner to show us around Kukahiko Estates - lucky for us, Laurie happened to be doing a site visit at the same time and she walked us through the property. She was lovely and helpful, and answered... Read More all my questions - it was meant to be! My now husband and I booked our wedding date with her a year in advance. The planning phase was great - she was very informative and honest, and gave us lots of options for various elements - everything from flowers and music to our marriage license and different activities and restaurants around the island. The couple days leading up to our wedding were not panicky or stressful at all - again, Laurie demonstrated her experience with wedding planning by going through all the last minute details with us and answering our final questions with confidence. I realized I didn't have a pretty hanger for my dress and she got one for me, plus she arranged a petal path for our ceremony the day before - I decided I wanted it at the last second. She also organized a mini rehearsal for our families beforehand, which isn't something she normally does but I had requested it and she made it happen. Our wedding day was incredibly humid, and Laurie was there to help get my dress on, making sure we started on time and having water/tissues/everything in between on hand for our families at the venue. I think she even managed to shoo away some passersby from the public access path around the estate! All in all, she was instrumental in making our wedding day very memorable and everything we wanted. And of course, we have nothing but wonderful things to say about Al! He performed an awesome ceremony and made it funny, heartwarming and romantic. He was great with our six-year-old nephew, who was our ring bearer - fist bumps and everything! Could not have asked for a better minister. If you are thinking about a destination wedding in Maui, definitely look up Laurie and Al at Makena Weddings. Love their work!

Laurie, Al, and Cindy made our wedding day as smooth as possible. We had a private ceremony with me and my wife and we were in constant contact with Laurie from the beginning. Whether it was paperwork that needed to be filed or options to choose from (photographer,... Read More hair/makeup, etc) they were always very prompt to respond. They were always very accommodating as we had planned our wedding during a very busy week in May but it could not have gone smoother. They always had time to answer our questions or concerns even though we had a very small wedding. As soon as we arrived on the island we got in contact with Cindy who also works on the team and she could not have been any nicer to work with. She told us exactly what we needed to do to prep for the wedding and called us to let us know how things were progressing. We ended up choosing Po'olenalena Beach in Kihei and had a sunset wedding on May 14, 2015. Since she was handling a lot of the details this allowed me and my wife to enjoy and relax in beautiful Maui as our wedding date approached. On the wedding day we finally got to meet Reverend Al, he performed a beautiful traditional ceremony including a lovely traditional hymn for us and always kept us loose and would always know to say to keep us laughing. This was truly a memorable day, and I am glad to have chosen the team at Makena Weddings to coordinate and plan our special day. They really go out of their way to make you feel comfortable and relaxed and it's really those special little touches that made our wedding day that much more memorable. Aloha!

Perfect

Reverend Al and his wife were the best. We contacted them looking to elope while in Maui, met with them in the afternoon and five hours later we were having a sweet ceremony that was perfect for us! They are very genuine people, and show they enjoy bringing people together. From... Read More a small ceremony or a large one, I would recommend them to everyone!!

Reverend Al and Laurie Terry are the best!

We couldn’t have made a better choice than Makena Weddings. Reverend Al and Laurie Terry helped us throughout the entire process, from getting our marriage license to helping us select a wonderful secluded beach for our wedding ceremony. Reverend Al’s sincerity and humor... Read More created a causal and warm atmosphere. We love how he incorporated the Hawaiian traditions of the “Oli Aloha” greeting chant, and the lei exchange. We highly recommend Makena Weddings to handle your wedding too. Mahalo nui loa December 30, 2014 Doug & Jean Fulton

Amazing!

My husband and I wanted this for our wedding: sunset beach wedding with only us, Hawaiian minister, guitar player, photographer and videographer. After hearing about and bearing the cost of attending other weddings, we wanted to just show up with no stress and get married... Read More without having to please anyone or worry about anything. Laurie delivered! I couldn't have asked for a better day! I had been communicating with her from the mainland for months before we even arrived. She was always fast to respond to emails. When we got there, we met at her house/office to go over the final details. Next, we were sent down the street to get our marriage license. Laurie had everything arranged and we were able to get in and out in a matter of minutes. Other couples sent from other planners were there for at least an hour as they didn't have the correct information or documentation. We were already looking at beaches while other couples were still having a "DMV" experience. This is how Laurie operates. The day of the wedding went insanely well. Regina, my hair and makeup lady, met me in my room while my then fiancé played golf. She made me look both beautiful and natural. No nasty airbrushing or contouring. My normal seaweed on a rock hair looked full and incredible. We then drove down and attended our wedding. Everyone was there waiting for us and it was a beautiful afternoon. Her husband, Reverand Al, is a pro and even had a tissue for when I started welling up. Laurie even made us reservations for dinner at our favorite restaurant after. Our photos turned out incredible. If you want a stress free, reasonably priced wedding where you can just focus on your day, Makena Weddings is the way to go. The attention to detail and quality of vendors is amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Near Perfect Day - Couldn't ask for better memories!

I cannot thank Al and Laurie enough! We were married last week on November 10th, 2014, and even though we had some bumps along the road (none of them because of our coordinators) everything turned out beautifully. A co-worker worked with Makena Weddings, so I went in based on a... Read More recommendation. They handled the details, including my extra requests to bring my own minister and an all-white bouquet. I was so concerned about not having enough time with the photographer that Laurie made a call, got us extra time, and never raised the fees. When my pastor was 45 minutes late to arrive, Laurie did a great job keeping everyone calm and rolling with it to make sure we didn't miss the sunset for photos. Our guitar player was fabulous and our photographers (MeewMeww) and videographer (who will also get rave reviews) were outstanding, staying late to take pictures because we lost 45 minutes of time with the delay. Everyone went above and beyond. After reading others' horror stories of working with coordinators, I highly recommend Makena Weddings. They know their business and worked hard to make everything perfect. It was the most fun I've ever had! Thanks Al and Laurie!!!