Hawaii wedding - suggestions needed

[Selkie]

Congratulations!

No advice to offer. Never been to Hawaii although I intend to get there and surf some big waves before I die!

Look forward to hearing all about your Island wedding, though.

[Duck on Wheels]

I went to Hawaii with DS as one stop on our round-the-world ticket (from a holiday back home in Norway, to California to finish up his school term and my sabbatical, then Hawaii, Japan, China and home again). We made our Hawaii arrangements via a travel agent in Santa Cruz (CA) who specialized in Hawaii. She found us a condo to rent for the week. It was lovely and, aside from ds getting second-degree sunburn on day 1 that also had him kinda feverish and shivering during our snorkeling outing on day 2, we had a great time. Lesson learned: Use the high-digits sun factor!!!

But back to your question. There are certainly lovely small places with ditto condo or house rentals where you can live like a local and still have access to touristy things to do, such as that snorkeling day, or the surfing lessons ds had later in the week, or our drive around the Big island and up the volcano. I suggest you look for a Hawaii booking specialist, or do some virtual tripping on-line to look for what you want. I could also ask my brother who had his wedding on Maui, but I think they stayed with friends.

[ilima]

What island are you staying on? If Oahu, a lot of people rent out parts of their homes over in Kailua and Kaneohe. Some are legal, some not. But Kailua is the total opposite of Waikiki and resorts. There are actually no hotels. You can rent places that are in walking distance of the grocery and restaurants. The Bike Shop rents bikes on Oahu and has a shop right in Kailua. Kailua is also a very nice beach (it's where Obama stayed recently). And your close to famous Lanikai beach. And there are a couple kayak rental places right near the beach.

VRBO has a lot of listings for Kailua.
http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals...st-oahu/kailua

Now, when you say you prefer one of the smaller islands, well, are you aware that Honolulu is on Oahu, which is one of the smaller islands? The Big Island (Hawaii island properly) is my favorite island. It is the biggest, but also the least densely populated. In Waikoloa, which is north of Kona you can rent a condo. But--you're not going to get that living like a local feeling you could get in Kailua.

Maui has some neat stuff but overall I find the island too crowded. Molokai and Lanai don't have a lot of people. And they also have almost nothing for stores and restaurants.

Some folks love Kauai, and I like it quite a bit too. I don't know much about biking over there, although there is considerable hiking.