Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens

the thousands of vacation rentals available on that side. Despite having tons of friends there, and calling LITERALLY every one of those rentals, there was not one place that would allow me to do my wedding for 100 guests under the price mark of $10,000, and many were not eager about partying past a certain time because Kauai neighborhoods are mostly about quiet and relaxation on that side. I originally chose to have my wedding at a house called Makalea Palms, which was a great choice- except that my husband's only request was to be near the beach for the ceremony, and our guest count was potentially exceeding the exact 100 person limit. I constantly avoided "Na Aina Kai," even though I had never set foot on the property. I avoided it because pretty much every like-minded individual I knew had their wedding there and I wanted to be "different", not to mention I must have misread their online menu because I thought I HAD to do the 3-day setup which was in the $10K ball park once again but when I called, I found out they were had a new reception site "The Residence" and it satisfied my "different" desire. This was the only location on the North shore that allowed us to have benches right near the beach because there's grass. Helpful for our grandparents. (FYI: want a beach wedding on the actual sand? prepare to have your guests stand, no benches allowed) In addition to the ceremony site we had a free shuttle for all our guests from ceremony to reception and back. Reception had a breathtaking view overlooking the ocean and mountains. Altogether set up morning of, and break down by noon the next day was $5,500 (It sounds high, but considering a backyard wedding = tent rentals/porter potties/generators SETUP TIME you're already looking at nearly as much and that NOT including the actual "venue fee". We chose the seaside meadow for our ceremony but NAK offers several different BEAUTIFUL spots, forest, waterfall, etc. Jennifer was AMAZING!! My very first interaction made me a little worried because it took a few days to connect, but from the time I decided this was the place she went out of her way to make time for me, even on short notice. She was so nice to all of my guests and so accommodating to all of my planning needs. She is definitely someone you want to work with on your wedding day, and all the days leading up to it. I considered giving only 4 stars instead of 5 because my wedding was one of only 3 EVER apparently that got rained out, and when the planner asked whether to keep everything at the Residence, it made my $5,500 for 2 sites seem like a rip-off. If rain is so rarely a problem, it seems an "act of God" clause allowing a refund for the unused 2nd site would be fair, and it would have made my split second decision to get all the bang out of my buck a lot easier. We ended up going on with the wedding down below soggily,(TIP: 30% chance of rain CAN MEAN %100 chance all day!!!) HOWEVER, mother nature should not deter my rating. Jennifer and the crew here did everything within their power to help and they can't control the weather...they deserve every bit of 5 stars and more. They truly went above and beyond to be my friend, not just my vendor. You will never regret having your wedding here, we are still getting compliments to this day about our venue.

d the year prior to our wedding. The special events coordinator was extremely responsive and we were able to set up a wedding sites tour. There is a "private" beach (no such thing in HI, yet there is very little access to this little beach by the public except by kayak), meadows, and greenery. We hosted our ceremony at the lagoon and held our reception at the Residence. The Residence is what really blew us away; the views from the lanai are incredible and the house itself is gorgeous. There was plenty of room for our party of 50, especially on the huge lanai! There had been a few renovations done right before our wedding and looked amazing the day of. The staff the day of were extremely warm and hospitable, I appreciated how nice they were. We also had some items shipped directly to NAK and they were wonderful about keeping it stored for us until the wedding. Although the responses were always quick and easy, there were times I had to dig a little deeper for answers to my questions. We also did not receive a copy of the contract until our wedding coordinator contacted them for one. However, the prices quoted were followed through upon and it seemed like it was just a slight oversight, completely unintentional. This is wishful thinking, but I would have loved if we could have been offered a spot on one of their tours as we still had a few days on the island! In all, beautiful location and there's a little something for everyone.

with no ceremony site! She got us in first thing in at 9 in the morning andreally helped us plan for a ceremony at 5! Loved the whole bunch of ladies!