I stumbled onto Princess K for my wedding dress as a bit of a fluke--my mom always said the graduation dresses they make for my high school (long and white) look like wedding dresses, so we visited them out of the blue to see if they did indeed make wedding dresses. Princess K does have a small corner in the back with a VARIETY of wedding dresses--all different styles, eras, and fabrics depending on what they have made in the past and have the samples of, so don't expect a "Summer 2010" line or anything. I did find a dress that fit rather nicely and was appropriate in style for an outdoor wedding, and Princess K's staff was very helpful in letting me know that anything and everything could be customizable off of the sample. They could change the straps to be crossback instead of halter, remove a ruffle, customize the fabric, etc. I picked a dress that they had only made once before, and even then Princess K did such a good job tailoring it that it truly was custom made! They sewed it from scratch using my measurements (no off the rack here!) and at my fitting the seamstress nipped and tucked, suggested adding in little elastics in the side to make sure that there were no gaps at the side-boob area--amazing attention to detail! Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that we got our entire wedding party's outfits there as well--silk shirts for the guys and dresses for the girls--one stop shopping at its finest! Best of all, since Princess K is off the beaten path and does not do weddings as their sole business, everything was extremely reasonable (still the most expensive dress I've ever bought, but easily 1/5 of the price of what wedding magazine photo shoots list dresses)
Waialae Country Club was the perfect compromise--I didn't want to have a Waikiki beach hotel wedding among tourists, and alternative venues like rental estates, private homes, or the North Shore had their own difficulties of transportation, parking, directions, caterers, and porta potties...
WCC was able to take care of everything, and it's only 5 min from my house! All of the food was fabulous (thankfully Kay, the coordinator suggested they make plates for us or else we wouldn't have been able to taste half of what we chose!) and the setting was perfect, especially with the open lanai area--guests really liked hanging out there before the ceremony and afterwards taking family pictures and mingling. The best part was that they were able to accommodate our request to have gelato for dessert instead of a wedding cake--and they even let us choose the flavors! A++!
Christine is the easiest person to work with (and work on you!) I came to her with about three different hair options and asked her what would work best on me (not on the magazine models) and Christine was very flexible about doing my hair one way and then pinning it up and photographing it so I could see it both ways. I also appreciated that she gave her opinion and was willing to experiment (and experiment with expert results!) instead of encouraging my indecisiveness. Christine is thorough, efficient, and doesn't just give you a standard "wedding makeup" face. I'd highly recommend springing for the airbrushing--I did it during my trial, and it didn't feel like a thing and lasted the entire day! The day of the wedding, Christine actually brought two assistants with her and they were done with myself and five bridesmaids about 45 minutes ahead of schedule--we didn't know what to do with ourselves! The hair had quite the staying power even though it looked loose and casual, and the makeup photographed beautifully.
Cassandra and David did a wonderful job photographing our wedding! We'd highly recommend meeting them for a get-to-know you session as it really helped us loosen up and get used to having them follow you around with a camera--my husband actually had a ball of a time hamming it up during our first session! They did all of the standard group shots that anyone would expect, but my favorite were actually from the post-ceremony and reception time when you see their photo journalistic style come out. We have some priceless dancing photos that completely capture people's personalities. It did take a bit of time to get our (physical) proofs and CD, but that is also because Cassandra and David have moved away from Hawaii--so sorry, you'll now have to find them on the mainland! Good luck Cassandra and David!
Patty did a beautiful job with all of the bouquets, and was able to work with off of the photo collage/slideshow I showed her to make my wedding bouquet incorporate everything I loved from various other websites/magazines spreads. It was so nice to work with a local florist--not a wedding florist--right in my hometown who was always the one to answer the phone and my emails! As one of the original reviews I read about Patty's said, if you are specific about what you want, Patty will deliver on budget. I liked that I was able to be upfront about how much I wanted to spend, and Patty would let me know what would be a good choice (for colors, non-wilting factor, estimated number of stems given the budget), and what she'd suggest avoiding because it would increase costs. Patty also was willing to work on a holiday (when our wedding was) and come into the shop especially to complete and hand off our order!