A brides interview

A. Best Day Ever Hawai’i has been around officially since 2011. Lead planner and owner Nicole Salmoiraghi - has over a decade of event and wedding planning experience and has relationships with the best photographers, officiants, florists, hair and makeup artists, limo drivers, musicians and venues in Hawai‘i.  We are a small boutique company and thus very hands on.  We’ve also hand-picked the best vendors on O‘ahu to create a superstar wedding team, because we know that you deserve nothing less.  We believe that you should have a wedding experience that is stress-free and fun and a wedding day executed to perfection, one you can call your “Best Day Ever”.

Q. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN BUSINESS?

A. Generally speaking, simple and small weddings are thought to be inexpensive, quick and easy. This however, is not always a good thing as “quick and easy” usually also means a wedding day with sub par service. For couples on a tight budget or for couples who don’t really care about the details this may be just fine but we know that there are also many couples who feel their wedding day is more important than that. 

Your wedding day is a day that you’ve been dreaming about for your whole life, a day that you should look back on and get all the feels - a day you should cherish. We understand that just because you’re wanting a smaller more intimate wedding doesn’t mean you want the wedding day experience to be any less special. We totally get it, the start of forever is A BIG DEAL.  

We’re different from other companies because we really care about every detail, we want you to stay excited and stress-free throughout the planning process, and we will do whatever it takes on your wedding day to ensure that you have your “Best Day Ever”. Also - when you book with us, you not only get your own professional Best Day Ever planner, but also a team of amazing vendors working together with us to ensure that your wedding day is perfect.

Q. WE LOVE YOUR STYLE AND SERVICES BUT WHAT SETS YOU APART FROM OTHER COMPANIES?

A. We love Destination Weddings and specialize in helping couples from all over the world and the mainland US.  In fact, 95% of the weddings we plan are destination weddings, so we're kind of the experts at making sure you feel totally ready for your big day even if you've never set foot on the island before.  This means being super detailed with our emails.  We send tons of photos, give lengthly very detailed descriptions of everything and make it our goal to ensure that there are no details forgotten.  We know Hawaii isn't something most of our couples are familiar with so we want to make sure we set you up not only with the best wedding day ever but also a killer vacation.  It's not uncommon for us to spend a good amount of time helping our couples with non-wedding advice like - ideas on where to stay (which hotels are best), ideas on where to do a pre-wedding dinner (ocean-front locations that allow groups and have incredible food), fun things to do on island with kids, ideas on local hiking spots (that are less crowded and have waterfalls) or suggestions on the best spots to eat on island.  Hawaii is such a special place and want our couples to leave loving the islands as much as we do.  

Q. what about destination weddings?

A. We’ve pulled together a team of world class wedding vendors and we’ll work directly with you to customize everything. Once booking with us you will be assigned your own personal Best Day Ever planner who will help you design the wedding of your dreams. Your planner is available to you 24/7 by email and will guide you through the planning process so that you don’t have to worry about a thing.  We've carefully created a unique planning process that makes the months leading up to your feel organized, easy and fun.  We are meticulous with planning and you'll immediately be reassured that we've got everything handled.  You basically wait for our emails and questions, we handle the rest.  Get ready to let go of the overwhelm and stress and start having fun again with wedding planning - yay!  Isn't it nice having someone on your team who knows exactly what you need - before you even say it, someone who sets everything up for you - just the way you want it, and someone who hooks you up with the best possible deals? Yes, we think so too!

All of our planning packages include a planner, photographer, officiant and small floral package - all the basics for a beautiful wedding day ceremony. We can also assist you with the bookings of additional vendors like hair and makeup, transportation, videography, specialized floral orders (like floral arches, haku leis, family leis, etc.), fun ceremony, videography (with drone!) extra decor and more.  Reception planning is not included but we can help with suggestions on places to go based on your specific likes and dislikes. Once all the details are set we will put together a timeline for you and all your vendors so that on the day of your wedding, you just follow the timeline and sit back as we make sure everything else falls into place. On your wedding day you literally just have to show up, relax, and enjoy every minute of your special day - that's how weddings should be! It’s that simple.

Q. HOW DOES THE PLANNING PROCESS WORK?

A.  How important is it to you that you have a planner who knows you by name, and who you can email any time with questions on any and everything?  One who calls you on the morning of the wedding if it’s raining to reassure you that we’re watching the radar and that it’s going to be ok, who sends you a map with directions on the day of the wedding, a timeline with extra notes specifically created just for you, who has knowledge on all the best and most affordable limo companies? A planner who a $1,000,000 professional liability wedding insurance policy, buys all the proper and legal wedding permits for your simple beach wedding? A planner who knows which beaches are emptiest at what time and sets your wedding ceremony time for the time of day with the prettiest lighting and least amount of wind? A planner that accounts for parking and traffic dilemmas and who can reassure your parents when they are unsure and stressed out? One who will follow you back to your hotel when you forget to your marriage license? One who has connections with the best hair and makeup artists, florists, videographers and hooks you up with everyone so that you get a team of the best the island has to offer.  We do all this and more. On your wedding day, you deserve to have someone who is making sure that all these details are handled and that there is not a single surprise that will ruin your day!

Q. THIS ALL SOUNDS WONDERFUL BUT EXPENSIVE, IS THIS WORTH THE COST?

Q. WE LOVE YOUR PACKAGES BUT AREN’T REALLY SURE WHICH TO CHOOSE. WHAT DO WE DO?

A.  Not a problem! Send us an email and we’d be happy to answer any questions you have about any of our wedding packages. Sometimes just letting us know a little more about what specifically you’re concerned about can help us to clarify how we can best help you and which wedding package will be the best fit. If there are more questions than cannot be answered via email we can also set up a time to chat one the phone before you decide to move forward with booking.

Q. WHO DO YOU WORK BEST WITH?

A.  We work with best with couples who know what they want but don’t have the time or resources to execute what will likely be the biggest, most important event of their lives.  If you aren’t really into the idea of a huge formal wedding reception and would prefer something simpler but still extra special, Best Day Ever is a good fit for you.  If you are envisioning an intimate, private, beautiful wedding ceremony in a breathtaking location, a heartfelt ceremony and an experience that isn’t cookie-cutter, you are a good fit for Best Day Ever.  If you have a pretty clear idea of what you would like your dream wedding to be like but aren’t sure how to pull it off or where to start and you think it be great to have a friend who's also a professional at these kinds of things - with tons of experience to help you figure out all the details, Best Day Ever would be a perfect match for you!

Q. WHO WILL NOT BENEFIT FROM YOUR SERVICES?

A.  Years of experience has taught us that it is best to specialize in one area, rather than try to cater to everyone so that we can really excel in making sure that our couples has the best possible wedding day and overall experience. With that said, I can honestly say, we are not good fit for every newly engaged couple out there.  

If you are looking to plan a large wedding with a big reception, we’re probably not your team, we specialize in planning smaller more intimate weddings with less than 50 guests. Most of our packages are catered to guest counts of less than 20.  We've occasionally done weddings up to 60 but these are on a case-by-case basis.

If you are extremely skeptical about how a wedding planner can possibly help you and don’t see the value in our knowledge, experience and skills - we might not be a good match either (ie. if you want to DIY everything and book and handle most of the planning yourself).  And lastly, if you are on a very tight budget and can barely afford a bouquet, we probably wouldn’t be the best fit for you.  

We never want to put any of our couples out of their budget or comfort zone and find it extremely important to the success important to the success of the wedding that you must be open to our assistance to completely benefit from it.  If you're concerned with budget, we want to explore this before booking.  We are happy to take the time to clearly outline of all expected costs so you have a clear idea of what the wedding budget would be in it's entirety. 

If for some reason we don't end up working together, we can still offer you tons of FREE information on our blog and through our instagram @bestdayeverhawaii so definitely give us a follow we are putting out lots of great free tips daily. 

Q. DO YOU WORK WITH VENDORS I HAVE ALREADY FOUND AND HIRED?  

A.  Of course. Chances are we already know them personally and understand how to best work with their system. We will also give you our opinion as to how they can be the best match for you. Since our services are package based, if you have your own photographer, officiant, or florist, just let us know when booking and we'll adjust the package price accordingly.  We can either give you a credit to use for other things (like adding a bouquet) or discount the package.  We will also give you specific suggestions if you're bringing in your own vendor to ensure that you get the best overall outcome (ie. making sure that your officiant is registered with the state of Hawaii, or us contacting your videographer ahead of time to make sure he has the right drone permits).  

Q. DO YOU HAVE A PAYMENT PLAN?

A.  When you hire us a payment plan is outlined in your contract. Generally a $500 deposit is required to reserve your date and then the remainder of the balance is split into 3 payments between now and your wedding date. Payments are usually made by check but credit cards and Paypal are also accepted, although there is a small credit card processing fee.  Private venues require a larger deposit but this goes directly towards your venue fee which we will secure on your behalf. The deposit goest towards the total cost of the package.

Q. DO YOU HOLD A BUSINESS LICENSE? DO YOU HAVE LIABILITY INSURANCE? 

A.  Yes, we hold a business license in the State of Hawaii. We also have a $1M Liability Insurance Policy which many private venues require before booking. This insurance policy allows us to work with confidence under all situations. We have never needed it but we are protected to help you feel safe and secure - knowing that we are covered. Beware of any vendor that doesn't have liability insurance. Although situations are rare, you do not want to be responsible for any damages incurred by your vendors on your wedding day.

Q. ARE YOU INVOLVED WITH ANY CHARITIES? WE LOVE TO GIVE BACK.

Q. SOUNDS GREAT. HOW DO WE START THE PROCESS?