Mira Mira Events

Marlene is a dream to work with! She is extremely sweet, professional, and knowledgeable in the line of event planning. Her bubbly personality and positivity kept us calm throughout the entire process of planning. Being that she is a local girl (born and raised on Kaua'i)- she is very knowledgeable of the island and has built so many relationships over the years with people in her line of work. She provided so many wonderful suggestions and recommendations in regards to food, photographers, lighting, etc.! On the day of our wedding, we were in awe with how everything had turned out. Marlene went over and beyond to make sure that all of the little details shared while planning were displayed. She is so much fun! Marlene has an amazing talent of keeping everything organized and flowing- all while becoming that fun energetic person that everyone wants to have at their wedding! Her smile and laughter is contagious! Our guests could not stop raving about our wedding and our amazing wedding planner! If you're planning on getting married on Kaua'i- we HIGHLY recommend Marlene and her team at Mira Mira Events. We will forever be grateful for their hard work in creating the dream wedding that we will never forget. Thank you, Marlene and team!

e the wedding of our dreams. During a year that was filled with so much change and uncertainty, Marlene was our voice of reason. No challenge was too big or too small for her to overcome. And she did it all with poise, grace, and kindheartedness. None of it would've been possible without her leadership. Mahalo, Marlene! Forever grateful for your partnership and all that you've done for us.

of the traditional wedding planning experiences however Marlene still made us feel so special and really listened to what we wanted. She made our dream wedding come true in Kauai and we couldn’t have been happier. She is a local to Kauai so having those island vibes and aloha spirit were key to us, and she fully delivered.

making your day as seamless and easy for you as possible. I grew up on Kauai but now live in Seattle, so I knew I would be hiring a local wedding planner just to make our lives easier. My husband and I visited several wedding venues on a trip back home and when we asked for recommendations for a planner, they all said Marlene, she's the best. So, we hired her in the beginning of 2019, targeting an April 2020 wedding. While I knew what caterer I wanted to hire, she gave us great recommendations for all the other vendors, keeping in mind our budget and style. She has a great reputation on the island, giving her access to the best people for each job. From the hair and makeup gal or the florist, they were all spot-on. For more than a year she kept us on schedule, making sure our vendors were squared away, deposits were paid on time and all details were addressed. Then in March 2020, with a month to go before the big day, COVID hit. Marlene stepped up and helped us postpone everything. Every decision made over the course of the last year needed to be undone and she was able to ensure all our vendors could be available for our second wedding date. We also weren't her only clients at the time; she was juggling multiple postponements. Then it happened again. Our second wedding date neared and COVID wasn't going anywhere. She moved everything a SECOND time, to our third and final wedding date. At this point we had been working with Marlene for over a year and a half. By the time we were able to have the wedding we envisioned, Marlene had stood by our side for almost three years. Not only did she do the extra work of rescheduling our vendors twice, but there were also added requirements we needed to adhere to so we could get permission from the County of Kauai to have our 120-person wedding. We had an endless amount of Zoom calls with her, and she coordinated it all with a smile. Our big day arrived, and we didn't have to lift a finger, Marlene took care of everything. In fact, we barely saw her during the wedding as she was behind the scenes making sure all flowed smoothly. The next day, we woke up to all our wedding supplies neatly boxed and ready for us to transport home. Post-wedding, Marlene stayed in touch to tie up loose ends (we were owed a small refund from one of our vendors) and sent us a thoughtful "thank you" text on Thanksgiving. She really went above and beyond for us, and we now feel she is a part of our Kauai family. Marlene loves what she does and is just as happy as you are when your wedding dreams come to life. We would recommend her to anyone planning an event on the island.

on what we needed for our guests and she navigated every piece of our July 2021 wedding in a systematized way, all the while leveraging her longstanding relationships with the best vendors like only a kama’aina could. More importantly, Marlene treated us like family and truly embodied the aloha spirit. Marlene was completely accessible throughout the entire planning process, which ended up being twice as long as expected because of the pandemic. That says a lot considering we’d have to schedule our countless video meetings with her from NYC. She was unflappable in the face of all the rule changes for events that the pandemic threw our way. Even with the stress the pandemic added, Marlene threw us our dream wedding and remained our guardian angel to the very end. She really listened to everything we wanted our wedding to be and executed perfectly. For example, most of our guests were coming from NYC and LA, so we needed hip hop and dancing to be a big part of the reception. The DJ Marlene brought into our team was spot on! She also helped craft baby-friendly spaces since we and several guests would have our infants in attendance. Marlene is our family now—THAT’S how good of a wedding planner she is. We cannot recommend Mira Mira enough.

She planned everything (twice). Our trip was postponed due to Covid. Marlene kept in touch for 18 months until we could reschedule. She planned everything and it was perfect.

that we would also be in debt. We want to buy a home after we got married. So we decided to have a destination wedding in Kauai. When we first started planning we were overwhelmed with all the things we had to do (what vendors to look for, what venue is best, etc) and plan so we looked into hiring a wedding planner. We looked into reviews about hiring a wedding planner and pretty much the consensus was GET A WEDDING PLANNER. If you want to have a stress-less and a fun wedding planning experience, get a wedding planner. Especially if you do a destination wedding! So we went into searching for wedding planners in Kauai and looked at reviews and we decided to send out a few emails to different wedding planners. After our first phone conversation with Marlene, we knew she was the one for us. Not only was she very conscious with our budget, she knew all the vendors that works best for your taste and vision. She is always quick to respond to our emails and texts. We highly recommend Marlene if you want a stress-free planning on your special day. We were one of the unlucky couples that initially wanted to get married in August 2020 but due to COVID, we pushed our wedding to July 2021 and seriously Marlene was a champ and not only provided us several new dates to choose from but we also kept all our vendors for our new date. Seriously can you imagine how much phone calls/texts that saved us as a couple, on top of that all the stress of moving a wedding to a new date?!?! As a person, Marlene is very caring and actually went above and beyond her role as a wedding planner to us. She would FaceTime us and actually got to know our two fur babies through all our conversations. She really was more a family member to us than someone we hired for our wedding. Her attention to detail and her out of the box thinking helped us with our wedding and staying within our budget. The vendors that she suggest for you are the best!!! Trust Marlene! She knows! Since we were planning a small wedding, I wanted to do a Haku lei (flower crown) workshop for the girls and a Papale Niu (coconut leaf hat) workshop for the guys as a hangout before the big day which then leads into a rehearsal for the wedding. Marlene suggested Auntie Ronda (Haku Lei) and Uncle Onio (Papale Niu) and it was seriously so much fun! The ladies were able to wear their haku leis for the wedding and the guys were able to wear/keep their hats forever! For our rehearsal, Marlene walks us through what to expect for the big day and then we had our rehearsal dinner at our venue. We were unsure what to do with our rehearsal dinner but we decided last minute to hold the dinner at the venue as well. Thanks to Marlene again for suggesting our caterer (again) with their amazing BBQ menu. Like I said... AMAZING FOOD. On the day of our wedding we didn't have to stress about the little things because Marlene was there in the background making sure that everything was running smoothly. Seriously you will not regret hiring Marlene to help you make your special day come to life. Thank you Auntie Marlene for everything!!! I wish I can go back in time and just re-live it everyday!

rience-Marlene met all of our checks and more! Although our wedding was intimate with a small list of guest-Marlene’s ideas brought it to life! If it wasn’t for her recommendations and connections regarding officiant, cakes, lighting, tents, flowers, and photography-our wedding wouldn’t be the amazing event that it was. It was crucial for me to have a wedding planner who helps with rehearsals AND setting up the day of! I thought this was common practice for wedding planners, but read their information carefully because many do NOT provide Day of planning/help! Marlene was there through every step of the way, guiding us-even helping to clean up! She walked our very nervous families and selves through rehearsal, made sure everything was the way we wanted it, and made our wedding the most stress free event! Meeting with her for planning was relaxing and comfortable-she felt like family to us right away! We are so thankful for Marlene and her team. If you want someone who knows the island, who knows the best of the best vendors, and who can make your vision come to life-choose Mira Mira events!!!!

h COVID getting in the way of plans, she was steadfast and made us more calm every time we spoke to her. She is an excellent planner and anyone would be lucky to have her.

ly listened to our wedding vibe and understood what vision we were wanting for our wedding. She had great recommendations and vendor contacts and always kept us on track. Everything from our initial call, through the planning process and budgeting, to the day of – she was wonderful. She handled all the little details I didn’t even think of, and on our wedding day made sure everything was in tip top shape. She is professional, always smiling, and works very hard! With so many options for a wedding planner or if you are on the fence – search no more! LOCK HER DOWN! :)

e process. Marlene has a deep local knowledge of the island. She also has a very creative mind. Although some ideas were out of our price range, she was easy to work with and we always found a solution. Due to the complicated nature of the various locations of the wedding & reception and the fact that transportation is very tightly regulated on the island, coordinating was no easy task, but Marlene handled everything beautifully! She negotiated on our behalf and tried to bring the prices down when she could. We also charged Marlene to work with a restaurant venue for our reception instead of a traditional wedding event venue. She jumped right in, setting up meetings in person and getting back to us with the details that she learned. She worked and coordinated very well with all of our vendors including the DJ (who we changed last minute), photographers (who were not local and flew from LA), Merriman’s new event planner, caterers, etc. There were times that my husband and I had to take the lead on certain, more personal projects and Marlene always checked in to see how things were going. She set up timelines to keep us on schedule and we felt like we knew what to expect at every turn. We also couldn’t have managed without her being so accepting of us sending packages to her house! We mailed so many large boxes to her with decorations and gift bag items and she received them all and took great care of them. I wouldn’t have trusted anyone else. Marlene’s good energy and calm presence and DIY decorating skills on the day before and day of the wedding was a blessing and she truly made this crazy wedding come together beautifully! We are so grateful to Marlene and can’t wait to go back to Kauai - paradise on earth!!!

er level. Whereas others said "no" she said, "let me see what I can do," and was able to pull off things I wanted. She is not only knowledgeable about all the finite details that go into a wedding, she has amazing rapport with other vendors and hit every note needed to make our day amazing. She works hard so that I could enjoy the process, thinking of things from start to finish. She truly embodies the spirit of Aloha, and our day was a blessing in large part to her. Thank you Marlene!

, I ended up choosing Marlene because our personalities clicked well during our FaceTime, she was a local resident of Kauai who could expertly navigate the vendor selection process due to her ample experience, and she worked with me budget-wise to provide a fair and all-inclusive quote for her services. I found that the other planners I reached out to wanted either 15% of my overall budget (which I found ridiculous), or had moving target a la carte pricing when in reality, you want it all. Personality-wise, Marlene is extremely calm, positive, and organized. I really appreciate her listening skills and genuine care for all of her couples. She was always adamant about us making our own decisions and I never felt pushed to do anything other than what we wanted. With this being said, when I had no idea what to choose or do, she would offer her opinion and guidance in a pressure-free way. She did a great job of keeping me focused on our timeline, providing quick answers to all of our questions, and liaising with all of our vendors so that I didn't have to. She created multiple layouts for our event and took the time to walk me through everything so that I could make the best decisions for what we were looking for. A lot of vendors on the island are used to doing business in an old school manner and Marlene was the perfect middle man to help me work with them in a way that worked for both parties. She even passed her kama'aina/local rates on to us which was much appreciated! I had never been more glad to be on Marlene's team than when our florist and event design company (Martin Roberts Designs) went MIA and took our deposit with him. Luckily, this happened months before our wedding and she was able to convince an Oahu-based florist to do their first ever wedding on Kauai for us. Had I not had Marlene, I wouldn't have even known where to start and she really saved the day on this front. On the day of our wedding, I was able to sit back and relax while she and her team handled everything. Our wedding was hand down the best day of my life, and I was able to enjoy it stress-free, thanks in large part to Marlene. I highly recommend her to anybody wanting to plan a destination wedding on Kauai! Thank you for everything!

ut no clue as how to make them all come together! Enter Marlene! From the moment that we spoke to her, we knew she was the gal for us. She listened to all the things that I wanted, went over every picture and detail with me and miraculously put them all together even better then I could have imagine! Marlene has an amazing personality that helped to melt all of my anxieties making the planning process feel so effortless. From the amazing chefs to photographers, down to the seating and lighting details, Marlene made sure that everything was perfect! She even set up our ceremony in a specific spot with a view of the ocean and had it timed perfectly so that we had the sunset in the background in every picture! Talk about feeling the romance in each picture! Did I mention she got us the best photographer?!? Or that our guests were completely stuffed and beyond happy and impressed with the delicious food? We had 4 food stations which included a dessert crepe station! There was no detail that went unnoticed! After it was all said and done, we look back on our day and know that it would've not been possible without the help of Marlene and her amazing Mira Mira crew. Even now, I have my guests telling what an amazing wedding we had and that it was one of the best that they been too. Thank you Marlene for all of your hard work, your dedication to our vision and countless emails and phone calls that brought peace of mind and helping us capture the romance and love in every step of the way! We are truly blessed by you!!

lso planning this wedding from the mainland, so Marlene made the planning process a breeze. She immediately makes you feel like ohana (family) from the moment you meet her! I never felt overwhelmed or stressed because I trusted her expertise and relationships with local vendors so much. On our wedding day, there were so many little details that I didn't even think of, that she and her team implemented with such grace (ex. cute signs on the dessert tables, a gorgeous pineapple statue at the drink station, etc.)! For anyone looking to get married on the beautiful island of Kauai, I'd highly recommend Mira Mira Events to help you plan your special day!!

ith wedding planning, and were no longer having any fun. That is, until we fired that planner, and hired Marlene!! Hiring Marlene was the BEST DECISION we made for our wedding! She is literally AN ANGEL. She is amazing to work with for many reasons. She is extremely professional, upfront about everything regarding budget, and honest with you about your goals and expectations in a way that is very supportive. She communicates extremely well, and explains everything extremely well so that it's very easy to understand. Wedding planning can be overwhelming sometimes, but Marlene knows exactly how to keep you calm and happy. She puts you at ease because you know you can trust her. Also, she's from Kauai, so she has great relationships with everyone. That proved to be very important for our wedding. There was a hurricane the week of our wedding (at least the news said it was coming, it turned out it never came to Kauai!), and our venue said they were closing Saturday, the day of our wedding. So, we had to move our wedding up 2 whole days to Thursday! And had only 24 hours to make changes! It was a scary moment, we lost major vendors that were already booked on other jobs, like our tent! Our band, lighting, chair rentals, hair and make-up artist, etc., and Marlene came through on EVERYTHING! We got a back-up venue on the same property to replace the tent, she found us a new band that was AMAZING! I don't even know their name, but ask her who they were, everyone at the wedding was raving about them! She got our floral/decor vendor to come through with lighting and chairs for us (HUGE!) and found me a new hair and make-up artist duo that were LOVELY and did everything PERFECT! Without her many connections on Kauai, none of that would have been possible. We wouldn't have been able to even have a wedding. Most people will luckily not need to deal with a hurricane the week of their wedding, or moving up their date 2 days, but if Marlene can pull that off, she can do anything! I would not recommend anyone else to plan your wedding on Kauai except Marlene. She may seem a little more expensive than other planners, but she makes up for it by getting discounts with vendors that she passes on to you as the bride and groom. So she saves you money! On your wedding day, you want a planner that you enjoy being around, that feels warm and bright, and who's there for you no matter what. Someone who is a calm and comforting presence. That you feel supports you. Marlene is all of that and more. She is a ray of sunshine. When we hired her her website wasn't super up-to-date, but that's just because she's so busy she hasn't had time to update it! But her work and style are impeccable. Ask her for more photos of her work if you want to see it, she sent them to us! We'll hold a special place in our hearts for Marlene for the rest of our lives. I wish we were still planning our wedding just so we could still talk every week!

n I know and I couldn't be more thankful for that. When I told her my ideas she knew exactly what I was talking about, and working through my vision and budget, made it happen. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and I really could not have asked for anything more.

led oriented and went above and beyond to turn our wedding visions into a reality. We wouldn't know what to do without her guidance. Highly Highly recommend!

ator at our wedding ceremony venue - in fact - her words were 'Marlene is the only person I will work with' and now we know why! Marlene truly made our dreams a reality. My husband and I both had a somewhat vague vision in mind for our big day, and were having a hard time articulating it clearly. During our first meeting Marlene had us complete a prioritization exercise to help her understand what were things that were really important to us, and things we cared less about. During this process, Marlene made a point of ensuring both Matt and I had equal opportunity to share our opinions and vision, and where we were not totally aligned, Marlene helped us come to a common understanding. This process really helped us drill down to the things that mattered the most to us as a couple, and to identify areas where we were okay with accepting a compromise. Over the year of planning, we would have scheduled phone or skype calls with Marlene at a minimum of once a month, if not more. Marlene had a very organized and systematic approach to these meetings that balanced between being highly productive (and fun!), while ensuring we didn't feel overwhelmed. Prior to each call Marlene would send an email outlining areas she wanted to focus, and often included links or documents for us to review and make a decision on. In between meetings she was very responsive to emails and texts and was really good at tracking and following up on any loose ends. Marlene was also very conscious of our budget, and aligned her vendor suggestions to our financial means. Which brings me to another amazing thing about Marlene - she knows absolutely everyone in the industry! Her level of contacts and relationships with the wedding & event community is unparalleled. It is a pretty amazing thing to witness the level of respect and love the people of Kauai have for her. And it is totally based on her reputation and commitment to putting on amazing events for her clients! Every single one of Marlene's suggested vendors ended up being exactly what Matt and I had envisioned. Marlene made the process of working with these vendors a seamless experience. You can also tell that Marlene truly puts her client's best interest at heart - she was even able to negotiate a discount for us when there was a small misunderstanding with one of our vendors. A few months before our wedding, Matt and I planned a quick trip to Kauai so that we could meet Marlene in person (she is even more lovely in real life!) and connect with a few of the vendors. Marlene organized the whole itinerary for the week and made sure all of our questions were answered. In the days leading up to the wedding, Marlene and her team were in constant contact and oversaw the whole set up at both the ceremony and reception venues. Seeing all of these little decisions we had made over the past year actually come to life was amazing, and Marlene and her team executed it perfectly! Now that we have settled into married life and have had an opportunity to reflect on the whole experience, I truly believe when I say that our wedding would not have been as magical or as special without the help of Marlene. Marlene made our dreams a reality and for that we will be forever grateful.

ision for our dream wedding day. She spent numerous hours on the phone with us answering all of our questions and laying out the entire process step by step. She is also so well connected on the island that there is literally nothing she can't do. We asked for a couple requests that she had not dealt with before and without hesitation she said she would get it figured out, and she did. Our wedding day went better than we could have ever imagined. Marlene and her team were extremely organized and efficient. They kept the entire party on schedule and every detail completely covered. Her cost is reasonable and totally worth it. Having someone on island that can make calls and arrange every detail took away so much stress and gave us time to focus on our friends and family. We couldn't be happier with how everything turned out!

ct her, and hold her in the highest regard. What can be a very stressful process (especially when planning from another state) was a easy, fun, and memorable experience. We highly recommend working with Mira Mira Events if you want your celebration to go off without a hitch and be surrounded by positive vibes. Mahalo for everything!

responded quickly, and was took care of all of the details we didn't want to stress over. The decorations were beautiful, the caterer she recommended was amazing. On our wedding day we didn't have a worry in the world, because Marlene had it covered. We can't thank her enough for helping to make our wedding so special. 10 out of 10.

ways figured out ways to make them come to life. She put together options, was clear about how decisions would affect our budget and logistics, and provided thoughtful feedback — all while listening to our preferences and figuring out the best ways to meet our needs. We heard over and over from vendors that Marlene is the best on Kauai — and we completely agree. Not only did she deliver fantastic results and a beautiful, seamless event, but she also was truly delightful to work with. We absolutely love her energy and genuine personality, and know we gained a friend through this process. We highly recommend Mira Mira Events to everyone looking for a memorable, professional, stress-free event on Kauai!

so attentive to my countless requests, kept us on schedule, and kept me relaxed and calm through it all. Marlene listened to my ideas, encouraged my DIY touches and allowed me to be as involved in each area of the wedding planning as I wanted. I am so thrilled to have had Marlene there and can honestly say I made a friend in the process. I would never have been able to have my perfect wedding if it was not for her!! Truly a GEM!

t we had spoken to, who boasted about our choice of 12 officiants, Marlene listed to what we wanted and recommended the perfect person to marry us. She was conscience of our budget and worked with me when something was seemingly overly pricey. But ten again, understanding that it is an island and the cost of transporting goods in turn raises prices. Also unlike the other coordinator, Marlene did not have a fee for her services outright. She only asked for a deposit - which credited to the final cost. We only paid a percentage of what she arranged and even didn't have to put down any deposits for vendors along the way. She even was kind enough to store items we shipped to Kauai for the wedding even though she would not profit from it. An exceptional person with exceptional services. I highly recommend Marlene and her staff.