Stand up for your rights, stand up, stand up… On my walk this week in front of the Grand Wailea hotel where we see many Maui weddings inside their lovely chapel with nice lush gardens of luxury settings, it is a great hotel to stay for the family, with a deliscious morning buffet overlooking the beach and water gardens. But when I looked on the sand I saw thousands of people under their beach umbrellas provided by the Grand Wailea Hotel and local people could hardly walk for the crowds on this public beach, that had been taken over by the Grand Wailea and Four Seasons Hotel traffic. Nothing wrong with that at all, as long as others are also allowed to do it, but we are not all allowed to do the same. When I looked at the beaches, along with the beach umbrellas, we see surfboard lessons and all kinds of paid activities and fun things to do on the beach. Accept for weddings as wedding coordinators on Maui and wedding photographers are not allowed to have wedding arches with flowers or chairs or any kind of flower set up for their wedding on the beaches, but hotels can do whatever they want with hundreds of umbrellas and lounge chairs all over. Is this fair? Some people would say the very reason this law is put in place, so the hotels can profit from all the wedding business on their grounds. Us wedding photographers and wedding coordinators on Maui have to have a paid license and permit and yes there is a fee we have to pay to just set foot on the sand with a camera. I think the rules are not fair to the wedding industry on Maui, especially as we bring thousands of tourists to the island with all our wonderful wedding vendors, wedding coordinators, and wedding photographers, Maui flowers and DJ’s etc on Maui who plan stunning and breathtaking weddings on the island of Maui from the south side to the west side of Maui. They say the capital greed of the giant hotel corporations have paid their way through all kinds of situations that do not favor them and they will get rid of anyone who stands in front of them. We use to be able to have private chefs on the beach who would cook a fabulous romantic dinner for two with the white sands and warm waters that go over their feet as the chef cooks for you a delicious candlelight dinner, just as the sun sets and the air is filled with such a beautiful and peaceful vibe. WELL NOT ANYMORE… they say the hotels or perhaps someone else may have forced a ban so it’s now illegal to have a private chef on the beaches of Maui and all the buying of any food is all done at the hotel only…what a perfect plan don’t’ you think? I honestly can’t think of any other reason why on earth would anyone want to ban a lovely dinner for two on the sand, or a few chairs on the beach for grandma to sit down at her granddaughter’s wedding, yet the beach is packed with hotel umbrellas and other paid activities that have no threat to the hotel business with no problems or rules in place for them at all.. hmmmm . The destination weddings on Maui have more rules and regulations than any other country, and it’s a shame the rules are very strict, as wedding vendors on Maui have already lost millions in the wedding industry since this ban was enforced years ago, we have lost business to other countries that have hardly any rules on the beaches at all.
Who enforced this? Who is getting paid to put this in place and to keep quiet? I am not really sure but our freedom and rights are always being taken away in every little corner of the planet and its usually big companies in power that enforce these strict rules. Thankfully we still have an excellent wedding industry on Maui who will make your wonderful wedding on Maui a dream come to true. We will not let the expensive hotel wedding packages prices spoil your fun from having a simple beautiful Maui wedding on the beach. Maui weddings on the beach are here to stay and Maui has the most beautiful and stunning wedding locations on the planet. See our Maui wedding photographers in our portfolio and inquire about a booking for your special Maui wedding in Paradise.
