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Isle wedding planners exult as
By Gary T. Kubota
record numbers of visitors leave
their churches behind to say
their vows in Hawaii
Star-BulletinMAKENA, Maui -- Under tropical skies more than 6,000 miles from their home in North Carolina, Carrie Hoffer exchanged wedding vows with Daniel Domnick.
"Daniel, I give you this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness," said Carrie, as 15 relatives and friends from Illinois to Indonesia watched recently.
Wedding bells, as well as cash registers, are ringing in Hawaii.
Mainland visitors are leaving home-town weddings at the altar and flying to the islands to be married in record numbers.
And they're bringing their friends and families.
While Hawaii long has been a popular place for honeymooners, visitor weddings are increasing rapidly and becoming lavish -- some couples spend more than $70,000 on the event and vacation."It's intense, but I have such a good time," said Carolee Higashino, president of A White Orchid Wedding Inc., a wedding coordinating company,
"Everybody is in a good mood. They're in love. We're creating the moment in their life."
Many resorts now have their own wedding coordinators and wedding Web sites.
Hawaii is the leading offshore destination for American brides and grooms and their guests, with an estimated share of $891 million out of a $5.3-billion market, according to a study done by Modern Bride magazine.
Kay Hampton, a Modern Bride representative in Hawaii, said the total is significantly larger when you factor in weddings from Japan and other countries.
The growth has been "phenomenal" in the past three years, said Lisa Harley, wedding manager at the Four Seasons Resort in Wailea. "We actually have a department that oversees weddings. Two years ago, there was no department."
Hyatt Regency Maui's wedding coordinator, Laura Jellison, said the number of weddings at her resort increased by 25 percent to 250 last year and the demand is growing.
"It's looking very strong," Jellison said. "It's overwhelming."
The number of visitor weddings in Hawaii nearly doubled in seven years, growing from 7,771 in 1993 to 14,074 in 1999, according to the state Department of Health, which issued the marriage licenses.
Maui County has the largest piece of the cake in visitor weddings -- 48 percent, or 6,759, followed by Oahu, 3,531; Kauai, 2663; and Hawaii, 1,122.
The statistics reflect only a fraction of the number of non-resident weddings. Many Japanese exchange wedding vows in Hawaii, but obtain marriage licenses in Japan.
According to Watabe Wedding Corporation, the number of Japanese weddings in Hawaii climbed from 25,000 in 1996 to 29,800 last year.
While Japanese couples in their 20s are spending less on honeymoons as their country faces economic problems, the spending by American couples appears to be increasing, with more couples holding smaller, more private affairs.
Higashino noted that most of the couples opting for island weddings tend to be older.
"The average age is 27 to 37 years old, she said.
Often, the bride and groom are at a financially comfortable time in their careers and pay for both the reception and wedding. In some instances, they also pay for their guests' vacations.
If he had married younger he probably would have chosen a large church wedding closer to home, acknowledged Daniel Domnick, 33.
But because he's midway through his career as president of a computer service company, he was able to afford combining his wedding with a vacation on Maui.
Domnick estimates that the 17 people who attended his wedding would spend a total of $40,000 on the trip.
While inexpensive weddings are available at various churches, such as Holy Innocents in Lahaina for $225, the price for a wedding at private residences and hotels starts between $1,500 to $3,800.
At the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, the starting price of $3,800 doesn't seem to have deterred many.
The hotel did more than 300 weddings last year, compared to 54 weddings five years ago, said Ritz-Carlton wedding director Adele Grover.
The price of the most popular wedding package, which includes three nights at the hotel, is $4,900, she said.
But many have spent much more at the Ritz-Carlton in recent years -- some in excess of $100,000 -- bringing family, friends and themselves in on private jets.
There's the private limousine service with champagne and strawberries, rehearsal luau dinners, the gift baskets to guests, the golf tournament for men, the salon treatments and massages for women, the ballroom dinner and breakfast brunch.
Oh, yes, and the wedding.
One of the most beautiful weddings Grover recalls included 110 people from various countries. The bride wore a gown by Vera Wang.
At the reception, the chairs were decorated with satin covers and bows and pink rosettes that matched part of the bride's gown. Silver-framed place cards were given as gifts.
"She loved peonies so we flew in $4,000 worth of peonies just for the reception," Grover said.
For many, the wedding marks their first trip to Hawaii, according to visitor industry observers.
The weddings range from the traditional to the off-beat, such as the couple who married near the summit of Haleakala, then rode a hang glider to their reception at Keokea.
"We've done some standing in the water," said Robert Ramacher, owner of Video Concepts. "We've done some without clothes."
Maui Visitors Bureau spokeswoman Charlene Kauhane said her office has been aggressively marketing visitor weddings because they peak in May and September -- a time when tourism is usually slow.
"It's one of the most important niche markets," she said. "When you're on a honeymoon, you tend to spend more."
Plus, brides and grooms who marry in Hawaii most likely will become repeat visitors, Kauhane said.
"They'll come back and, hopefully, they'll come back with their children."
