Alohana Weddings
Category: Event Planning & Services Wedding Planning Wedding Planning [Edit]
PO Box 223392Princeville, HI 96722
(800) 387-2407
3 reviews for Alohana Weddings
3 reviews in English
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Review from Bonnie F.
Marietta, GA
1/8/2012
My family and I have just returned from a wonderful trip to the Big Island of Hawaii and Kauai. We chose to have a vow renewal ceremony on our 26 and 1/2 year anniversary on December 30th during the Kauai portion of the trip. Our first wedding planner had to cancel due to illness, which left us in a bit of a bind. I found Diana and we couldn't have been happier. She started out by asking us what our vision was and about how much we wanted to spend. She then sent me a list of vendors to consider along with her recommendations based on our conversation. We absolutely had our expectations exceeded. We loved our officiant Kelvin Ho. He performed a traditional Hawaiian ceremony on a beautiful beach as the sun was setting. It was extremely meaningful and even brought our teenage daughters to tears. No easy feat. Our photographer Penny Dine had an amazing personality and was super energetic - getting beautiful photographs. Everyone I've showed the pictures to have told me they look like they are from a storybook. Diana was especially helpful and flexible as I emailed and texted her with last minute changes to the flowers based on requests from my daughters. I was a little worried that the bouquets would not turn out properly but shouldn't have been. The flowers were absolutely incredible and worth every penny. My only regret was that I could not take them on the plane home. Diana packed them all up after the ceremony and the hotel was nice enough to give us vases so that we could enjoy the flowers for days after. I live in Atlanta and had no trouble with the time difference as Diana and I often communicated via email or phone. I highly recommend Diana as well as Kelvin and Penny. Mahalo!
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Review from Diana B.
Altamonte Springs, FL
3/30/2012
I have never written a review before but after my experience with Diana from Alohana Wedding I felt that I needed to let other brides to be know about what happened to me.
I had contacted Diana about a year before my wedding. We emailed back and forth and she called me once. I gave her the deposit and she said she wanted to set up a time to talk over the phone and plan. I waited by the phone for her to call like she said she would and never received her call. She emailed me the next day apologizing for not calling and said she would call again that night. I waited for the second time and no phone call. On the third night I emailed her and explained my frustration. She again apologized and said she wanted to work with me. I gave her a second chance and she gave me a long list of vendors to review. We began the planning process and exchanging emails. However, a month ago I emailed her to touch base and ask her a few questions. She has never responded back! I emailed her a total of 3 times and left a message on her answering machine once. She has never responded back to any on them! Also, I never received a quote on the package and extras that we had talked about. Her packages say you can get 10 leis for guests or tiki torches. When I told her I wanted the tiki torches she said that they were no longer allowed on the beach. She should have updated her page then. I have lost my deposit and lived in worry for an entire month until I was able to find a reputable wedding officiant. Now I am planning my wedding all over again!!! This was my worst nightmare...I would not recommend Alohana Wedding!!!! -
Review from Katherine F.
Seattle, WA
11/18/2011
I wish there was an option for zero stars.
I first contacted Diana from Alohana Weddings in mid August of 2011. She got back to me right away with a laundry list of vendors and proceeded to talk a million miles a minute, but within the conversation, never stopped to ask what my vision was or what my budget was. Once I got the info from her, I set up another call and weeks went by before we connected again. It was only after I sent an email threatening to fire her that she quickly called me back. At this point she sent a catering proposal that was completely incorrect; food choices and services were wrong. When I responded with a request for another call to discuss the discrepancy and also get a full proposal so we could budget correctly I heard nothing. Weeks went by, multiple emails sent with no responses or even acknowledgement. Now it's November...THREE MONTHS after our initial call. With it being less than six months from my wedding that is going to be held 3,000 miles away, without a single confirmation with a vendor, still no catering contract, and no cost breakdown I realized that there was no way I could trust Diana to follow through and sent her an email requesting to terminate her services. She, of course, quickly responded when she received this email. She had charged an up-front deposit of $300.00 and in her response said that she would be keeping the deposit because of the work she had done so far; one thing being that she had booked our photographer. When I told me new coordinator the photographer, she reached out to them and they told her that I was not booked. She sent me a list of vendors that were allegedly booked, but with Diana who knows what had been done and what was fabricated.
All this to say, I do NOT recommend Diana Gardner and Alohana Weddings; she herself called this instance "embarrassing" and "a learning lesson" (ALL ON MY DIME). She wasted valuable planning time and made the last three months extremely stressful and now I have to start planning my wedding from scratch and fight for an undeserving $300 deposit. STAY AWAY!!!
