Getting Married

Maui is a great place for a wedding. Not only does the entire island exude romance and natural beauty, but after the ceremony, you're also already on your honeymoon. And the members of your wedding party will most likely be delighted, since you've given them the perfect excuse for their own island vacation.

More than 20,000 marriages are performed annually on the islands, mostly on Oahu; nearly half are for couples from somewhere else. The booming wedding business has spawned dozens of companies that can help you organize a long-distance event and stage an unforgettable wedding, Hawaiian style or your style.

The easiest way to plan your wedding is to let someone else handle it at the resort or hotel where you'll be staying. Most Maui resorts and hotels have wedding coordinators who can plan everything from a (relatively) simple low-cost wedding to an extravaganza that people will talk about for years. Resorts can be pricey, though, so be frank with your wedding coordinator if you want to keep costs down. And remember, you don't have to use a coordinator: You can also plan your own island wedding, even from afar, and not spend a fortune doing it.

The Paperwork

The state of Hawaii has some very minimal procedures for obtaining a marriage license. The first thing you should do is contact the Marriage License Office, State Department of Health Building, 54 S. High St., Wailuku, HI 96793 (tel. 808/984-8210; www.state.hi.us/doh/records/vr_marri.html), which is open Monday through Friday from 8am to 4pm. You can download the office's brochure Getting Married from the website, which also lists the marriage-licensing agent closest to where you'll be staying on Maui.

Once on Maui, the prospective bride and groom must go together to the marriage-licensing agent to get the license, which costs $60 and is good for 30 days. Both parties must be 15 years of age or older (couples 15-17 years old must have proof of age, written consent of both parents, and written approval of the judge of the family court) and not more closely related than first cousins. That's it.

At this time, gay couples cannot marry in Hawaii. After a protracted legal battle and much discussion in the state legislature, in late 1999 the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the state will not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Planning the Wedding

Doing it Yourself -- The marriage-licensing agents, who range from employees of the governor's satellite office to private individuals, are usually friendly, helpful people who can steer you to a nondenominational minister or marriage performer who's licensed by the state of Hawaii. These marriage performers are great sources of information for budget weddings. They usually know wonderful places to have the ceremony for free or for a nominal fee. For the names and addresses of marriage-licensing agents on Maui, call tel. 808/984-8210; on Molokai, tel. 808/553-3663; and on Lanai, tel. 808/565-6411.

If you don't want to use a wedding planner , but you do want to make arrangements before you arrive on Maui, my best advice is to get a copy of the daily newspaper, the Maui News, P.O. Box 550, Wailuku, HI 96793 (tel. 808/244-7691; www.mauinews.com). People willing and qualified to conduct weddings advertise in the classifieds. They're great sources of information, as they know the best places to have the ceremony and can recommend caterers, florists, and everything else you'll need.

Using a Wedding Planner -- Wedding planners -- many of whom are marriage-licensing agents as well -- can arrange everything for you, from a small, private outdoor affair to a full-blown formal ceremony in a tropical setting. They charge anywhere from $150 to a small fortune -- it all depends on what you want.

Planners on Maui include First Class Weddings (tel. 800/262-8433 or 808/877-1411; www.firstclassweddings.com), A Dream Wedding: Maui Style (tel. 800/743-2777 or 808/661-1777; fax 808/667-2042; www.maui.net/~dreamwed/dream.html), Romantic Maui Weddings (tel. 800/808-4144 or 808/874-6444; fax 808/879-5525; www.justmauied.com), Dolphin Dream Weddings (tel. 800/793-2-WED [793-2933] or 808/661-8535; www.dolphindreamweddings.com), and Simply Married (tel. 800/291-0110 or 808/572-7898; fax 800/368-6933 or 808/572-1240; www.maui.net/~married). For a more complete list, contact the Maui Visitors Bureau (www.visitmaui.com). Many of the big resorts have their own coordinators on staff as well.