I’m a wedding planner and I’ll be quite honest, this job is pretty much overrated.  Wedding planning, for the most part, is glorified waitering.   You order off the menu, the waiter brings what you want efficiently, end of story.    For something so simple you would think it would be easy to find a good waiter – I mean wedding planner.  Think again.  You’ll run into more bad planners than good.  They don’t answer their phone, they are disorganized, dishonest, and some are just flat out stupid.

So why would you want to hire one?   I’ll get to that.

THE PROS: If you’re dealing with a good wedding planner in Hawaii, they can make everything very easy.  Most are a one-stop shop, like myself, and they can get most everything for you.  If they can’t get it for you, they’ll refer that business out.  With a good wedding planner, all your answers regarding Hawaii weddings should be answered, leaving you 100% satisfied.

THE CONS: Many wedding planners are dishonest.   Their pockets are greased, for the most part, meaning they’ll push business to vendors who give the biggest kickback.  Now, I’m not self-projecting there.  I don’t get any kickback from any of my vendors.

Some wedding planners are flat out cheaters.  I knew a planner who told their couple to spend $110 on food for their reception, then hired a caterer who charged $30 per head.   The wedding planner was pocketing $80 per head, making more than the caterer.   Can you believe that?   That’s just horrible.

Dishonesty can come in all forms.    I’ve done photo work for other wedding planners and I’ve seen my photos appear on their website.  I was not credited with those photos.  Instead, my photos were used to book a couple and the wedding planning company then hired a cheap photographer with less experience for the package.   I know this happens because every now and then I get a phone call from a pissed off couple who uses Google to image search, and low and behold, that same image is found on my page.  They surf into my site and contact me, and end up booking me.

SHOULD YOU HIRE A COORDINATOR?  YES AND NO.

Let me state the obvious.  You should not hire a dopey-dishonest-doofus coordinator.   If you call a company up and you say to yourself, “I dunno about this person, they sound pretty dopey,” then don’t go with them.

• If you’re eloping or planning a small wedding, want to save money, or are hands-on, for the most part, the answer is “you don’t need to.”  If you use google and yelp efficiently, you should be able to find great vendors.   All you need to know is that you need to find a minister that is licensed by the State of Hawaii and that you need to go to the Department of Health to get your marriage license.
• If you want to make everything much easier, then the answer is “yes.” Then you can hire me out and make my wallet very happy – haha.  I’m a dude who is a professional photographer/videographer who’s been in the wedding industry for 20 years, and can plan weddings with one hand tied behind my back.  Hate to brag, but I’ve done over 6000 weddings so far, and have far more experience than most of these fools.  And I’m honest – unlike these other fools (man, I sound like Mr. T!)  Prices will be a tad more expensive than if you were to do it on your own, but nothing that would rob your bank account.When you book one of my Hawaii Wedding Packages, you’ll automatically get planning “glorified waitering” with each package, and if you read my reviews, you should be happy.   I’m easy to reach all the time, just don’t call when the Philaldelphia Eagles are playing, or on Super Bowl Sunday or else I will not forgive you.

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Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my personal cell at (808) 489-7633. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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I would say that close to all of my clients, at one point or another, attend a Hawaiian luau.   A “luau, ” if you’re wondering, is just a Hawaiian themed party.  That party doesn’t have to be in Hawaii as well.  It could be in Afghanistan, it just has to be Hawaii themed.  Maybe there’s hula, Hawaiian food, the setting just has to be “Hawaiian,” and that’s all.   The questions I always get asked is, “Steve, I want to know which luau is authentic.”

Uhm….unless you’re attending a luau that’s not commercialized, more than likely, it’s not authentic.   And that’s purely because back in the day, Hawaiian’s didn’t throw parties for money – haha.

So what are the best luaus on the Island?

• Polynesian Cultural Center
• Germaine’s Luau
• Paradise Cove

I’ve listed them in no particular order and linked them to their websites (that opens in extra tabs), which should make it easier for you to navigate.  I do have a few comments on each luau.

POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTER

PCC, as what the locals call it, is like a mini amusement park.  Not only is there a luau here, but an entire mini-city full of little businesses to take your money.  Not to mention, a full-fledged dedicated restaurant called Pounders.   Their luau is an all-day experience, unlike Germaine’s or Paradise Cove.   They’ll send a bus to pick you up in Waikiki and you’ll spend the entire day riding canoes, learning about Hawaiian culture, eating, and attending a really good Luau.A couple of big catch 22’s here.Number One, is that they don’t serve alcohol.   Number Two, is that it’s run by Mormons.   Not that Mormon’s are a bad, but I’ve heard stories from some of my clients that their Luau tour included a tour of the BYU campus, and their guides loved talking about how great Joseph Smith is.   They all said that “if you can get past that part, and the zero alcohol part, you’re fine.”

GERMAINE’S LUAU

If you like to be up and close to the entertainment, then this luau for you.   Even the back rows, you’re not too far away from the action.  The show is great and the food is good.I did notice that their dancers, specifically, their women dancers, were kinda on the bigger side than usual.  Is that authentic?

PARADISE COVE

Out of all the luaus, I tend to like Paradise Cove the best.  The first reason why?   I’m not going to lie here.   Some of the women are downright gorgeous.   I mean, they are the cream of the crop, some of the best local looking girls that I’ve seen on the island.   And I’m not saying this in a Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Bill Cosby way.   I literally said to myself, “Where the hell did they find women who look like this?”   The men tend to be in better shape too.  Their casting department is really good.   Tied for first, their food is really good.   Thier bbq chicken and kalua pig is really tasty.   Secondly, I can sit far away from the stage.   I’m not sure if you’re like me, but I like to play it safe at these shows.   I find that if I’m near the stage, I get pulled up on the stage.   Farther away, the better.   And if I’m far away, I can continue to attack the buffet line.

I do tend to like Paradise Cove out of all the rest, but they are all good.  Anyone of them, you’ll be very happy.   Luaus tend to run around the $100 per person range.   It’s really worth it in my opinion.

I need to mention that there is a Waikiki called The Diamondhead Luau, which one of my couples attended and loved.   I have never been there before.

Now, if you’re looking to throw your own luau at your vacation rental, that’s 100% possible.  Check out my Costco Luau by clicking here.

YOUR WEDDING AND LUAU’S

If you’re a couple that wants to attend a luau after your wedding, that’s really a great idea.   There are some trade-offs that you need to know if you do decide to take this route.  To begin, because most luaus start around sunset, that literally means you will not be able to get sunset shots for your wedding.  That is, unless you get married at Ko’olina and have your Luau at Paradise Cove.   If you do it this way, I can pull you away from the Luau for 5 minutes, and we can get sunset shots!    I can’t do that at Germaine’s or PCC.

As a last note, make sure that you have a designated driver for the trip back to the hotel.   Those fruity alcohol drinks have a lot of alcohol!

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Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my personal cell at (808) 489-7633. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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Today, we had humango waves on the North Shore of Oahu.   Thirty to Forty feet!  Just to put things into perspective, the light pole in front of your house is most likely twenty feet high.  Can you imagine a wave twice as big as that?  Talk about “holy toledo batman!” Big waves in the winter is like snow in December, pretty much a guarantee.

How will they affect your wedding?   Well….

• On one hand, they can be great for photos.    If the shorebreak, isn’t too big, I can get you two into the ocean (about ankle deep), and we can come up with some pretty cool photos.  It is a bit dangerous but nothing that I would consider life-threatening.
• On the other hand, big waves can throw a wrench into wedding plans if they are too big.  Beaches do close if the waves are too big and there’s nothing I can do about it.  Waves have been known to threaten beachfront property.    Many times, if the waves are on the North Shore are huge to the point where it’s washing up over the road, we just won’t use that beach.   Finding another suitable beach nearby is relatively easy.
• If you have anyone in your wedding party who has a hard time walking, let me know.   These waves are unpredictable.  And the last thing I want is your mother-in-law washing away into the Pacific Ocean.  (Or, maybe I do if she’s a pain – lol).
• For the most part, big waves and Oahu go hand in hand.  Yeah, there are big waves on the other islands, but they don’t have a photogenic sandy beach in front of them.  If you want big wave beach shots, come to Oahu.

The moral of this post?  Big waves at your small Hawaii wedding, it’s a cool thing.   They’re here till mid-February, by the way.

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my personal cell at (808) 489-7633. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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Before I begin, full disclosure,  I am a Star Wars fan.   I own a lot of memorabilia, my bed was draped in Star Wars sheets, I had the toys.  As an adult, I have lightsabers – Yeah, I’m pretty geeky.   But I’m not the nerd who reads all the books.

I saw The Last Jedi, twice.  Once in 2D and another time in 3D.   There’s really no difference, so seeing it in 2D is a.o.k.

Did I enjoy the movie?   Well, as a Star Wars fan, it was fun.   But the writers of The Last Jedi, failed miserably.

The screenwriters self-projected their own fears about life onto the Star Wars characters.  Most artists, especially the great ones, are usually on a lifelong journey finding themselves.  They are natural introverts, retract from society because they don’t feel they belong, and emerge to reconnect once they create an identity.  Their new identity is usually extreme, very expressive, and different from the norm.     Doesn’t this sound like almost every character in The Last Jedi?  Internally lost, searching for their meaning, their purpose, in life?   Everyone was just so confused in The Last Jedi, especially Luke Skywalker, who only found his purpose – after death.   Such an artists view.

One of the biggest no-no’s in writing is to write yourself into the book (unless you’re completely honest with yourself).   These screenwriters not only wrote themselves into this book, but made every character like themselves.

Hero’s in the story were idiots.   Did you notice that?

When Princess Lea gets knocked out of power, the next in line commander thinks it’s a better idea to keep her plan of escaping to a secret rebel base, secret.  Especially from Poe.  Since when is keeping a life-saving plan away from your entire crew a good idea?  Never.   And the reason she gives Poe, for keeping a plan secret, is some metaphoric interpretation of hope (another artist reason)  Poe and Fin’s idea fails to save the day, or course, because it actually makes sense.  That’s fine to leave in the script.  But why spend almost three-quarters of the entire movie setting the audience up for no payoff?   Watching this was just a waste of the audience’s time.

The screenwriters also tried to make some political statements.    One statement was about the military-industrial complex, which the writers truly don’t understand that well.   In real life, there are only a handful of companies that sell weapons to the military, keyword “companies” not “people.”   And to my knowledge, one company who makes the tie-fighter does not also make the x-wing fighter.  But if this were true, wouldn’t the rebels or the empire target the military supply company, rather than just being a customer?   The empire targeted a single engineer in Rogue One.   The writers are just not thinking things through.

Screenwriters need to think……think, think, think.  There is really a lack of thinking going on at Disney.

Want to hear some extraordinary examples of non-thinking by screenwriters in The Last Jedi?

In their space, there is gravity!   Remember the bombs that needed to be dropped?   Well, that won’t happen in space, unless there’s gravity.   How does one drop bombs in space?   And Space Bombers wouldn’t travel slower in space than x-wing fighters, everything is weightless – unless space is not a vacuum.   There’s no reason for a big heavy bomber to fly slowler in space, that only happens on earth! And why did spaceships need gas to continually travel forward – in space?    Asteroids, the earth, satellites, and anything in space doesn’t need gas to set things in orbit once it gets going.   These writers forgot simple elementary science.   Talk about bad.

So, Luke Skywalker in his send-off didn’t even get to go out with an awesome swordfight.   Boo….  I thought Jedi’s fight.

Luke Skywalker could have killed Kylo Ren multiple times, but didn’t.

Yoda, who can control lightning, could have rescued the rebels, killed Snook, killed Kylo Ren, but didn’t.  Talk about how useless he is.  Instead, he just burns books.

Kylo Ren is the Supreme Leader, a powerful immature young adult who has no idea how to control a military.     Geez, isn’t that a smart move.  Now there’s no strong antagonist for the franchise.

All of these obvious concerns are truly simple script problems that should have been resolved through multiple rewrites.   But the problem here is that you have a director/writer who thinks he can get away with this because it’s fiction, or it’s plain out hubris.

The best intergalactic screenwriting going on these days?  Try Orville or Voltron on Netflix.  The Last Jedi is just a failure.

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my personal cell at (808) 489-7633. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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Aaron and Melissa Klein refused to bake a lesbian couple a wedding cake because it conflicted with their religious beliefs.   Not surprisingly, instead of just getting sued for the value of the wedding cake, they were sued for $135,000 because the incident caused that couple to gain weight and they were, according to court documents – “mentally raped.”

Are you kidding me?

Mentally raped?  Over a freaking cake?  Really?  Is their cake that good?

The result? Aaron and Melissa Klein had to close their business doors because court fees and judicial rulings pushed them into financial distress.

Now, before I start offering my opinion, let me be clear and say that I support all forms of marriage.  I honestly don’t care if you’re a dude who wants to marry ten wives. If you pay your bill, you’re fine in my book.  I only discriminate against those who skip out on their bill, and there has been a few!  And I have a very strict “asshole code” that I enforce.  If I feel a customer is going to be an asshole, we’re talking smelly mouth, difficult –  I will refuse to do business with them.

If this cake baking couple didn’t want to do business with a lesbian couple, who the hell cares?  They are in the minority.   There’s so many other bakers out there, maybe better ones, that would do a better job.  And seriously, if those bakers didn’t like lesbians, why would a lesbian couple want to eat anything from them.   It’s not the safest practice to eat food from people who disapprove of their lifestyle.  But what really “takes the cake” is that this lesbian couple took it to the next step and sued for mental stress.  I mean, if you’re going to sue, just sue for the cake, right?   What has this world come too?  Is this just in America?  MENTAL STRESS OVER A CAKE!

By the way, a straight couple can’t get married in a Catholic Church unless they are Catholic.   A Catholic couple can’t get married under Catholic law unless they go to Catholic Marriage counseling.   If a person is Catholic and is divorced, the Catholic Church will not recognize he or she as divorced, and he or she will never be able to get married in a Catholic Church again.   And, if you’re a Catholic priest, attracted to a woman and want to marry her – forget it.  It’s not going to happen.  Rules baby – rules.   That’s organized religion for you.

What’s ironic about all of this, is that these religious rules were never put in place to promote hate, but love and community.  These bakers are not bad people, not even hateful people.  They are not Nazi’s calling for the extinction of a race but they are being compared to them.  These bakers just have a religion and a preference, can’t we respect it, even if we disagree with it.

Just to add a little spice to this argument.  There are wedding companies in Hawaii that only do gay weddings.  Not straight, only gay.  Hmm….  I’ll leave that here to rest, but that’s interesting, huh.

Just my two cents.

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my personal cell at (808) 489-7633. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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The State of Hawaii is a rather small State but we sure do make a big splash!  I obviously have a bias, but we’re in the headlines – a lot.   Did you hear that Jumanji was shot in Hawaii and it outperformed The Last Jedi!   And oh, that ethernet, you know those cards you need to plug yourself into the net?  That was created in Hawaii.   Veriphone, that credit card sliding thing, yup – Hawaii too.  About a week ago, a Hawaii Quarterback led an underdog college to win the Cotton Bowl, over Auburn.  Out of all teams!  And a week later, another Hawaii QB, led Alabama to a win over UGA in the College Football Championships!

And oh, by the way, for 38 seconds, a lot of people on Oahu thought World War Three was starting and they were going to get nuked.

It’s funny to laugh at the entire situation in hindsight, but people were legitmately scared.  I had a wedding the next day and my bride was pretty upset about the entire thing.   I mean, who could blame her?

For me, I didn’t panic.  I couldn’t.  I was sleeping.   I stayed up late the night before writing (I’m an aspiring storyteller) and the entire nuke deal happened when I was fast asleep.  If I would have been awake, I wouldn’t panic either.

So, I got a call today from an inquring customer who asked me, “What would happen if our wedding was on the same day a nuke striked?  What were my backup plans?”

I told her, “In the case of a nuclear holocaust, I have no plans.  I think your wedding would be the last of our problems.”

The truth is the odds of a nuclear strike are very low.   We have an elaborate missile defense system here.   If a missile is on its way, it’ll be shot down.  And secondly, North Korea has not demonstrated it can hit a target yet.  Hawaii is small, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it’s hard to hit.   More than likely, if North Korea wants to go to war, it’ll go after South Korea or Japan.

This wedding was shot the day after the nuke scare.   Life goes on.

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my personal cell at (808) 489-7633. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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Every year, companies always find an excuse to raise prices.  I remember in high school, every year, the price of a soda would go up by 5 cents.   By the time I graduated, soda was 20 cents more!  Hey for someone with only a summer family job, that was a lot of money!   Well, unlike my high school, I don’t make it point to raise my prices by five-cents a year.  I make it a point to raise it by a million!  haha…  Just kidding.

There’s no price increase this year – so far.  I say so far, because I have no idea what the future holds.  I only have to raise prices if my vendors raise prices on me.   And lately, it’s only been my florist who’s been getting hit with inflation.

As for new services offered?

Well, there is a wonderful little small beach rental property on Oahu that I’m hoping to do more weddings on.   I’m going to blog about that property soon.  And I’m not sure if I’m going to get into drone videography.  I fly drones now, just for fun.  Flying would be fun.   But I would need another hand to help me fly and that may make video services a bit more expensive.  I am planning on marketing quick weddings/vow renewals and photo shoots to couples or families who are already on the island.  Their prices won’t be cheaper or more expensive than what’s featured on my website.  But, I will design them a bit different to make logistics a lot easier.

If you have any new ideas, let me know.  I’m all – big ears

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my personal cell at (808) 489-7633. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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We don’t have a professional football team in Hawaii, so the story behind why one fan chooses to follow a certain team can be rather interesting.  For me, I started following the Philadelphia Eagles back when Randall Cunningham was the quarterback.  That was back in the early 1990’s when the internet was something only a few people knew about, and I think, MC Hammer had the #1 Hit “Can’t Touch This!” Even though I played football back then, I really wasn’t passionate about watching the sport until I became an Eagles fan.  My family took an East Coast bus tour vacation and one of the major cities we stopped by was Philadelphia.   Stuck in the hotel room with nothing to do, I flipped on the tele and low and behold, a television special profiling Randall Cunningham was on.   I honestly never saw anyone play football like that before.   The scrambling, the long 4o to 60-yard bombs down the field.   I didn’t think anyone could throw the ball that far!

From that day, I was an Eagles fan.  Not to mention, a diehard Randall Cunningham fan.  I was such a diehard Cunningham fan, when he re-emerged on the Vikings team years later, I watched every game that he started; and cheered as passionately for the Vikings as I did for the Eagles.

Being an Eagles fan has always been a tough road.  After Cunningham left the Eagles, I didn’t really attach myself to any quarterback for a while.  Mcnabb was great, but he was frustrating to watch.  The guy kept throwing footballs to receiver’s feet and he failed to throw with anticipation.  Vick came along and it was really a lot of fun to watch him play.  Even better, it was good to see him redeem himself internally.  He’s a good man, God-fearing man now, far from the arrogant child he used to be when he first entered the NFL.

Then Nick Foles entered the picture.

I remember when he first replaced Vick, not under Chip Kelly, but this was under Andy Reid.   He looked good.  Nick had a natural pocket presence, played calm, and he threw with anticipation.   My good friend, Bryan Kircher, who actually was from Philadelphia, became a big fan of Nick Foles too.   We were such big Foles fans that we met up in New York to watch Foles play his last game under Andy Reid.   That plan failed because Foles broke his hand the week or two before and Vick started the rest of the season.    The Eagles got hammered during the last game as well.

I told Bryan, back then, this guy is going to get us to the Superbowl.   And thus began my diehard support for Nick Foles.

From there, we know the story.  He played outstanding under Chip Kelly, then was traded to the Rams.   I want to make one thing clear.   The only time Chip Kelly’s offense looked good under in the NFL was when Nick Foles was at the help.  It didn’t look good under Vick, Sam Bradford, or Colon Kapernucklehead.  Foles did what he did best under Kelly.  Threw with anticipation, threw receivers open.  He made everyone around him look good.

I watched every game that Nick started for the Rams and it was depressing.  To go from watching him play in a high powered creative offense to a very vanilla high-school one, was horrible.   Jeff Fisher sucked.  And it was not fun to watch those games.  I can understand why Foles wanted to quit after playing with the Rams.  So did Sam Bradford, by the way.  Fisher has a way of turning great quarterbacks and players into crappy ones.

When Foles went to KC as a backup, I didn’t watch all of their games.  But when Alex Smith got hurt, Foles lit it up and their offense looked alive.  There was talk that Foles would replace Alex Smith, but that never happened.  Nick Foles threw down the field, something Alex Smith, till this day, fails to do.

When Philly drafted Carson Wentz and acquired Nick Foles as the backup, I was pretty happy.   I still wanted Foles to play though.  Wentz was great, is great, and will be great.  But for some reason he had a hard time hitting receivers in stride and throwing with anticipation.  He couldn’t drop the ball in, Wentz had to fire a 40-yard bullet to do it.  Not every pass has to be on-the-rope.

At this time, Foles was already written off as a dud.  According to all pundits, His 2013 season, a fluke.  His 7 touchdown game, luck.   It didn’t matter that he was the MVP of the Pro Bowl, according to sportswriters, he was just plain bad.   Crazy enough, sportswriters were calling to bench Nick Foles in favor of Colin Kaepernick.

It didn’t seem like Foles had many fans, other than loyal Eagles fans.   Even Philly’s own sportswriters didn’t believe in him (to be fair, they never did).

And now this.   Nick Foles, as I had predicted earlier, led the Eagles to Super Bowl.   And he played a perfect game, literally!  He finished the game with a 141.4 (close to statistically perfect) QB rating, and the rest is history.  For the record, his performance was historical.  No other QB played that well in a Championship game.  And he did so against the #1 defense.

I hate to brag here, but I was right – haha.  NICK FOLES IS AWESOME.

Even if the Eagles don’t win the Super Bowl, I’m ecstatic.   Getting to the Super Bowl is so tough.

Oh, by the way, a lot of my clients, both present and former, know I’m a diehard Eagles fan.  Over the years, some of my clients have littered me with Eagles memorabilia.  Every gift really touched my heart.  Thank you for all the messages last night as well.   It felt like I was part of the team win!

GO E-A-G-L-E-S!

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my personal cell at (808) 489-7633. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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I’ve been getting a lot of wedding inquiries regarding all-inclusive Hawaii destination wedding packages.  These curious and potential customers are shopping for a package that includes everything.  A package that covers not only their wedding, but their air, hotel, food, rental car, entertainment, and here’s the kicker – unlimited drinks.  They are seeing these packages pop up on various websites to craigslist.

Does it sound too good to be true?  Yup.

Those packages are scams!   If you can get all of what I just mentioned for under $1000 per person, that’s pretty much a miracle, pretty much – impossible.  More so, if any company offers anything similar or close, it’s impossible.   If you see them, run.  Air prices rise and drop like bitcoin, restaurants prices around Oahu are never set or uniformed, alcohol is expensive; how can one company every offer to pay for everything?  It’s impossible.

Cruise ships can offer packages that offer everything because they control the entire economy when you’re out to sea.

With that being said, there are a lot of other scams out there that you need to be aware of.  Such as the wedding company that doesn’t show up, to the wedding company that doesn’t deliver on the quality that they advertise on the net (boy there’s a lot of them out there!)  The best way to swim through all the crap is by looking at a wedding company’s reviews and portfolio.   What you’re looking for is consistency.  Consistent good reviews, consistent good photos, consistent good videos, etc..etc..  If they are active on social media, that also helps.   That way you know they are alive and kicking.

Customer service is a biggie, of course.   Phone calls, emails, should be returned promptly.   If they are slow, there could be one or two reasons.  One, they are just busy.  Two, this is not their fulltime job.   Oh wait, one more reason.  They’re a scam.

Be careful out there!

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my personal cell at (808) 489-7633. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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50 Years Strong – Vow Renewal! from Steven Young on Vimeo.

It all began when Dave and his wingman spotted Leanna and her girlfriend at a local diner.  They were just teenagers, back in the age where there was no internet, when men actually had to think up of a clever line to impress a woman to get their attention.  Later that night, Dave and his buddy, spotted Leanna and her girlfriend walking and offered them a ride.

Leanna yelled back, “Sorry we don’t date guys unless they have mag wheels!”

‘Till this day, Leanna has no idea why she said that.

Moments later, Dave and his buddy returned, in a car – with mag wheels –

I tell you, what are the odds that Dave had a car with mag wheels, haha.  If he didn’t have a car with “mags” on it, there would be an entire generation that wouldn’t exist.   Can you imagine that?

Dave and Leanna renewed their vows on the North Shore of Oahu with the family they created and close friends.   They bought my Hawaii Vow Renewal package and added one camera video coverage .   Check out their video, it’s quite awesome.   To me, they are what all my clients should aspire to be – together forever, unconditionally with no personal agendas, through good times and bad.

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my personal cell at (808) 489-7633. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my personal cell at (808) 489-7633. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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So many sportswriters got it wrong – again.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a diehard Eagles fan.   It’s in my bio and posted throughout this site.   I’m also a huge Nick Foles fan.   From the first day the Eagles drafted him, I’ve told friends, family, and anyone who listened, “That guy is going to win us a Championship.”   The dude is just an all-around great guy.  Close to God, moral; and let’s not forget to mention, one hell of a football player.   I thought he had a natural pocket presence, threw with incredible anticipation, and tossed one hell of a deep ball.

• 2013 Nick Foles threw for 27 TD’s and 2 interceptions and made Chip Kelly’s anemic offense under Michael Vick, look like something revolutionary.
• Against the Raiders in 2013, Nick Foles threw for 7 Touchdowns in 3 quarters and could have thrown for more if Chip didn’t pull him.
• That year Nick Foles went to the Pro Bowl and was named the MVP

Despite these stats, sportswriters dismissed him as a fluke, a career backup, basically a nice name for a loser.  It was sad to see Nick as a benchwarmer for the past few years when I knew that he was capable of much more.   It was nice to see Foles back on the Eagles roster, but having him sit behind Wentz killed me.   Hate to sound a bit evil here, but I was kinda happy when Wentz went down – haha.   I said to myself, “Finally, Foles is going to have his moment to really shine.”

The media, as predicted, was not supportive of Foles.   Many sportswriters called for the Eagles front office to hire Colin Kaepernick.    Really?   Sportswriters in Philadelphia were not fans of Nick Foles.  Could you believe that?   They hated him!

Fast-Foward a little…

Nick Foles demolishes the #1 defense in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings and the media still doesn’t give him credit.  They said he just had a fluke great game.  By the way:

• Against the Minnesota Vikings, Nick Foles had one of the greatest quarterback performances of all time.

Me on Super Bowl Sunday.  I never work on that day beacuse I always said, “What if..”   This time, my “what if” actually applied!

Super Bowl comes around and it’s Nick Foles versus Tom Brady.  And of course, it feels like no one thinks Foles can outplay Brady, except for me,  my parents, and a handful of friends.    Every pundit out there, doesn’t choose Foles as their likely MVP candidate.   No one wants to bet against Brady and Belichick, and I don’t blame them.  They say that it’s the defensive line that will win the game for the Eagles, if anything.    Not Foles.   Foles was the Eagle’s Achilles heel.

The pundits were wrong again.   The Eagles defense didn’t stop Brady.  In fact, the Patriots didn’t punt the ball once.   They had two great plays, which probably won the football game for us, though.

We know the story.  More than likely, you saw the story.  Foles played outstanding, much better than the rest of the team.   Making incredibly accurate throws down the field, between defensive backs, hitting his receivers in stride.  These passes by the way, were balls that Wentz struggles on.

That brings us to the present:

• Nick Foles is the only quarterback to catch a TD in a Super Bowl
• Nick Foles is a Super Bowl winning quarterback, something many quarterbacks in NFL can’t claim
• Nick Foles is the MVP of Super Bowl LII
• Nick Foles is the only quarterback that brought a Super Bowl Championship to the City of Philadelphia

Of course, I need to add, that this was a team win.  When the Eagles need a turnover or a kick, a stop, it happened.  Everyone played a key role.

Now I wonder, what will the pundits say now?   That he was lucky?   Hmmm….. Maybe it’s time for those writers to eat some major crow.

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my personal cell at (808) 489-7633. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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I bet you’re scratching your head, thinking, that I must be some type of nut for laying out such a bold claim.  But hold your horses, maybe I have a point.  And maybe, I have some statistics to back it up – just maybe.

If you google “size of Honolulu” you’ll find that this Hawaiian city has a footprint of 68.42 square miles and a population of 374, 658 people.   68 miles, I have to admit, isn’t that large.   But what’s missing is a little asterisk of an unknown fact that the City and County of Honolulu’s jurisdiction encompass the entire island of Oahu, not just Honolulu.   The Mayor and City Council are responsible for the maintenance and safety of the entire island of Oahu.    Each of our small towns on Oahu does not have their own mayor, police, or fire department.   We are all under one roof.

Technically, the City and County of Honolulu is 597 square miles.  Just for your information, it’s quite common for cities to be made up of more than one county.   New York City is, for example, is not limited to Manhattan, but also Long Island counties, and Staten Island.

So where does that put Oahu next to the other major cities in the United States?

• Los Angeles is 503 square miles
• San Diego is 372.4 square miles
• New York City is 304 square miles
• Dallas is 385 square miles
• Houston is 627 square miles
• Nashville is 526 square miles
• Atlanta is 134 square miles
• Seattle is 83 square miles

How about other cities in the world?

• Toronto is 243 square miles
• Tokyo is 845 square miles!
• Singapore is only 278 square miles
• Cairo is 203.9 square miles
• London is 607 square miles
• Madrid is 233 square miles
• Paris is 40.7 square miles
• Seoul is 233.7 square miles

The great news is that, while having one of the larger cities in America, we are not as populated as the others.   There are only 1 million people living on Oahu.  Cities such as NYC, have 8.5 million people living in a small footprint – vertically.

On another note:

Like all major cities, we have a mayor and city council that are a bunch of dumbos; certified idiot would be a compliment, in my opinion.  They have no idea how to manage our island; let alone, have the creativity to solve problems.  We have an unfinished rail transit system that threatens to bankrupt our city.  An island-wide sewer system that is under constant repair.   An electrical grid and generator that is severely outdated.  And talk about the homeless problem, it’s pretty bad.   We don’t have crazies like in Toronto roaming the streets here, but we have a lot of homeless.   Don’t get me started on traffic – it’s bad here during rush hour, some say the worst in the nation.  Don’t we sound like your city?  The problem with Honolulu is that we have a government that can’t figure out that we are a big city with big problems.  We have small minded politicians, pea brains, ruining paradise.

So, here are some other cool facts that you need to know about Honolulu.  Even though we are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, this little island tends to make waves that are heard around our country, not to mention the world.

• America’s Entry into World War II was started right here.  Who can forget Pearl Harbor?
• The only Royal Palace in the United States, the Iolani Palace, is found here.  It’s really cool.  You should check it out.

Let’s fast-forward to modern times:

• NCAA Football – Are you a fan of college ball?  Well, local quarterbacks have been all the buzz as of late.
  • McKenzie Milton – the quarterback for UCF, blew out the Auburn Tigers in the Peach Bowl
  • Jordan Taamu – the quarterback for Ole Miss, is the starting QB and looks to be very promising
  • Tua Tagovailoa – the quarterback of Alabama.  I’m pretty sure he’ll be starting.  But who can forget his performance at the National Championships?
• NFL Football
  • Marcus Mariota – the quarterback of the Tennessee Titans, seems to have a promising future (if he gets the right coach).   There are a lot more players in the NFL from Hawaii, but he’s the most notable.
• President Barack Obama – I’m not a fan of his.  But he was born and raised here.  Next, to the Clintons, he’s the star of the Democrat party, make no mistake.
• VeriFone – Ever heard of it?  That’s the credit card swiping machine!  That was invented here.  I bet that guy is enjoying life.
• Cell Phone Wireless Data  – That tech as invented here at our University and was called “Alohanet”  Pretty insane, huh
• Countless Movies are still filmed here on Oahu, most recently, Jumanji and Jurassic World.
• The Rock – Went to school here.  His family also wrestled here.
• Bruno Mars – He’s from Waikiki.  He’s the next Michael Jackson, isn’t he?
• Nicole Kidman – was born in Honolulu… really?  Just googled that
• Jason Mamoa – Aquaman, born right here.  Talk about an alpha male.
• Bette Midler – from Hawaii.  Is she still popular?
• Tetris Owner, Henk Rogers, is here in Honolulu – does anyone stll play that?
• Pierre Omidyar founder of Ebay, lives in Honolulu – Isn’t he named after bottled water?
• Doug Chin – not a fan, but he’s the attorney general who put a stop to President Trump’s travel ban, which was completely out of his jurisdiction.  He was so busy doing that, he failed to recognize that our Honolulu Police Cheif was committing federal crimes, and stealing millions from his family to support a lavish lifestyle.
• Oh, our Police Chief and lead Prosector (his wife) – are extremely corrupt, idicted by the FBI, and are most likely headed to Federal Prison.   I think that’s a 1st in the nation!
• We are also recognized for the BIGGEST BONEHEADED PERSON IN THE UNITED STATES – The worker who thought a military exercise was a real nuclear missile threat and issued a false warning to residents and tourist that an ICBM was headed for Oahu.  For 20 minutes, over 1 million people thought they were going to roast.    It was uncovered that this wasn’t the first time this worker thought we were under attack.  There were two other times!  And why didn’t he get fired then?  Well….who knows.   Yes, he’s America’s greatest idiot and he’s from Honolulu.

I can, of course, keep going down the list of what makes Oahu, notable.  But I think I’ve written enough.   Of course, all of this doesn’t matter.  What makes Oahu notable for most of my clients is that this is where they chose to start the second chapter in their life.   Yes, I’m talking about marriage!  And that’s what makes Hawaii special for them!

Talk to you all again soon :)

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my personal cell at (808) 489-7633. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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Oh no, it’s another one of those frigging lists!   Don’t worry, there’s no click bait here or a gallery full of advertisements.  You’ve entered Steven’s Hawaii wedding-safe-space.   A nice place where there are unicorns and nothing but free-flowing information that will hopefully “un-confuse” you, when it comes to planning that big day in Hawaii.

So, onto the topic of Four essential ingredients to the Perfect Hawaii Wedding.  If you don’t have these four ingredients, sorry, you’re Shit Out of Luck or you didn’t book with me,  (Oh no!  I swore! Sue me)

1. THE RIGHT ATTITUDE –  A beach wedding isn’t for everyone.  If you or your significant other have a fig tree stuck up your ass, make mountains out of molehills, and have a habit of overreacting, I would pass on the idea of having a beach wedding.  You can plan for the perfect wedding, but mother nature may have something different in mind.  It can rain on your wedding day.  And other than running to another location that’s away from the rain, there really isn’t a plan C.   Then there’s the other God created circumstances that you can’t plan for.  Big Waves, Hurricanes, and the occasional endangered monk seal that decides to take a nap on the beach.   Add fake nuclear missile crisis to that list.Just the other day, I had a perfect couple, with the perfect attitude.   On their wedding day, it stormed; dogs, cats, and elephants.   There was no real safe outdoor venue to run to as the entire island was under a gigantic thundercloud.   The decision was made to have their wedding at their vacation rental.   After we did the ceremony on the porch, the rain subsided for just fifteen minutes and we were able to grab a handful of beach shots.   There were no blue skies, no sunset pics. So, I asked my clients if they would want a quick complimentary photoshoot on another day, where we could grab sunset shots.   They answered no.  The groom pointed out to me, with a huge grin on his face, “Steve, this is our story.   The rain, the running around.  It was a lot of fun.   Everything was perfect.   There’s no need for a shoot, I don’t want to tell a different story.”  This groom and his wife knew what was important.   Not the weather, not the wedding sunset photos, but the journey.
   
2. AN AWESOME WEDDING PLANNER – Let me tell ya, it’s hard to find a dependable wedding planner who knows their stuff.   If you find one (other than me), let me know.  I’ll hire them out.  So what are the characteristics of a great planner?
   1. They’re not lazy.  I’ve encountered way too many planners who take forever to return phone calls and emails.
   2. They are looking out for their clients, not themselves.  If you’re wondering why the majority of wedding planners do their weddings at Waialae Beach Park, it’s because it’s convenient for them.  It’s not the best location on Oahu.
   3. They are honest about their pricing.   Too many wedding companies pad their wedding packages with cheap stuff then mark it up through the roof.  Hey, I’m all for making a profit, but have at least some value to it, right?  By the way, if you’re booking with a hotel wedding planner, don’t think they have to be honest either.   I know a person who got married at a very popular hotel and they were charged $7 per “slicing” of prime rib.   Not per slice…per “slicing…” the action.  They were charged for the prime rib roast, then every time the carver sliced a prime rib for their guest, it was $7.   Total charge, just for slicing came out to $1200!   What the hell right?   Tack on that charge and an open bar tab, slicing charges for their cake, their bill was much more than what was promised.  Oh yeah, they were charged for the set up of the chairs and the transportation of them, even though they were on the hotel grounds.   That’s freaking bullshit.
   4. They know much more than just wedding planning.   To me, wedding planning is very easy.  It’s just glorified order taking.  You want this, I’ll get you that.  But the real art to wedding planning comes when things don’t go according to plan.   Say it rains on the North Shore, what does that planner do?   How do they react?   What happens if the brides dress rips.  What happens if she falls into the mud?   What happens if the groom gets lost?   When I’ve worked as a photographer at weddings I’ve seen planner just crumble under the pressure of chaos.  I’ve seen them panic, cry.  One gal just upped and left.   Hate to toot my own horn, but this where I really separate myself from the competition.  When the shit hits the fan, operating and presenting realistic plans helps.  I’m like the Macgyver of wedding planners!   
3. THE IDEAL LOCATION – The right location for your beach wedding is like finding a good location for a business.  It’s all about the location.  If you have a big wedding party, you need a beach that has a lot of parking.  If you are wearing your hair down, you need a location that isn’t windy.  If you’re looking for a sunset, you need to be on shore that faces the west.    If you’re looking a sunrise wedding, you need to be on a shore facing the east.  Maybe it’s all about convenience for you, and need a location near your vacation rental.     What’s strange is that I find so many wedding companies that only offer locations that convenient for them, not you.   Try asking them if they can do a wedding on the North Shore.  Most would pass.   They want you to get married in town, at a park, that’s very ugly, so they can pound out conveyor style weddings.  Did you travel halfway across the world to get married on a crappy beach behind a condo?  I don’t think so.
4. GREAT PHOTOGRAPHER AND/OR VIDEOGRAPHER – You’ve traveled halfway around the earth to tie the knot, you better get some damn good photos to make everyone jealous!   That’s what half-jokingly say.  But the truth of it is that great photos are what you’ll have to remember this special day.  Shooting at the beach isn’t too hard (I think), but for some reason, not many people do it right.   They look cheesy.   Book a great photographer to get you those nice shots.  And if you want to document your wedding ceremony, which is great if you have a reception back at home or family who can’t make it, then booking a videographer is also ideal.   By rule of thumb, photography tends to glamorize everything.  A video, on the other hand, tends to document everything.   Technically, you can glamourize video production and make it more cinematic, but when you do that, it tends to be more artificial than real.  It’s like watching a football game.   When you see an NFL game in the movies, it’s glamorized, and you have no idea what’s going on.   But when it’s on TV, you know exactly what’s happening.    As a last note on this topic.  You want to make sure the photographer and videographer that show up at your wedding, is the person you want.  Not some college graduate, not some friend of the photographer who just got a camera at Costco.  I know a dude who runs a video company, charges an arm and a leg for his video services.   He doesn’t show up at his weddings, but these guys he hired out on craigslist do.    I know of a gal who just shows her face at weddings, then gets people she doesn’t know to shoot her weddings for her.    Crazy huh?  This industry is filled with characters.

So, by now you’re probably pulling out your hair and thinking about backing out of the idea of having a Hawaii wedding.  Hey, if you can’t get pass step-one and see yourself turning into a bridezilla or groomzilla, by all means, back out.  But if you’re cool, then definitely take that leap forward and look into Hawaii.   Hawaii’s a magical place.  You’ll love it here.  It’s a great place to start the next chapter in your life.

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my company cell at (808) 479-0685. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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I’m a recent fan of “The Bachelor” franchise.   A good friend of mine got me interested in it and I’ve been tuning in for the last few years.    I actually have some loose ties to “The Bachelor” franchise as I had the opportunity to photograph one of the Bachelors years ago.   Cool dude, forgot his name – haha.  Actually I know who he is but it’s a secret.  But he’s very cool.  They are just regular guys.  He paid me a really nice compliment too.  He said the photoshoot with me was one of the best he’s been on.   And he shot with a lot of big name people!

Anyway, if you’re not a fan of the show, let me clue you in on what happens.   A very eligible bachelor or bachelorette gets a chance to find love by dating a plethora of good looking smart contestants.  The process takes around two months and The Bachelor/Bachelorette is expected, not forced, to propose to the woman/man he or she falls in love with.   The world of The Bachelor only exists in reality TV.  Afterall, what type of person would be okay with being in an open relationship with 20 plus other people?  And what type of individual would be okay with being proposed to a few weeks after their dream lover sleeps with two other contestants?   It truly takes a special person who can compartmentalize relationships and operate without any jealousy.   But of course, jealousy, personal agendas, all come to fruition and that’s where ABC gets their drama.  And oh boy, is their drama.

This year, Arie Luyendyk, went into The Bachelor with an open heart and tried his best to find love.   He opened his heart to almost every contestant, compartmentalizing each relationship as though they were individually unique.  His open heart left him with a major dilemma because in the end, he truly fell in love with three women.  It was so bad, even his parents couldn’t help him make a choice.  They, his parents and family, loved both of the women they met.

In the end, he chose one woman and proposed to her.   But after the cameras turned off, and TV reality shut down, he realized he made a mistake, broke off the engagement and chased after the runner-up.

America overreacted, predictably.   The women contestants wrongly labeled Arie as a manipulator and Lauren B, as a victim.   Crazy talk in my opinion.   Currently, there’s still a lot of hate for Arie for backing out of the relationship.  All unjustified.

It just shows us how silly a large portion of our population is.

But what does “Bachelor Nation” want?   For Arie to get married to a woman he doesn’t love?  As fans of the show, we all want the best for Arie.   And if his story took a turn that was more dramatic, then just let it be.   What’s with all the hate and death threats.   It’s not your life…seessh.

Being a wedding planner, I’ve seen a lot of broken engagements.  And the hardest broken engagements happen during the wedding planning process.  I talk to many women and men, who are so excited about getting married.   Then out of the blue, their wedding is off.   But the worst broken engagements happen on the day of their wedding.   I have stories to tell you about brides leaving their groom at the altar or grooms getting cold feet.   It’s horrible, it’s embarrassing.  It’s not a nice sight.

Arie broke off his engagement a month and a half after the show ended.  In real life, that’s not that bad.  That’s actually very good.  If a man or a woman can’t see a future with the person they are with, why drag it on a day further?  Repeat, what Arie did was very good.   Yeah, watching that breakup on TV was brutal.  But what breakup isn’t brutal?   It’s a lot less embarrassing than getting left at the altar.  Let me tell you that.

What many of the angry fans of “Bachelor Nation” don’t understand is the process of the Bachelor or Bachelorette is surreal.  Even with good relationships, engagements don’t come after 2 months of meeting a person, and a just a few dates (some with other people).   Most of my clients live together for years, buy a house, have kids and then decide to get married.  The Bachelor franchise screws with everyone who takes part in it, including the audience.

I truly wish the best for Arie and Lauren.  They’ll be in my prayers for some time.  And hey, if they ever choose to elope or maybe just get some photos in Hawaii, I hope they choose Dream Weddings Hawaii!  But you wouldn’t know if I married them or took pics of them or not.  As with all my celebrity couples who used my services, my lips are shut.

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my company cell at (808) 479-0685. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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“What happens on the day of  our wedding, Steve!”  It’s one of of themost common questions I get asked.  Well, here’s a quick rundown.  But before I we skip to your wedding day, let’s back up and talk about what you need to do BEFORE you tie the knot.

There are three basic things you need to worry about when arriving in Hawaii for your wedding:

1. GETTING YOUR MARRIAGE LICENSE – If you want your wedding to be legal, this is a must.  It’s extremely easy to get your marriage license.  If you don’t know how to get it, click here
2. GET IN CONTACT WITH ME – We’ll be in contact before you depart for Hawaii.  But when you touch down, it’s good that you get a hold of me just to let me know you made it here in one piece, with all of your luggage.  Sometimes luggage gets lost (rarely, though.)  Sometimes there are flight delays for you or your relatives.   This could affect your wedding date.  And if need be, we can definitely figure out how to hit any curve balls thrown our way.
3. GET YOURSELF ON-TIME TO THE WEDDING LOCATION – If you hired our limo service, you just need to find our limo, which will be very easy.  Just look for the limo driver with your name on the sign!   If you’re driving yourself, like most of my couples, just get to the destination on time.   Before your wedding, I’ll send you VERY EASY directions on how to get there.   With GPS on every smartphone these days, navigating should be easy, right?

NOW ONTO YOUR WEDDING DAY!

FOR ME:  3 HOURS BEFORE YOUR WEDDING

I usually arrive at the wedding location a couple of hours before the start time.   I like to kick up my feet and relax before a wedding, answer emails on my laptop, watch an episode of Futurama, and maybe even catch a few zzzz’s!

FOR YOU:  4 HOURS BEFORE YOUR WEDDING

Around this time, you’re usually getting your hair and makeup done and your future husband is getting dressed.  You should be out of the door around 2 hours before your wedding.  You’ll want to leave early because traffic can be a horrible.  If you have guests with you, you may want to leave even earlier.  Shiny objects tend to distract guest.

Make sure to bring your:

• rings
• marriage license!  If you didn’t get your marriage license, click here to learn how to get it.
• your fiance!  I never thought I’d had to say that, but don’t forget him at the hotel.  That happened once!
• You don’t have to bring leis, flowers, hakus, or anything.  I’ll have that with me at the location.

WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT THE WEDDING LOCATION

The wheels immediately go in motion!  I will be the first thing you see when you hop out that door, hopefully in a good mood!  Navigating to these beaches are very easy, especially with the GPS on every cell phone.  You should not get lost.

• If you arrive early – we can start taking pictures before the ceremony.
• If you arrive on-time – we will start the ceremony, pictures, as soon as we get settled on the beach.
• If you want to do a first look – don’t worry, I have ways to work that in as well!
• If you arrive late – don’t worry either, but we can adjust the timeline to make sure you get married and get great photos.

AND THE REST IS EASY!

• Once the wedding is rolling, it’s really simple from there.   Just listen to me and the minister, and we’ll handle everything.  We’ve done over 6000 weddings, so this stuff really is like clockwork for us.  Customizing ceremonies can be done on the spot.  Coordination of precessions can be done minutes before the ceremony (there’s no need for rehearsals)
• Photos are really easy too!   I have a plethora of poses to use on you two, and if you have any ideas, let me know.   The trick to getting good photos is to just let go and relax.  And laugh.   That helps.   After an hour or two, we’ll be done with your photos and you’re on your way to dinner.

MY WORK JUST BEGINS

• After your wedding, I will immediately start working on your photos and video.   Sometimes I can get them done pretty quick, sometimes it takes a bit.   It really depends on how oily you photograph, haha.   Sometimes I need to do quite a bit of touching up!  Wanna know what the editing process looks like?   Click here
• As soon as I’m done, you’ll get your goodies!

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Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my company cell at (808) 479-0685. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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I guess you’ve heard in the news we have an active volcano in Hawaii and residents are running for their lives!  Well, that’s partially true, but most of it is just sensationalism brought to you by the mainstream media.

The raw full truth is that an active rift zone opened up in a high-risk volcanic zone, Lava Zone One, on The Big Island.  Around the 1990’s, developers were allowed to sell inexpensive properties in active volcanic sites, and residents from all over the world began building their lives there.   The new buyers were well aware that they were building on land that could erupt one day, but they truly never expected it would happen in their lifetime.  As luck would have it, a rift zone opened up in their backyard, literally.   Consequently, there were people who had to pack up and run for their lives at a moments notice.   There’s a huge government failure that is not being reported.  One, that residents were allowed to build their lives on an active volcanic side.  Two, why a residential area was built so close to a geothermal plant.  Lastly, three, if taxpayer dollars will be given to residents to rebuild back on an active lava zone (I hope not).

No one has died.  I believe around 37 homes have been destroyed.   The lava is not as much of a threat as the sulfur-dioxide that has reached toxic levels in that area.

The rest of the islands are 100% safe.   The only effects that we are getting from the volcano here on Oahu are slightly smoggy looking days and awesome blood-red sunsets!

99% of the Big Island is safe to travel too.

There is absolutely no danger to travel to the State of Hawaii.  That is, unless you want to jump hot a pit of lava.  And doing that would take some extreme effort because there are police barriers to cross.

What’s the moral of this blog?

That if you’re planning to vacation in Hawaii or to get married in Hawaii, you don’t have to fear the volcano.   If the Volcano National Park is closed, I wouldn’t think about island hopping to the Big Island.  But if it’s open, I’d definitely recommend hopping over to see Mother Nature at its most awesome.

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my company cell at (808) 479-0685. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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We don’t have a professional football team in Hawaii, so the story behind why one fan chooses to follow a certain team can be rather interesting.  For me, I started following the Philadelphia Eagles back when Randall Cunningham was the quarterback.  That was back in the early 1990’s when the internet was something only a few people knew about, and I think, MC Hammer had the #1 Hit “Can’t Touch This!” Even though I played football back then, I really wasn’t passionate about watching the sport until I became an Eagles fan.  My family took an East Coast bus tour vacation and one of the major cities we stopped by was Philadelphia.   Stuck in the hotel room with nothing to do, I flipped on the tele and low and behold, a television special profiling Randall Cunningham was on.   I honestly never saw anyone play football like that before.   The scrambling, the long 4o to 60-yard bombs down the field.   I didn’t think anyone could throw the ball that far!

From that day, I was an Eagles fan.  Not to mention, a diehard Randall Cunningham fan.  I was such a diehard Cunningham fan, when he re-emerged on the Vikings team years later, I watched every game that he started; and cheered as passionately for the Vikings as I did for the Eagles.

Being an Eagles fan has always been a tough road.  After Cunningham left the Eagles, I didn’t really attach myself to any quarterback for a while.  Mcnabb was great, but he was frustrating to watch.  The guy kept throwing footballs to receiver’s feet and he failed to throw with anticipation.  Vick came along and it was really a lot of fun to watch him play.  Even better, it was good to see him redeem himself internally.  He’s a good man, God-fearing man now, far from the arrogant child he used to be when he first entered the NFL.

Then Nick Foles entered the picture.

I remember when he first replaced Vick, not under Chip Kelly, but this was under Andy Reid.   He looked good.  Nick had a natural pocket presence, played calm, and he threw with anticipation.   My good friend, Bryan Kircher, who actually was from Philadelphia, became a big fan of Nick Foles too.   We were such big Foles fans that we met up in New York to watch Foles play his last game under Andy Reid.   That plan failed because Foles broke his hand the week or two before and Vick started the rest of the season.    The Eagles got hammered during the last game as well.

I told Bryan, back then, this guy is going to get us to the Superbowl.   And thus began my diehard support for Nick Foles.

From there, we know the story.  He played outstanding under Chip Kelly, then was traded to the Rams.   I want to make one thing clear.   The only time Chip Kelly’s offense looked good in the NFL was when Nick Foles was at the helm.  It didn’t look good under Vick, Sam Bradford, or Colon Kapernucklehead.  Foles did what he did best under Kelly.  Threw with anticipation, threw receivers open.  He made everyone around him look good.

I watched every game that Nick started for the Rams and it was depressing.  To go from watching him play in a high powered creative offense to a very vanilla high-school one, was horrible.   Jeff Fisher sucked.  And it was not fun to watch those games.  I can understand why Foles wanted to quit after playing with the Rams.  So did Sam Bradford, by the way.  Fisher has a way of turning great quarterbacks and players into crappy ones.

When Foles went to KC as a backup, I didn’t watch all of their games.  But when Alex Smith got hurt, Foles lit it up and their offense looked alive.  There was talk that Foles would replace Alex Smith, but that never happened.  Nick Foles threw down the field, something Alex Smith, till this day, fails to do.

When Philly drafted Carson Wentz and acquired Nick Foles as the backup, I was pretty happy.   I still wanted Foles to play though.  Wentz was great, is great, and will be great.  But for some reason he had a hard time hitting receivers in stride and throwing with anticipation.  He couldn’t drop the ball in, Wentz had to fire a 40-yard bullet to do it.  Not every pass has to be on-the-rope.

At this time, Foles was already written off as a dud.  According to all pundits, His 2013 season, a fluke.  His 7 touchdown game, luck.   It didn’t matter that he was the MVP of the Pro Bowl, according to sportswriters, he was just plain bad.   Crazy enough, sportswriters were calling to bench Nick Foles in favor of Colin Kaepernick.

It didn’t seem like Foles had many fans, other than loyal Eagles fans.   Even Philly’s own sportswriters didn’t believe in him (to be fair, they never did).

And now this.   Nick Foles, as I had predicted earlier, led the Eagles to Super Bowl.   And he played a perfect game, literally!  He finished the game with a 141.4 (close to statistically perfect) QB rating, and the rest is history.  For the record, his performance was historical.  No other QB played that well in a Championship game.  And he did so against the #1 defense.

I hate to brag here, but I was right – haha.  NICK FOLES IS AWESOME.

Even if the Eagles don’t win the Super Bowl, I’m ecstatic.   Getting to the Super Bowl is so tough.

Oh, by the way, a lot of my clients, both present and former, know I’m a diehard Eagles fan.  Over the years, some of my clients have littered me with Eagles memorabilia.  Every gift really touched my heart.  Thank you for all the messages last night as well.   It felt like I was part of the team win!

GO E-A-G-L-E-S!

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my company cell at (808) 479-0685. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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I’ve been getting a lot of wedding inquiries regarding all-inclusive Hawaii destination wedding packages.  These curious and potential customers are shopping for a package that includes everything.  A package that covers not only their wedding, but their air, hotel, food, rental car, entertainment, and here’s the kicker – unlimited drinks.  They are seeing these packages pop up on various websites to craigslist.

Does it sound too good to be true?  Yup.

Those packages are scams!   If you can get all of what I just mentioned for under $1000 per person, that’s pretty much a miracle, pretty much – impossible.  More so, if any company offers anything similar or close, it’s impossible.   If you see them, run.  Air prices rise and drop like bitcoin, restaurants prices around Oahu are never set or uniformed, alcohol is expensive; how can one company every offer to pay for everything?  It’s impossible.

Cruise ships can offer packages that offer everything because they control the entire economy when you’re out to sea.

With that being said, there are a lot of other scams out there that you need to be aware of.  Such as the wedding company that doesn’t show up, to the wedding company that doesn’t deliver on the quality that they advertise on the net (boy there’s a lot of them out there!)  The best way to swim through all the crap is by looking at a wedding company’s reviews and portfolio.   What you’re looking for is consistency.  Consistent good reviews, consistent good photos, consistent good videos, etc..etc..  If they are active on social media, that also helps.   That way you know they are alive and kicking.

Customer service is a biggie, of course.   Phone calls, emails, should be returned promptly.   If they are slow, there could be one or two reasons.  One, they are just busy.  Two, this is not their fulltime job.   Oh wait, one more reason.  They’re a scam.

Be careful out there!

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my company cell at (808) 479-0685. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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50 Years Strong – Vow Renewal! from Steven Young on Vimeo.

It all began when Dave and his wingman spotted Leanna and her girlfriend at a local diner.  They were just teenagers, back in the age where there was no internet, when men actually had to think up of a clever line to impress a woman to get their attention.  Later that night, Dave and his buddy, spotted Leanna and her girlfriend walking and offered them a ride.

Leanna yelled back, “Sorry we don’t date guys unless they have mag wheels!”

‘Till this day, Leanna has no idea why she said that.

Moments later, Dave and his buddy returned, in a car – with mag wheels –

I tell you, what are the odds that Dave had a car with mag wheels, haha.  If he didn’t have a car with “mags” on it, there would be an entire generation that wouldn’t exist.   Can you imagine that?

Dave and Leanna renewed their vows on the North Shore of Oahu with the family they created and close friends.   They bought my Hawaii Vow Renewal package and added one camera video coverage .   Check out their video, it’s quite awesome.   To me, they are what all my clients should aspire to be – together forever, unconditionally with no personal agendas, through good times and bad.

Author information

Steve Young

THE BIG MAN at Dream Weddings Hawaii

I'm self-employed, so I pretty much do everything around here, from photography and video production, to the organization of all of my weddings. As you can see, I'm also the head writer too! If for some reason you can't reach me at my direct line, or my toll free number, feel free to hit me up on my company cell at (808) 479-0685. Call anytime...well, almost anytime. Don't call on Superbowl Sunday or when the Philadelphia Eagles are playing!

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