Maui Wedding Dreams

Why have a Maui wedding? Simply because it is the ultimate place to have a wedding dream of a lifetime. There is just something so special about this place that its hard to describe. And when you are here and have the opportunity to tie the knot in this environment, it just becomes the perfect time and place and way to start your new life together.

Susan and I "went away" for the weekend (leaving the kids at home with our oldest daughter). When you live on an island, getting away (without hopping on an airplane) is sometimes a problem. But we own a time-share built on a point system (called WorldMark) and we can use it all over the world, as well as right here on Maui, so we choose to stay a couple of days in Kihei in a two-bedroom condo.

Last night we went down onto the beach as sunset approached. I so enjoy the sound of the ocean pounding onto the shore and we walked hand-in-hand for a couple of miles. The sky began to turn into one of those awesome sunsets I like to call "world class" towards the end of our walk together. The clouds stretched in every direction around us -- white puffy clouds that slowly took on the color of the sun as it dipped in and out of a thick band of cotton shapped fluffy pillows near the horizon. When the sun broke out into a small opening, shinning like a fireball, before sliding off into the ocean.

As it slipped away, the change in the sky's canopy felt like we were in the middle of a painting being created by a master artist like Wyland. (We had browsed in his Wailea gallery earlier in the day). When I looked around behind us you could see that the sky was packed full of clouds. It looked like a storm was coming and it felt like we were sitting in a gigantic ballroom somewhere, and then all these clouds began to turn subtle shades of pink and orange as the sun dipped below the horizon. I call this experience a "bonus sunset" when the clouds, especially the wispy thin clouds up way high begin are transformed and brightened into an incredible display.

Sitting there on the sand with no wedding couple to attend for us was a joy. We love sharing a sunset with our couples, but sometimes it is so much fun to just hold hands and enjoy God's incredible display of artistry for ourselves, relishing the day's waning moments before twilight takes over. I'm so glad we live here on this island. It's hard to believe sometimes how beautiful it can be here. I can see why anyone who has ever seen a sunset on Maui would say to themselves, "that's when I want to get married."

So why come here for your wedding? A better question might be why not? If you can do it; if you can break away from the crowds and the business of a mainland wedding and escape to paradise, do it. You'll never regret it. As I've said before, many of the couples who have an expensive mainland wedding later wish they had just run away to get married. But NONE of those who eloped were sorry about that decision later.

If you are a romantic at heart, this is the place to tie the knot. Because nothing else really compares.