Waimea Valley

property because the scenery was too beautiful to not capture it! We were able to organize a golf cart to drive us around so we could reach different parts of the garden with the limited time we had. The Waimea Valley team helped manage all of these details seamlessly! We used the Proud Peacock but any one of their venues would be a beautiful choice. The ease of navigation and parking was a bonus too. I can't thank the Waimea Valley team enough for all their help!

postponed due to covid, but they were so gracious in our postponement and worked with us diligently to make our special day go so smoothly. We chose the main lawn for our ceremony and the pikake pavilion for the reception. As Ke Nui Kitchen and Waimea Valley work hand in hand for venue and catering, it was like the one stop shop for the whole wedding. The catering from Ke Nui Kitchen was so ono! The food is incredible! The staff at Waimea valley were so friendly and we could not have imagined our wedding being as magical as it was. Mahalo mahalo mahalo to Waimea Valley and Ke Nui Kitchen for making our wedding a memory that will last a lifetime. We would not hesitate to recommend to anyone looking to have their wedding here. Thank you again!! -Greg & Irene Tuttle

ce we didn’t have a wedding planner involved. Planning the wedding ourselves was totally doable here and we had an amazing time.

the mountains, and when you are there you feel a sense of serenity and peace. Everywhere you look you see lush, tropical gardens and greenery, which makes for a stunning backdrop for photos. We had our ceremony and reception at the Upper Meadow, which is about a 5-minute shuttle ride from the visitor center. Since it’s located deeper in the valley, this spot felt very private and intimate, even though the lawn is quite large with a lot of room to spread out. Our entire event took place outside, and except for the dinner under an open-air tent, we spent the whole night under the stars. With everything outdoors and the large amount of space to work with, this is an excellent place to have a “socially distant” wedding. We planned for and expected to have some rain during our event, but the weather ended up being perfect – a dry and cool afternoon and evening with temperature in the mid-70’s. The venue’s exclusive caterer, Ke Nui Kitchen, is also located in the valley and provided the most delicious, farm-to-table fresh food for our wedding, and the craft cocktails we selected from Ke Nui Kitchen’s bar menu were a huge hit with our guests. Most importantly, all of the staff at Waimea Valley Events and Ke Nui Kitchen were incredible to work with. Kimberly, the Events Manager, was so accommodating, helpful, and understanding as we planned our wedding at Waimea, even when the constantly changing Covid-related restrictions and orders made planning especially complicated. In the end, we couldn’t have been happier with our wedding venue, and every single one of our guests shared with us how beautiful our venue was.

making this day so special.

en, which was actually fine because they are great and it removes the hassle from working with a caterer who doesn’t know the area and staff. Other than that, the valley is so gorgeous and provided the perfect backdrop, and the staff was amazing to work with.

re with our family & friends. Kimberly with the Waimea Valley staff was fantastic from the beginning. It was easy to communicate with her about meetings, deadlines, options, and she knew a lot about the history of the valley, which only made us fall in love more. It was a seamless process from when we first met her until the day of our wedding. We would highly recommend Waimea Valley for its beauty, affordability, and variety. We chose the Main Lawn and Pikake Pavilion for our ceremony and reception and it was just perfect. The staff was super easy to work with and we have no regrets!

invasive species. We got in touch with Waimea’s volunteer coordinator, Melani, and she organized a hike for us and our guests up one of Waimea’s ridges to do some volunteer work. It was hard work under the hot sun but we planted more than 20 trees and shrubs. Our guests played a role in contributing to Hawaii’s ‘aina (land) and as a result, they were treated to free access to Waimea valley for the day to swim at the waterfall and we catered a small meal and happy hour for them to celebrate our success. I think we got some really good karma from our volunteer work because the weather on our wedding was beautiful and we were able to get some amazing shots on the ridge and with our friends. Like those trees we planted we hoped the roots of our relationship with our friends and families attending our wedding would continue to grow and flourish over time. Thank you Waimea Valley botanical team and Melani for the amazing experience.

o other venues and we will always remember this beautiful place!

e earthly beauty this place holds that it makes it so popular for events, and makes the organization team and catering company less than accommodating. They know that there are always more events and you are just another dollar sign to them - and they have no problem making you feel that way. We weren't appreciated guests, we were made to feel like they were doing us a favour by hosting us. On the morning of our wedding as I was getting ready, I received an email from the caterers (that we had to use due to their contract with Waimea) stating that they had made a mistake on our invoice and we now owed them an extra $800, and if I could please pay it to them now. On the day of our wedding, our service staff from Ke Nui Kitchen was incredible, as was their food - we cannot compliment the day of staff enough! Thank you for making our day amazing! However, their office crew (same people who emailed me), their organization and communication prior to the event was subpar. We were planning from New Zealand so we had been hoping for a bit of extra help and communication but we learned about "island time" very quickly and like I said, felt as though they were doing us a favour by responding to questions. The events coordinator at Waimea Valley, was a lovely person but highly ineffective as a coordinator. Our wedding was late by 45 minutes because the groom and groomsmen parked in the wrong carpark and were waiting for the bride and bridesmaids to turn up, although we were there waiting in the correct carpark. She knew the men were in the wrong carpark and knew the bride was waiting, and said and did nothing. Literally just wandered around like she was high. She was new at her job and I would be surprised if she lasted another wedding season. All in all, our day was spectacular, but the lead up was far more stressful than it needed to be due to lack of urgency or communication by the organization teams. I think 4 stars is pretty generous, and they are lucky that the venue is beautiful and their service staff is so incredible to keep people coming back or recommending them on.

eady surrounded by the topical flowers of this nature preserve. We took pictures by the waterfall, in the valley and out on the beach. Our ceremony started as the park was closing (at 5pm) so we had the whole valley to ourselves. We had to depart by 11pm, but most people were ready to go around 9:30 or 10 because of the time change from the mainland. The price was comparable to other venues on the North Shore. The event coordinator was very nice, but don't be surprised if it takes a while to get your contract as weddings are just one type of event the valley holds.