Hey there! So you found the most interesting page on my site. This is my recent Oahu wedding, Hawaii wedding page. Honestly, it's a blog. The story behind this blog, well, it started out purely about Hawaii weddings, then it evolved into everything and "all of the above." Basically, ITS MY THOUGHTS!! So I write about anything on here. I updated this blog quite frequently. You can learn more about me, my quirks, my style here. And of course, you'll get wedding tips as well.
Call me if you want to make me richer..I mean, book my services! 1-877-WED-IN-HAWAII or email me at info@dreamweddingshawaii.com
Thursday, January 27, 2011
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Just bringing this to your attention if you're on a budget and either you, friends, or family members need a cheap yet good place to stay. The Ocean Resort Hotel is a budget hotel that is newly renovated. It's located near the end of Waikiki, in the non-busy area. Rooms are clean. Make no mistake, this is not a luxury hotel, just a great budget hotel that's very clean, newly renovated, and safe. Book now between 1-4-11 to 3-11-11 directly on their website to take advantage of these great deals. Click here to go to their page
The Pro Bowl is in Hawaii and I'm going. These low-level corner end zone seats cost me only $84.00 a piece. Actually, that's not bad considering there are some other seats right nearby that are going for $150. I think sideline seats are going for $500! Face value is $45, but hey...market value is market value right? I see nothing wrong with ticket brokers or "scalpers" marking up the price. They will charge what the market will bare. It's the same theory of baseball cards. You buy them for dollars, land a rookie if you're lucky, and sell it for $100's.
Payton Manning is probably one of the friendlist NFL players you'd ever meet.
I know what you're thinking, even if you're a die hard NFL fan. "The Pro Bowl? Really? That's a waste of money because the pro's don't even play that hard." Yes...you're right. But see, I live in Hawaii and I don't have access to real NFL football games, so this is the best that I got. Plus, our State PAID the NFL 4 million dollars to host the Pro Bowl here, so as a tax payer...I help bring it down right? A stupid move yes, given that Texas didn't pay one dime to host the Superbowl. And also a stupid move yes, that our State will only see a 3 million return in tax revenue derived from this venture. At minimum, a 1 million dollar lost, and that's not counting the extra cost of security, clean up, etc...etc.. of services for the events that will surround the Pro Bowl.
Being a bad man's boyfriend for 2 years in prison can really change a person's view on life
If you haven't read my blogs yet, just to let you know, I am a die hard Philadelphia Eagles fan. I'm also a fan of Michael Vick...haha. I really think he has turned over a new leaf. I honestly believe that spending 2 years in prison being some bad man's boyfriend can really change a person's view on life. What do you think?
During the Pro Bowl, Ko'olina closes off access to Lagoon 1 unless you are a guest at the JW Marriott Ihilani, or a NFL Pro Bowler. This means that during the Pro Bowl, we have no access to the Secret Cove at Ko'olina to do weddings.... Keep that in mind when if you're planning to come down to get married around this time. Also keep in mind, that if you want to stalk NFL players and their families legally next year, book a room at the Ihilani.
Positive or negative? I'm sure you know that answer
I don‘t usually buy magazines these days as I tend to spend my money on the more important things in life, such as video games or movies. But when I saw Time‘s recent headlining article titled “Who Needs Marriage?“ I had to pick it up. After all, I am the Wedding Guy, and weddings is what I do.
To tell you the honest truth, I‘m not a big fan of Time magazine. I really don't appreciate their point of view. They seem to viciously attack the many cultural values that you and me stand for, in this case: love and marriage. So when I plunked down the four bucks for the magazine, I knew what I was getting myself into. And I knew for certain that I had just wasted 4 bucks that could have gone toward a tasty sandwich.
That's a positive image....
When I arrived home, I immediately tore into the magazine. And there was the article staring at me in bold letters “Marriage: What is it good for?“ sandwiched by a gloomy picture of a bride and groom facing in opposite directions. Hmmm...I wonder what they were trying to imply. This was going to be fun.
The article wasn't very fun to read. I swear, by the time I finished reading the article, blood was ready to shoot through my eyes. It had been awhile since I had read an article written by Time, and to my big surprise, I found out that their writers were not that great...writers. They truly failed to express their opinion clearly in the article. Their writing was rather confusing to undersand. I knew they were against marriage, but they really didn't want to come out and say it. They were little chickens and wanted to take stabs at marriage from a far without getting dirty. But more disturbing, they truly failed to make the article interesting.
Time magazine‘s conclusions?
“...a successful marriage is increasingly becoming the relationship equivalent of a luxury yacht - hard to get, laborious to maintain....“ - Time Magazine
I mean really. Really? Are you kidding me? A luxury yacht is probably impossible for most people to get. But a successful marriage? That‘s not impossible. Maybe the writers of Time magazine could be a bit more careful with the analogies they choose?
The magazine continues....
“As it stands, the way America marries is making the American Dream unreachable for many of its people.“ - Time Magazine
Okay brides, now is the time for you to boycott Time Magazine because they are basically blaming you, my American marrying couples, for making the American dream unreachable. Now, the big question is how did Time magazine arrive to this conclusion? Read on.
Near the beginning of the article, Time stated:
“In 1960, the median household income of married adults was 12% higher than that of single adults, after adjusting for household size. By 2008 this gap had grown to 41%. In other words, the richer and more educated you are, the more likely you are to marry, or conversely, if you‘re married, you're more likely to be well off.“ - Time Magazine
Their conclusion to this statistic is obviously flawed. For starters, the stat that married couples make more than a single adult is a post-marriage statistic. It is not a pre-marriage statistic. One cannot conclude that the "richer" and more educated one is, they are more likely to marry...especially from this one stat. With the stat that they offered, we can only conclude that couples make more after they're married. That‘s all. We can speculate that they make more because both husband and wife work, and because married couples are more likely to be responsible with their money than the single adult.
It is extremely obvious that the author is trying desperately to tie marriage as a privilege for the wealthy.
So that takes us back to square one. Remember when Time said "The married are making the dream unreachable for many Americans?" Well, according to Time, most married couples are rich. They compared marriage to a luxury yacht. Therefore, the rich, the privileged, are making the American Dream unreachable for many Americans.... Haven't we heard this type of "blame the rich" dribble before?
Yes we have. This is echoed throughout the Democratic political parties, CNN, left wing blogs. It's your typical blame the wealthy stance which they embrace.
Why couldn't Time use a picture like this for their article?
So what is marriage good for according to me?
Why don‘t I come out and say the obvious. To provide a solid foundation to raise kids. How about for the fact marriage honors your spouse and yourself with a level of commitment that can only be described as unending faith, hope, and love? Unending...meaning immeasurable, something in which no scientist, statistician, professor, could ever measure...
Yet, they try...
According to Andrew Chelrlin, a sociologist at John Hopkins, he says “Getting married is a way to show off to family and friends that you have a successful personal life. It‘s the ultimate merit badge.“ Okay, so getting married to him is a status symbol, a yacht, a way to show off. Man, this guy is from Johns Hopkins and he still doesn‘t get it! Could you imagine if you were his wife and you read his quote? Man, someone is sleeping on the couch.
So you may agree or disagree with my assessment. Who knows. It's just one man's opinion here. But I think my opinion is a bit better than Time Magazine's.
Just yesterday, Sunday, the State of Hawaii issued a statement that Ko‘olina and the portions of the Waianae coast that were contaminated by medical waste, is now safe to swim at. The beaches are now completely open to the public, and open to the 1000‘s of NFL Pro Bowlers and families who will be traveling to Hawaii in the following days.
Personally, my opinion, is the timing of this statement seems a bit too convenient and the beaches are still not safe to swim at.
In the past week, Oahu had been hit by a handful of extreme downpours which caused extensive flooding on the west side of Oahu. Farms were wiped out, roads were flooded, and most notably, portions of garbage landfills were washed downstream. The Waimanalo Gulch Landfill which sits on the mountain directly above Ko‘olina, doubles as the disposal site for our States medical waste. This medical waste, by the floods, made its way downstream, to the ocean, and then washed ashore, littering the beaches of Ko‘olina and the Waianae coastline.
Found on the shoreline were used hypodermic needles, used test tubes, and filled blood viles. Consequently, the State immediately closed the beaches down to swimming and fishing.
In the days that followed, the State of Hawaii sent a handful of small crews to pick up the medical waste that washed ashore. Their small crews unfortunately did not work diligently enough as residents of the area were still able to easily find medical waste along the shoreline. The State also issued a statement saying that the medical waste was sterilized and decontaminated, so the public was not in any true medical danger.
Really? How can filled blood viles be decontaminated? Isn‘t medical waste supposed to be incinerated?
Much of the cleanup at Ko‘olina was done by the resort itself, and not the State. Volunteers, not the State, cleaned up most of the Waianae coastline. The State of Hawaii though has taken credit for the cleanup.
What troubles me that although the shoreline may be free of medical waste, is the shoreline actually safe to swim at? Although the medical waste would float to the top of the water, is there a possibility that the huge surf we experienced during the storms could have embedded the medical waste into the sand below? Before opening the beach, shouldn‘t the State send divers in to clean the reefs and sandy bottoms of these popular swimming holes? Shouldn't there be some type of dredging going on here?
These were found at the cove adjacent to the cove that we use.
My opinion. The beaches at Ko‘olina may still not be safe to swim at. I wouldn't believe the reports by the State that claim they are. Their safety statement was purely a political one to make sure the Pro Bowl would stay in Hawaii for years to come.
Picture taken one day after the medical spill...
For weddings though, the cove in which I perform our weddings is still safe to use. In fact, in the day following the medical waste spill, we had a wedding there! There were no signs of any medical waste at the cove which I frequent. But at the cove next door, the beach was littered with needles, blood viles, you name it. So rest assured, that we can still have your wedding there if you choose to. I just wouldn't go swimming in the ocean around that area anytime soon.
Steve Young
The Wedding Guy Report http://www.dreamweddingshawaii.com
TODAY I'M PRO-CHEESE And it'll stay that way through the playoffs.
Well...what can I say, it‘s going to be a PACKERS-STEELERS Superbowl! Yes, today I broke my own rules and became a fan of the cheese. I know it's plastered throughout my entire website that I'm anti-cheese, and that I don't care for the Packers, but all that is in good humor. I'm still the same anti-cheese photographer today than I was yesterday. For football though, I‘m pro cheese.
My day off today has been great. It just consisted of me, a TV, football, and food. What more can a man want? I could use 10 women in bikinis sitting next to me, but hey, we can't have everything.
You know, I find it funny, but as a self-employed businessman, there is really on such thing as a day off. Something is always on my mind that has to do with my business. Even though I'm off, I still carry around my wedding phone in case any bride calls, new or existing; and I still check my business email constantly on my phone so I can respond to any questions or email inquiries that may flood in. All I can say is that god for smart-phones, because I don‘t have to lug around a laptop anymore.
Many wonder who has taught me about weddings...
So here is some wedding information to chew on for today brought to you from yours truly, the wedding guy. Did you ever realize that the wedding industry is one of the few industries that does not obey the market rules of supply and demand? For the most part, there is always a steady stream of brides coming in through the front door, and no matter how great a job a vendor does, good or bad, the demand is always there. Think about that. No matter how crappy a wedding planner, photographer, or videographer does, he or she can still count another bride walking to them for business. This is of course because most brides are not repeat customers.
So then, how do you find the right vendors for yourself? Well, some of it has to do with luck. If you book with me, you truly don‘t have to worry about finding anyone better (haha...it‘s true though!) But all joking aside, there are three golden rules that I use when weeding through the maze of wedding vendors.
And the three golden rules are:
CONSISTENCY - A great vendor should be consistent in quality and customer service, or at least come close to it as possible. For example, a great wedding photographer should consistently deliver great photos on matter what the weather conditions are, no matter what the scenery is, no matter how photogenic a couple may be.
EXCELLENT COMMUNICATION SKILLS - A great wedding vendor should communicate with you effectively through all mediums, the web, and phone. They should always answer emails promptly, return phone calls promptly, and always be accessible to you. In other words, they shouldn't take weeks to answer an email or to return a phone call.
QUALITY THAT YOU‘RE SATISFIED WITH - Quality, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder. Make sure that you, the bride, is the beholder and not your mother, your mother-in-law, or friends. It‘s your wedding, your money, your call.
So this is a much needed update. First off, like always, I must give you my standard apology for not updating this blog. I used to update this blog everyday....and I think I'll do that from my android phone. Unfortunately, I won't write too many epic long love stories everyday. I'll try to squeeze them in here and now. But I tell you what....I'll write something just to let you know what‘s on my mind.
What‘s on my mind now? Not much. At the moment, it's 3:14am in Hawaii on a Sunday morning and I'm just about to hit the hay so I can wake up and watch the NFC and AFC championships. I think the first game begins at around 10am. So I guess what's on my mind is whether or not I'll wake up in time.
Vera Wang, are you kidding me? REALLY?
Okay, so here's some wedding stuff that‘s been bugging me lately. It's Vera Wang. Now since you're getting married, you probably know who she is. Supposedly, she's some famous wedding dress designer in New York. My opinion of her dresses. They're nice, but they are not worth what she's asking for. Some of her dresses go for 20k, and they are made in Thailand, which means they cost 10 dollars to make. You would think that for 20k, you get something handmade in America. Nope, it's just "assembled" here. But I honeslty don't have any problem with how much she charges for her dresses. Maybe some bride wants to spend 20k on a dress and if she does...well she does.
My main problem with Vera Wang is that she's plastering her name out on everything under the sun. At the Halekulani, there is a bridal suite that is designed by Vera Wang. What does Vera Wang truly know about interior decorating? From what I can tell, interior decorating and wedding dresses are a worlds apart right? Okay... she also has her own line of Serta mattresses out. I know this because I actually went bed shopping a few weeks ago. What does Vera Wang know about bed mattress construction? She's just a wedding dress designer!!!!
And guess what, holy smokes, she has her own line of China. What‘s next, her own line of hydrid cars? Mortgages? Ughh....
I realize what companies are doing as they are trying to use her name to entice newlyweds to buy certain products associated with her name, as many women "may" associate Vera Wang with quality. But don‘t you think this just a little desperate type of marketing? Consumers are much smarter than this.
Just my two cents. It's just one man's insane opinion.
So the story goes that Damian and Katie are an extremely cool wedding couples who is planning to move to Hawaii in April! Here is their wedding video!!!!! I'll blog more later. I have to head out to buy a subway sandwich...plus, I'm still recovering from a bad case of the flu...
