Michaela made our wedding so special and profoundly spiritual. I highly recommend opting for the…read moretraditional Hawaiian style ceremony. It is a little longer, but oh my goodness. Not a dry eye in the house. Many wedding guests approached me after our ceremony and told me that our officiant reminded them why their own marriage has lasted so long. I can't do it justice by explaining just how special Michaela made our perfect day.

amazing wedding ceremony done with grace inclusiveness, and love. I highly recommend Michaela for…read moreofficiating weddings on the island. can't thank her enough for making a member ceremony

My wedding was perfect. From the location at Kikaua Point beach, to Dean the officiant. He does an…read moreamazing ceremony. Beautiful symbolism, stories and touches of the Hawaiian culture. However, if you are from the east coast I would not recommend using Hawaii Island Weddings. At times it took days/week for Kandi to get back to me with answers to my questions. On several occasions she tried changing prices on me. Luckily I held onto everything including emails and text messages and then used to reinforce what was originally said as well as prices originally quoted. If you are able to stay on top of things, are organized as an individual, and have a very laid back attitude go for it. Dean was worth the aggravation that came with her services. If I where just rating Dean I would give him a 5 plus stars. In response to Kandi's comment; You are 100% right. My wedding was perfect. From the location to Dean and the ceremony he performed. My wedding needs as a same sex couple are no different than those of a heterosexual couple. I would hope in this day and age you would know that. I am posting a photo of our contract so people who are looking at this review can see that communication was in fact included in our contract. I won't waste time looking for more of our conversation and such to show that I am not exaggerating about the exchanges we had but anyone reading this should feel free to message me for more including the leis, payments and charges because yes I am also a believer in 2 sides to every story. Luckily for me I saved all of the exchanges that were had.

I got married over two years ago and used Kandy. I would not recommend her to anyone. I have been…read moreavoiding this review but it's been eating at me that I'm sharing my experience with others and helping them avoid what I was victim too. She NEVER got back to me. She doesn't return phone calls and u have to chase her down. I spent too much time trying to get a hold of this lady... especially considering I was a customer! Then, she'd get a "dropped call" and not call back. She wasn't on the ball at all. I had to be on top of everything. Things only got done bc I was calling her and asking and making things get done. She tend to yell at me or "correct me" if I did her job. She was late to get things reserved and we lost out on venues, etc bc of her. She's expensive and will spring fees on u last minute. She didn't even tell me till days before the wedding that my package didn't include a officiant. So I had to hire her husband last min who I thought was already a part of the expensive package I was paying for, and had to pay the steep fee for him bc I had no other options. She told me after the wedding she'd clean up the reception area, and she did, but she gave away everything so I didn't get ONE of my table toppers that I made and wanted to keep for momento sake and had asked for one to be kept. I was SOOOO BUMMED! That's a one time thing and I didn't get to have one. She was very unaccommodating when it came to anything. I asked if I could ship boxes of stuff there and she hold on to it for literally 2 weeks till the wedding and she said no. For the price I pd her to help with this wedding I was shocked she didn't have any ability to receive some wedding things I wanted to ship and hold them for a small amt of time. The photographer we hired she had her be down at the wedding site before the wedding so didn't get ONE pic of us getting ready but have lots of pics of the guests waiting while I got ready :(. Kandy put me in a spot to wait for her while she got the wedding ready then would come get me and that never happened. We had the time set to happen at sunset and we missed that bc she never came to get me so we started 45 mins late and my hotel ended up taking me down in a golf cart bc she never came back to get me. The whole thing, from start to finish, from the beginning of planning till the end of the wedding was a shit show and disappointing and frustrating. I wouldn't recommend her to my worst enemy. I could go on and on abt things but I think I've made my point. Oh! But her husband, Dean, did do an amazing job with the officiating. No disappointment there. He's very cool and spiritual and was a nice addition to our wedding. Kandy wouldn't let us write our own vows, which we wanted to do, but what Dean did was good. Dana.wendland@gmail.comdana.wendland@gmail.com

Our wedding ceremony was absolutely beautiful, Karen made our Special Day everything we could…read morehave asked for. Adding some special touches that we weren't expecting! We definitely recommend reaching out to her if you are looking for something simple but elegant.

Becky was so wonderful to work with. Planning with her felt like working with my best friend. She…read moremade all our wants and needs happen. Our beautiful beach wedding was magical and her husband's assistance was an extra fun touch. Thank you for such a beautiful ceremony.

I can praise this officiant and his lovely wife for making our wedding experience, easy and…read morebeautiful. Marcia is so helpful. David was exactly the authentic experience we were looking for. Each detail they incorporated - flowers, leis, coco blessing, conch blowing, nose flute- made the atmosphere so much more sacred and special. Mahalo for making our experience magic.

The best. Above and beyond feels too trite to describe how Cheryl handled our ceremony, but above…read moreand beyond is how she operated in every possible way and our day was meaningful and poignant and we could not have imagined it better. On our first conversation, Cheryl said to me "Let me handle all the stress, you just get to Hawaii." I didn't have to worry about a thing; it was one of the easiest partnerships I've ever had with someone I'm working with to plan something. Cheryl went out of her way to accommodate every detail and request we asked for, from having our ukulele player learn our song (They Love Each Other by The Grateful Dead) on a weeks notice, to exploring every single option available to try and find a same-sex cake topper on Hawaii at the very last minute. When my mother wanted to be a sleuth to try and figure out our hotels, etc so she could do something, I put her in touch with Cheryl thinking she'd help her arrange dinner or a spa day at our hotel. Little did I know that Cheryl was talking to my mother and my mother-in-law almost daily, accommodating their requests and in the end keeping the big secret that our mothers paid for the entire day, photographer and wedding dinner. But even more special, Cheryl worked closely with them to give them the opportunity to put their small touches on our ceremony. Cheryl revealed the surprise after the ceremony and I can't tell you how special that was for us. Cheryl made it possible for our mothers to be part of our elopement and I can't thank her enough. Incidentally, my mother shared with me the pages and pages (.....and pages!) of emails she and my MIL exchanged with Cheryl. Even from 5,000 miles away, Cheryl's warmth and kindness touched our mothers and they will be forever friends. Our ceremony was intimate and and so well done. Her service was spot on for us as a couple, and Cheryl cried the whole time which made it feel like we were married by an old friend. Cheryl is everything you want for your Hawai'i elopement. She will forever hold an incredibly special place in our hearts and I couldn't ask for a kinder soul to remember as part of our day. Cheryl exudes love, fun and the spirit of aloha, and any couple who has her at the helm for their wedding is extremely blessed.

If you want to immediately feel like part of the family contact Cheryl. From the moment we made…read morecontact Brendan and I knew she was the one. We had an immediate connection. She truly took her time in getting to know us, our family and how we came to meet. She truly took her time in building a relationship with us. You can tell she loves people, loves love and her job. She put so much love and care into our day. I am not just saying she's the best because of how she married us. She truly is the best person in general. She invited us to her home, she treated us like family and her and her husband pas are both just all around kind and loving souls. She even went out of her way to help us with some local places to do , eat and see. Not only all that but she was down for an adventure elopement with us all the way down to the bottom of Waipi'o valley beach at sunrise. She was a trooper and one of the best friends/person to have married us. Thank you so much Cherly for your love and kindness

This review is long overdue! 2 years ago today Deanna…read moremarried us at a beautiful spot on Kikaua Point Beach. We wanted a calm and relaxed ceremony. Just the 3 of us - barefoot in the sand. Deanna came thru with exactly the vibe we wanted for our meaningful ceremony. The whole experience was perfect from start to finish. It was very easy and stress free. The "sand blending" was my favorite part of the ceremony. We highly recommend Deanna for your special day! Much aloha.

FIVE STAR - ABSOLUTELY AMAZING EXPERIENCE! I contacted…read moreDeanna to help us celebrate our 30 year anniversary by renewing our vows on Hapuna Beach at sunset as a surprise to my wife. I thought this would be a fun thing to do and that it might even be a little romantic. Little did I know just how AMAZING Deanna is when it comes to focusing on the moment and centering my thoughts on that place and time. The experience was far more meaningful and emotional than I ever imagined because of Deanna's soft, gentle kind spirit and amazing connection with this very special island. Thank you Deanna!

Malle was so great with my family of 6! It can be hard to capture all of us and we were fortunate…read moreto get some great photos! The gallery was so easy to access and download the photos we loved. I appreciate that she took the time to snap some photos of my husband and I alone and then also my oldest and I. These are photos I'll definitely cherish for years to come!

I hired Malle to take professional headshots for my real estate business. The pictures she gave me…read morewere outstanding. The setting she chose for the photo shoot was perfect. I couldn't have asked for anything more. I would highly recommend her services. Fantastic!

I was having difficulty finding an officiant for our renewal of vows, and found Reverend Russ on…read moreYelp. I'm so glad I did. We renewed our vows for our 25th anniversary, and it was important to us to do so in Volcanoes National Park. Rev. Russ worked with us to make the ceremony special. He respected our philosophy with respect to faith. He guided us through a ceremony with Hawaiian traditions that we will remember for a lifetime. We're very grateful to him for making a special day truly magical.

I worked with Russ to arrange a surprise vow renewal for my wife while in Kona. He is very…read moreresponsive and made the whole thing for easy to coordinate with flowers and Hawaiian custom traditions. I would highly recommend Russ.

The Good: We hired Betty for our wedding in March of 2020…read morebut had to reschedule due to Covid and she was very flexible in working with us on this. She also did a good job of performing the ceremony once she arrived. The Less Good: We had a wedding on the Hilo side of the island which has spotty service to say the least. Betty was 45 minutes late for our 10am ceremony and this is only because we had to send my uncle to find her lost on the side of the road. Due to spotty service, no one heard from her until I called at 10:15am and come to find out later, she had been calling my wife (the bride) from 10:01am multiple times that she was lost, having a backup phone number would be helpful to prevent this. The place isn't hard to find if you plug it in your phone/GPS prior to losing service, but this and other communication issues definitely lead us to believe there is a struggle with technology. Once she arrived, the ceremony went well and the next lapse in communication ensued. My wife and Betty had exchanged voicemails the day before the wedding after we finished on virtual licensing agent appointment so our marriage certificate could be issued. Betty stated that she had everything ready for the day of the wedding and didn't clarify that we needed to print off our marriage certificate so we were rushing to find a printer after the ceremony which caused more delays and we were not able to sit down to brunch with our guests after the ceremony. Because she performed well at the ceremony, I was initially going to leave a 3 star review. However, we had a friend get married several days after us and we heard that she was late for their wedding as well. Being late to two weddings in the same week is very unprofessional so I can't in good conscious recommend Betty to other couples and if you do book, maybe lie and say your ceremony is earlier so she is on time.

We Just got back from Kona for our 20 year anniversary with a vow renewal on the beach at sunset…read moreofficiated by Betty. Everything went smoothly, starting from my initial inquiry a few months ago, to the ceremony on the beach. Betty emailed the vows to me and allowed us to customize it anyway we wanted to. We found that what she had written was perfect. She gave us a choice of locations, and offered suggestions such as bringing leis to the ceremony for a Hawaiian lei exchange. Nice touch She showed up a little early, which was great, because we took a few minutes to find the right spot with the sunset in the background. If you are looking for the perfect sunset pictures in the background, I would recommend a 6:45pm start time. I highly recommend Betty, for someone that doesn't want the big production and big cost at one of the hotels.