Aloha.

So three months, four continents, several gray hairs, and 10 cases of beer later (don't question my emotional support crutch please) - Chris and I finally agreed on a place to get married...Hawaii. Well, Maui to be more specific. Don't have the exact place yet, but I am close. So very close. At least I can now focus my energies to just one island - a very small island. Before I was trying to find places in Italy, Florida, Mexico, Belize, Hawaii, California, Greece, and the Caribbean all at the same time and that was driving me insane - so I feel good about Maui and can hopefully start doing some of the fun things associated with wedding planning.

Why Maui you ask? Here are just a few reasons:

• They have lovely beaches and a steady climate. This means I can stand outside in a tank dress and not freeze my ass off like I would here at Baker beach. (In case you don't know - San Francisco is not known for its balmy days in July).
• Makes for a nice vacation spot. You can hike, bike, swim, scuba, snorkel, or simply plant your butt on the beach - it has a little of everything for everyone. This was a really important factor to me as I wanted our guests to have options.
• Easy to get to from California. 80% of our guests are coming from the West Coast and though Hawaii is still a five hour flight for them, it is much easier to get to than the Caribbean. It also helped that our buddies on the East Coast said they would travel anywhere and were all happy with the Maui location. Now all we need to do is figure out how we are going to get Chris' grandpa there...
• Reasonably priced for us. Chris and I wanted the look of Figi but had a Mexico budget. Maui is a good compromise.
• Reasonably priced for our guests. I was trying to be conscious of the room rates and there are lots of options for accomodations here.

So there you have it. We will be sealing the deal on the lovely beaches of South Maui (leaning towards Makena or Wailea) and am happy to know those close to us will be able to join us on this very special day.

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