Moanalua Gardens

ake this special day exactly what we wanted was Bridgette Olsen, the Events Manager for the property, and her flexibility and willingness to work with making our vision a reality. We were concerned about all the different rules the property has in place, but she patiently answered all the questions, worked with us on last minute changes, and was flexible in allowing us to bring in vendors and elements that would transform the already beautiful garden into something magical. Our 180 guests were blown away by the natural green surroundings, the shoji lanterns dancing in the tree at the Makai Mound where we had our ceremony, the clear top tent filled with cafe lights and shoji lanterns, the lawn games, the food and drinks, the air conditioned restrooms that we were able to bring in so that our less able-bodied guests didn't have to hike a football field back to the existing restrooms. The Gardens provides a variety of different looks and feels for photographs. I would say that the points to take into consideration (that may not be positive) are 1) the park is open to the public when it's open to the public -- which means there may be people in the park during your event; most of them are respectful and give space, but it may impact guest parking and availability of certain areas for photos; 2) if you have a larger guest count, the price to rent the venue can get expensive very quickly as it's based on total headcount; and 3) there isn't anywhere nice nearby (like an AirBnB or hotel) to get ready -- so prepare to travel a little bit from the getting-ready-place. That being said, we would not have changed a darn thing -- there is no other venue on island that can has a similar garden look and feel, that also allows you to use the vendors that you want, and is easily accessible from all corners of the island. Moanalua Gardens provided everything we were looking for in a wedding venue -- and Bridgette Olsen was a big part of making our dreams come true.