A Maui Chef Shares 5 Wedding Tips for Couples Getting Married on Maui

A Maui Chef Shares 5 Wedding Tips for Couples Getting Married on Maui

A Maui wedding reception enjoying beach front dining in Lahaina at the White House private estate.While wanting to know the cost of a Maui wedding is where most couples begin, my advice is to make a few other decisions about getting married on Maui before asking about fees. Accurate wedding costs cannot be determined without an estimate of the guest count and knowing the Maui wedding location. After planning and catering hundreds of weddings over the past 14 years as a Maui catering company and as the executive chef at one of the Kaanapali resort hotels before opening my Maui restaurant, I’ve discovered a few tips that always help most couples plan a wedding and get the most out of their wedding budget. Below, you’ll find 5 of my favorite Maui wedding planning tips. And, if you still want a wedding cost estimate, jump to the end for the easiest way to start planning a Maui wedding:

  1. A beachfront wedding on Maui at white house private estate in Lahaina. Plan Early – Once you are engaged and considering getting married on Maui, you’ll want to start thinking about the style of wedding you’d like. Outdoor or indoor? A church official or a Hawaiian wedding officiate? Casual or Formal? A luau for entertainment at the wedding reception? Once those choices are made, you’ll want to choose a Maui wedding venue. Keep reading to find out why selecting a location for the wedding ceremony and reception is one of the first things to do to plan a Maui wedding.
  2. Verify Most Important Guests Will Attend – Before deciding a wedding on Maui is for you, check with your most important guests to determine they are willing to attend your destination wedding in Hawaii. You’d be surprised how many couples think they are getting married on Maui only to find out their mother, grandfather or best friend simply won’t be able travel to Hawaii. Ask to be certain or be prepared to accept some guests may need to miss your wedding. And don’t worry if your original guest estimate is not exact. Most Maui wedding caterers and planners will accommodate a few more guests or reduce service and catering fees if your original guest count is unable to attend, so long as you inform a reasonable amount of time before the wedding. Once you receive guest confirmation, you’ll want to let your wedding caterer and planner know the final count as soon as available.
  3. Select a Location – Unlike many mainland An oceanfront wedding reception at the White House private estate in Lahaina with lime green runners and cobalt blue glasses.wedding locations, you won’t find an abundance of wedding reception halls on Maui and few dedicated banquet halls suitable for large weddings. Fortunately, there are numerous Maui wedding locations on private property adjacent to the beach offering a gorgeous alternative to traditional banquet halls. All beaches are public so if you are planning a Maui beach wedding understand that you’ll need a permit and you’ll need to abide by the regulations for beach {{cta(‘c1354916-fcdd-4e60-8623-19868a9866a3′,’justifyleft’)}} weddings, including not using fixtures (chairs, chuppas or arches) on the beach while and limiting the time allowed for the wedding ceremony and the wedding attendance count. Planning at least a year in advance and securing a wedding location is one of the best ways to ensure the venue you want is available and professional wedding service providers are not already booked on the day of your wedding. One of my favorite Kaanapali wedding locations is the El Dorado for smaller weddings. You can’t get any closer to the water and you it’s only a short walk from the Kaanapali resort hotels. To use the cabana, you’ll need to reserve accommodations for the wedding party or guests at the Eldorado. Larger west Maui weddings will want to consider the beautiful Olowalu Plantation House wedding venue. If your heart is set on a toes in the sand wedding, download our FREE Maui Beach Wedding Locations ebook for images with details of the most popular wedding beaches on Maui:{{cta(‘fa43fd78-ee95-43c1-840d-5f4a2fbf6804′,’justifycenter’)}}
  4. Purchase Your Own Alcohol – One of the best ways to save money on Maui weddings is to purchase your own alcohol Save money on Maui weddings by purchasing your own alcohol and using our licensed bartender to serve guests. and utilize a bartender licensed by the county of Maui to serve guests. Ask your bestman or a couple of the groomsmen to pickup the liquor at Costco when they arrive at the airport. Note some venues will not permit you to supply your own alcohol but those that do provide an opportunity to reduce the wedding reception budget or reallocate wedding budget. Read about more ways to save money Maui weddings.
  5. Get MarriedA Maui wedding photograph of the guests on the balcony of the White House beach front private estate wedding venue in Lahaina. Where You are Staying – If you are able to choose a Maui wedding venue with accommodations onsite you are often able to greatly reduce the fee and sometimes eliminate a venue fees. Many private estates on Maui offer plenty of room for small weddings and a few are permitted to host large weddings and events. Confirm the venue will allow you to host a wedding and don’t just assume you’ll be able to before booking a vacation rental condo or private estate. Ask for advice or recommendations for a wedding reception location suitable for your estimated guest count.

An international cheese display for a Maui catered wedding at the Olowalu Plantation House.Use those 5 Maui wedding planning tips above and your wedding planning will be off to a great beginning! One of my favorite tips and a bonus for anyone considering getting married on Maui: Have fun and don’t let wedding planning make you stressed. Though many Maui weddings are casual, rest assured the Maui wedding professionals take planning weddings very seriously and are legitimate business professionals striving to make your Maui wedding everything you dreamed it would be while showing off our beautiful island of Maui in the best ways possible. If you need help, just ask. I’m happy to provide as much or as little wedding planning advice as you prefer. As a professional Maui chef, I’m equally happy supplying just the catering and working with full service wedding planners or do it yourself wedding planners looking to plan the affordable Maui wedding. Thinking about a destination wedding and wondering what getting married on Maui would cost? Find out! Use our short Maui Wedding Planning Questionnaire where we’ll guide you through a few short questions to share about your wedding plans. Then, we’ll provide a No Obligation realistic wedding cost estimate and share a few tips to help plan the destination wedding of your dreams! Hit the button below to get started with your Maui wedding planning:{{cta(‘3fd99430-bb9b-40e2-a372-39f437755dfb’,’justifycenter’)}}

Chef CJs gourmet prawns served over Olowalu tomatoes with fresh local Kula greens and topped with beat strips for a Maui wedding reception.Need more affordable Maui wedding ideas? Read about ways to reduce costs of a wedding on Maui. Be sure to subscribe to our blog for the latest destination wedding advice with tips and recipes from our Maui restaurant kitchen. For other event planning questions please leave a note in our comments section below.

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CJ’s Kaanapali Diner Review

My daughter and I visited Maui a couple of weeks ago and came to your restaurant 3 times. I just wanted to thank you for your willingness to meet our gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free requirements. We loved being able to eat out safely and wish we had a CJ’s at home! I just wrote you a stellar review on Trip Advisor. Hope you have a wonderful rest of the summer!

Kelley MacCabe
CJ’s Maui Restaurant Review

Wonderful for a Sunday Brunch since you can order breakfast until 11:00am! Had a ‘custom’ 3 ingredient omelette (I chose mushrooms, feta and spinach) with nicely crunchy on the outside and soft inside home potatoes, yummy. Hubby had the pancakes with fresh fruit! These are light fluffy slightly sweet batter pancakes, not those heavy bland ones (OK I admit it, I had to have a few bites of his breakfast…) Service was fast and friendly :0). The menu is EXTENSIVE, we live here and love it!

Kathy, Lahaina, Maui
CJ’s Deli and Diner Maui Restaurant Review

Fact: CJ’s Maui onion soup will melt your face off it’s so good. Best I’ve ever had. It gets 20 stars.
Alas, it’s not on the menu every day… But when my fiancee and I went this past summer and were lucky to meet Chef CJ in person and mentioned that we had been thinking about the onion soup since the last time we visited two years earlier, he was kind enough to put it on the next day’s menu. We went back the following day and ordered it, and it was amazing, just as we had remembered. Another fact: the onion soup at CJ’s is better than the onion soup at Mama’s Fish House (and at like 1/4th of the price). Really. It’s that good. Part of me wants to reverse engineer CJ’s onion soup recipe, quit my job, and make millions selling onion soup to the mainland masses! (or: CJ, wanna make a deal?)
I think that the loco moco gravy is made from the same goodness. So that’s great too. The potato salad is tasty as well.
The to-go lunch plate is respectable.

Jonny S, San Diego, CA
Maui Chef CJ Prepares Mushroom Soup for Kaanapali Restaurant Guest

On a previous visit to Maui, I had the most delicious mushroom soup at CJ’s Deli and Diner in Kaanapali. When I arrived in Maui this week, I emailed the restaurant and asked what day they might have the soup. The owner and chef, Christian Jorgensen (CJ), promptly replied even though he was on vacation in Vegas. He gave me a number to call to check on the soup of the day. Then when he returned to Maui on Friday, he emailed me to let me know he would have the soup for me on Saturday. When I got there, he was so friendly and the soup was even more scrumptious than I had remembered. I really appreciated how valued he made me feel as a customer.

Linda D.
CJs Maui Restaurant Customer

Good Morning, My wife and I spent last week in Maui. Your early bird special was the best. After we found you, we ate breakfast there every morning. You had two regular coffees that we just loved.

James T Wilson Jr
Maui Restaurant Customer

The best burger I ever had! Great Service! Fantastic Food!! Simply Awesome.

Pat Janostin, Champlin MN
Kaanapali Restaurant Customer Comment

Thanks for all the Good Food. Best we have ad since we hit the island 5 days ago!

Jeff and Myra V., Ontario, Ohio

CJ’s Maui Restaurant Customer Comments on CJ’s Private Luau in her Blog

Aloha, Just wanted to let you know that this post was up last Friday and it will be included (linked) with all of our Hawaii properties. Thank you both for excellent service. You made our trip to Maui very memorable! Feel free to comment on the post. It’s always good to have additional information and your input.

https://www.ciaobambino.com/ciaobambinoblog/index.php/2010/01/photo-friday-special-activities-in-maui/

Nancy Solomon, Travel Writer
CJ’s Maui Restaurant Customer Comment

Aloha, We were in to see you many times during our stay last month in Ka’anapali, couple of things for you:
Need to order some more of your CJ’s roasted Kona Coffee. I see it’s not yet on your website, only the Maui Coffee Co. stuff. We ran out last weekend and are having withdrawls, please help!! Need 2 bags urgently!!
Secondly, your claim about having the best corned beef hash on the island. I think you’ve understated this because it’s the best I’ve had any where in the world! And that covers a lot of ground as I’ve been to every continent multiple times. Just the best anywhere, period!! Don’t suppose you would have that for delivery to Indiana would you? Maybe by the pound(s)?
Great people and even better food, Mahalo CJ’s. Seriously though, please let me know about that coffee. How do we get some ordered and shipped to Indiana?

Bill Clark, Valparaiso, In.
CJ’s Maui Restaurant Customer Comment

​CJ’s Deli & Diner Rocks! Been here several times while visiting Maui – each time we tried different meals and each time we LOVED the food, service and atmosphere. Only suggestion would be to provide regular dinner napkins along with this paper type – because we’re messy!

Aloha and Mahalo from Detroit