This is an overdue review. Exactly one month ago my brother in law married his forever. Doreen Hall…read morecame highly recommended by a mutual friend. I reached out to her and she was quick to respond. First thing I told her was that I had absolutely no clue how to plan a destination wedding (we were coming from California). She assured me that everything will be ok and she will help me; and sure enough she guided me step by step on what I needed to do to help my brother in law marry his forever. There was absolutely no lack in communication. It was such a pleasure to know you Doreen! Thank you for all your help but most of all THANK YOU for making Mark and Andrea's wedding day a memorable one!

This is way overdue, being that my wedding was 3 years ago. Overdue because Doreen FINALLY was…read moreable to build this business. I knew that my wedding wouldn't be complete without having her in my wedding. So, I thought about it and decided I did not want her a part of the entourage... She needed to be more than that. I needed her to officiate our wedding and also Emcee the reception. I gave her a call and asked her to get ordained and I AM SO GLAD I DID. I knew that she would be perfect because before she does anything, she NEEDS to get to know the couple and make it as personal as possible. She flew from Hawai'i to California for one of the most important days of my life and made sure that people would love it. My guests were all thrilled with her. More than half of my guests didn't know who she was. All they knew was that she was one of my besties. However, I had many of them calling me weeks after the wedding and telling me how they loved her.... that it was one of the best weddings they had been to because she made it so fun and full of laughs. Stop looking for that officiant and/or emcee and book Doreen for all your wedding needs. I PROMISE YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!

I had a great experience with knots and shots as our wedding photographer 3 years ago. We still…read moreenjoy our photos. Would definitely recommend!

First off, I'd like to preface my review by saying, "Stephanie has a knack for putting nervous…read moreBrides at ease." Stephanie has a lovely, friendly personality, yet she is professional and competent. She was the Officiant for my Son's themed wedding. She goes above and beyond and even wore the requested themed garments. Not only did she look the part, the vows she wrote were equally splendid. This young woman obviously loves what she does and it shows! She is also a skilled photographer and captured the essence of a very special day! We highly recommend Knots and Shots! Thank you Stephanie, you're amazing!

Reverend Jim and Terri provide a wedding service that is on an entirely different level than most…read moreof the corporate wedding companies around Hawaii. They run a family business, with wonderful personal touches, while crafting a truly magical wedding experience and handling it professionally the whole way. Also, their wedding photographer Juan is ridiculously talented! His eye for amazing shots, color, richness, and intimacy is wonderful. Some of best photography I've ever seen. Just look at some of the photos on their website to see what I mean. My wife and I will definitely use them for our vow renewal!

I had such a great experience with Hawaiian Barefoot Weddings! I found them online and called to…read morespeak with Terri. She was patient, answered all our questions and was very friendly and courteous. It was much less than some of the other places we found online. Terri coordinated the ceremony, minister, music, photography and cake cutting/champagne toast. It was simply perfect! The entire group was awesome and it made my day perfect!

CJ and his team exceeded our expectations! His entire staff is friendly and communcative. They…read moreliterally took care of everything so my bride and I could enjoy our special day. The pictures turned out amazing and everything was very professional. We live here on Oahu and researched/spoke to numerous wedding planners. Many were either obviously looking to take advantage of tourists or just plain rude. If you are looking for professional, friendly service look no further and give CJ a call!!

Pros 1. Flexible vendor policy: They were fine with us…read morehiring vendors we found ourselves. 2. Chinese-speaking support: This was helpful for family members who aren't comfortable communicating in English. 3. Natural-looking photos: The photo style is natural, and they were willing to accommodate some of our shot requests. 4. Makeup recommendation: The makeup artist they recommended (Abbie) was good, provided us polished makeup, and she was attentive and responsible with touch-ups. Major Cons 1. Big attitude shift after we signed. Before we signed, communication was quick and friendly. After signing, there was a period when they became extremely difficult to reach. I understand wedding season is busy, but going 1-2 weeks with no response is not acceptable. It made us feel like our wedding simply wasn't important to them. 2. Rude, harsh tone on the wedding day. Right before the ceremony started, the coordinator (CJ) sharply asked me, my husband, and my dad: "You didn't practice the handoff?" That kind of accusatory, sarcastic comment is the last thing a couple needs moments before walking down the aisle. It's the coordinator's job to guide the process, not blame the family. It immediately put us in a bad mood. 3. Dismissive of the bride's requests. I wanted the family members to walk down the aisle, and I had already discussed it with the band. CJ responded with an unpleasant, challenging tone--"They're walking too?" To avoid conflict and protect my mood, I gave in and said only the groom would walk. That also meant we lost the moment we planned with Canon, a piece I really love. I'm still sad about that. 4. Poor vendor coordination. Even something as basic as the cake delivery became something I had to worry about myself. If there was an issue, it should have been communicated ahead of time, not brought up last-minute on the wedding day. 5. Weak handling of time changes / emergencies. We were delayed by a little over ten minutes due to circumstances outside our control. Even with that, we still should have had a short pre-ceremony photo window to breathe, listen to the music, take photos, and settle our nerves. Instead, because the coordinator didn't clarify details with the band in advance, they immediately rushed everything when we arrived. Many songs I carefully chose were never heard. The priority felt like "finish the schedule," not "help the couple enjoy their wedding." 6. Package items not delivered. There should be musicians playing/singing a few songs during post-ceremony photo time to keep the atmosphere lively. That never happened. 7. Edited photos delivered very late, and then they stopped responding. After the wedding, I had to ask twice just to receive the retouched photos, and they looked rushed and rough, like they were done quickly before sent out. We then requested re-edits. At first there were replies (though I still had to keep following up). But after the last round of feedback, more than two months passed and I still never received the updated photos. I sent multiple follow-up emails and got no response. Minor Cons 1. Inconsistent pricing and a depends on mood feel. Small add-on services kept changing price, sometimes the same service was quoted at $100, other times $40. That lack of consistency felt unprofessional. 2. Limited vendor recommendations. I ended up finding most vendors myself. The florist they recommended was also significantly more expensive, over 60% higher than the florist I found. Overall If I had to score it out of 100: * Coordination: 50/100 * Photography: 80/100 * Photo editing/delivery: 50/100 The biggest issue is that the planner/coordinator and photographer they provided were the same person, and unfortunately neither role was handled well. I wouldn't recommend this setup. For future couples: it's much better to hire different specialists rather than one person trying to cover multiple vendor roles.

I used Love Always as my officiant and was beyond pleased. Wesley was responsive from day 1. We…read moreplanned our elopement at the last minute but lucked out and she was available. I picked her based on her Instagram profile- her warm smile gave me the feeling that she was going to make our ceremony special and my hunch was right. Planning an event from far away can be a little nerve-wracking but she made everything easy and stress-free. If you are on the fence about eloping-go for it. If you are looking for an officiant to make the ceremony special Wesley is your person. I am not one to write lots of reviews. I generally only write them for exceptionally great service or exceptionally bad service...this one is definitely for exceptionally great service.

Sarah has been in our court from Day One. If you're a pandemic bride, you know the struggle of how…read morethe past couple years it's been with planning a wedding. We were referred to Sarah as she has done a lot of our friends weddings and engagement photos. I'm pretty critical when it comes to me taking photos but Sarah reassured that it'll be fun and how it won't be awkward. And she was right! Sarah has a way of positioning you and gives you these commands. She just knows. I commend her style of being bright and no overly edited with filters. Her photography has a natural glow. With the constant rescheduling due to Covid 19, Sarah was seriously so flexible, encouraging, and understanding.It made working with her so easy! She ended up taking our engagement, elopement, and then our reception a year later. We just got our reception photos and can't wait to be able to finally print for our home. Thank you Sarah for not only the photography but being one of our biggest supports. We wouldn't have been able to do this without you. If you're looking for a supportive, fun, and easy to work with photographer, look no further! She's definitely one of kind.

Sarah was an absolute dream photographer. From the initial intro video call, we could tell that she…read moretotally fit our vibe - fun, light-hearted, and easy-going. She was very transparent and happy to show us full galleries of her previous work (which were amazing). On the day of the wedding, she was timely and professional, and totally made it feel like we were being photographed by a friend. She lavished us with encouragement and kindness, and captured our relationship so beautifully and authentically. We got our previews a few days after the wedding and we are in LOVE with the photos. We can't wait to see our full gallery once it's ready. Sarah is not only a gifted photographer, but is also the kind of person who makes you feel so known, celebrated, and appreciated. You will be so happy you chose Sarah to photograph your special day.

Takako and her team did an AMAZING work for our wedding few weeks ago! I'm so glad we found them…read morethrough The Knot website and just by the reviews, they were easy to work with and super communicative! I reached out to Halu Flowers starting August 2021 and up till our wedding in October 2022, she communicated with us the whole time. We ordered the arch flowers, 6 bouquets, 6 boutonniere, 4 lays, 2 small bouquet for the ceremony chairs/tossing flowers. We repurposed everything to be used again during the reception and her & her team did amazing!! All of our guests loved the flowers and I also preserved the bouquet flowers as well after the wedding (used Modern Bouquet Preservation btw). Takako gave me instructions on how to keep them fresh after the wedding as well up until giving the flowers to them. Takako is super knowledgeable and thoughtful and you can definitely see it through their work. I know that I can trust Halu Flowers & know that I can confidently refer her to all of our friends and family. 本当にありがとうございました！

Halu Flowers Hawaii added a magical touch to the event with their exquisite floral arrangements…read more Their attention to detail was impressive. Highly recommend!

She is absolutely amazing florist who practically reads your mind when it comes to what you want…read more She is easy going and calm but will get excited with your ideas and try to give you what you want. She will do all this with very very reasonable price. My daughter and I got many quotes and Cortney's one was the cheapest and yet the arrangements (arch, table arrangement, bouquets, welcome sign and etc.) she provided was beautiful. Many guests were very impressed with the decoration. Give her a chance to do your wedding and you won't regret it.

Thinking about throwing a destination wedding in Hawaii? Please call Cortney Crane!…read more We decided to have my sister's wedding in Honolulu, as she didn't want the typical wedding in our local city (San Francisco). We decided to plan a 50 guest wedding in Hawaii, and picked Honolulu as the spot. While we picked our event venue (Modern Honolulu) we needed someone to really help us in organizing everything at the location, as we had not checked out anything before. Also, as sister of the bride, I was not going to be planning every detail (no thanks!). From the immediate first interaction email, Cortney was a true delight to work with. She handled everything with professionalism and helpfulness, not to mention being such a friendly and reachable person. All the details fro pre-wedding night dinner to post wedding activities were handled, and she had consistent contact with the hotel venue to make sure all the guest accommodations and event logistics were set. When meeting in person a couple days before the wedding (which was last night) she was even more awesome in person and helped run even random errands my annoying family had asked. From the DJ, wedding favors, banquet, reception, officiator, photog and SO MANY requests, she did everything for us. I recommend anyone planning a wedding on the island to hire Cortney, as she is super honest, amazing, creative and (affordable)! Thank you Cortney for your help in Marjan & JPs wedding, everyone truly appreciates it and you are amazing! As if you're not busy enough, you will be the queen wedding planner on Honolulu to come.