Kauai News & Information

New information has come to light in the investigation of the Kauai dam disaster earlier this year, which killed seven people.
Documents show Kauai’s former mayor intervened to help Jimmy Pflueger when engineers tried to stop construction work near the reservoir.
The documents raise the question: Did county officials back off an investigation into grading near the doomed reservoir nine years before it failed?
In November 1997, Pflueger was cited for grading without a permit near Kaloko. Mayor Maryanne Kusaka wrote that Pflueger called her angrily, saying he had a right to know who complained about him.
“I’ve never seen the government act so quickly. In eight days, they had the county engineer who brought this to her attention and saying you know we can’t have anonymous complaints,” said attorney Richard Fried.
Fried represents some of the families suing the state over the March disaster.
A county engineer named John Buist Jr. documented the 1997 meeting, where Kusaka said chasing anonymous tips was waste of taxpayer money and wondered why large landowners can’t do as they please. Buist wrote that his boss, County Engineer Cesar Portugal, instructed him to stop all actions involving Pflueger.
The county did follow up on the violation five years later when grading without permits was reported again.
“This is a major concern as to why the mayor seemingly was not interested in getting to the bottom of this,” Fried said.
Pflueger’s attorney said there is nothing unusual about a citizen calling the mayor and that it’s “certainly not illegal or incriminating.”
The county had no comment.

I’ve confirmed continental drift to be an ongoing process. The Hawaiian Islands are farther away than they were 55 years ago when I was last there.
And, amazingly, they kept moving while we were there on this trip. I swear the trip back was longer than the trip there, even with the jet stream pushing us eastward.
I have great respect for ancients who migrated across oceans on flimsy rafts. I traveled with US Airways and it was still challenging. But, travel issues aside; my daughter’s wedding in Kauai went off perfectly and beautifully.
We landed last Wednesday at Lihue, picked up our rental car and headed to Poipu Beach and our condo. The vast majority of Kauai isn’t developed so there’s no big, complicated highway system to confuse this southern boy. I never got lost which is testament to its simplicity.
We checked in, got keys, pool towels and directions to our “home.” A big surprise came when I first entered.
As illustrated in some “Star Trek” episodes, I operate with a basic prime directive whenever I check in anywhere — “Locate thermostat. Locate thermostat. Locate thermostat.”
I couldn’t find one! I searched so much I felt like one of the Coasters. I even opened closet doors and checked under tables. No thermostat! Finally, I realized there were also no vents … duh.
Good grief, this was a gorgeous place of stunning grounds filled with flowers and palms, an obviously “high end” accommodation … but no air! It had louvered vents everywhere so once opened, allowed breezes to flow. I’d just have to go “native” for a week.
The next day, I stopped by the office to pick up some brochures and the lady asked if everything was well. I told her I was amazed the units didn’t have air-conditioning.
She explained they were built to capture the ever-present trade winds. I told her that was all well and good but personally I’d happily trade the trade winds for a few tons of Trane.
Friday night, the wedding party — about 26 folks — attended a luau on the beach complete with lots of torches, drums and Polynesian dancers. A full moon rose over the palms at about 8 p.m. and mirrored in the surf. It was definitely a Kodak event.
Sundae made a beautiful bride, which isn’t surprising since she’s also a beautiful woman. It looks easy when you have so much to work with.
The ceremony took place in a gazebo by the shore at the Grand Hyatt and went off without a hitch. Of course, I wasn’t comfortable outside in my tuxedo but the perpetual breeze was blowing.
At this momentous event my temporary discomfort was of no importance. On the positive side, I probably lost a few pounds but will never know how many. I quickly replaced them with Hula Pie.
Folks, if you’ve never had that treat put it on top of your to-do list. But, I suggest you hurry because as soon as the Food and Drug Administration gets wind of this stuff, they’re sure to act. Nothing so good can possibly stay legal.
After the ceremony, there was a cocktail party by the surf with all manner of drinks garnished with excellent music. By the time we all headed to dinner, I’d removed my jacket and was feeling more human. It wasn’t long before I also came out of my shoes.
Dinner was a multi-course treat with toasts and counter-toasts. Our tables were bordered on two sides by a beautiful coy pond. Thankfully, the “trades” blew through the restaurant.
The night ended after dinner for us but not until the wee hours for the more hearty guests. When all were eventually rounded up, I was told it resembled an Easter egg hunt with some found in and under bushes.
Sundae and Shingo left Monday for a few days in Honolulu and then on for a week on Maui. We, Jan and David, Tad, Gloria and Megan did some sightseeing, taking a helicopter trip around the island.
That, in and of itself, was an amazing occurrence. If anybody ever said Ann would voluntarily take such a flight, she’d have categorically rejected any possibility of it happening in a hundred lifetimes.
Well it did happen and now I think she wants a helicopter. We have a DVD of the flight, complete with her sitting in front, by the pilot, telling him when to stop and go and how to turn. Some habits can’t die.
When we left, I was ready. Those islands are beautiful; the food delicious, and weather spectacular but home is home.
Our local beaches are wonderful and just a short hop, skip and a jump away from the Bahamas and tropical flowers, aromas and foods. All they lack is Hula Pie … a good thing for me. I love it but don’t need it.

No luxury resorts. No gourmet food. All you need is stunning sunsets and golden beaches in Hawaii’s West Kauai.
Hammocks are the perfect place for a nap at Waimea Plantation Cottages. The refurbished houses were once part of a sugar plantation.
More photosBird poop splatters the stern likeness of Capt. James Cook staring to sea from the western lip of the westernmost major Hawaiian island.
From his perch in a shady square in the town of Waimea on Kauai, it’s a short stroll across the highway to the spot where the British explorer “discovered” Hawaii in 1778. The next year, Cook got into an argument over a boat on the Big Island and had his brains bashed out by the locals.
Among some locals, he’s still not a popular fellow.
“He didn’t discover anything,” says Florens Castilla, 16, leaning against the statue. “People were already here. He was a bad man. He sent all the hassles over here that are sinking Hawaii.”
Ironically, the place where Hawaiians had “first contact” with the West is one of the least affected by Cook’s modern descendents — tourists.
Waimea has a long list of superlatives that should make it a top destination in the islands. It’s home to Polihale, Hawaii’s longest beach, and Waimea Canyon, “the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.” The natural light show of the best sunsets on the island is occasionally aided by a blazing rocket launch from the Navy’s nearby Pacific Missile Range.
But West Kauai remain a vacationer’s afterthought, a day trip at most for visitors staying in Poipu, Kapaa, Princeville and other points east on the Garden Isle.
The reason I love to stay in Waimea is what drives most tourists away. No luxury hotels. No time-share sales offices. No gourmet dining. No pricey boutiques. No Wyland whale murals. No McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell or even an outpost of Kauai’s popular Bubba’s Burgers (OK, there is a discretely positioned Subway). Even, gasp, cellphone dead zones.
West Kauai’s greatest crime from a tourist point of view is the lack of a really great swimming beach. There’s no gentle crescent like the north shore’s Hanalei Bay or the south shore’s Poipu Beach. Much of West Kauai meets the sea full bore. Great to look at, but a devil to swim in.
Polihale is reached by a five-mile-long bumpy, dead-end dirt road. The view is stunning, a wide golden beach backed by bluffs where ancient Hawaiians believed the souls of the dead departed for the afterlife.
But body surf? Only if you like getting slammed by choppy breakers intent on shoving your face in the sand and yanking your swim trunks down around your knees.
What Polihale lacks in aquatic comfort it makes up for in solitude. When I arrive in the afternoon, the only other people in sight are two 20ish women who prefer their birthday suits to swimsuits.
I’m politely sauntering off in the other direction when, behind me, I hear the squeal of a gaggle of children coming over the parking lot’s sand berm. I turn to see a family. Dad and the boys are in tropical wear, but Mom is decked out in an outfit familiar from my days living in Lancaster, Pa.: neck-to-shin dress, hair bonnet and reasonable shoes. They pass not far from the two naked ladies, mom and dad quietly steering their brood away from the scene. The juxtaposition of the two extremes of female attire (or lack thereof) is a classic travel moment.
I wander over to chat with the couple, Adam and Sarah Grover. They’re German Old Baptists from Modesto, Calif.
“We were up in Waimea Canyon and we looked in the guidebook for a place for the boys to swim,” Adam says, staring out at the big, choppy waves. “But I’m not going to let them go very far out in this.”
I ask Sarah if she is surprised by the au naturel pair just a few dozen yards away.
“Sure,” she says with a smile. “But this is Hawaii. We just walked the other way.”
Anyone seeking to splash around in West Kauai waters would be better off heading to Salt Pond Beach. It’s a tranquil half-moon of sand near Hanapepe on the road back to Poipu. The shore is protected from the pummeling surf by offshore rocks. Swimming here is as boring as Polihale is life-threatening.
But there are other “dangers” to contend with. On my visit, I pass a sign that says “CAUTION FALLING COCONUTS.” As if on cue, a stiff breeze whips the trees, and a green coconut comes crashing down near a family hanging out in the shade. A middle-aged man sticks the coconut in a bag.
“We’ll take it home,” he announces. “It’s a family heirloom. The coconut that almost killed Grandma.”
There are three hotels I truly love in Hawaii: The Polynesian fantasy of Kona Village on the Big Island, the historic frivolity of the pink-toned Royal Hawaiian in Waikiki and the Waimea Plantation Cottages on Kauai.
Kona Village can top $1,000 per night per couple for one of the premier units. The Royal Hawaiian’s published rates start at $425 for the least expensive garden-view room. But you can get into a smaller cottage at Waimea Plantation Cottage for $150 a night. And it comes with a small kitchen.
The refurbished plantation houses were once part of the Faye family’s sugar plantation. Over the years, the hotel has trucked in cottages from around the island as plantations closed and were swallowed up by development. The cottages are lovingly restored, then placed by the beach or amid the long, green lawns amid dozens of swaying palms.
Visitors sleep in a piece of early-20th-century history, though one updated with 21st-century comforts like microwaves, CD players, air conditioning and cable television.
I feel ambivalent about the Wi-Fi in the guest center’s lanai, but admit I spent a few evenings checking e-mails. At least I had Goldilocks, the hotel’s orange short-haired cat, to keep me company.
One morning, I stop in the hotel’s Faye Museum, a one-room exhibit chronicling the rise of H.P. Faye, a Norwegian immigrant who became a sugar baron.
Later, I pad over to the nearby Inn Waimea, a bed-and-breakfast where a friend had enjoyed a recent stay. The manager, Lorraine DeRosa, shows me around the pretty rooms decorated with Polynesian prints.
“Waimea is a real town,” she says. “A bank, a market, a hospital, a pharmacy. There are a lot of families. It doesn’t exist just for tourists. It’s the kind of place you visit if you are tired of the resort experience.”
Late afternoon is the best time in West Kauai. The Mustang convertibles and PT Cruisers, mainstays of the rental-car fleets used by vacationers, start heading back to the other sides of Kauai.
The sun is starting its drop behind the “forbidden island” of Niihau. The old wooden storefronts of the town glow with golden light. The undersides of the clouds over the Pacific are turning pink. Palm trees rustle in the trade winds; the whitecaps off the dusty black-sand beach sparkle.
Whatever I am doing, which is blissfully not much, I make sure to get back to my cottage about an hour or two before sunset and find a hammock near the beach to doze a bit or read. Then with about 15 minutes to go to sunset, I walk down to the surf.
Sometimes there’s even an added attraction.
One afternoon a man riding a horse along the beach has his steed suddenly rear up and dump him into the surf. The horse runs off into the bush, where he hides beside a friendly mule.
But mostly it is just me and a few other sunset worshippers, mai tais or beers in hand. Saluting the sun on its crash dive into the deep blue. Glad that Cook found this spot and thankful that so few have since.

Every year, Pearl Shimizu makes to a trip to Japan without boarding a plane or showing a passport.
She’s learned a lot about her cultural heritage by helping coordinate the Matsuri Kauai festival, which takes place every September in Lihue.

Matsuri Kauai
When: 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sept. 30
Place: Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall, Lihue, Kauai
Admission: Free (donations accepted)
Call: 808-822-5353
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: www.kauaifestivals.com

The granddaughter of immigrant sugar plantation workers, Shimizu picked up bits and pieces about Japanese history and culture as she was growing up.
Whenever she ate mochi, her family reminded her of its special meaning. Mochi’s white color stands for purity, its sticky consistency symbolizes togetherness and its round shape signifies good luck; like a mirror, life should be smooth.
Shimizu also knew that ikebana (flower arranging) and bonsai (artistically pruned potted trees) — both magnificent in their simplicity — are arts that require years of study and practice.
And she was aware that males always should be seated first at formal functions, from eldest to youngest, followed by females, also in descending order of age.
Working with Matsuri Kauai over the past two decades, however, has greatly broadened Shimizu’s knowledge of the fine points of Japanese culture.
“I’ve learned about protocol when dealing with dignitaries,” she says. “The order of introduction depends on their title and size of the place they represent. For example, Kauai County is small compared to Honolulu, so an official from Honolulu would have precedence over an official from Kauai.”
Shimizu also can describe in detail the schools of Japanese dance, from Minyo (folk) to Noh (once reserved for the aristocracy) to Ondo (modern).
“There is a noticeable difference between the styles,” she says. “For example, some have very long, flowing movements, such as moving across a stage or going around in a wide circle. Ondo dances tend to have a set pattern of maybe six steps or motions that are continually repeated. This is what you usually see at bon dances.”
Part of Obon, the Festival of Souls held at Buddhist temples throughout Hawaii from June through August, the bon dance honors deceased loved ones. Buddhists believe the souls of these departed ancestors return during the Obon season to mingle with the living. It is a joyous time marked by lively dances.
Matsuri Kauai will include a bon dance open to all attendees. The dance will be accompanied by the Iwakuni style of live drumming and songs about a wide variety of subjects.
“The tempo is basically the same, but each singer sings a different type of song,” Shimizu says. “Shoichi Nagamine, a well-known singer on Kauai who passed away a few years ago, would sing ‘Oh, Susannah’ and other cowboy songs in addition to traditional ones.”
Matsuri Kauai also will feature performances by dance schools from Kauai and Oahu; displays of bonsai and sumie (ink brush painting); judo, kendo and taiko-drumming demonstrations; and samplings of noodles, manju cakes, senbei (rice crackers), sanbaizuke (pickled vegetables) and other delicacies. Origami, mochi-pounding, ikebana and the traditional tea ceremony, complete with homemade wagashi (confections), are among activities inviting hands-on participation.
Children may dress up in kimonos, hook a gift with a “fishing pole” at the Fish Pond and compete in a musubi-making contest.
The idea for Matsuri Kauai dates back to 1985, when Hawaii observed Kanyaku Imin, the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants.
Members of Kauai’s Japanese community became acquainted with officials and citizens of Oshima, Kauai’s sister island in Japan. The Japanese delegation enjoyed their stay so much, they accepted the invitation of then-Mayor Tony Kunimura to return the following year.
To ensure their second visit would be as memorable, Kunimura asked the Rev. Koichi Miyoshi, then affiliated with the Soto Zen Temple in Hanapepe, to organize entertainment. Some of the dance and karaoke groups brought together for that purpose formed the nonprofit Kauai Japanese Cultural Society to perpetuate Japanese culture and strengthen Hawaii’s bond with the people of Japan.
“Society members thought it would be a good idea to launch an annual festival so we could continue sharing Japanese culture with Kauai’s residents and visitors,” Shimizu says.
The event has something for everyone, she adds. “Some people really enjoy the exhibits of ikebana, bonsai and sumie, which promote peace and relaxation. Others don’t want to miss the judo, kendo and taiko-drumming demonstrations, which are very energetic and exciting.”
Whatever their preference, Shimizu says attendees gain a better understanding of a culture that might be very different from their own. “Many people from the mainland attend the festival and have become friends with our society members,” she says. “They plan their vacations around the festival and look forward to participating in the hands-on activities.”
Shimizu says she herself still has much to discover. “Every year at Matsuri Kauai, I learn at least one new thing,” she says. “The festival has helped me realize the complexity and diversity of what it means to be Japanese.”

Arrivals from L.A. have jumped 10.2 percent so far this year
Sunny days have returned for Kauai tourism, which has bounced back from the record rainfall that devastated the island in March and is expected to show continued growth in visitor arrivals and spending through the year’s end.
Arrivals on Kauai are outpacing those of the overall state because of strong visitor demand and increased air service, said Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kauai Visitors Bureau. Kanoho and other Kauai tourism players were on Oahu this week to share the island’s results and new marketing plans.
Kauai visitor arrivals have increased 8.7 percent year-over-year through July, while visitor spending has risen 10.2 percent, Kanoho said.
“We have experienced strong results for July and year to date,” Kanoho said. A comeback in arrivals from Los Angeles and San Francisco has been especially encouraging given the major drop in those markets during March, she said.
Kauai tourism professionals have been heartened to see the enthusiastic response from travelers to the island over the past several months, said Kelly Hoen, chairwoman of the Kauai Visitors Bureau and general manager of the Princeville Resort.
In March, arrivals from Los Angeles were down 17.3 percent, but the market has improved so much that it is up 10.2 percent in the year to date. Arrivals from San Francisco, which declined 24.8 percent in March, experienced a year-to-date increase of 5.2 percent.
New marketing programs and an increase in nonstop air service from destinations such as Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., have helped, Kanoho said.
The start of US Airways’ nonstop Phoenix-to-Lihue service on March 1 boosted year-to-date arrivals from Phoenix by 42.5 percent and Tucson by 29.4 percent as compared to 2005.
Kauai saw year-to-date increases in arrivals of 20 percent or more from Oklahoma, Utah, New Mexico, California, Florida, Missouri and Nevada.
“Kauai’s visitor industry has reason to feel optimistic as domestic nonstop air seats are projected to be 41.8 percent higher for fall,” Kanoho said.
“We’ve definitely seen that increased air lift has a direct correlation on increased arrivals.”
Many Kauai hotels are reinvesting in the Garden Isle as well. Among the highlights:
» Coco Palms, the hotel made famous by Elvis Presley’s “Blue Hawaii,” recently began a $214 million redevelopment, and is scheduled to welcome guests back by 2008.
» Hilton has re-entered the Kauai hotel market with its $14 million renovation of the former Radisson Kauai Beach Resort, which is slated to become the Hilton Kauai Beach Resort.
» The Poipu Beach Hotel, which closed after Hurricane Iniki in 1992, is undergoing construction and is expected to reopen as a full service hotel next year.
» The Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa is adding 20,000 square feet to its Anara Spa, making it the largest spa on Kauai and the second largest in the state.
During the fourth quarter, the Kauai Visitors Bureau will begin running a TV commercial designed to emphasize the island’s natural beauty and rural character. Produced by Laird Christianson Advertising, the message to travelers is to savor their vacation experience by embracing the slow pace of Kauai.
In addition, KVB is planning to partner with Conde Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure, National Geographic, Sunset, Bridal and Midwest Living to run a series of print ads. Readers of Travel & Leisure named Kauai as the No. 1 island in Hawaii and the No. 2 island worldwide as part of the magazine’s 2006 World’s Best Awards.
Kauai also is introducing a travel blog to its Web site. Slated to post next week, the blog will feature first-person accounts on what it is like to live or vacation on Kauai.
The Kauai County Office of Economic Development has begun promoting the island’s small business community through a “Kauai Made” label program. About 75 vendors, who make their products in Kauai or with Kauai materials, have enrolled in the branding program, which is marketed through www.kauaimade.net.

The median price of a new home on Kauai in August was $740,000, up almost 15 percent from the same month last year.
The Hawaii Information Service reported Thursday that only 35 home sales on Kauai went to closing in August, down from 56 a year ago.
The median price had been $599,000 as recently as June. But price fluctuations on Kauai tend to be driven more by how many sales are made in pricey areas than by general uptrends or downtrends.
There were 21 sales in Kawaihau district, which includes Kapaa, for a median price of $617,500, and seven sales in Hanalei district, up the road from there, for a median price of nearly $1.2 million.
There were eight sales in Koloa district on the southern coast, for a median price of $327,500. A single home sold in Lihue district for $530,000, and the median price was $601,000 in Waimea district, the southwestern side of the island, where five homes sold.
Only 29 condos went to closing on Kauai in August, compared to 60 a year ago, for an islandwide median price of $499,000. Fourteen were in Lihue district, for a median price of $329,000. Eight were in Hanalei district, for a median price of $757,500.

Bruce Laymon finished two strokes ahead of the pack to claim the “A” Flight of the Kaua‘i Filipino Chamber of Commerce scholarship golf tournament Monday.
At the post-tournament picnic held at Lydgate Park, Laymon accepted his prize from organization president Sonia Topenio after finishing with a net 66 on the Wailua Golf Course.
Tad Miura Jr. topped the “B” Flight with an equal 66.
Topenio said she was pleased with the turnout that included over 100 golfers who converged at the Wailua Golf Course for the 6:30 a.m. start.
“We were done by 11:30 a.m., and everyone is having a good time at the picnic,” Topenio said.
In a drawing for the grand prize, John Gandeza and Jun Esteban were selected from the “A” Flight while Ron Chun and Rachel Bentley were selected from the “B” Flight.
Irwin Vidinha (66), Richard Takashi (67), Mike Murray (67), Wilfred Yago (71), Wayne Fujioka (71), and Edwin Santa Maria (71) rounded out the leader board for the “A” Flight. Danilo Jarquio, Lito Iloreta and Russell Sugano shared a three-way tie with net 72, Sugano coming off a hole-in-one Saturday at the Wailua No. 17 par 3.
Pat Ramelb (68), Fel Guerrero (69), Steve Sandrowski (70) and Esteban (70) rounded out the leader board for the “B” Flight.
Cesar Portugal served as the tournament chairman.

September has come in like a lamb, based on arrivals counts at Hawaii airports, due to a slowdown in visitor traffic from the Mainland.
Total arrivals by air fell below 20,000 on three consecutive days — Sunday, Monday and Tuesday — according to estimated tallies by the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism. It’s the first time that has happened since April.
Arrivals for the first five days of the month topped 100,000 but came in 4.4 percent lower than the commensurate period last year.
The decline cannot be attributed to Japanese traffic this time — it’s down only 1.6 percent from last year. Instead it’s a falloff of traffic from the Mainland, which is down 5.6 percent to Honolulu and down 11.5 percent to Maui. It’s up 11.4 percent to the Big Island and up 13 percent to Kauai.

Jennifer and Chris Chancellor decided to get married at sunset. “I cannot imagine a better backdrop for this moment,” the groom said.
Things I did
• We wanted to make sure we spent time with our guests, but also not bog them down with planned activities, so we hosted an ice-cream social two nights before the wedding. We bought ice cream and toppings, bottled water and popped in a CD of Hawaiian music. Instant party.
• You don’t have to pay everything for your guests. We paid for the wedding party to attend the rehearsal-dinner luau, but invited all of our guests. About 20 of them came and paid their way.
• We didn’t rush off to our honeymoon. We spent an extra two days on Maui before leaving for Kauai because we wanted to spend time with the people who had flown in to see us get married.
• Book in advance. We just barely were able to book our desired string duo for the ceremony in January. If you’re getting married in high season (June to October in most destinations), it’s imperative to make your reservations in advance right down to your manicure and dress steaming.
• Listen to others. Just because you haven’t personally met the DJ or sampled the food doesn’t mean you shouldn’t book that vendor. I got several recommendations from brides on TheKnot.com and they worked out well. And the cake? My husband wants to renew our vows just to get another one.
• Buy what you can in advance. It’s likely cheaper, and you can put the money toward something more important. I was quoted $10 each to rent vases for my centerpieces, so I went to Ikea, bought five of them for $2 each, tossed in some candles and votive holders and saved myself a ton of money.
• Carry on your wedding dress. Northwest Airlines’ flight attendants were wonderful about hanging it in a closet for me, and I didn’t have to worry about it being lost in my checked luggage. And for the record, one of my guests did lose his luggage.
• Buy your own alcohol, if your venue allows it. It will save you a good chunk of change. Some catering companies provide a bulk amount of alcohol that you may not end up using. We planned our own bar menu and bought wine, beer and liquor at Costco.
Things I wish I’d done differently
• Minister. ‘Nuf said.
• Confirmed everything when I arrived in Hawaii. Costco was unable to find the leis I had ordered several months in advance and it took them nearly an hour to locate them the morning of the wedding.
set an earlier RSVP deadline. We set a return date of two months before the wedding, but people still didn’t send them back on time, or in some cases, at all. We didn’t know we would not have a flower girl until about a month out.
• Not have worried about the wedding party being uneven. Two of the four groomsmen were unable to make it, so we had an uneven number. Two bridesmaids stood on the groom’s side and it looked fine.
• Started the photos earlier. We lost an hour of photo time because of the minister debacle, so we didn’t get some of the group shots I had wanted.
• Finished the do-it-yourself projects before we left Seattle. No one wants to make program fans when the ocean is mere feet away. And if your fiancé tells you he is going to finish tying favor tags after his bachelor party, don’t believe him.
Miscellaneous
• Be your own wedding planner — you know what you want. At some venues, you only can use specific vendors, so if you have your heart set on a certain photographer or cake baker, make sure you find out the venue’s guidelines in advance.
• Splurge on what’s most important to you. Flowers? Food? Photos? This is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and if you want something, go for it. You don’t want to regret having chicken when you really wanted fillet mignon.
• Don’t forgo sending invitations to people because you don’t think they will come. You’ll be surprised at who will and will not end up making the trip.
• Register. Some feel that couples shouldn’t do it if they’re not having a traditional wedding, but some people will get you gifts, and someone may throw you a shower. Just do it. Otherwise, you’re just asking for a Bigmouth Billy Bass wall hanging.
• Save your guests money by signing up for wedding programs through airlines such as American and Hawaiian. Your guests will get a discount on their airfare and you can get an upgrade if enough guests use the promo code. You also can get discounts by blocking a group of rooms at a certain hotel.
• Don’t plan your guests’ trip. While it is good to have a planned activity or two, they will want to explore on their own. One way to give them a heads-up on things to do is to make a Web site with a page describing various activities, or send a welcome letter/packet with information and brochures included.
• Make sure you take the time to enjoy yourself. This is the best day of your life!
— Jennifer Chancellor, Seattle Times desk editor