Maui Wedding Traditions

Every day in the U.S. about 6,700 couples tie the knot, while each day about 3,200 are untying the knot.

Six percent of American couples propose on the phone. One in ten women are the ones who pop the question. On the average, couples are now waiting about 16 months after their engagement before they finally have their ceremony. A third of the couples who get married, are already living together (our experience here is that this percentage is much higher with our couples).

Here on Maui, we've actually performed a couple of "surprise Maui weddings" where either the bride or the groom did not know it was happening until their partner took them to the wedding license appointment! (Of course, we always wonder, will they say "yes" as we're helping in this planning, and what will happen if they say "no").

Nine out of ten brides take their husband's last name. We actually had one groom who took his wife's name and one couple that both changed their last name to something completely different.

Slightly more than a quarter of American couples complete their wedding planning in three months or less. Over half of the couples spend up to a year working on their wedding details, while 17 percent keep at it for more than a year. I think most of our couples would be in the "less than three months" group.

The average wedding size is 171 guests. While up to seven percent have more than 250 in attendance. By comparison, the vast majority of our Maui weddings are 10 or under. I'm fond of calling our couples the "runaway bride and groom" because they leave all of their troubles (and guests) on the mainland.

The average first time wedding on the mainland costs a whopping $22,360 (and those figures are about three years old). Some are obviously spending a lot more. In contrast, even our high-end Maui weddings are seldom as high as $3000 (unless they bring a lot of people and have a big reception).

Fifty percent of those married in a large traditional mainland wedding wish afterwards that they had opted for a private, more personal ceremony. But it is interesting that not a single eloper wishes they had stuck around for a big, traditional wedding?

And that's the beauty about getting married in Paradise. You are very unlikely to regret that decision later. Your pocket book will enjoy the decision, and you'll find it much more romantic for the two of you to escape to Maui for you own special wedding commitment.