If you are considering a Hawaii elopement, I couldn’t recommend eloping at the Four Seasons Maui, Wailea enough.
Why we chose a Hawaii elopement
When we were planning our original wedding with 150+ guests, costs were getting out of control. Things add up quickly when entertaining that many people, vendors were hard to book since it was a busy year for weddings, not to mention even narrowing down who should be invited was causing stress and anxiety. I was innocently doing some honeymoon planning when I ended up on the Four Seasons Maui weddings and elopement page, and things escalated quickly.
How we chose the Four Seasons
Hawaii is a special place for Jon and I. We took our “engagement moon” trip to Maui in 2021 and had engagement photos taken on the same beach we ended up getting married on (very full circle!). On that trip, we spent majority of our time at the Andaz Maui, which we loved. That is, until we spent the last few nights of our trip next door at The Four Seasons Maui, and let me tell you—we were impressed. It made us wish we would have skipped the Andaz and been at the Four Seasons for the entire trip! The service is truly a step above anywhere else we have stayed, ever. Knowing we could experience that level of elevated service and attention to detail for our wedding made it an easy yes—something we wish we had decided on sooner!
Cost of eloping at Four Seasons Maui
- Up to 10 guests (including couple): USD 9,500 + tax
- Over 10 guests: USD 17,000 + tax on weekdays (Monday–Thursday); USD 18,000 + tax on weekends (Friday–Sunday)
We ended up inviting just our parents (so 6 of us total). If we had invited siblings/their significant others/kids, it would have bumped us up to that next tier, which wasn’t worth doubling the cost for us. Having this clear cutoff helped protect the true “elopement” of it all.
What is included in the Four Seasons Maui elopement package
- Choice of Plumeria Point, Plumeria Garden or Wailea Point
- Personal services of a Four Seasons Maui event manager
- Arranged appointment for a marriage license (transportation can be arranged for a fee)
- Non-denominational ceremony officiant
- Custom bouquet for the bride(s)
- Choice of traditional boutonnière or Hawaiian maile lei for the groom(s)
- Floral petal scatter for aisle
- Solo musician for ceremony
- Wedding photographer for two hours
- Pressing of wedding attire
- Champagne amenity on evening of wedding
- Discounted room rate for wedding couple
This list above made for the easiest planning process. We chose Plumeria Point for our location (naturally beautiful from the framing plumeria trees), had Maria H. for our wedding planner, Sean O. for our officiant (he was fantastic!), traditional boutonniere for groom, floral petal scatter as our flowers (truly didn’t need any florals beyond that), ukulele as our music, and Anna Kim as our photographer. You get to select from a list of 3-4 professional photographers, and I would choose Anna again in a heartbeat! We could not have been more pleased with our photos, and Anna overall as a person!
It is also important to note that the Four Seasons will never book more than one wedding per day. I have been to resorts where they do weddings every few hours, rinse and repeat, or even have multiple weddings on the same night but at different areas of the property. That is not the case at the Four Seasons Maui! Your date is just that—yours (read: you will not be running into another bride!). Because of this, the staff leading up to, during, and even after went above and beyond to make us feel celebrated (all week – not just the day of!).
Our Four Seasons Hawaii elopement experience
Our wedding day could not have been more perfect. The weather was incredible. We wrote our vows the morning of by the pool sipping on Mai Tai’s. Our coordinator delivered Jon’s pressed suit and my steamed dress/veil to separate rooms to get ready in. In the afternoon, I went to the spa with my mom to get our hair and makeup done. Anna, our photographer, came and met us at the tail end of hair/makeup to capture a few getting-ready moments, and we were off to the races. The musician was wonderful, the wedding ceremony was short yet meaningful, and reading our own vows was less stressful in front of just our parents vs, an entire roomful of people. After, took photos along the beach until sunset, followed by an intimate family dinner at Duo where we got to spend time drinking great wine while making memories as a family rather than trying to entertain 150 people at once. It was everything I never knew I wanted.
What I would have done differently
Truly, the only thing I would have done differently is my own hair and makeup, or put time into researching local hair/makeup artists in the area instead of just booking an appointment at the hotel “salon”. I use quotes because at the time, the actual salon was under construction, so my mom and I ended up in a temporary hotel room and I happened to get paired with a stylist who was only on her second day of the job. Rough combination, though I’m sure the spa renovation is complete now and future guests wouldn’t have a problem!
If you’re looking for a sign to do a Hawaii elopement, this is it!
Overall, I would 1000% recommend eloping at the Four Seasons Maui. We have zero regrets about forgoing a “normal” wedding for a destination wedding/elopement. We traded months of stressing over tiny details, any potential family drama, and the price tag that would have come with a traditional wedding for two weeks of stress-free, blissful time in paradise.
You won’t find a better hotel in Maui (we tried a differently highly recommended hotel and promptly checked out after one night to go back to the FS and spend the rest of our trip back at our happy place!) to have an elopement or a honeymoon.
And, we now we have a forever special destination to visit on anniversaries, and hopefully someday, to bring our children to and say – this is where it all started.
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