Sunday, March 20, 2011

Show #33, Alohana Weddings, Paradise Beauty Salon & Spa

To Our 17 Vendors for our first Reality show “Down The Aisle on an Isle” (DID I JUST SAY 17?)  We say MAHALO for all your support. The Show will air in April w/ each vendor averaging at least 13-55 minutes of television OC16 airtime to strut their stuff, plus additional promos including this e-mail list of over 2200!!

Thanks once again for your support and we here at Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals will continue to support you!! We are again coming to Kaua’i for a fourth time around the first week of March to interview those involved with the 10th annual Kauai Polynesian Festival, happening on May 26, 27, 28, and 29th at the Vidinha Stadium Soccer field!!  Yours truly will be emceeing the event along with Kauai’s Kau’ilani Kahalekai. While there I will again bring our film crew and interview more wedding professionals. If you are also interested to come on the show, get a hold of me @ 808 554-9215 and I will get you more info. AND NOW, BACK TO OUR SHOW!!
 
 Diana Gardner of Alohana Weddings

 Lisabeth Fletcher of Paradise Beauty Salon & Spa


Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals Show #33
Alohana Weddings and Paradise Beauty Salon & Spa


Wedding Professionals Show #33 – Alohana Weddings and Paradise Beauty Salon and Spa

Kahu Kalehua Featheran and the video crew visit Kauai for interviews with 2 more wedding professionals from this oldest island in the Hawaiian chain.  Kahu Kalehua talks stories with 2 lovely ladies – Diana Gardner of Alohana Weddings and Lisabeth Fletcher of Paradise Beauty Salon and Spa.

Diana Gardner is President of the Kauai Wedding Professionals Association (KWPA, 80 member strong), owner of Alohana Weddings and the wedding coordinator for the Hanalei Bay Resort in Princeville on the north side of the island.  Starting her career in Florida as a culinary arts student, Diana worked as a chef, decorating wedding cakes.  She moved to Kauai in 1998 and continued in cake decorating before becoming the restaurant manager at the Hanalei Bay Resort.  In 2003, the wedding coordinator for the Resort retired and Diana assumed the position.  Soon thereafter in 2006, Diana opened Alohana Weddings (a combination of Aloha and Ohana).

Diana believes that a wedding planner is beneficial to a couple because it’s nice to have a “go to” person to handle details, make appointments, hire vendors so not only the wedding couple, but their friends and family can also enjoy the wedding ceremony and festivities.  Additionally, the generation today is looking for something different, so a wedding planner can do much of the online research and check with the various wedding vendors to find different colors, something nicer, something new, something more upscale, etc for the couple.  She is also able to match the couple with just the right vendor to handle all of their wedding needs.

For Diana, she feels there is no such thing as on site coordinator for the day of the wedding only because how would the coordinator know what’s supposed to go on unless they’ve been working on the planning throughout, or at least the week of the wedding.  As a result, she loves to meet with the couple, to show them the venue first hand.  And, if they’re a destination couple, she provides unlimited phone calls and emails to ensure that everything is being handled to the couple’s expectation.  Now that’s great service!

In downtown Kapaa, Kahu Kalehua meets Lisabeth Fletcher, owner of Paradise Beauty Salon and Spa.  Lisabeth went to beauty school in Belgium and opened her salon in 1998; she’s been in the same spot for the past 14 years, catering to locals with services such as skin care, weddings, manicure/pedicures, face lifts, massage and body treatments.  She even has a mobile service.

Usually the bride, groom and their party come in a day before for nails and body treatment (lomi lomi, Swedish, shiatsu or reflexology massage) and the day of the wedding is reserved for hair styling and make up.  Lisabeth not only handles wedding services, but also for occasions such as proms, graduation or a special night out with that certain guy or girl.  She said “just bring a picture and we can pretty much do anything you want, as long as there’s enough time.”  Reservations can be made several months up to a year in advance.

Paradise Beauty Salon also offers “green and eco friendly” products.  As an example, there is a mineral make up made of pharmaceutical grade minerals that’s great for the skin and a hair spray can that can be recycled.

Show #32 Live Maui Webscasts, Harpist Tatyana Shapiro

 Stephan Boeker, Live Maui Webcasts

     Harpist Tatyana Shapiro      


Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals Show #32
Live Maui Webcasts and Harpist Tatyana Shapiro


Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals Show #32 – Live Maui Webcasts and Harpist Tatyana Shapiro

This is the final show of the series featuring Maui wedding professionals.  Host Kahu Kalehua Featheran and the crew traveled to the southern end of Maui, to a beautiful place called Honua Kai Lani in Makena.

First guest, Stephan Boeker of Live Maui Webcasts came over to Maui from New York City about 11 years ago.  Seeking a change, he move to Paradise, and can’t imagine living anywhere else.  Stephan started by doing wedding photography and then began dabbling in video because he kept hearing the bride or groom saying, “how I wish mom and dad could be here”.  He looked for a way to fill this need and as the tools to do this started becoming available, he got into the business of live streaming weddings. 

Kahu Kalehua commented that lots of local people relocate to places all around the world and so this business is not only for destination couples, but for local couples, too.   Stephan recently did a wedding on the north shore of Maui for a bride from California and a groom from Samoa.  He said people living anywhere where there is reasonable connection and reasonable band width can see the wedding ceremony live.

Stephan meets with the couples and asks them if they want it live streamed or on demand?  There is a time difference so in some places, being a live broadcast is not as important; for others it is.  Also, a chat room can be set up so those viewing the webcast can also be talking to one another.  For couples who only wish to have certain people viewing the webcast, passwords can be provided to keep it private.  In Stephan’s best package, he provides the live webcast, it streams worldwide live or on demand, it can be viewed at a later date from the archives, the couple gets a fully edited DVD which includes interview of the couple abd guests.  The differentiating factor between Live Maui Webcasts and others is that Stephan likes asking deep probing questions of the bride and groom so when they watch the DVD years from now, they can see and hear what they were thinking. 


The lilting sounds of White Sandy Beach being played on the harp fills the air as we open the next segment.   Kahu Kalehua says that the harp, when played at weddings has such a feeling or ambiance for the bride to walk down the aisle.

Tatyana is originally from St Petersburg, Russia.  Her father was a professional opera singer and her grandmother a good pianist, so musical ability runs in the family.  When she was 6 or 7, she was already playing the piano and at 10, she got interested in the harp.  Tatyana also lived for many years in Los Angeles, where she performed as a concert harpist, while also doing weddings and other events; she has also played in an orchestra and pop and rock bands.

The harp is an ancient instrument, seen in olden day Egypt and Israel.  It was reserved for very special ceremonies of the temple; a very spiritual and pure instrument because there is nothing between the fingers of the musician and the strings.  The old harps were simple and small; the modern day harp has 7 pedals and these function as the black keys on the piano. 

Tatyana was married herself on Maui and she thinks it is the most beautiful place to get married in the Hawaiian Islands.  It can be taken to the beach or any place; she also has a smaller harp for when she can’t transport the big harp.  She always meets with the bride and their most popular choices of songs are the Bridal March by Wagner, Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, Canon in D and the Hawaiian Wedding Song.

Show #31 Matea Island Weddings, Trade Winds Photography

 Debra Schonewill, Matea Island Weddings

                         Tracy Tegarden, Trade Winds Photography      


Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals Show #31
Matea Island Weddings and Trade Winds Photography



Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals Show #31 – Matea Island Weddings and Trade Winds Photography (Maui Edition)

In this second to the last show coming from Maui, host Kalehua Featheran greets two very warm and gracious wedding professionals – Debra Schonewill of Matea Island Weddings and Tracy Tegarden of Trade Winds Photography.

Just minutes away from Kahului Airport is Kanaha Beach, the backdrop for many of Maui’s beach weddings and the site for Kalehua’s first interview with Debra Schonewill of Matea Island Weddings, who helps couples design the wedding of their dreams.  Originally from Colorado, Debra has been a Maui visitor since the 1980’s and 15 years ago, she decided to make this island her home. 

She has been a successful interior designer for 25 years and because she likes to continuously grow, she got into the business of event planning and designing dream wedding.  In helping couples with their plans, Debra feels a wedding planner can really take the stress out of this special day and create an event for the bride and groom to relax and enjoy.  A wedding planner is also particularly valuable to a destination couple because the bride and groom need to only deal with one person, who in turn, works with the vendors and wedding professional.

Debra has done some traveling herself and so she is able to help couples with weddings in exotic areas such as Tahiti and Australia.  As Debra says it’s great to be in this business because you can help people make their wedding dreams come true while also creating lifelong friendships with some great people.

Kahu Kalehua’s second interview takes place in Makena at Honua Kai Lani with guest Tracy Tegarden of Trade Winds Photography.  Upon graduating high school, Tracy began doing photography as a hobby.  In the mid-90’s, he had a chance to move to Maui and studied for 2 years before starting his own business.  Tracy does wedding and other photography on all islands and in many countries.  In fact, Kahu Kalehua and Tracy first met when Tracy had come to Oahu to shoot a wedding.

Tracy likes to have the wedding couples meet him so they can “talk stories” and he can learn what they’re looking for in terms of their photographs and what do they want to do on their wedding day.  He watches how they interact and looks for ways to capture these moments while just having fun and enjoying the day.

Kahu Kalehua comments that Tracy’s photograph has a certain unique look, although he can’t put his finger on it.  As Tracy explains it, every photographer has their own niche and they eventually find their way to it.  Tracy’s photographs are shown throughout the interview and viewers can see why Tracy is such a great choice when selecting someone to preserve your wedding day in photographs.

Show #30 Joel Katz, Queen's Bridal Shoppe



It was our pleasure to sponsor a Tony Bowls Gown for Miss Hawaii, Jalee Fuselier.   This is a photo of Jalee wearing the gown in one of the pictures in MidWeek.
                                                                                  

  Joel Katz, Steel Guitar Artist

                       Pamela and Jesse Henderson, Queen’s Bridal Shoppe          


Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals Show #30
Joel Katz, Steel Guitar Artist and Queen’s Bridal Shoppe


Show #29 Miss Purotu Pagaent 2011, Jelee Fuselier, Royal Hawaiian Affair

 “Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals” partners with Masako Formals and its Island Wedding Gallery vendors!!


Kalehua and “Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals” TV show, is proud to partner with Masako Formals and the Island Wedding Gallery Vendors with an exciting strategic plan to promote and increase business activity for it’s vendors for both local and destination weddings via television, radio, and print both locally and mainland (west coast) for 2011 with a reach of 450,000 homes 6 times a week on OC16 to start, and 2.4 million homes weekly on the mainland, plus a lot more!! This is huge!! Mahalo to all who made this TV show a success. Now more and more viewers are watching!!


Reality show “Down the Aisle on an Isle” is scheduled to air on OC16 starting April 2011. One of our reality couples saved over 57% off their entire wedding package, valued at over $17,000, a savings of over $9,500, while vendors participating enjoy a huge promotional package on OC16, 2-3 weeks in a row, 5-7 times a week!!

Wedding couples, save up to 60% off your Entire wedding expense.  Wedding vendors and wedding planners, save up to 80% off advertising costs for television, live streaming and 24/7 viewing access via OC16. Join us!  If any of your clients would like to participate or you know of any wedding couples who would like to be on the reality show, let me know!!


 Jalee Fuselier, Miss Hawaii 2010

  Rhonda Faleafine, A Royal Hawaiian Affairs Producer,
Miss Purotu Pageant 2011


Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals Show #29
Miss Purotu Pageant 2011, Jelee Fuselier Miss Hawaii 2010
And encore interview for A Royal Hawaiian Affair


Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals Show #29 – Miss Purotu Pageant 2011, Jalee Fuselier Miss Hawaii 2010 and Encore for A Royal Hawaiian Affair (Maui Edition)

As mentioned in Show #28, host Kahu Kalehua Featheran has a few special surprise guests on this show.  His first guests are Manarii and Nalini Gauthier of Purotu Designs, who have been guests on Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals twice before.  Purotu Design’s sells Polynesian attire, suitable for dressing the wedding party, and Kahu Kalehua wears one of their popular original designs on this show.  Nalini also designs much of their wide collection of Tahitian black pearl and other jewelry which a bride could select for her bridal party and even herself.

Purotu Designers were also organizers of the Night Market at Aloha Tower Marketplace, a community event where people could come and enjoy foods, art shows, clothing, music, jewelry and often of a Polynesian influence.  One of their crowd drawing activities was the Miss Purotu contest, a great success in 2010 and looking even better in 2011.  It is scheduled for Saturday, January 22 from 6pm to 10pm at the Waterfront at Aloha Towers and emceeing again this year will be Kahu Kalehua Featheran.  One of the featured portions of the Miss Purotu contest will be where the contestants will appear in attire made entirely from natural materials.

Organizing such an event is a lot of work and during the interview, viewers can see Miss Waikiki 2010, Pono Fernandez, in a workshop for the contestants, teaching them the finer points of how to present themselves elegantly during the contest.  Mark your calendar and plan to attend the Miss Purotu 2011 contest at Aloha Tower Marketplace – January 22 and cheer for your favorite contestant!

Kahu Kalehua’s very special guest for the second interview is the reigning Miss Hawaii 2010, Jalee Fuselier.  Jalee will be competing in the Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas on Saturday, January 15, 2011 and what a great representative of aloha and the Islands she is!  A Haleiwa girl, Jalee calls herself a “water baby” – she loves water sports! 
Kahu Kalehua met her through Natalie Brown-Aiwohi of Headshots Hawaii, one of the sponsors for Miss Hawaii, who will be providing hair and make up services for Jalee during the Miss America Pageant.  Many of the photos of Miss Hawaii come from Headshots Hawaii.

Jalee is a recent graduate of Hawaii Pacific University in the field of international relations.  She has traveled to 21 countries, in her mission to be of service.  Her organization, Ready for the Real World is a non-profit organization that promotes service.  Jalee shares that her inspiration is her sister, who has contributed more than 6,000 services hours even though she has Cerebral Palsy.  For viewers who would like to get involved and support this wonderful organization, they can go to www.readyforscholarships.com and make a donation.  Scholarships are awarded to students who have a devotion to service and who have an interest in improving the quality of life of others.

In discussing the evolution of Miss Hawaii, Jalee says at age 17, she was named the Miss Hawaii’s Outstanding Teen and was awarded a scholarship.  As she explains it, the scholarships that are provided by these contests have enabled her to pay in full for her master’s degree at HPU so the pageants have developed far beyond the original concept of being a beauty pageant.

One of the gowns that Jalee will be wearing is being altered by Masako Formals…to get a glimpse of Miss Hawaii in her stunning gown, tune in to this Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals show…and let’s all cheer for our Miss Hawaii on January 15 to become the new Miss America!

Kahu Kalehua’s third guest is Rhonda Faleafine of A Royal Hawaiian Affair and this is an encore presentation of Rhonda’s interview.  Filmed at Alii Kula Lavender Farm in Kula, this is familiar grounds for Rhonda.  She can plan a simple wedding ceremony in the gazebo on the grounds of Alii Kula to a more elaborate wedding ceremony and reception, complete with tents, catering, wedding cake and all the wedding services that a bride and groom might want.  Because of the location of this wedding site, Rhonda suggests a morning wedding because this provides the best light for photos and filming (before the clouds roll in).  Whether it be a local or destination couple, Rhonda has the experience and expertise to help the couple plan and enjoy a memorable wedding day whether it be at Alii Kula Lavender Farms or any other venue on Maui!!.

Show #28 Masako Formals, Island Wedding Gallery

“Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals” partners with Masako Formals and Island Wedding Gallery along with its vendors!!


Kalehua and “Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals” TV show, is proud to partner with Masako Formals and Island Wedding Gallery and it’s Vendors with an exciting strategic plan to promote and increase business activity for it’s vendors for both local and destination weddings through television, radio, and print both locally and mainland (west coast) for 2011 with a reach of 450,000 homes 6 times a week on OC16 to start, and 2.4 million homes (once a week) on the mainland, plus a lot more!! This is huge!! Mahalo to all who made this TV show a success. Now more and more viewers are watching!!


Reality show “Down the Aisle on an Isle” is scheduled to air on OC16 starting April 2011. One of our reality couples saved over 57% of their entire wedding package, valued at over $17,000, a savings of over $9,500, while vendors participating get a huge promotional package on OC16, 2=3 weeks in a row, 5-7 times a week!!

Wedding couples save up to 60% off your Entire wedding expenses.  Wedding vendors and wedding planners save up to 80% off costs for television, live streaming and 24/7 viewing access via OC16. Join us!  If any of your clients would like to participate or perhaps you know of any wedding couples who would like to be on the reality show, let me know!!


 Geanelli Lewis, L’amour Bridal Boutique
 Rhonda Faleafine, A Royal Hawaiian Affair




Teri Leilani, Entertainer  


Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals Show #28
L’amour Bridal Boutique, Teri Leilani and A Royal Hawaiian Affair




Show #27 Masako Formals and Island Wedding Gallery


“Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals” partners with Masako Formals and Island Wedding Gallery along with its vendors!!


Kalehua and “Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals” TV show, is proud to partner with Masako Formals and Island Wedding Gallery and it’s Vendors with an exciting strategic plan to promote and increase business activity for it’s vendors for both local and destination weddings through television, radio, and print both locally and mainland (west coast) for 2011 with a reach of 450,000 homes 6 times a week on OC16 to start, and 2.4 million homes (once a week) on the mainland, plus a lot more!! This will be huge!! Contact Kalehua for more information!! (808) 554-9215 Mahalo to all who made this TV show a success. Now more and more viewers are watching!!

Maui’s Wedding Pros are airing on our show over the next several weeks!  Plus, our new reality show “Down the Aisle on an Isle” is scheduled to air on OC16 starting March 2011. One of our reality couples was able to save over 57% of their entire wedding package, valued at over $17,000, a savings of over $9,500, while the vendors participating get a huge promotional package on OC16, 3-4 weeks in a row, 5-7 times a week and no repeats!!

Wedding couples save up to 60% off your Entire wedding expenses.  Wedding vendors and wedding planners save up to 80% off costs for television, live streaming and 24/7 viewing access via OC16. Join us!  If any of your clients would like to participate or perhaps you know of any wedding couples who would like to be on the reality show, let me know!!

  Elaine Kerr of Plantation House Restaurant
Joey Kehaunani Dang of Manutea Nui E

David Hoffman of Next Step Marketing LLC and dancers and drummers
                                                                                              

Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals Show #27
Kuhina Hawaiian Weddings and Blessings and Dellables


Down the Aisle on an Isle

Congratulations “TRAVIS and CHERIE”, our first reality show couple Married Feb 27 2011 @
Koolau Ballroom and Conference Center!!!
                                                                                                                                                    

To all participating Vendors for our first Reality show “Down the Aisle on an Isle” MAHALO for all your support. The Show will air over 40 times in April starting April 2 Saturday: 2:30-3:30pm & Sunday 4-5pm w/ each vendor averaging 17- 90 minutes of television airtime to strut their stuff thanks to OC16, Exclusively on Time Warner Cable!!  Awesome exposure for all of you!!  Stay tuned for more info as we get closer.

Below are 2 of the 16 vendors featured on this weeks show!!



Jerry Omo of Hawaiianpix Digital Photographic Services


Darcie Wharton of Royal Weddings by Lavender and Gabe Gongob of Royal Entertainment               


Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals
Hawaiianpix Digital Photographic Services and
Royal Weddings by Lavender/Royal Entertainment
 

Hawaii’s Wedding Professionals Show #15 – Hawaiianpix Digital Photographic Services and Royal Weddings by Lavender

Against the background of Waialae Beach, Kahu Kalehua Featheran welcomes Jerry Omo of Hawaiianpix Digital Photographic Service as his first guest.  Jerry started 8 years ago, primarily photographing weddings, but has since grown his business to also process and print photos for himself and for 40 other photographers from the islands and the mainland as well.  The ability to process and print typically results in a quicker turnaround time for prints and albums to be completed and this is a great service for newlyweds who are anxious to see their wedding day photos.

Jerry calls his photographic style contemporary classic and he explains what this means during the interview.  Although he suggests doing the formal photos ahead of the wedding ceremony, when hair, make up, dress and flowers are fresh and new, he also respects the wishes of the traditional couples who choose not to see one another before the ceremony. 

Photographic packages are available on Jerry’s website, and he is available for in person or phone consultations with couples.  Jerry also mentioned that his wife retired from the Air Force after 21 plus years of service and so Hawaiianpix also offers a 10% discount to military personnel.  Mahalo Hawaiianpix for this offer!

Kahu Kalehua’s second guests are Darcie Wharton of Royal Weddings by Lavender and Gabe Gongob of Royal Entertainment.  A multi-faceted company, Darcie and Gabe offer services in wedding coordination, DJ and sound, candy bars, favors and invitations.  As the first wedding coordinator for the upcoming 2011 Hawaii’s Wedding Professional’s reality wedding mini-series, Kahu Kalehua and the HWP cameras followed Darcie as she worked with one of her couples who got married at the end of February.  Some of Darcie’s many responsibilities as a wedding coordinator are to meet with the couples, help them with their needs, including working out a realistic budget and pulling everything together for them to have a memorable wedding day.  To do this, Darcie meets with her clients and goes through a series of questions to better understand and help them with their wedding plans.

Gabe has been a DJ for 18 years and has a library of thousands of songs of all different types.  With his many years of experience, Gabe is able to read the crowd and provide just the type of music that would get them tapping their feet and up on the dance floor. 

In this day of single parent families and people working multiple jobs just to make ends meet, a wedding coordinator often takes the place of or relieves some of the work that would ordinarily be handled by family members.  Also, because Royal Weddings by Lavender can provide so many different services, Darcie and Gabe offer discounts at each spot.  For example, if a couple retains Darcie as their coordinator and Gabe as the DJ, there is a discount extended.  With the ordering of invitations from Darcie or a candy buffet, additional discounts are added on, and this is their way of helping the couple to have a wonderful wedding day and get a little break in the cost.  Mahalo Darcie and Gabe!!!