Vintage & Lace: Hawaii Island Weddings

to Vintage and Lace about where the wedding plan was, and these emails all went unanswered. It was stressful and we had to switch to another wedding planner. And we never got our money back, unfortunately.

e had a great discussion early on about what I envisioned, and she was nice enough to help me with some urgent questions before becoming full accessible the month before the wedding. From that point on, she took full control and that allowed me to sit back and enjoy the moment with minimal stress. She did a great job of identifying any details that had fallen through the cracks during my planning and she went above and beyond by acquiring some sparklers which I had always wanted for my wedding. She handled everything the day of from setting out all of our favors, coming up with emergency back-up plans if the rain didn't stop, and managing all of our vendors. I cannot thank her enough. Vintage & Lace is the way to go for your wedding!!

expect. They obeyed the letter of the contract, but never the spirit of it. Without calling them outright dishonest, both Rachel and Carly withheld key information from us, which prevented them from being there for us as a wedding planner should in the planning process. We very much respect their life choices, but do not respect not being told about these choices that clearly affected their ability to deliver for us. Wedding planners are supposed to put you at ease and be cheerful and friendly. They are supposed to go above and beyond the contract for your once in a lifetime opportunity. V&L does not do this. If you are interested in a wedding planner that will make you feel special and go above and beyond, do NOT hire Vintage & Lace. Read the other reviews as there seems to be a lot of consensus on this.

he Island such as swept away who will treat you like a proper human being.

s promised and emails were extremely few and far between. I usually had to wait a month for a short response. Because of the poor communication we had to plan the whole wedding all on our own. The first item on our contract was a beautiful triangle arch, when I walked down the isle on my wedding day I was surprised to find an arch my florist kindly provided as backup (as she was aware of the reliability of this company)... no triangle arch in sight. Another reason we hired a wedding planner and designer was because we wanted to use a few of the decor items they had to offer, instead of purchasing a ton of our own, as we were traveling to the big island for the event and didn't want to hassle with the luggage. Full access to their decor was promised on our contract. As we hadn't received any response from vintage and lace, we were unsure that a planner would show up on the wedding day and decided to purchase a few decor items as a backup plan and its a good thing we did because vintage and lace didn't provide a single design/ decor element. Thankfully all of the other vendors I booked were amazing and helped us to have a great wedding day. Some of the other elements on our contract that were completely neglected were -Assistance with obtaining your Marriage License and scheduling the required meeting with a Marriage License Agent. (This was not done. No assistance with questions regarding foreign groom, no assistance making the license appointment. We had to deal with all of this on our own.) -Planning Guidance and Advice from the time of booking until the wedding day (Not done-no way to contact them) - Assistance in creating a Wedding Day Timeline. (Not done. There was no timeline at all- no way to contact them/ communicate needs) - Advice and Guidance on design vision. (100% of the design on the wedding day was done by us and no advice was given.) - Assistance booking design related vendors - florist, equipment, etc. (Not done. When I contacted the preferred vendors they were no longer available for our dates -why I hired a year out... Plenty of time to send emails to vendors. We ended up doing all of the booking on our own) - On-Site Professional Wedding Coordinator from 2-8pm to assist with set up, timeline management, tear down of design elements -Full Access to the Exclusive V&L Collection of Wedding Décor and Props including our lanterns, candles, side tables, vases, furniture pieces, draping, vintage accents, and more! -Use, set up and tear down of our Triangle Arch for ceremony use. Note: It is hard for us to leave this review as we understand how owning a business is, we also find it important to provide an honest review for future brides and grooms. We did try to contact Rachael and Carly after our honeymoon to check up on why none of the services in our contract were provided and to try to come to an agreement on our own- unfortunately a month later there has been no response. Overall extremely disappointed- If we could do it all over again we wouldn't even be paid to have vintage and lace as our planner- hiring them was only a large additional bill and unnecessary stress.

tion, and talent for curating a well designed and executed event are unparalleled in Hawaii. She planned our entire wedding in four months and also had the most affordable rates out of all the wedding planners we considered. We felt taken care of in every aspect on our special day. Do yourself a favor and put your trust in Rachael to take away all of the stress of planning a wedding, and book Vintage and Lace right away! She is worth every penny - she gave my husband and I the absolute best day of our lives, and will far exceed your expectations!!

eremony, ensuring that our special day was stress-free and perfect!

s stunning and we received a ridiculous amount of compliments on our wedding. From venue to décor, to atmosphere and lighting; it was a success and because of Carly’s expertise. I couldn't have asked for a better wedding planner, she knows what she is doing! Whenever we needed something or had a question, she always was responsive and quick to help with positivity and kindness. Carly is professional and aided in our search by narrowing down the best vendors, venues, and decor. She understood our vision and was able to bring it into beautiful fruition! Thank you again, Carly. I would highly recommend Vintage and Lace to any engaged couple!

s-free as possible, and determined Vintage & Lace to be the best choice for our personal wants/needs and style. We started working with Rachael & her team approximately one-year before our big day. Despite the 6hr time difference with us being in the Midwest and V&L being based on the Big Island, Rachael was great to work with from beginning to end. We totally understood that we weren't the only couple the V&L team was planning events for, so it made complete sense to us that there would be some delay in responses from their team during the months that we were quite far out from our wedding date still. *This is very important for couples to remember - while you're planning your big day, Rachael is also all-hands on-deck for multiple other couples that are to be married before your day - just have faith that she will create a magical experience for you!* But, as our date became more near-term, V&L was fabulous with making sure we had details when we needed them and everything was handled meticulously with impeccable results. Rachael orchestrated our florals, photography & videography needs, securing an officiant, as well as handling our catering needs. Even after a month has passed since our ceremony, we still cannot get over how perfect everything was - from the vendors that Rachael organized to the actual end product once everything was assembled. If you want that "Pinterest-worthy" wedding in Hawaii, you will not be disappointed by the amazing work of Vintage & Lace!

nervous about planning a wedding because design isn't a strong point for me, but Carly made the few ideas I did have happen and then she took care of the rest! The details and reception were BEAUTIFUL thanks to her. I couldn't more highly recommend her!

if Rachael would be able to envision what I wanted my wedding to be like but when I saw her set up, it's was perfect and exactly what I dreamed of! If your planning a destination wedding then you defiantly need patience with communication between one another because time differences can be a pain (that was the only downside) but I trusted that everything was going to come together on the big day and it did!!! Rachael is on the Big Island but my wedding was on Maui and she hopped islands with no problem! Again, thank you V&L for everything, it truly was a dream!

ice! Rachael was prompt in replying, truly recommended the absolutely best vendors, and demonstrated what an incredible wealth of knowledge she has in all the little specific details that I had not even thought of that made the day perfect. Our wedding was stunning and absolutely perfect and I am completely sure it was because we hired her. PS, when we asked her about some of the negative reviews she told us about how she works with a lot of clients of all types (some that other planners won't even take on) and she also explained what an incredibly difficult year she had with her father being sick and just honestly spoke from the heart. She is a talented, kind person and an absolute professional fully capable of the incredible work you see on her site and blog. Every single vendor we spoke with also told us how amazing she is and that she is the one to work with on the island. Vintage & Lace is the right choice! Thank you Rachael for everything! We are so impressed with you!

sland at the time, so we had the luxury of meeting up with Rachael beforehand and going over our ideas and hearing hers. She took our ideas, and made our dreams come alive. She is busy, so sometimes communication can be a little tricky, but in the end everything will work out perfectly. We talk about it all the time, and even our guests commented on it, Rachael did a great job of making sure everything ran seamlessly with somehow hardly making it known she was even there. We can’t thank her enough for helping provide us with the perfect wedding day!

, after waiting 2 months and no samples, I took it upon myself to visit the showroom of the vendor she recommended. I chose my linens, on my own. I asked for a vision board after a couple months of waiting, she literally grabbed ALL the photos from my pinterest, copied and pasted it to a document, slapped in a couple of her own inventory pieces and called it my "design board". In February we set up a time to meet in person as I was visiting the island (I live on the mainland CA), the day of our appt, her child was sick, and wasn't able to make it, so we met the next day. We met, discussed layout of reception site, design etc, she said that she would send me a quote from the vendors regarding what it would cost to do what we envisioned. On March 10 I asked for an update on quote, no reply. On march 13th she said she was out of the office and would get back to me next day. She failed, didn't get back to me as she said she would. March 15th I checked in, no reply. April 7th, I checked in, no reply. April 17th, I checked in.. finally got a reply April 18th proposing a meeting for today. I agreed to the meeting time today April 24th, asked her to confirm that time, she never responded. Assumed the meeting was today as that was what she proposed, that time has come and gone, she has yet to be in touch with me. We are 50 days out from our wedding and nothing is finalized, other than what I have done. Additionally, design services include design of invitations, menus, etc. She did ZERO of it. I have done everything because she fails to communicate and be any help. DO NOT HIRE HER.. YOU HAVE BEEN FAIRLY WARNED. I will attempt to upload screen shots of all of my attempted conversations with her to plead my case. I am fearful of the nightmare my wedding will be at this point, as I am not confident that she will pull through.

, it was time to plan our wedding! I told my fiancé.."vintage & lace!!" We went on board with V&L. I have to say..there were some lack of communication but it was just me trying to reassure that everything was going swell.. I didn't want to be a bridezilla about it and knew that with patience and trust everything will go fine! We trusted Rachael in her work and planning! Everything was Perfect! everyone looked beautiful, ceremony & location was stunning! Exactly how we wanted it..romantic! Rachael definitely knows her stuff! our guests complimented that it looked like it came out of Pinterest! They all wanted Exactly what we had! Thank you Rachael!

consultation I asked about the 5 or so bad ratings she had on Yelp, mainly to do with communication. She seemed very genuine and stated that they had gotten so popular overnight that they found themselves overbooked. She assured me that they had since realized their limitations and scaled down on their booking and promised unlimited communication. Like the previous reviews we were incredibly disappointed with the lack of communication from Rachael. She missed phone appointments on several occasions, was incomplete in her e-mail responses, and when we did connect via phone conversations she was incredibly brief... we would have 15-20 minute conversations and sometimes while she was driving and wasn't prepared to answer any detailed questions. We signed on with her in September and brought our concerns about communication with her in December, January, February, and March. Each time she was very sweet and apologetic but ultimately the issue did not improve. I had booked my venue, photographer, and caterer on my own and had to finish the booking that she started with the equipment rental company and florist. This was far from what we expected for hiring her for full service design and planning. Finally in April we severed our contract with her. Not only did she refuse even a partial refund but she actually initially requested that we owed her more money. She may be a great designer but she falls short in planning and communication. The company we switched to was absolutely amazing with wonderful communication and picked up all the pieces left behind by Vintage and Lace. If you value communication and professionalism and want to play an enjoyable role in your own planning I would highly recommend looking elsewhere.

dors that fit with what we wanted, and her decorations are just so beautiful. I will never forget the table setting at our reception dinner--just amazing. Thank you Rachael at Vintage and Lace for everything you did to make our wedding such a beautiful, relaxing day for us and our families/friends to enjoy!

ks later, she did not answer questions and did not produce any real work at all. It took her 3 weeks to return my husbands phone calls and emails. I had to follow up 2-3x on just about everything. Also, there were continuous excuses provided- a trend I found in other brides reviews. I experienced the exact same dissatisfaction expressed in every other review written here. I wish I had taken time to do my research on this vendor. The worst part of it was she disappeared for 2 and a half hours during my wedding, when I paid her for day of coordination. She claimed she thought it would be okay to take a dinner break- for 2 and half hours? Really, Rachael?! Do you think I'm stupid?! My guess is she double booked another wedding. She showed up ONLY 1 hour before the ceremony- My friends had to arrange the chairs and ceremony setting because she was no where to be found. When I called to ask where she was, she didn't call back and instead sent a text- COWARD, disappeared and told no one that she left as soon as the ceremony started. When we needed her to help with photos, speeches, organizing, she was gone. My guests were running around the property looking for her, and a valet had to tell us that she had left. One of my guests had to step in and run coordination for the whole thing after witnessing me having to get up and try to keep events flowing, while trying to enjoy myself. She showed up again after 2 and a half hours when we were finished eating, and I was so irate I had one of my guests ask her to leave. I trusted that this recommendation coming from a hotel would be sound, but it was the worst experience ever. I have never been so disappointed, and it put a damper on a day that was supposed to be so special for me. On a positive note, she did not argue my dissatisfaction and did issue a fair refund. Brides- do yourself a favor and pass on this vendor, even better yet, read her Yelp reviews where you'll find MANY other brides completely dissatisfied.

ations, vendor relationships, and attention to detail. Rachael took the ideas I had and turned it into something truly magical. I can't wait to see the professional photos, because the pics that my friends and family took seriously don't even begin to show how perfect I remember the detail of the event to be. Rachael had clearly put a lot of thought into everything, and it showed, because I had numerous guests tell me it was the most beautiful wedding they had ever attended. I did learn, however, that you must exercise patience and trust in the planning process. I had a full 2 year engagement, and I had booked Vintage and Lace at least 18 months before the wedding. I am a project manager professionally, and it was sometimes difficult to wait when I was excited about the planning process and wanted to get a head start on my to-do list. In the early planning months, email communication was a bit sparse, which felt a bit stressful at times because I wasn't sure if it was a sign of disorganization or lack of attention to detail. I can assure you, however, that that's not the case. Rachael and her team are busy all year long with weddings, and they have to prioritize those events coming sooner. Try to be patient during that time, if you book your event far out like I did. Another key learning for me was that making decisions too early in the process can lead to changing your mind or second guessing your original ideas. We booked the venue, photographer, and catering far in advance, but most of the other details really didn't start getting finalized until 1-3 months prior to the wedding, which felt like the last minute to me at the time, but now I realize it was just right. Ultimately, I had to place trust in Rachael that it would all come together flawlessly. In the end, I'm so glad I just tried to relax and put my faith in her, because the final output was simply amazing. In addition to the look and feel of the event, it shouldn't be overlooked that the whole day ran like clockwork. Rachael and I worked to establish a timeline to ensure we were able to get through everything in the 6 hours I had the photographer booked, and it worked out perfectly and nothing felt rushed. One final note related to budget. Rachael worked with me up until the very last minute to ensure that we could maximize my budget with the best event possible. There was a bit of back and forth on options (and in the end I did decide to exceed my original budget), but I was extremely pleased with the final result. We had numerous exchanges with the equipment company in order to get the best outcome for what the (somewhat oddly shaped) space could accommodate and also fit within my cost parameters. All in all, I couldn't be happier with how everything turned out, and it was a pleasure to work with Rachael!

control) and she flawlessly and tirelessly worked to switch things around and make sure the day was still perfect. Thanks Rachael!

onate for her work. She is prompt, gives you an excellent list of vendors, offers suggestions and advice night and day, and really makes you feel like you are her number one bride. There hasn't been a day that has gone by since our wedding that we haven't talked about it. I have said since that night, there is not one single thing I would change! That is something in and of itself I think is rare to hear from a bride. I give Rachael and her team at Vintage and Lace, and all of the vendors involved which she referred, all credit for a perfect wedding.

also for everyone attending, that's the first question I asked myself. It was a dreamy day for all guests and they couldn't stop complementing how gorgeous everything was. Vintage & Lace was referred to me by the planner of a best friend who got married in Oahu about 5 years ago. After browsing their website, I immediately decided to hire them -all their weddings look AMAZING!!! on the websites. After seeing mine for real, it felt even better than the pictures. Unlike many brides who plan their wedding days almost a year ahead, mine only had a lead time of about 5 months - which includes searching for the bridal gowns ... crazy huh?Bear in mind, they are really popular and busy so not all inquiries can be accommodated. Since we wanted to have our wedding in our favorite island and my love for Rachael's rustic and elegant design concept, we managed to choose a date based on Vintage & Lace's availability ... I have to say EVERYONE including my husband, who was not much involved in the planning, was amazed by how the day turned out. Many guests thought it's PERFECT and the most UNIQUE wedding they have ever attended. That certainly made me very proud ... I totally understood the stress that most brides may experience during the planning process, and making it happen on a remote island esp if neither of you have traveled to doesn't help at all. I got married last week so memories are still fresh ...With that, I want to say that you will need to trust your planner. Rachael knows the venue and all the vendors so well. She will be confidently helping you select and work with all of the them to make your day perfect. I'm glad that I placed the trust in the right directions - all my vendors were amazing whether they were chosen by myself or by Rachael. I will also leave some well deserved reviews for them as well. Regarding how to work with Vintage & Lace, based on my experiences, you should rely on their recommendations for vendors or let Rachael choose for you i.e. hair stylist, equipment rental etc ... As the bride, you should also do your part on time to avoid last minute rush or stress, create the stationary set, share your vision of the wedding day (mine was a chic beach wedding design - Rachael made it so much better than I could imagine),search/design other wedding decorations like guest book, ring pillow, coasters, signage ... anything you want Rachael to incorporate into the design of the ceremony and reception dinner. If you have months ahead of the big day, I am sure you will do a wonderful job on your side. Mine was a bit rush towards the end as wedding planning in the US is totally 'strange' to me. I had no idea what should be included in a wedding here. (I moved to CA from Shanghai last year) But Rachael did a superb job incorporating my stuff (a driftwood guestbook with design of love birds in a tree, bird nest ring holder, customs designed bar menu) into the overall design. Adding special musician (ukulele) or performances (fire dance) will help spice up the day.They are small cost items. The day went by in what felt like seconds ...but thanks to Rachael it was such a dream come true. All my girlfriends either want to get married again or start planning their day too!

ogether. Throughout the year leading up to my wedding, Rachel was continuously unresponsive. She never answers her phone and if I reached out to her by email it was never answered in a timely fashion, or it was not answered at all! I did look to Rachel for suggestions on a florist and I initially agreed to go with her recommendation. I had certain ideas and elements I wanted incorporated, but I was still looking for Rachel to help build on that and help pull it together. Rachel was either unable or unwilling to help me with any type of design vision, and after several emails and discussions with the florist I was not confident that either of them were going to help me execute my wedding vision. After months of frustration over the florist and décor and still not having a contract in place, I reached out to another florist who coincidently is also a wedding planner. She was already booked for the day of my wedding, but after talking with me and hearing my situation, she agreed to take me on as a client for my florals. This vendor was proactive, organized and had beautiful artistic vision. I showed her a couple of photos of what I liked and she put together a perfect package for me! Another disappointment and frankly the only balls that were dropped during the wedding, was by Rachel. During the months leading up to the wedding she promised several décor items for me to use. She even confirmed these décor items days before the event, only to not follow through. She gave her word to deliver certain items to both the florist and the reception location, only to not do either. In the end, all the décor used for my wedding was from the florist. Rachel has worked repeatedly with this other florist and I believe many of the pretty weddings V&L claims to be responsible for are not under the design vision of Rachel, but of this other florist / planner. So do your homework if you are looking for someone to assist you with your design and vision! Small detail, but nice touch... the florist followed up with me the next day to ask how I liked my flowers and how the day went... I only heard from Rachel once I had written a poor review and she reached out to request I take it down.

I live in Florida and knew that it would pretty much be impossible for me to plan a wedding, in Hawaii on my own. I'm very organized, controlling, and know exactly what I want! It was important to me to find the perfect planner who understood me and could execute exactly what I was looking for. I chose Vintage & Lace because, right off the bat, after looking at several different examples of different weddings they had planned, the style and execution was exactly what I was looking for. There were times where I was a little nervous about certain things and the team would put me at ease. They worked so hard on making sure that I had exactly what I wanted and that everything would be perfect in my eyes. They were extremely patient and absolutely professional. I had to change my catering option several times because our budget got really tight towards the very end and they were really good with being so accommodating and assuring me that even though I wasn't going with my first idea of what I wanted for my catering, that it would still be absolutely amazing -- and it was!!! They found the most beautiful gem of a location for my wedding ceremony which happened to be about an 1.5 from our hotel location. They planned every detail down to transportation for our family and friends to the ceremony site, then to the reception, and back to the hotel which was NOT an easy task. I'm so happy I chose Vintage & Lace and would recommend them to any bride who has a unique taste for something extraordinary. Everything was as I had hoped and more. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day and I owe it all to the Vintage & Lace Team!

ped my budget a lot. I never felt as if they were out for money. We communicated thru Email, Instagram, phone, and met up a couple weeks prior to my wedding. I was a total scatterbrain and didn't know my exact vision or theme, but they were able to pull together all my ideas! They are a definite must for any wedding big or small. You won't be disappointed. The memory will last a lifetime and my pictures are simply perfection. Thanks again Vintage & Lace! You will definitely hold a piece in our hearts for giving us a day to remember:)