Monica Sent on 03/06/2021

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Top Call Wedding Planner for Weddings of All Sizes in HNL

We planned our February 2020 wedding over the course of 2019 with Laura at Parasol Events, and she was the perfect partner to plan a destination wedding with. Laura has an incredible network on Oahu, and definitely saved us money beyond the cost of hiring her. She knows absolutely everyone you need to put together a wedding, and we would have been completely lost without her expertise.

Laura is a delight to work with, and we often found ourselves enjoying casual conversation in addition to wedding planning. On the day-of, Laura ran a tight ship and kept everything moving on time. As the evening wore on, Laura made sure to let us know who at our venue was running the banquet and keeping an eye on our host bar so we wouldn’t spend ourselves out of house and home. Since we had a destination wedding and could not take the floral arrangements home with us, we asked Laura for some help donating the arrangements and bridal bouquet, and she brought them to a retirement home, which meant a lot to us since we could not have our own grandparents celebrate with us during our special day.

Whether you live in Honolulu or not, Laura Lewis at Parasol Events is the top call wedding planner in the city.

+3 photos

Grace Sent on 06/02/2013

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Selecting Parasol Events as our coordinators was the single best decision we made for our wedding.

I decided to hire a wedding planner for several reasons: my free time is limited, this was a semi-destination wedding, and I had a very vague vision on what the Big Day would be like. I phone interviewed several "top" wedding coordinators on the island. When speaking with Laura, it was obvious that her experiences and breadth of knowledge of the wedding industry would not only lower the stress of wedding planning, but will actually make this a fun process!

Parasol Events helped make the entire wedding planning process creative, enjoyable, individualized, and meaningful. Both Laura and Jessica were extremely professional, organized, timely, and personable. They also collaborated well together at helping me figure out what I wanted. Often times, the service with Parasol Events was so exceptionally outstanding that I felt that I was their only client! For example, when my fiancé and I wanted to learn a choreographed wedding couples’ hula dance to surprise our guests. Laura and Jessica found a self-teaching DVD for my fiancé to learn while in Afghanistan and myself to learn in the East Coast, then they organized a dance lesson a week before the wedding (which required coordination of an instructor and studio) so we can practice together in Hawaii. It was an extremely amusing idea, and our guests were tickled to see us pull it off!

Also, should anything go wrong, you will be so grateful to have Parasol Events on your side. In short, a month prior to our wedding date, the wedding venue we reserved cancelled. Within 48 hours, I had a list of venues that were available on our wedding date and able to accommodate our wedding size, and list of pros/cons. We were able to transform a nightmare situation into an even more gorgeous wedding than I could imagine. For many reasons, I give Parasol Events the highest recommendations possible!

Bethany Sent on 12/24/2012

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We used Parasol events (Laura-Ann Lewis) to help to organize our Hawaiian wedding in August, 2012. I was living in Australia at the time and my fiance on the mainland and I was finding it extremely difficult trying to organize the wedding from another Country. I contacted Laura at a point when I was really fed up with everything just to find out prices, and really I thought I would never be able to afford a wedding planner on my budget. Laura was fantastic right from the start and really flexible in terms of allowing me to book some things that were easier for me to do (such as the wedding ceremony and reception venues) and she took care of the other details that I found really difficult to organize (like hiring chairs, transportation, cake, flowers, musicians, wedding coordinator on the day of the ceremony etc), which allowed me to keep my costs down and stick to my budget. Everything that she organized was just perfect and exactly what I wanted. On the day of the ceremony I opted to have one of the Parasol wedding coordinators on site to make sure everything went smoothly (something I would definitely recommend). Jessica was our wedding coordinator on the day and she was also fantastic. Everything went smoothly. If you are getting married in Hawaii and wish to hire a coordinator I can’t recommend Parasol enough. Laura and Jessica made my day absolutely perfect and I can’t thank them enough.

Garret Sent on 10/26/2011

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Working with Parasol Events, (specifically Laura-Ann Lewis) was the foundation for our successful wedding. We interviewed several other wedding planners along with Laura, but were immediately drawn to her. We could not have made a better decision!

Over the course of almost a year, Laura helped us (guided us, really!) in developing, planning, and ultimately executing our dream wedding! Laura is everything you want in a wedding planner, and more. She is meticulous, thorough, experienced, and has an incredible eye for detail. She has outstanding design sense and style, and can easily provide design guidance to match the individual client's unique preferences. Early on, we brainstormed with Laura about our potential thoughts and ideas on design, and a few days later - Laura provided us with an "inspiration board" that completely captured the design we were going for (even though we weren't sure what it was ourselves!) In addition, almost all the vendors we ultimately selected (florist, entertainment, photography) were per Laura's recommendations - and they were outstanding! For the couple that didn't know what we wanted, and didn't know what we needed to do - Laura was perfect!

If that weren't enough - Laura is an absolute pleasure to work with! She is extremely well-organized, and so easy to talk to! Laura always made herself available, and constantly invited us to contact her by e-mail or phone if we needed to (even when she went on vacation!) We never felt pressured or forced into anything. One of the most satisfying aspects of our wedding, was the fact that we had no regrets about any of our decisions! This was a testament to Laura's outstanding planning, because we had all the time and information to explore every possible option - from our venue, to our entertainment, to our menu, to our design!

About one month from our wedding date, the venue that we had selected for our wedding changed ownership overnight. The "Waikiki EDITION" hotel, formerly owned and operated by Marriott, suddenly became the "Modern Honolulu," and was now operated by Aqua Resorts. This, of course, caused us a great deal of concern, as we weren't sure what this meant for our wedding! Laura expertly handled the situation, immediately contacting the new management and confirming our wedding was still intact! She even made some calls and tentatively prepared a plan B at a different hotel, in the event that we needed to switch venues!

When it comes down to it - we placed our complete trust and faith in Laura and essentially asked her to tell us what we needed to do to make our dream wedding a reality. Laura went above and beyond our expectations, and we could not have done it without her!

Ming Sent on 05/15/2011

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We had Alia Kennedy as our wedding planner and she was absolutely AMAZING!! I was hesitant to hire a wedding planner because we thought we would be able to do it on our own but she was the best money we have ever spent. She was always so sweet and helpful with everything. I couldn't have ask for a better wedding planner. It's usually difficult planning a destination wedding but with her help, it was so easy! The weather was terrible during the time of our wedding and the reception was to be held outside. Alia was able to move the venue inside with ease. She also got the vendor to refund our money for the tent we rented. Even after the wedding, she has continually helped us with all of the last minute things. We absolutely love her to death! We didn't worry about one single thing during the entire process cause she handled everything. I can't tell you how grateful we are to her and all of her help!

Laura Sent on 03/30/2011

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Alia and Laura at Parasol Events were amazing!!! I had the pleasure of working with Alia for my wedding in November and was utterly pleased with her performance. I literally couldn't have done it without her. She made planning a wedding so easy. She made us feel at ease and answered all my crazy email requests very promptly. I had zero stress the day of my wedding and was actually able to enjoy it. I would highly recommend having Parasol Events plan your upcoming wedding. It is totally worth it!!! And my wedding day came out so beautiful.

Jane Sent on 01/27/2011

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Laura was amazing. My wedding day was perfect and the call she placed the morning of the wedding to ensure i was ok and happy was so thoughtful.

i would recommend Laura to EVERYONE.

She made my experience so relaxing and enjoyable. No stress.

thank you Laural

Marissa Sent on 01/29/2011

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Laura Lewis of Parasol Events is by far one of the best wedding planners out there. Her attention to detail, organization, responsiveness and fresh ideas made the process extremely enjoyable for my husband and I. She is a seasoned veteran and took the time to get to know us which resulted in a productive, postive collaboration of ideas. We wanted a lot of things that were unconventional and Laura worked with vendors to make it happen with ease.

Amanda Sent on 12/22/2010

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We really enjoyed working with Parasol Events. My fiance wasn't too interested in hiring a coordinator initially but since I felt the majority of the planning would fall on me as the bride, I convinced him I needed the help. In the end he said it was money well spent because it allowed us both to really enjoy the process. When my family and friends were sick of hearing about wedding details, I had someone to call who was interested and helpful. When I wasn't sure about who I should hire, I had someone to ask who knew what I wanted and knew what was out there. Our coordinator helped us keep track of the details and told us what items were important to work on next. Having a wedding planner is one of the best things you can do for yourself if you don't have a lot of time to plan your own wedding or if you don't know where to start.

Darnell Sent on 04/21/2009

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We were fortunate to have Laura Ann Lewis for our wedding planner - and we could not have done this without her. She helped us through the whole planning of the event and was so valuable on the day of the wedding. She made sure we did not forget anything and kept us on track the whole way. She is also very nice and friendly and easy to work with. We have also recommended her to our friends.

Malia Sent on 04/17/2008

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We hired Laura Lewis from Parasol Events as our wedding coordinator and couldn't be happier with her work. She was the first vendor we hired and has been a key partner in planning the whole past year.

For our initial site visit to Oahu, she scheduled vendor meetings with potential photographers and the officiant we ended up using. She also took us to see half a dozen potential wedding locations and, once we had decided on a photographer, booked a hair & make-up trial session and engagement photo session within a couple days.

Then, throughout the year, she was in frequent e-mail and phone contact with both us us as we considered and chose every vendor and planned the details of the wedding. Having an expert on the ground who could advise us on which vendors she recommended was critical. Also, her contacts with the vendors meant we got prompt responses from those we interviewed.

As a bonus, Laura was often in the MD/DC area, where we live, so we also got to meet with her in person several times! And as a second bonus, Laura is a really fun person to work with. We enjoyed her company and friendship throughout the wedding planning process.

In the end, she ended up paying for the cost of her fee in savings to us from vendors. Although I know this doesn't always happen, it did in our case and was another example of what a good wedding coordinator can do.

Kathy Sent on 09/27/2007

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very friendly and professional. they made our wedding so special. thank you.

Aran Sent on 09/07/2009

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I worked with Laura for a year planning my wedding. She is very creative and can really put an abstract vision into a concrete reality. But that's pretty much it.

I was disappointed by her professionalism while planning and the day of the wedding. For example, I felt like she pretty much left me out to dry after introducing me to vendors. I had to coordinate the calls with the vendors and the details. And then up to the day of the wedding, she kept hounding me for payments. I understand that vendors need to be paid in advance, but there is a classy way to do it and there's just plain rude. And there's more. At the reception, Laura had to ask me if one of the guests were of drinking age. As the bride, should I really be concerned about that?! Wouldn't any of the b-maids know the guest? Couldn't she just ask the guest herself? I don't understand why I should have been bothered with such a question. Lastly, I found out that she was rude to some of the guests...which is absolutely unprofessional!

If you are seriously considering Laura, feel free to contact me before making your final decision.

Vanessa Sent on 10/11/2010

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Without being to dramatic, they really ruined our wedding, to say the least. They are not fit do to large wedding, are disorganized and really poor at managing. if you are interested in hearing more, please email me and i will send you a letter of complaint we sent to them. i can not stress the fact that you should not choose this vendor.

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