Early May '21, Hawaii Wedding, Covid Jitters

We went down this road last year. So, yep, we have a Plan B in mind. We live in SoCal and are planning a 10/30/21 destination wedding in Vegas (postponed from 10/10/20). Our Vegas venue is currently operating at 25 max (but we originally had 65 guests). Coincidentally, our Plan B is to cancel Vegas and have a very intimate wedding in Oahu (15-20 max invited) or just elope there. So, I’ve recently been in touch with a coordinator in Hawaii regarding the ceremony and contacted venues (mainly restaurants with private area) inquiring about a reception dinner. Even though our Hawaii Plan B is looking very appealing right now, we’ll likely continue our Vegas plans, with a reduced guest list. FH proposed in Oahu and, since I’m not interested in leaving the country yet, Hawaii will probably be our Honeymoon location either way.

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The tricky part about our wedding is that with the current tier system (4 weeks in the same tier before moving onto the next) is that we'll be on the island doing pre-wedding stuff before they announce any further reopenings. So we're trying to determine dates to green light what type of wedding we'll go for. They're in Tier 3 right now (events of 10 people), Tier 4 could open up March 25th (parties of 25) - but there's no Tier 5 established. If there are virtually no cases but the end of April, with our May 1st wedding, there'd be no time to adjust for a full wedding party. So I guess we're planning for both, a 25 person wedding and a full all-inclusive guest wedding (~60).

I don't know much about Vegas guidelines, but 15-20 people for an October O'ahu wedding seems totally doable! Hawai'i is the 2nd safest Covid state in the nation (behind Alaska), and vaccination rates are going up. I feel like by the end of summer everything could be reopened.

I hope you get the wedding you've envisioned!

View Quoted Comment I see. Yeah, that’s very tricky. The one thing on our side right now is that we have a few months until October. So it’s very likely that our venue will increase from their current 25 capacity to allow more guests. But we want to send save the dates again soon. So, unfortunately, those might have to go out in waves as guidelines change. But it’s good to hear that Hawaii increased to the next tier because, maybe two weeks ago, they were still at only 5 people. I’m just glad because it looks like we’ll have our wedding this year. So I’m happy with either plan!


Best wishes and I hope it all works out!

We're on Plan B - we pushed our date by approx. 4 months and changed venues. Our original venue wasn't a traditional wedding venue and with COVID capacity restrictions, poor communication, and expensive hidden surprises, just wasn't going to work out. Luckily we were able to use COVID as an excuse to break our contract! We found another venue we both like with much larger capacity (our guest list is under the county's current 50% capacity restriction) and all of our vendors were available for our new date! Now we're just crossing our fingers that vaccines will be available to everyone over the summer!

I live in Hawaii, I would definitely have back up plans just in case. Oʻahu is doing better than Maui is overall but they have 10x the people so things can change on a dime. Iʻd try to keep it as small as possible to be safe.

My date is 5/1/21 and we're keeping it! Technically it's a plan B because back in early 2020 we thought we could have a 200 person wedding and that clearly that won't be an option for a long while, but we are keeping the same venue and communicating through out wedding website that as of now it looks like we can only have immediate family at our ceremony. With Honolulu just getting to tier 3 we are hopeful we can have 25 guests at tier 4 by May but it's a little crazy to have to consider all additional people (photographer, musician, etc) count as guests too?! I have a backup plan if Hawaii isn't in tier 4 by my date but am hopeful at this point. There's some buzz that since funerals can have 35 guests, people are advocating that weddings could be considered under that same criteria but who knows what will happen. I am trying to see the positive that this will be a more intimate experience than we originally planned and hopefully you all are also making some lemonade from these lemons!

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Yay another Lei Day bride! Congratulations!

We're trying to find some creative solutions to be able to include all our guests that are flying out there regardless. It might not be on our wedding day, but since we'll be livestreaming the ceremony everyone can still virtually attend and we can create a similar "reception" vibe with them on different day(s).

Maybe we'll do some activities with smaller groups leading up to our ceremony too...

I'm just a little sad that they haven't expanded the outdoor event headcounts. There are plenty of large open air locations that can accommodate hundreds if not thousands of people, why not let places like Kualoa Ranch operate at 50%, but have measures in place to avoid tables from mixing with other parties? Wrist bands, designated dancing areas, separate serving staff or rotational receptions. Thinking creatively (and desperately) here...

Really crossing my fingers things will open up sooner and that we'll find a place willing to be flexible, but ultimately we're going to be stuck with whatever the guidelines are too and make the best of it no matter what.

I live on Oahu and we have a few different guest lists just in case. Since your wedding is in May, I think planning for 10 guests, but ready for 25 just in case sounds like a good idea. I heard that number includes your officiant, photographer, etc. So if you can have a loved one marry you two, that would be better! The DOE is pushing for all elementary school kids to be back on campus after spring break, so there may be an uptick in the numbers if that happens. I don't see them doing away with the tier system by May, but I could be wrong!! Good luck to you!

Omg I hope you saw the news!!!

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Yes!!! I watched the press conference! It's SUCH amazing news the wedding industry out there has been sooo crippled.

Needless to say we're so incredibly excited to be able to do this (almost) full force now!