Sumptuous Maui Wedding by the Sea

On December 6, Shelley and Pat Manning hosted their truly delicious wedding at the Olowalu Plantation House in West Maui, Hawaii. A white vintage canoe filled with crushed ice and topped with just made sushi, featured king crab, giant shrimp, and poke, all served with a variety of yummy sauces to bring out the flavors. That was just the start as five different passed appetizers were paraded through the crowd, coconut shrimp with lychee dipping sauce, kalbe marinated beef sticks, summer rolls with Thai dipping sauce, chicken skewers with cilantro mint and crostine caprese. Still more to come with two salads, many entrees, including fresh fish and prime, prime rib, pasta, a mashed potato bar, and accompaniments. All the food expertly prepared by Carol Longhi Catering.

The lawn was filled with white flowers by Teresa Sena Designs. Shelley wanted white orchids, roses, peonies, accented with green and white lush flowers. Teresa delivered a gorgeous interpretation of Shelley’s vision.

Wedding Design: Blue Sky Weddings
Food: Carol Longhi
Flowers: Teresa Sena Designs
Photography: Barry Frankel

June Wedding at the Maui Coffee Farm

Carrie and Kevin wed in June at the Maria Lanakila church in Lahaina Maui. Friends and family flow in from across the mainland, from California, upstate New York and Pennsylvania. Carrie requested spring flowers for her bouquets featuring, bright pink, white and pale pink peonies. The stems were wrapped in navy blue, an on trend color for 2014. After the beautiful church wedding the group traveled back to the Ka’anapali Coffee Farm to gather for the wedding reception and dinner. The ocean views and evening sky provided a dramatic sunset for a lovely Maui Wedding.

Flowers were provided by Sally of Blue Sky Weddings
Photography: Barry Frankel Photography
Caterer: Carol Longhi Oleary
DJ: Boomshot Jay Langworthy
Wedding Cake: Maui Sweet Cakes
Wedding Planner and Design: Gabrielle at Blue Sky Weddings

Fields of Coffee Above Pacific Ocean

Kevin and Carrie’s Ka’anapali Coffee Farm wedding reception featured inspired views of acres of verdant coffee and Maui’s pacific ocean.

Maui wedding at Coffee Farms

Fields of Coffee in Maui

Image by Barry Frankel of Fresh Island Photography

December Wedding at Olowalu Plantation House in Maui

Coming from Australia, Julie and Jarrod found a central meeting point to marry at the Olowalu Plantation in Maui. Their families flew out from Southern California and Australia to join the couple for their marriage ceremony in West Maui. The wedding and reception featured bright jewel toned flowers, a travel theme featuring the couple’s favorite cities and destinations and a clear top tent with pretty white lanterns. The music was provided by Ahumanu, a Hawaiian style duet, and DJ Boomshot. The food was provided by Carol Longhi Oleary Catering. For dessert there was an array of cake pops, French style macaroons made by Fabiani’s Bakery in three flavors and a pot of melted warm chocolate with fresh tropical fruit for dipping on each table.  After the family style dinner was served dancing lasted into the night.

Photography by Hula Girl Photography
Catering by Carol Longhi Oleary Catering
Planning and Design by Blue Sky Weddings Maui
Flowers by Sally of Blue Sky Weddings
Officiate: Reverend Kimo Kirkman
Venue: The Olowalu Plantation House in Maui
French Style Macaroons: Fabiani’s Bakery

Shave ice: A cool idea

Shave ice is a fun addition to a wedding reception and Maui has lots of options for shave ice vendors. The choices available range from classic neon syrups in bright colors to organic local fruit flavorings, expensive and fancy to home styled and simple. Another popular idea is to feature cocktail inspired flavors such as pina colada, lava flow, blue Hawaii, or whatever your fancy and  add a shot of rum or vodka to top it off for a lush cocktail. Shave ice is a cool idea for hot weather weddings.

Shave ice is a Hawaiian tradition brought to the islands by Japanese plantation workers in the late 1800’s. Fine ice is shaved off a block which makes the ice very fine and  allows it to mix completely with the flavor syrups.  It is typically served in a paper or plastic cup.  Often a scope of vanilla ice cream or azuki bean paste is added at the bottom of the cup. Some of the many flavors include, pineapple, guava, coconut, lilikoi, li hing mi, lychee, mango, Thai tea, kiwi, tiger’s blood, watermelon and local Kula strawberry, add a snow cap, homemade azuki beans, fresh mochi balls or a scope of Roselani vanilla ice cream and you have a local Maui sweet treat to impress your guests.

Lahaina, Hawaii – January 22, 2014 – WeddingWire, the nation’s leading online wedding marketplace, named Blue Sky Weddings as a winner of the prestigious WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards™ 2014 for Wedding and Event Planning in Maui, Hawaii

The WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards™ 2014 recognizes the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism. The esteemed awards are given to the top local wedding vendors in more than 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on their professional achievements from the previous year.

While many industry award winners are selected by the host organization, the WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards™ winners are determined solely based on reviews from real newlyweds and their experiences working with Blue Sky Weddings. Award-winning vendors are distinguished for the quality, quantity, consistency and timeliness of the reviews they have received from their past clients.

“There’s no better way to start the year than by honoring the hard work, commitment and success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Network,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “It is exciting to celebrate a sixth year recognizing businesses whose clients believe they are committed to quality, professionalism and all around top-notch service. We are honored to recognize Blue Sky Weddings for their impressive achievements within the wedding industry.”

As a Couples’ Choice Awards™ winner, Blue Sky Weddings is highlighted within the WeddingWire Network, which is comprised of over 200,000 wedding professionals throughout North America and abroad.

Blue Sky Weddings is proud to be one of the top Wedding and Event Planning in Hawaii in the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding sites such as WeddingWire, Project Wedding, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for taking the time to review our business on WeddingWire. We value all of our clients and truly appreciate the positive feedback that helped us earn the WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards™ 2014.

For more information about Blue Sky Weddings please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at www.blueskyweddings.com

To learn more about the Couple’s Choice Awards™, please visit www.weddingwire.com/couples-choice-awards.

Lauren Pearson & John Hart Marry at the Sugarman Estate in Makena Maui

This wedding ceremony and reception hosted at a private estate in Makena Maui featured the brides choice of bright pink peonies mixed with peach tones and bright yellow for all of the decor. The venue was on the ocean facing the sea. The marriage ceremony took advantage of the spectacular lava rock, and outer island views. Before the sun set into the ocean the couple had lots of time for gorgeous photography with Christopher Nolan of Little Rock Arkansas who flew into Maui for the occasion.

Photography by Christopher Nolan of Little Rock Arkansas
http://christophernolanphotography.com
Hair and Make up: Adiel Sneary-Cline from Maui 253 Salon for hair & makeup.
Food by Carol Longhi Oleary
Flowers by Sally
Wedding Planning and design by Blue Sky Weddings Maui

Australian Couple Wed by the Sea in Historic Olowalu Hawaii

Tara Beyer and Marcus Renna marry in Maui

Photography: Stewart Pinsky of Hula Girl Photography
Food & Catering: Carol L Oleary
Flowers: Blue Sky Designs
Wedding Planner: Blue Sky Weddings
Venue: Olowalu Plantation House – Lahaina Maui
DJ: Sound Wave Maui

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Positively Paia: A Maui Jewel

It’s rather a great challenge to find places in Maui that measure-up to the island’s splendid natural beauty in terms of man-made enticements, and the smoothly unpretentious and energetic town of Paia accomplishes this impressive feat. With only two main streets, Paia is filled with individual shops and restaurants that thankfully belie all too common trends for chains that dissolve geographical and personality distinctions.

Without having the opportunity to visit all Paia’s myriad establishments, here are several that have proven memorable during several initial visits to this colorful Maui town.

Cafe Des Amis

Café des Amis invariably charms and satisfies, with an ambience somewhere in-between a bohemian outpost and a family friendly cowboy salon, while maintaining a beneath-the-surface sophistication worthy of Paris. Theirs is a simple menu executed with flair and consistency. My personal favorites are the vegetable curry, with a recipe from India, and a Mediterranean platter, filled with absolutely fresh and enticing items. The specialty of the house are crepes, both savory and sweet, and they are truly memorable. Service is excellent, deliberately not too rushed, and one may dine inside or out for breakfast, lunch, or dinner in total enjoyment, while a soft parade of denizens and visitors pass by, and into the café.

Paia Fish Market is a refreshingly simple and straightforward proposition, including seating at friendly picnic benches inside. Forgoing most extraneous inducements, customers place orders at the counter, and then wait for numbers to be called. Every day has a newly composed list of the fresh fish available in a variety of delicious presentations. Freshness and quality of the various fishes is superb, and one may enjoy first-rate seafood at a fraction of the cost found in upscale establishments. Additionally, there are Mexican delicacies available, not to mention hamburgers, salads, and terrific coleslaw. The ambience here is perfect for the menu, and one feels the ocean’s presence, with open windows and doors, even though you’re in the middle of town.

Mana Foods brims with the excitement of life, and recognition that this is the place to go for the finest fuel to keep us going. Every section of this joyfully complex epicurean marketplace brims with alluring temptations, and the people who work there are cheerfully helpful. Every imaginable product is available, from organic produce, freshly prepared foods, seafood, seeds and nuts, spices, breads, vitamins, bath products, etc. The selection at Mana Foods is staggering, and one may easily spend hours roaming the colorful aisles.

Mamas Fish House was initially entered with some skepticism due to their hefty prices and large lines. I was fearful this might turn out to be an underwhelming tourist trap. Nothing could be further from the truth, fortunately. A true aloha spirit among the hosts and servers prevails, moving things at a luxurious pace that vanquishes time and worries. Tables are well spaced, enhancing the royal ambience. The cuisine is exquisite, and carefully prepared, with a wide selection of seafood and other choices. Mama’s Fish House is located several miles past Paia, and its well worth the extra drive for an authentically Hawaiian culinary experience.

Biasa Rose is a lovely, charming shop with carefully selected clothing for women, men, and children. I especially enjoy their fine eye for captivating colors and designs.

Indigo has an astoundingly fine and varied collection of authentic rugs from the mountains of Afghanistan. Their jewelry selection is also extraordinary, including exquisite pieces from India, Ethiopia, Thailand, and Hawaii too. This is definitely a place to visit, almost like journeying to a foreign land beyond Maui.

Aloha Bead Company dazzles with its comprehensive inventory of semi-precious, stone, and glass beads for those who wish to create their own jewelry. Additionally, one may bring in jewelry for repair.

Again, I am certain there are myriad other restaurants and shops in Paia that are equally satisfying, so enjoy yourself while exploring more fully one of the jewels of Maui. Even if you don’t plan on entering any restaurants or shops, it’s a fine diversion walking on the storied sidewalks kissed by sunlight or moonlight, caressed by gentle breezes, while you drink in the pastel and prismatic painted town that time has given a pass.

  • Shopping Paia Maui
    North Shore shopping: Biasa Rose

– Eric Robinson, November 2013

© Blue Sky Weddings 2013 All rights reserved

Photography:  © Gabrielle Longhi