Once you decide to have your wedding or vow renewal in the beautiful state of Hawaii, what steps are involved in ensuring you and your partner have an amazing, stress-free experience?

1. Apply for Your Marriage License (not required for vow renewals)

It's super easy to get a marriage license in Hawaii. Although it can be done last minute, it is required, so plan in advance.

To apply for a Hawaii marriage license, complete the online application on the State of Hawaii website.

Once you arrive in Hawaii, you'll both need to meet with a licensing agent to pick up your license. The process takes around 15 minutes.

For details on requirements, processes, and more, visit our marriage license page.

FAQs:

• There are no state residence or U.S. citizenship requirements.
• Blood tests are not required.
• The legal age to marry is 18 years for both applicants.
• A valid I.D. (passport) or driver’s license may be presented for anyone 19 or older.
• If previously married, proof of original divorce decree or death certificate needs to be presented to the marriage agent by the applicant if the divorce or death was final within 30 days of applying for a marriage license.

Planning a wedding means making a million decisions. Next to choosing your spouse, picking the place where you'll say "I do" is the biggest decision you have to make when planning your nuptials.

What's So Great About Destination Weddings?

Destination weddings in Hawaii offer several advantages over traditional weddings. Whether you're getting married for the first time, planning a commitment ceremony, or renewing your vows, a destination ceremony has many perks.

After answering our couple’s questions about getting married in Hawaii, one of the most common questions we get is about how to book travel.

When’s a good time to visit? Where should we stay? Do we need a rental car?

Great questions!

Whether you're planning an elopement, small wedding, renewal, or Hawaii commitment ceremony, we wanted to provide some information to help get you started.

Newlyweds at Noelani Gardens, Oahu.

Quick Notes:

• Peak season is over the Christmas/New Year’s holidays, spring break, Japanese Golden Week, and to a lesser extent, summer vacation, but there are always rooms and flights available in Hawaii.
• Low season is roughly from early spring through June and from September to the middle of December.
• Check flights and hotels on travel sites, such as expedia.com, and then compare directly on the airline and hotel websites.
• For Honolulu, you’ll fly into Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) on the island of Oahu.
• Ask us about our promotion code for great rates at the Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort.
• Consider whether you should book a rental car or not.
• Ask us! If you have any questions or need some recommendations, we’re happy to help.

We've wanted to write a post like this for a while. There's no shortage of activity guides for Hawaii, and while those are great sources of information, we want to share some places we love.

You can trust us as your Hawaii wedding planners, and we think we know a thing or two about activities as well.

These recommendations are our personal favorites. We included a few of the popular attractions that many of you've heard of, but we did our best to go off the beaten trail and focus on the lesser-knowns that we feel make Oahu so special.

We broke our recommendations down into five categories: beaches, activies, hikes, Hawaiian foods, and shopping. 

Okay, let's get to it!

Oahu Beaches

Oahu's beaches are a great place to start. Not only are they one of the top reasons people visit Hawaii, but they're also free! Just as with weddings, we highly recommend weekdays (Monday-Friday) and non-holidays for the best beach experience and least crowds. If you are driving, never leave valuables visible in your car. Don't forget reef-safe sunscreen and towels!

Introduction to Micro Weddings

Micro weddings are rising in popularity, and now more than ever is a great time to consider if it may be right for you. Here at Weddings of Hawaii, we’ve been specializing in destination weddings of all sizes for over 40 years.

Thousands of couples have benefitted from the happy-medium of a micro wedding, and we’d love to help you determine if you could be one of them!

Small, intimate beach weddings are the perfect kind of micro wedding.

What Is a Micro Wedding?

A micro wedding for many places in the world is a small wedding, usually with around 20 and no more than 50 guests, but a Hawaii micro wedding is usually smaller, often with the couple and a few guests.

Generally, it is more streamlined but similar to a traditional wedding, with everything on a smaller scale.

Aside from the guest count, the biggest difference is that the reception is more casual and less structured than a traditional wedding reception.

If you choose to capture your special day with a ceremony and highlight video, it's time to start thinking about your wedding video song.

A ceremony and highlight video are included in Lehua wedding packages and above, and you can add it to any package. You'll have two videos: (1) a video copy of the ceremony beginning to end and (2) a highlight video including clips from the ceremony and clips from the photo shoot. 

You get to choose a song for your highlight video. We know each couple is unique, so we want to give you time to pick a song that fits your personality and style.