Maui’s Best Coordinator!

I have worked for many years as a videographer (HI FOCUSED Cinematography) in the wedding industry here on Maui, so when it came time for our wedding, I had long known who I wanted to be a part of our vendor dream team. Truly the best of the best offered here on Maui! Cherise was one of the very first wedding planners here on Maui to put me on her preferred list, that was probably around 2010. So now 14 years later, it meant a lot to have her plan our wedding. From a vendor’s perspective, I always knew she was super thorough but witnessing her work from a groom’s perspective, I was even more impressed with her level of attention. She was on top of every little detail. Her level of organization from big picture planning to all the minute details really demonstrated the importance of having a top notch coordinator.Our wedding was the first at its location which creates a blank canvas but also has it’s challenges with having to figure out all the many ins and outs of a new location. We also had a lot of custom elements and some unique aspects of our day to keep track of, which Cherise was attentive of. She is timely in her responses too, so you won’t be waiting long for any kind of reply. We met with Cherise several times at the venue and through zoom to make sure everything would go perfect–all of which went exactly how we planned. Cherise and her team lived up to the name, “The Perfect Maui Wedding”, as we had just that! Not only was Cherise on top of every part of planning, she also has a very calming and comforting energy.
You want a coordinator that gets the job done but also makes you feel at ease and relaxed, and she did exactly that. A big mahalo to Cherise for being there to coordinate our wedding day! After all our years working together, it meant so much to have you and Angelei there to be a part of it all!!! You truly went above and beyond!

Photo Compliments of Anna Kim Photography

~Heather & Jordan, 6.17.2024

We couldn’t have done it without Cherise

We cannot express enough gratitude for the incredible job that Cherise did in planning our wedding. From start to finish, she demonstrated unparalleled dedication and expertise that made our special day absolutely perfect.

Cherise’s attention to detail was nothing short of amazing. Every aspect of the wedding, from the venue decorations to the floral arrangements, was meticulously planned and executed flawlessly. She truly has an eye for creating stunning and memorable events.

Communication with her was a breeze. She was always prompt in answering our questions and addressing any concerns we had throughout the planning process. Her professionalism and responsiveness gave us peace of mind, knowing that every detail was being taken care of.

One of the most invaluable aspects of working with Cherise was her guidance and advice. She provided us with invaluable suggestions and creative ideas that helped us navigate through decisions we were unsure about. Her wealth of experience in the industry was evident and greatly appreciated.

Another huge plus was her ability to help us stay within our budget without compromising on quality. She was resourceful in finding vendors and solutions that aligned perfectly with our financial plan, which allowed us to enjoy our wedding day without any financial stress.

We would wholeheartedly recommend Cherise to anyone looking for a wedding planner who not only delivers exceptional results but also genuinely cares about her clients’ happiness and satisfaction. She went above and beyond our expectations, and we are forever grateful for her dedication and hard work in making our wedding day the best day of our lives.

Thank you again, Cherise, for everything you did for us. You are truly a gem in the wedding planning industry!

Photo Credit: Jenny Vargas Photography

~Kaitie & JL, 6.2.2024

Best Wedding Planner!!

Cherise is an exceptional wedding planner whose dedication and expertise are truly unparalleled. From the initial planning stages to the final moments of our special day, Cherise was the guiding force that ensured everything ran smoothly. We felt at ease with her at the helm on the wedding day as she was calm, composed and moving things along behind the scenes so we could enjoy the moment. Her ability to handle unexpected situations with grace was particularly impressive; when our original musician fell ill, Cherise swiftly arranged for a fantastic replacement, saving the day and keeping the festivities on track all while we were blissfully unaware. Her attention to detail, creativity, and organizational skills made our wedding not just perfect, but uniquely ours. We are immensely grateful for her contributions and highly recommend her services to any couple seeking a stress-free and memorable wedding experience. Thank you, Cherise, for making our dream wedding a reality!

Photo Compliments of Jenny Vargas Photography

~Danielle + Garet, 4.18.2024

Best wedding planner!

We found “Perfect Wedding Maui” towards end of our planning. Cherise was so pleasant from our first meeting. She is very professional and at the same time personal. We had so many requests and she accommodated perfectly. She knows a lot of people to work with on the island. Her touch to everything is so elegant and sophisticated. We loved working with her. Our wedding was PERFECT!! Highly recommended.

Photo Credit: Napili Events

~Tomoko, 2.17.2024

The best wedding planner

My husband and I had our dream Maui wedding in December last year. It’s the best wedding I can ever imagine. And I know without the help from Cherise, all those words I typed in emails and imaginations I had in mind won’t be realized beyond my expectations on the day.
Maui has always been my dream wedding destination. We started the planning more than a year ago and initially talked to lots of wedding planners from Maui because we know planner plays such an important role especially when we are thousands miles away. We chose Cherise and that’s truly the best decision we made. Put aside her professionalism and great communication skills, what I really like about Cherise is her ability to listen to all my little (or random) ideas and provide me with options that fit perfectly into my vision or even go beyond my expectation. Floral was something I really care about for my wedding, but I only had very vague idea in my mind. Cherise talked me through all the ideas I had patiently (lots of emails, calls and revised quotes) and helped me make up my mind. When I finally saw the florals and bouquet on the day, I almost cried and couldn’t move my eyes from those beautiful pieces. All the details we discussed were perfectly presented in the floral presentation.
One of my vendors had a last minute emergency and couldn’t make it to my wedding, Cherise took actions quickly and provided me a list of alternatives to choose from on my rehearsal day (two days before the wedding). I picked my favorite one and she was able to finalize it one day before the day. I don’t know how she did her magic but everything works out very well.
It was such a pleasure to work with Cherise in the past year on my wedding. We are so grateful for everything she did to our perfect wedding. Shout out to the couples who are looking for a wedding planner in Maui, please do yourself a favor and hire Cherise, you will not be disappointed!

Photo Compliments of Dmitri & Sandra Photography

~Miranda & Alex, 12.16.2023

Thank you Cherise & Mele for an incredible day!

My husband and I were married just over a month ago in September in Maui and it was truly one of the best days of my life. The absolute number one piece of advice I’d give to new brides: get a wedding planner. I am a project manager by trade and am very used to coordination and handling logistics, but there is so much about a wedding that I am so incredibly glad I left to the pros, which is where Cherise came in. At the beginning of the planning period (March 2022 – we started planning early!), Cherise went above and beyond and coordinated and spent an entire day with us touring four different venues and chatting with us to figure out what exactly we envisioned for the wedding. The planning process was made so much easier with Cherise’s years of experience and great working relationships with Maui vendors. On the day of the wedding, Cherise and her daughter, Mele, did an incredible job of handling all the details and EVERYTHING came out perfectly. The table settings, the tent, the food, the bar, all the florals, the sunset, the dance floor, it was all was beautiful, and my husband and I didn’t have a single worry – Cherise handled it all. Thank you Cherise & Mele for an incredible wedding day!

Photo Compliments of Mary Lane Studios

~Kelcee & Kellen, 9.2.2023

Truly The Perfect Wedding : )

My husband, Brandon, and I got married earlier this year and our wedding was a complete dream come true! As soon as we began planning, we knew finding the perfect wedding planner was important because it could make or break our experience. I’m extremely thorough and like to explore options but after our initial discussion with Cherise, we both knew we’d found “the one.” And we were right! From the very beginning, Cherise put us at ease and kept us on track. Having her guidance on which vendors to hire and which decisions to make when was invaluable.

One of my favorite things about Cherise (aside from her calm, sweet personality) is she can take your vision and offer ideas that will maintain the look (which was extremely important to us) but in a more cost-effective way if you’d like (which was helpful to us!). She also is very well-respected in the Maui wedding industry and was able to help us select other vendors in a way that eliminated overwhelm and always made us feel reassured. Lastly, Cherise routinely went above and beyond, even helping us make sure a new vision of ours was realized close to wedding day, when many probably would’ve said it was too late.

When the big day finally arrived, we never doubted her for a moment (and coming from a self-proclaimed “Type A bride,” this says A LOT). When Cherise is on your team, she has you – do not worry! 🙂

We will be forever grateful that we met Cherise and that she was a part of such a special day that we will cherish forever. Thank you, Cherise, for giving us the perfect wedding!

Photo Compliments of Anna Kim Photography

~Klara & Brandon, 5.25.2023

The Perfect Day

My daughter and her husband planned their perfect wedding with the direction of Cherise. As the mother of the bride I was so grateful to have her expertise.

Cherise guided my daughter every step of the way – ideas were never dismissed and the perfect vendors were contacted to create the most beautiful wedding. I live on the east coast so my participation was by Zoom ….my husband and I always felt heard and when asked for clarification we never felt dismissed. Cherise’s sense of humor was appropriate and created a relaxed atmosphere to do business in. The days leading up to the wedding were met with assurance that everything was set. My first in person meeting with her was at the rehearsal and I immediately felt that I didn’t need to worry about a thing. Cherise is an excellent communicator and went over the plans for the upcoming event. The wedding day was amazing – Cherise was the leader of her team and it was magic to watch everyone create the space the way my daughter had envisioned. No detail was left out.

During the reception, my daughter came to me and said -‘this is the perfect wedding – I am so happy’ And indeed the guests all agreed – this wedding was perfect.

Not sure I could thank Cherise enough for making my daughters’ dream come true.

Photo Credit: Anna Kim Photography

~Mother of the Bride, Ingrid, 5.25.23

Cherise is Amazing!

Working with Cherise was such a blessing! She was always kind, organized, and attentive during the planning process. We unfortunately had to cancel our wedding because of the wildfires on Maui but even through that experience Cherise was reassuring, professional, gracious, and kind beyond belief. We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to know her and work with her. Hiring her was easily the best decision we made in our wedding planning process.

~Tori & Taylor, 8.19.2023

Had our perfect wedding, thanks to Cherise!!

When we decided on getting married in Maui, I was stressed to say the least, thinking of trying to plan a whole wedding from Southern California. I looked over so many planners and then my mom found The Perfect Maui Wedding. You know how sometimes you can just look at a picture of a person and feel their personality shine through? I could just tell Cherise was a calming and warm presence. It was so true! Once we had our first chat, I knew she was the one to plan our wedding. She literally eased any and all doubts I had throughout the planning process, and was such a wonderful help every step of the way. She provides so many wonderful options for vendors, and everyone we decided on was phenomenal. Near the end of the process, I started worrying we were going over budget and she helped scale back our floral proposal and gave alternative options for things like lighting. I really appreciated her willingness to listen and help in that regard!

Talking to her was honestly my favorite part of the wedding process!
She has you curate a Pinterest board of your wedding vision and then we had a chat to go over all the different elements. She really brought our vision to life! I felt like some of our ideas were vague but oh my god, the way she communicated what we wanted to our vendors and the way it all came together was literal perfection. It was so US! I could honestly cry thinking of how beautiful and perfect every single detail was.

On the day of, she came to our villa while we were getting our hair and makeup done. She could tell how nervous I was and gave me lavender oil to help calm me. When we arrived at the venue, she said something along the lines of “I know the day has been going slow up to this point, but now everything is going to start going really fast. Remember to take in these moments.” I really appreciated that. It did go crazy fast and that reminder really allowed me to let it all soak in as much as possible. The day was so effortless. Cherise made sure everything went the way we planned. She even helped my mom bustle my dress. 🙂

I have heard many stories of brides having regrets and I can confidently say I have none, all because of Cherise’s expertise, professionalism, and recommendations.

I highly recommend The Perfect Maui Wedding. It was such a pleasure working with Cherise and we are forever grateful for everything she did to make our wedding day perfect.

Photo Credit: Roses & Reeds Photography

~Kalina & Kyle, 3.31.23

Cherise is phenomenal!

Let us start by saying we only met Cherise in the last month or so of our wedding planning as she was a last minute replacement for our previous wedding coordinator who spontaneously moved to another country a couple months before our wedding. Cherise had the challenge of coming into our wedding last minute and making sure it was pulled off without a hitch. And WOW did she deliver!

We immediately felt like we were in absolutely capable hands after our first meeting with Cherise. Somehow she has both the warmth of a best friend and the undeniable professionalism and organizational skill of a high-end corporate lawyer. She made sure we were aware of every detail without making us feel overwhelmed and seamlessly took over communicating with our vendors and venue.

When a last minute change of plans due to weather occurred, Cherise did not miss a beat. She communicated constantly via text and was able to create a back-up design and location that was EVEN BETTER than our original plan. She ran us through the entire plan in-person the day before and we felt so secure with her running the show.

On the day of the wedding, Cherise was somehow everywhere, but never in a way that detracted for a moment from the wedding. She made sure to instruct us on all the little details that I’m sure go missed by less skilled planners. During a bit of rain on the wedding day, we came up from pictures to find our dinner set-up had been completely shifted over a few feet to be under cover. It was honestly as though it happened by magic.

For someone to have made such a strong impression after only a month and a few meetings, you know she is fantastic. Please do not hesitate to book her immediately for your wedding. You will absolutely not be disappointed.

Photo Credit: Jenny Vargas Photography

~Megan & Sebastian, 2.22.23

Literally The Perfect Wedding!

Long overdue review but we would not have our dream wedding without Cherise. We started working with her a bit over a year before the actual wedding date. She was so responsive and easy to work with. Most brides I knew were always stressed out planning out their wedding, but I never felt that way working with Cherise. Granted we had never been to Hawaii, so planning a wedding at a location we’ve never been to was hard enough, but Cherise made it stress-free and we had complete trust in her. Although we picked out everything from color theme to flower arrangements, when we got to the venue, it was more than we had ever imagined! We were so surprised at how everything turned out. It was truly the perfect wedding! Thank you again, Cherise.

Photo Credit: Anna Kim Photography

~Brenda & Kenny, 10.24.22

Cherise warmly invites you to her home island and plans the most perfect wedding!

Our wedding at Olowalu Plantation House in Maui was nothing short of magical, and we owe it all to Cherise. From meticulous planning to flawless execution, every detail was perfectly orchestrated.

Cherise’s professionalism and attention to detail ensured our vision came to life amidst the lush gardens and stunning ocean views at Olowalu Plantation House. The personalized service, valuable insights, and seamless communication made the entire process stress-free.

In short, you will absolutely have the best wedding ever with Cherise as your wedding coordinator!

Further details:
We got married in Oct 2022, but I reached out to her about a year in advance. So we planned everything via emails and some zoom calls, and yet planning felt seamless! Throughout planning Cherise made sure to remind us when we needed to select certain aspects of the wedding by (photographer, florals, decor, catering, etc.). Always patient with our indecisiveness, but she gave us ideas and options if we asked. She also made sure everything was decided by us, no pressure by her on utilizing specific vendors. We really liked that she gave us freedom with honest opinions and facts (like if it’ll be in our price range, where we can take photos, venue rules, etc.).

On the wedding day, she made sure we (the bride and groom) were TOP priority. We felt like we barely saw her, but she was always around for you. Even though we had never met in person until the rehearsal day, she felt like someone we knew for a long time. Her presence and comfort is something you can’t beat, especially for a destination wedding where the location is not your home. She warmly invites you to her home island and plans the most perfect wedding!

Photo credit:  Jana Dillon Photography

~Miki & Andrew, 10.20.22

Cherise (The Perfect Wedding Maui) absolutely made our dreams come true

We started planning our destination wedding at a time when travel to Hawaii was still uncertain. We talked to a couple of planners and Cherise was far and away the easiest to work with. She was prompt, responsive, detail oriented, and super friendly. We never had to worry with Cherise because she was always on top of everything. When we had clear visions of things we wanted, she helped us make them real. When we had no clue about other aspects, she walked us through where to put our attention and helped us make decisions.

She knew which details mattered and which didn’t, which really helped us work through the planning process with minimal stress.

She has great relationships with great vendors which makes everything so much easier. She was also very upfront and transparent about costs and budgets which helped a lot with decision making.

Where Cherise went above and beyond, was when we had an unexpected family emergency 2 weeks prior to our wedding date. We made the tough decision to postpone the wedding and Cherise made it all work. She was upfront that it would be a challenge to get all our vendors to move, but somehow she was able to get them all and we were able to have the wedding we planned, just 6 months later. Oh and also she was incredibly caring and supportive through our tough time.

The day of the wedding was almost surreal in how much of a dream come true it was. These aspects that we had talked about and shared ideas were real and live and even better than we could’ve imagined. She organized everything for the day and helped us with a light touch whenever we needed it.

I feel like I’ve left out so many details on how great Cherise and The Perfect Wedding Maui is, but I could keep going on and on and on. We could not have done it without her and we simply couldn’t recommend her more.

Photo Credit: James Rubio Photography

~Diane & Carlos, 2.26.23

Thank you, it really is the perfect wedding 🙂

We had our dream wedding all thanks to Cherise! Cherise and us met towards the end of 2020, despite unexpected events in the world, we stayed in touch, met in person within safety measure. When we first began wedding planning, i didn’t think Maui would be our final choice, it was more of an out of curiosity. When Cherise took us on a tour of the venues, we instantly fell in love with the location, Maui and the people. Despite having 2 years in between our meeting and the actual wedding date, Cherise was very kind and patience with us, especially when we had a billion questions about wedding planning, including logistics, day of events, and small details that we never thought are critical to a well planned wedding. We just want to give a shoutout and million thanks to Cherise, for making our dream wedding come true, without her help, a destination wedding will not be possible. Cherise eased my stress and really helped us fully vision the prefect wedding for us.

Photo credit: Jenny Vargas

~Shirley & Clifford, 10.22.22

Made everything a breeze

Cherise is such a delight to work with. She has a way of putting you at ease, regardless of the situation. From the first zoom meeting to saying goodbye to her after a perfect wedding day, she was the consummate professional. Nothing was left to chance, down to the place card holder. Even when Mother Nature tried to blow my veil off during the wedding ceremony, she was there to secure it in place. And so kind. You cannot go wrong with Cherise.

Photo Credit: Angela Nelson Photography

~Michelle & Doug, 6.17.23

Do your future self a favor and HIRE

I wanted to wait to write a review until we received our wedding photos so future brides could see what I mean when I say The Perfect Wedding Maui crushed this wedding.

When we first got engaged in 2020, things were pretty uncertain in the wedding world. The top 2 biggest priorities for us at the start of our planning journey were to get our venue and then hire a coordinator. Once we locked in our location in Maui, we asked the venue and some locals friends to give us a list of coordinators they preferred. The Perfect Wedding + Cherise stood out (with flying colors).

When my husband + I first met Cherise at Olowalu Plantation House, she reminded me a lot of my mom. I know that sounds kind of funny but I was looking for a coordinator that was going to really fight for our wedding vision, had a lot of experience and a solid vendor list while also keeping us within our our budget and settling our nervous hearts being on the mainland in California.

I can confidently say that Cherise was literally one of my favorite vendors I’ve had the pleasure to communicate with. So many people told me how daunting it would be to plan a destination wedding but I can confidently say I really miss the planning process and getting to chat with Cherise. It was so fun and easy. From the moment you book, you get the package giving you a full breakdown of what to expect and how this process is going to look… for my type A brides this was a dream to get.

Getting a wedding coordinator is quite literally the most important part of the process and I do not recommend trying to plan a wedding without one. From start to finish, Cherise was organized and provided a quick turn around time in response time. We had so many email chains with so many different vendors, it just really spoke to her professionalism… You have to remind yourself that you’re not their only bride but she made me feel like I was.

From the overall outline of the wedding, timeline, and vendors to the nitty gritty details like how you want your napkins folded, what kind of signature drinks you want, table placement and the color palette, she provided options to choose from as well as a couple of preferences from previous brides, etc so you didn’t feel too overwhelmed with choices. We had a few video calls to discuss each big step in the process. One of my favorite little touches (that I’ve literally never heard of from any of my friends) was Cherise asked us to make a Pinterest vision board and then we broke down each section of the board when it came to florals, decor, the aisle, etc. I was so excited to see it all come together.

So when we had our BIG DAY, Cherise gave me some lavender oil to help calm me down because I was so nervous! 2 years of planning and it’s all happening right now! After I got into my dress, I remember her coming to me and saying, “Remember, this is YOUR day. You get to decide how the timeline goes and what you want to do.” It’s nice to have someone on the day of your wedding in your corner because your family members will want to step in or make changes or say something and as the bride you’re feeling so many emotions that you aren’t sure what to say and I really feel like Cherise went to bat for me in those moments.

Also, the way she communicated our vision to our vendors!!!! Oh my gosh…. the florals, the decor, the colors….everything was exactly what we wanted. I could cry just thinking about how beautiful it was!! The photos came out amazing!!

She went unnoticed when the event actually started but she was doing the absolute most in those 6 hours, only coming up to us when necessary and moving us right along through out the night, making adjustments to the timeline as needed/communicating with vendors but she did it with such elegance and grace that I didn’t even notice as a bride and really just got to soak in the day. At the end of the evening, she managed to clean up the guestbook, card box, the film cameras, package up our neon sign, etc. so it was ready to go in for us to take back. There wasn’t one thing missing from the clean up and distributed our tip for us.

I feel really lucky as a 2022 bride. I see a lot of people on social media saying their regrets and such about planning, their vendors or even their big day but I just can’t really relate to that. I truly believe that your vendors can make or break your wedding, just like your coordinator can make or break your excitement and Cherise made sure that the day was about my husband and I. I feel like I’ve gained a friend throughout the planning process and can’t wait to go back to the island for an anniversary and hopefully see her.

Trust me when I say it is worth the investment to have a solid coordinator and you will not be disappointed with Cherise.

T + J

Photo Credit: Keani Bakula Photography

~Taylor & Justin, 6.10.22

Could not recommend Cherise more! She made planning a wedding (especially a remote one) a breeze. Cherise gave us great vendor recommendations and demonstrated considerable knowledge/experience to advise us throughout the wedding planning process. The wedding day went smoothly and exceeded expectation, due largely to Cherise’s planning and support.

Photo Credit: Meew Meew Studios

~Sara & Chris, 11.27.22

*This vibrant weddings is featured on Wedding Chicks!  Click this text to view that published feature.

Easy, professional and delightful to work with

I can honestly say working with Cherise (ThePerfectWeddingMaui.com) was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. My wife and I only knew we wanted to get married in Maui. We attempted to reach out to multiple planners and hotels and didn’t know what to expect.

Cherise was the only planner that responded promptly, kindly and everything from that first contact was easy and professional. Cherise worked within our budget and our non conventional requests and on the day everything went as smooth as possibly could be. We stuck to our budget and did not lack anything that we asked for.

To add this, we had our wedding delayed twice for over 2 years because of COVID and throughout this process Cherise still worked with us, checked up regularly with us and managed to reschedule and re-book everything with all the vendors.

Cherise has a great understanding of the vendors and options in Maui. We trusted her with her suggestions and I’m thankful that we did. Everything from the venue, photos, food and music was unknown to us before arrival and I was blown away with how well everything worked out.

If you’re looking to get married in Maui I highly recommend working with Cherise at ThePerfectWeddingMaui. She caters for all and will work with you to set up what you want.

Photo Credit: Tara Lee Photography

~Maria & Feliks, 10.5.22

I highly recommend Cherise!

If you are looking for your wedding planner you can stop looking!  Cherise is the absolute BEST!!  I truly cannot imagine our wedding being planned by anyone else.  When you are planning a destination wedding it can be really difficult not being in the place to see the planning process and maybe not be as involved as you would like to be.  Cherise made this sooo easy for us and so stress free!  Everything was extremely organized and she made sure we were always meeting our deadlines.  I would send her pictures and ideas of what I liked and she did the rest.  I honestly did not fee an ounce of stress… well besides when we thought Maui was shutting down again from Covid.  But even then, Cherise was right by our side making us feel at ease and that we were going to make it work. 

Once we got there everything worked out perfectly! We had our rehearsal the day before and Cherise was there making sure everything went smoothly. If something looked off with the bridesmaids and groomsmen she would even work with the photographer to make sure it would be a great shot.

The day of was incredible!! I was sooo nervous and before going down the aisle Cherise stopped me and had me take a deep breath and that helped ease the nerves a ton! I had no idea what to expect. All I knew were the pictures I sent to Cherise of what I wanted and it was so much more than I could have ever imagined. From the flowers to the signs to the center pieces, everything was perfect! All of the vendors were phenomenal and exceeded all of our expectations. I could not imagine our day going any better thanks to everything Cherise did for us! We had the most perfect wedding and I will forever be grateful to this amazing woman and the company she has built!

I hope this helps and you don’t have to look any further because this is your wedding planner!! Thank you Cherise!!!

Photo Credit: Tara Lee Photography

~Sheina & Ryan, 5.16.22

Cherise is the best!

Cherise is wonderful!  From the first moment we spoke to her, we knew that we were in great hands!  Planning a wedding from the mainland was a scary thought at first (especially during covid!), but Cherise quickly put us at ease and planned the most beautiful day for us!  She recommended great vendors and was fantastic at keeping everything organized.  She is also so sweet and patient and was a joy to work with leading up to the big day.  Our wedding day was a dream come true and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with her ; )   

Photo Credit: Meew Meew Studios 

~Shawna & Brandon, 11.18.2021

Best wedding planner ever!

If you are looking for your wedding planner you can stop looking!  Cherise is the absolute BEST!!  I truly cannot imagine our wedding being planned by anyone else.  When you are planning a destination wedding it can be really difficult not being in the place to see the planning process and maybe not be as involved as you would like to be.  Cherise made this sooo easy for us and so stress free!  Everything was extremely organized and she made sure we were always meeting our deadlines.  I would send her pictures and ideas of what I liked and she did the rest.  I honestly did not fee an ounce of stress… well besides when we thought Maui was shutting down again from Covid.  But even then, Cherise was right by our side making us feel at ease and that we were going to make it work. 

Once we got there everything worked out perfectly! We had our rehearsal the day before and Cherise was there making sure everything went smoothly. If something looked off with the bridesmaids and groomsmen she would even work with the photographer to make sure it would be a great shot.

The day of was incredible!! I was sooo nervous and before going down the aisle Cherise stopped me and had me take a deep breath and that helped ease the nerves a ton! I had no idea what to expect. All I knew were the pictures I sent to Cherise of what I wanted and it was so much more than I could have ever imagined. From the flowers to the signs to the center pieces, everything was perfect! All of the vendors were phenomenal and exceeded all of our expectations. I could not imagine our day going any better thanks to everything Cherise did for us! We had the most perfect wedding and I will forever be grateful to this amazing woman and the company she has built!

I hope this helps and you don’t have to look any further because this is your wedding planner!! Thank you Cherise!!!

Photo Credit: Stephani Dennis Photography

~Nicolette & Casey, 10.10.2021

The BEST on Maui

I am writing this review not basking in the afterglow of a wedding just a few weeks ago.  The wedding that Cherise created for us happened quite some time ago.  So this review is maybe a little bit more matter of fact concerning what it takes to create a Maui destination wedding that is a life-peak experience for the guests as well as the bride and groom.  Cherise is a good listener who knows how to make the recommendations and plans that will create the memorable experience you want.  She handles complexity of detail flawlessly.  She clearly has exceptionally strong relationships with the vendors you will be using, and it was obvious that those vendors perform well for her.  Her recommendations are deep.  That is, if a first choice caterer or florist or photographer or makeup artist doesn’t happen to be available on a specific date, her list of preferred vendors is deep with talent and high quality.  So if first choice isn’t available, it pretty much doesn’t matter.  There appears to be a very high degree of respect for Cherise throughout the performance of all vendors.  Her coordination and management of vendors is on time, accurate and invisible in terms of impacting the bride and groom on wedding day.  So even though our wedding was quite some time ago, it still feels like magic today.  And what is completely extraordinary in the outcome of our wedding experience is this – during my final dress fitting, approximately 5 days before the ceremony, I found out that a venue I had selected for the reception was going to be impossible for us to use.  To be clear, this was MY mistake and had nothing to do with Cherise’s recommendations.  Cherise did not panic when I made my panicked phone call to her.  With just five days to go, she was able to leverage her relationships with venues to book an alternative site for us that was not only just fine, it was way better than my original idea/site.  It was an epic save that without her expertise would have become an awkward disaster instead of the fully life-altering magical wedding it became.  I am sure there are other good wedding planners on Maui.  However, I don’t see how there would be one as good as Cherise Shulman.  The groom agrees.

Photo Credit: Jean-Piere’s 

~Margaret & Stacey, 10.14.2013

Cherise was such a joy to work with. She helped my now husband and me plan the wedding remotely over nearly 1.5 years given the pandemic really disrupted our plans. She was so patient and helped to recommend the best location that I could ask for. What’s great about Cherise is that she really listens to what we need and then works with us to find the solution. The budget sheet was easy to understand and for areas where we needed help making a decision, Cherise just made it work. Highly highly recommend and we cannot thank her enough!

Photo Credit: Jenny Vargas

 ~Lei & David, 8-28-2021

Cherise brought our wedding to life!

Cherise was amazing and helped make our wedding day better than we had dreamed! She took us on as we were replanning our postponed wedding because of Covid and helped us navigate the special requirements we needed due to added restrictions. It was stressful trying to plan from the mainland but Cherise made us feel confident that everything would work out fine and had alternate plans just incase. She listened to what we wanted the day to feel and look like and created the most amazing space. It was better than we had anticipated! She took to our idea of the ambiance we were looking for and brought it all to life. She never pushed anything on us and was always there to support or give suggestions when needed. We fully trusted her opinions and we weren’t disappointed. I would gladly do it all again with her by our side. On the day she was silently running the show and everything went off without a hitch. She was so kind and patient also with our rehearsal as we were trying to figure out some choreography for our flower brigade. She was making everything happen so seamlessly and we had the most amazing experience on our wedding day it felt like we were in a movie. I definitely would recommend Cherise to everyone and anyone who is looking to plan the perfect wedding!!! We will never forget it!

Photo Credit: Angie Nelson

~Kelli & Stephen, 10.3.2021

Awesome wedding planner–experienced, friendly, great communication

Cherise is phenomenal! We hired her in October 2020 for our July 2021 wedding on Maui and she made the process feel so easy and seamless throughout. She is amazing at keeping things organized and on track without it feeling overwhelming. She is very experienced, personable, great at communication and highly skilled at turning vague ideas in to something spectacular! It felt like she genuinely cared about making our wedding perfect for us, it wasn’t just a job for her. If you have the opportunity to hire Cherise—do it! You will not be disappointed

Photo Credit: Tara Lee

 ~Ashlee & Terrence, 7-24-2021

Friendly, Professional, Personable

My wife and I were originally working with a different wedding planner but when that planner retired we were referred to Perfect Wedding Maui. Cherise was excellent, she made every single detail we hoped for a reality. We both loved every aspect of our wedding and are grateful for Cherise and having the opportunity to work with her. 

Cherise had a very detailed timeline of what decisions needed to be made and through out the entire process we were both in shock at how easy it was to plan every detail. Cherise met with us several times over ZOOM to ease any concerns we had as we got closer to the wedding. The big day was fantastic, it was everything we could of dreamed of. Without seeing the venue or any of the details in person we were both a little nervous but Cherise truly made every Pinterest board that we sent her come to life! Haha

 Photo Credit: Colt Fetters

 ~Libby & Brian 7-16-2021

I can’t believe we pulled it off. We never could have done it without Cherise. She gave us our dream wedding during the middle of a pandemic. She was understanding, caring and meticulous! Even after we had to postpone she was understanding and made our day go off without even the slightest hiccup. I wish I could do it all over again with her. If your dream is a destination Maui wedding, trust me you can’t do it without Cherise! She is a must.

Photo Credit: Jenny Vargas

 ~Jennifer & Adrian, 6-4-2021

The Perfect Wedding Maui really is perfect!

Cherise was a complete delight to work with. When my now husband and I set about trying to plan a wedding 2500 miles away in Maui during a pandemic, there were so many things we didn’t even think of or consider. Cherise expertly guided us through every step of the way. She had excellent suggestions and ideas for every single thing we asked of her and was so patient and helpful as we changed our minds and plans. We never would have found our perfect venue without her. On our actual wedding day, she ensured everything went off without a hitch- and even went out of her way to hand deliver flowers for my hair. She is an awesome wedding planner who can really bring your wedding vision to life, and a wonderful person. I highly suggest her for anyone who wants a beautiful wedding in Maui!

 

Photo credit: Jenny Vargas

 
~Whitney & Lee, 5-15-2021

Stop looking anywhere else and work with Cherise! I interviewed a handful of planners before choosing Cherise and it was the best decision. As cliche as it sounds, we had the most amazing, perfect wedding thanks to the incredible planning skills of Cherise. I couldn’t have asked for a more magical wedding, our guests agreed it was one of the best they’d ever attended. Despite having to move our wedding 2x (from May 2020 to October 2020, to May 2021) and having to change venues, it turned out better than I could have imagined. Cherise was great at communication, so organized, and very methodical, which made the entire wedding flow seamlessly. I felt very relaxed and was able to actually enjoy the day without any stress because Cherise had it all handled. Being a designer, I can easily get caught up in the details, but Cherise totally understood the natural, casual beach vibe we were going for and made the best recommendations. She had helpful input on all the vendors and was super transparent about budget and pricing. She had insightful PDFs to help not only the bride and groom but also the guests navigating COVID. There are details I never would have thought about that would cause most brides added stress in the days leading up to their wedding, but I was able to fully enjoy my time in Maui given how well planned it was in advance. Cherise is so sweet and calm, you can feel her positive, genuine energy from the moment you first talk with her. She was always very responsive and made us feel like a priority even during a very busy wedding season in Maui. She’s there from the start of the wedding until the end and on the entire time. Now that our wedding is done, I miss my calls with Cherise, she’s the best 🙂 Any couple who works with her is so lucky!                                

Photo Credit: Jess Fernandez

~Kelsey & Jason, 5-9-2021

Perfection

There is no name more fitting than “The Perfect Wedding Maui’ for Cherise’s Planning and Coordination services.  She went above and beyond every step of the way and was able to exceed my very high expectations.  Cherise helped give us a day more magical than we could have even imagined!  Because of Cherise, Brendan and I were able to stay present and truly enjoy every moment of our wedding day-instead of becoming distracted by the timeline and many details; we are so thankful for this!

When my original wedding planner and day of coordinator found out she would have to miss our wedding day due to a necessary surgery, I was very anxious. She promised my husband and I would be in good hands with Cherise and she was not wrong. Cherise scheduled a Zoom meeting with us before we flew out to Maui to review the plans and made sure she understood them perfectly. We were instantly relieved after speaking with her and no longer had any concerns for our wedding day.

Cherise was exceptionally kind, detail oriented, organized, and professional. She really made me feel at ease before and during my wedding day, which in and of itself is a huge feat. She even made wonderful recommendations/ ceremony additions during the rehearsal that we had not thought about and communicated them to our vendors flawlessly. Any bride I’ve ever met has expressed that something or many things went wrong on their wedding day, but we seriously can’t think of a single thing, and we know we owe a big part of that to excellent planning and day of execution. Brendan and I truly loved working with Cherise, and we are so grateful she agreed to step in for our day. We highly recommend “The Perfect Wedding Maui” if you too are hoping to have the perfect wedding ?.

Photo Credit:  Angela Nelson Photography

~Brook & Brendan 4.27.2021

I am originally from Maui, but I now live out of state. I had a vision in my mind about what I wanted in a wedding, but I didn’t really know how to bring that vision to life so I knew that I wanted a wedding planner from the start. I reached out to several wedding planners and Cherise stood out to me because she was so kind, patient with my questions, and made me feel like the wedding of my dreams was within reach and possible with the budget I set. While other wedding planners brushed me off, said my dream wedding was unrealistic, or simply did not respond to my inquiries at all, Cherise provided a wealth of information and guidance before I had even officially hired her. We got engaged in July 2019 and planned for a wedding in June 2020. We communicated with Cherise through email, phone calls, and Zoom meetings. Cherise made the whole process a breeze. Then COVID hit and everything was up in the air. We didn’t know what to do. Restrictions shifted from day to day and we thought this wedding may never happen, but Cherise stuck by us through it all. We ended up planning a whole new wedding complete with a different venue and a new guest list. An incredibly stressful situation was made so much easier and I truly do not know what we would have done without Cherise. Ultimately, Cherise helped us plan the perfect wedding (twice) and we finally got married in January 2021. It was everything I could have ever dreamed of and more. The coordination on the day of the wedding was flawless. Our wedding day was beautiful and exceeded every expectation. I was in awe to see it come together as it did. Thank you for everything, Cherise! You are simply the best and we can’t thank you enough for making our wedding dreams come true!                                         

Photo Credit: Jess Fernandez

~Marissa & Christian, 1-8-2021

We’ve been planning for our wedding for over a year with Cherise. Throughout the planning process, she’s always so attentive, proactive, and puts our best interest at heart. She only recommends us the best vendors in Maui. We love her genuine advice and how she went above and beyond to help us plan the best wedding ever. Although due to the crazy pandemic, we had to change our plan last minute, Cherise was always patient and helped us figure out the best Plan B, Plan C… We can’t say enough about our appreciation for her wonderful services. Would highly recommend anyone to hire Cherise for your big day, because, SHE REALLY MAKES PERFECT WEDDINGS HAPPEN!

~Diane & Eric 10-10-2020

It really was the Perfect Wedding.

100% having Cherise as our planner was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. Originally we were going to be planning our wedding day from CA however we ended up moving back to Maui. We still decided to have a wedding planner for our day because she was so easy to work with and asked questions I didn’t even think of for the day. She made the day seamless and took off all the stress from everything a wedding day intel’s. I love that she has had many years of experience and a level of professionalism. She works with your budget and style! You can trust every step with her and know your day will be the Perfect Wedding day!

Photo Credit: Mykle Coyne Photo

~ Jax & Sean 11-12-2019

Amazing Experience with Perfect Wedding!

My (now) husband and I cannot say enough positive things about Cherise and The Perfect Wedding. Since we were planning our wedding in Maui from California, we knew we needed a lot of help. My husband and I spoke to a few different wedding coordinators but quickly decided that Cherise was the perfect choice. Her enthusiasm for her job came through on our first phone call, and her experience could not be beat.

We’re still blown away by how much support and help The Perfect Wedding provides for such a reasonable price. Cherise went above and beyond what we expected from a coordinator. She held our hands through every step and was very patient with all of our indecisiveness around settling on some of the details. She responded quickly via email and we never once worried that anything was falling through the cracks. Because Cherise has experience on the island, she has relationships with all the major vendors and was able to help narrow down choices for us based on what we wanted to spend and what we envisioned for the event. When I showed her pictures from Pinterest of flowers or other decor, she made sure the items were either replicated or altered to fit my requests. And when it came to the big day, Cherise and her team handled every last detail. I almost felt like a guest at my own wedding because I wasn’t worried about anything! Cherise allowed my husband and I to be present during the day rather than having to be preoccupied by details, which was an incredible gift for which we’ll always be grateful.

Because of Cherise, we were able to enjoy the wedding planning process and, more importantly, the big day. Our friends and family were amazed at how calm we remained during all of it, which was only due to our total confidence in Cherise and her team. We highly recommend Cherise and the Perfect Wedding.

Photo credit: Anna Kim Photography

~ Tara & Johnik 02-20-2020

Where do I start?  Cherise is wonderful- she’s detail oriented, warm and calm.  She has all the great qualities you need in a wedding planner.  She helped us tremendously throughout our wedding process and I’d like to share two examples.
– When we had our rehearsal the day before our wedding, based on the weather forecast and what it felt like at the venue, we realized that we’re possibly going to have some rain on the wedding day.  We should have a tent but what’re our options? No worries, Cherise had been watching the weather and proposed to set up a clear top tent that made sure everyone would be covered and still could see the sky and beautiful trees on the property. In addition, since I was worrying about my heels getting stuck in the concrete dance floor, Cherise also hooked us up with nice smooth wooden dance floor all within that day.  Many guests complimented how beautiful the tent was and the dance floor was such a nice upgrade. Cherise got us!
– As you could imagine, the day of the wedding was kind of busy. At the end of the wedding, after all the guests left, we started packing. One thing we really needed to pack carefully was our porcelain tea set used during tea ceremony. Cherise has already packed the set for us! Not only that, she also had put our guest books and everything else she could in our suitcase- in an organized way of course. Cherise truly made our busy wedding day much more relaxing!
Thanks so much Cherise!

Photo Credit: Jenny Vargas Photo

~ Scarlett & David 01-10-2020

Everything about our wedding was perfect thanks to Cherise!

Hiring a wedding planner is one of the first decisions you have to make in the planning process, and arguably the most important. We were fortunate that one of the Maui venues we were looking at recommended Cherise as she was incredible to work with throughout the entire planning process from our initial venue visit to Olowalu Plantation House to making sure everything went exactly to timeline and as planned during our wedding day itself!

To echo other reviews, planning a destination wedding and having to make many key decisions from a distance can definitely be hard, but Cherise helped make this process as easy as possible from recommending an excellent set of vendors (Maui DJ Services, Anna Kim Photography, Maui Palm Tree Florals, Food for the Soul, Garnish Craft Cocktails, Miss B Calligraphy, Ka’ena Elaban) to translating my Pinterest inspiration boards and vague descriptions into reality to create my dream wedding from a design perspective.

Cherise also did an excellent job of keeping us on track with our planning so we never fell behind, but at the same time managed to do so in way that kept us from ever feeling too stressed or rushed on any decisions, which is impressive especially because I’m a natural procrastinator.

Cherise is also one of the nicest and most genuine people I’ve ever met and she truly went above and beyond in ensuring that our wedding really was perfect in every way. Just one example of the many throughout the process – my husband and I held off until a few days before our wedding on deciding to get a tent to protect against the rain (if you’re getting married in the winter we definitely wouldn’t recommend this), at which time there were very few large enough tents for our group available on the island. Not only did Cherise find one for us, but she somehow secured a clear-top tent for us day-of and made our wedding day set-up look even better than it would’ve without the tent.

All in all, if you’re looking for a planner for an upcoming wedding on Maui, we really can’t recommend Cherise enough, and her pricing is great considering the level of service you’ll get!

~ Becca & Andrew 02-29-2020

Cherise is really the key to having ‘The Perfect Maui Wedding’! Chris and I cannot thank her enough for pulling together the best wedding we could of possibly imagined!! We are based in San Francisco and started working with Cherise about a year out from our wedding date. She made the entire planning process so seamless and effortless for us we were literally NEVER stressed! 
She has such great relationships with all the vendors on the island, you can really trust that any vendor she recommends is top notch. From helping us secure our wedding venue (Olowalu) to all the amazing vendor recommendations (Food for the Soul, Miss B Calligraphy, Sunyas Flowers, Catered Coconut, DJ Boomshot) we loved them all! Chris and I never had a chance to visit Maui during the planning process so the first time we saw Olowalu in person was TWO days before our wedding. She did such an amazing job pulling our visions into real life, it was perfect. 
As foodies (and coming from SF) it was really scary not being able to try our food beforehand but man, was it amazing! From our signature cocktails, to our perfectly cooked medium-rare ribeyes, to our fresh malasadas and shaved ice. Our guests could not stop raving about how amazing all the food and drinks were thanks to Food for the Soul! 
I was truly amazed at all of Cherise’s attention to detail. She guided us and kept us on track on all of our budgets, todo’s, timelines and payments. She goes above and beyond to make sure everything is perfect, even if it’s technically out of her scope of work. For example, we had a big welcome cocktail party the day prior to the wedding at Dukes and Cherise helped us order all the flowers. Not only that but she also went to Dukes prior to the party starting to make sure all of our flowers were delivered and set up perfectly. Another sweet thing Cherise helped out with was our officiant’s speech. Our officiant (who is my husband’s best friend) asked if Cherise could review his speech the night before and not only gave him great tips, she really put his mind at ease. 
As for the actual day of the wedding, Cherise’s sweet and calm demeanor is what you want around you. She didn’t miss a beat and everything went so smooth! Chris and I are still in awe of how much fun we were able to have and how easy the day felt because of Cherise. She was so kind to all of our guests and you could tell all the vendors loved working with her. 
TLDR: Hire Cherise if you want to throw an unforgettable, beautiful, fun, stress-free wedding! You won’t regret it. Photo care of The Bold Americana

 ~ Kim & Chris 08-09-2019

I truly wouldn’t have been able to enjoy my engagement/planning and wedding day without the tremendous help from Cherise of The Perfect Wedding Maui. She is the most organized, patient and understanding woman I have ever met! From when I first contacted Cherise, she was genuinely excited to get to know my fiancé and me. She always took the time to answer questions or explain a process. It certainly was a major bonus that she’s very well connected in the industry, too. My other vendors even sang her praises! Cherise was not only able to bring my vision to life on the big day, but she surpassed all expectations! From every detail and placement, it was indeed “perfect”. Even our guests adored Cherise and her daughter; they are the absolute sweetest. We will forever be grateful for finding The Perfect Wedding Maui. Thank you so so much, Cherise!

Photo Credit: Caitlin Cathey

~ Julia & Jim, 1-23-2020

Booking Cherise from ‘The Perfect Wedding’ as the full-service wedding coordinator for our Olowalu Plantation House wedding was THE BEST decision we made in our entire wedding-planning process, hands down! Her warm, amazing energy and unbeatable work ethic made the process of orchestrating a wedding from afar smooth, stress-free, and fun. My fiancée and I were not the people who had spent many years envisioning our perfect wedding, and as a result we had a really hard time articulating what we wanted. We told Cherise we wanted something “kind of old Hollywood glam, but make it tropical”. And she just got it. And what she helped us to create was absolutely magical, and beyond anything we could have dreamed. Cherise has a ton of experience in her field, and that shines through every step of the way. Every vendor she recommended was absolutely top-notch. She was in constant contact and made thoughtful, creative suggestions that added visual interest without breaking the bank. She helped us make choices that would deliver the best possible result within our budget. On top of all that, on the day of the wedding she’s a delightful, charming Rockstar. If anything that day didn’t go according to plan, we didn’t know about it and neither did our guests because Cherise had everything absolutely on lock. Our families could not stop gushing about how much they loved her. Bottom line: planning a wedding with Cherise felt like planning a wedding with a good friend, if that friend also happened to be a genius with events who knows every wedding vendor on Maui 😉 She is a true joy to work with, and gave us a special day that our guests are still raving about months later. We could not have asked for more. Mahalo from the bottom of our hearts! Photo care of: Dmitri & Sandra Photography

 ~ Ally & Jamie 08-06-2019

Cherise did a wonderful job and we would absolutely recommend The Perfect Wedding Maui!! I found her through a friend who also had Cherise plan their wedding, and it was the BEST decision we made during the process of planning our wedding. We planned everything from Oahu, and hired Cherise as a full planner. She was super responsive, really listened to what we wanted, and had amazing suggestions (like our twinkle lights dance floor backdrop that our guests LOVED). She did a superb job in making sure everything ran smoothly on the wedding day, which really was the wedding of our dreams!! I didn’t feel that stressed on our wedding day because I knew Cherise would take care of everything, and everything did end up going so well. Our guests couldn’t stop telling us how beautiful and fun everything turned out. Thank you so much for everything, Cherise!!!

~ Kat & TK 11-01-19

Cherise and The Perfect Wedding LLC was nothing short of extraordinary. Planning a destination wedding in itself was not stressful for us as we had a 2+ year engagement, but as the day got closer we realized many small details needed to be done & it added some stress to us. Cherise made all that stress go away. Sending emails & making phone calls back & forth to Cherise always made us feel better knowing she had done this many times before & knew what was best. Cherise did a great job setting up phone calls various times throughout the engagement to ensure we were on the same page when it came to the planning. We talked 1 year, 6 months, 3 months, 1 month and 2 weeks before the wedding. She was present at the rehearsal to help all wedding party and families know what to do for the wedding ceremony. She answered all all our questions with ease and confidence. A week before the wedding, she met with my family to go over details and on the wedding day day, her & her team did all setup and all clean up— this made it SO incredible for our families so we could enjoy the day! She is 100% worth the extra cost and the best party planner on the island!

Photo care of Reese & Renee Photography
 
~ Tayte & Justin 5-25-2019

My husband and I live on Maui, but had no clue who to reach out to when it came to putting a wedding together… we ran into Cherise while touring the venue we ended up going with, Olowalu Plantation House, she was there setting up a wedding that day. She was so kind and had so much information in our brief interaction, that it just felt right. She was in contact with us right away and helped me bring the idea I had for the day, to life. Even though we lived here, I didn’t know what vendors to choose, and she had all the insight, and recommended a caterer and baker that I probably would have never known about if it wasn’t for her. The day of, everything was seamless! If there was a problem, I didn’t know about it… she was there to make sure it is was the most perfect day, and it TRULY was. I have so much gratitude towards her for that. Even if you think you would like to plan a wedding in your own, I highly recommend to consider Cherise, she streamlines so much of the big details so that you can really enjoy being engaged and planning maybe the smaller details of the wedding planning process. We loved everyone she recommended, from the rentals, to the caterer to our amazing minister! She is a professional that will bring the day you want, to a reality. Photo care of: Tony Gambino

~ Natalie & Daniel 07-23-19

I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting ‘The Perfect Wedding’ when I hired Cherise because I didn’t think such a thing was possible, but that is exactly what we got! We planned our Maui wedding from San Francisco in just 5 months and Cherise was the dream maker who systematically and efficiently brought all of my ideas to life (and helped me innovate when things logistically just wouldn’t work). And she did it all with kindness, positivity, professionalism and timeliness. I never had to wonder what the status of something was, she kept me in the loop and despite our time difference and being an ocean apart, I felt super connected to the entire process. Cherise suggested vendors (all of whom were top notch) and kept me from feeling overwhelmed (or underwhelmed) with choices, she brainstormed creatively and she was the maestro on the ground who executed a perfect event for nearly 100 of our friends and family. My guests are STILL talking about the food from Cafe O’Lei. The flowers from Dellables Floral Design were awe inspiring. The tent from Rio Events illicited actual gasps. Del from DelSol DJ kept the party going and people loved our decision to offer Shaved Ice from BreakWall. And the stylists from MeiLi Autumn made my bridesmaids and I feel like actual princesses. She truly went above and beyond. When I wanted to try and create a tent totally from twinkle lights, she found me a vendor and quote to try and pull it off. When I decided it wasn’t going to work, she didn’t bat an eye and helped me to find the right lighting options. She was kind to our guests, and it was super clear every one of the vendors she works with adore her and go above and beyond for her. I want to get married again just so I can hire her again! Cherise truly helped my husband and I to have The Perfect Wedding!! Vendors: Site: Hui No’Eau Visual Arts Center Flowers – Dellables Floral Design Caterer – Cafe O’Lei Bar – Bars are Us Tent – Rio Events Dessert – BreakWall Hair/Makeup – MeiLi Autumn Beauty

 ~ Lauren & Paull 07-03-2019

Cherise and The Perfect Wedding Maui is AMAZING!

I want to thank Cherise Vonae at The Perfect Wedding Maui for putting together a flawless and amazing wedding on the beach for us during our vacation!
Her attention to detail was just what we were looking for to take the stress off of us during our special day! From meeting us at our room to make sure the hair and make up was going as planned (also bringing flowers for my bride’s headpiece) to walking us through the Forrest for magical lighting & pre-ceremony pictures, to making dinner reservations at a very nice local restaurant securing us a preferred table with an amazing view! No details were left untouched and I can not wait to see the photos from the professionals she contracted. If you want a true professional that will get the job done and has the experience to know how, she is the only one to consider!! We can not ever thank you enough for planning and being a part of our special day!!

~ Todd & Nicky 06-14-19

Working with Cherise was a dream! We live in San Francisco and had only been able to visit once before the wedding. She made everything so easy and her grounding calming energy is exactly the type of person you want around you on your wedding day! She has great connections with different vendors and has great taste and will make sure you are under your budget without skimping on anything! She was amazing and we can’t wait to go back to Maui and see her again!

 ~ Michelle & Kellen 3-30-18

My husband and I LOVED working with Cherise. 

She is an expert on planning the best Maui weddings and has close personal relationships with every vendor imaginable. Not only that, but Cherise also made great recommendations for us beyond catering, photographer, flowers, etc. We really wanted to host our welcome party at a brewery and our farewell event at a beach and she provided us with the perfect recommendations, which made both of those events unforgettable. 

We didn’t visit Maui while we were wedding planning, but we were calm, cool, and collected throughout the entire process because we trusted Cherise’s recommendations and she kept us on track with our priorities and to-dos. Not only that, but Cherise has an incredibly warm and calming presence, which is especially incredible on your wedding day. Most brides will say that at least one thing didn’t go according to plan on their wedding day, but I literally can’t think of one thing that wasn’t perfectly executed. 

Here’s a few other things I’d like to call out:

* Cherise made herself readily available, especially in the few months leading up to the wedding where we had a text thread going for one-off questions 
* The wedding itself was absolutely stunning and the day-of coordination was flawless
* The day before our wedding we asked Cherise if we could get corn hole and giant Jenga rented for the next day, and she made it happen so easily
* Cherise provided a lot of recommendations about day-of timing, ceremony flow, where to stay/what to do on Maui, and so much more—we would have been lost without her!
* I accidentally left my veil at the wedding venue and Cherise made sure to grab it herself and personally delivered it to my mom the next day. So nice!

Our overall experience was 10/10 and we would definitely work with Cherise and all of our vendors again. (Photo c/o Caitlin Cathey Photography)

~ Hilary & Chris 03-29-19

It’s not really possible to put into words how spectacular Cherise is but we’ll do our best. At first we attempted to plan the wedding ourselves from afar in Oakland, California. We very quickly realized we didn’t have the time or expertise to plan our wedding. Cherise was recommended to us by our venue (Olowalu Plantation House) a we are so grateful that she agreed to plan our wedding.

To learn our vision for the wedding, Cherise had us pin photos to a shared Pinterest board. From about twenty images Cherise was able to understand our style and what we wanted the wedding to look like. Cherise’s impeccable taste and attention to detail made the wedding look amazing. We got so many compliments from our guests about how the wedding looked.

Cherise also ensured that the whole wedding went smoothly. She took care of finding and hiring all of our vendors and they were all great. There was not a single issue or complication, all because Cherise had so meticulously planned everything. Numerous guests pulled us aside during and after the wedding to tell us that it was the most fun, beautiful wedding they had been to.

In addition to being excellent at her job, Cherise is a warm and kind person. She truly cares about her clients and that they have a once-in-a-lifetime experience. If you’re still looking for a wedding planner, stop. Hire Cherise. And be thankful that you have such a consummate professional planning your wedding. (Photo c/o The Scott Drexler Photography)

~ Jim & Josh 8-17-18

The name of Cherise’s business is “The Perfect Wedding Maui” and that is exactly what she does, Cherise creates THE perfect wedding on Maui. My husband and I couldn’t have asked for a better wedding. Everything about it was perfect; the planning, the week of the wedding, the conversations leading up to the event, and the wedding day and evening. Cherise takes care of everything! If you have last minute changes, she handles them with grace. Cherise also works with the best vendors! When you start to plan the event, she gives you a list to choose from and rest assure all of them are extremely professional and vetted by Cherise. And she had a variety of vendors to choose from, all of them perfect, just like her!

 ~ Sam & Gary 10-18-18

Cherise made our wedding day completely stress free. This sounds like something that any bride says but I can’t emphasize it enough. I went into our wedding week thinking that I was going to be stressed the whole time and worried I wouldn’t enjoy it! Her breadth of experience and calm manner just made me feel completely at ease and seamless for us. I didn’t think about anything once we were there and it was actually the happiest and best day of my life. I wouldn’t have done it any other way. I feel like this review is full of cliche’s but I mean every word.

~ Kai & James 10-06-18

I cannot say enough good things about Cherise. I am an event planner myself and had worked on Maui before and thought I would be able to plan the wedding myself but after just looking through venues I knew I needed help. Thankfully I contacted The Perfect Wedding Maui and met Cherise. Cherise was amazing at providing me all the information I needed to help make the best decision and the vendors she recommended were amazing and went above and beyond on our day. Cherise was there to answer all my questions and was so good at noticing details I would have missed otherwise. She made our wedding so relaxing and carefree and we actually got to enjoy our day instead of stressing about it. I would highly recommend her to anyone who wants to be involved in their wedding planning but wants the process to be easy, fun and stress-free.

 ~ Melanie & Sam 9-1-18

We were told over and over again by our guests that our wedding was the best one they have ever been to. Cherise really gave us the dream wedding we wanted! For a full year we had to coordinate solely on email and phone call as I was based in NY, which at times were a little nerve wrecking, but she was always calm and took down every request I told her. The last month was crunch time for us and she was so supportive and helpful in getting us through stressful planning moments. Everything went smoothly on the day of. I did not have to worry about anything on the day. We felt really well taken care of. She even made sure we ate enough dinner! Thank you so much Cherise for giving us an unforgettable memory. (Photo c/o The Ferns Photography)

~ Chloe & Nate 6-25-18

Thank you, Cherise! It was very nice to have a day-of-wedding coordinator on our February 23rd wedding. She offered many suggestions, prompt with emails, and was present during rehearsals and the wedding to make sure everything went smoothly. She even had her daughter help during the day of the wedding. Wedding planning is not my favorite thing to do, especially with a crazy work schedule, so I am glad I have Cherise to rely on. She is very sweet and cares a lot about how to make your wedding day perfect. My husband and I had decided on a destination wedding so planning a wedding from a different state was not easy. Even though we got Cherise as a day-of-coordinator, she exceeded our expectations and did more than we asked her to. She coordinated with our catering company, rental company, and our flower lady. The decorations turned out beautifully. She was also able to coordinate a last-minute tent for us. She has been telling us that there was a possibility for rain for some time, but we were hesitant to order it because we wanted an open layout. Sure enough, it rained the day before our wedding. Luckily, we were able to secure a tent, in case it rained. The tent ended up working nicely with the decorations. I would highly recommend Cherise as your wedding coordinator. She is reasonable and knows what she is doing. A lot of my guests complimented her on our wedding day. Thanks, Cherise! (Photo c/o Dmitri & Sandra Photography)

 ~ Hong & Jeffrey 2-23-18

Working with Cherise was wonderful. As someone who also plans and coordinates weddings and events, I can tell you she is among the best! Her sweet, calm, demeanor was especially appreciated the days prior, and day off. She will coordinate all the details of your wedding, if you have questions, concerns, or want pricing of a specific vendor she will reach out directly and find the information for you. We started planning my wedding over 2 years in advance for our 20 person wedding at Olowalu Plantation House. This is very fortunate as many people don’t want to book that far out. As time drew closer, she was very attentive answering emails quicker than before. It was so great working with Cherise, the day after the wedding I was actually sad because I knew my conversions with her were done, and all the work we did together was over! The wedding was a dream! They say something will go wrong, but nothing did. It truly was a dream come true! Thank you! (Photo c/o Meew Meew Studios) ~ Lauren & Chris 5-16-18

It is seriously stressful/confusing to plan a wedding in Maui if you’ve never been there before and aren’t familiar with wedding planning in general. I knew I was way over my head so I asked my wonderful photographer for recommendations she had for planners and Cherise was one of them. I contacted a few companies and I spoke with a some, others never bothered to get back to me. After speaking with Cherise I knew she’d be great. Cherise has a ton of experience with wedding planning and has everything down to a science. Working with her took a huge weight off my shoulders and made the planning process as stress free as it could be. Any last minute change I asked for, she made happen with no hesitation – which I was very grateful to her for. Cherise makes planning seem easy and was a total professional throughout the process. Every aspect of the day that was in her control went smoothly and I’d recommend her to other brides without thinking twice. Do yourself a favor if you’re planning a destination and work with The Perfect Wedding. ~ Laura & Karl 6-4-18

Cherise was absolutely amazing to work with! Being on the mainland, she made it very easy and simplified to do pretty much all things wedding-related. She has a lot of top quality vendor recommendations and suggestions for just about anything you have in mind to help your wedding dreams come to life. I was able to meet her on island a couple times when I just happened to be in town and she’s just as charming and helpful in person. Even if you don’t plan to be in Maui until your wedding, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about because she helps put your mind at ease even through email and phone. Everyone was surprised by how little-to-no pre-wedding stress I had even up to the week of, and that’s all thanks to her!! Over the holidays my family was already talking about how they’re looking forward to our 1 year anniversary so they can go back to Maui because they had that great of a time at our wedding!  ~ Jenny & Bun 11-11-17

We recently worked with Cherise on our January wedding. She is the best, and we wouldn’t have had such a wonderful wedding without her! She was very responsive, knowledgeable, and made our lives so easy, planning a destination wedding (we came from Anchorage). I shared our vision of the ceremony and reception, and what she put together was better than we could have dreamed. She had excellent suggestions for location, venders, makeup and hair, local services for dress pressing and other small details, and seamlessly booked most things for us. We wanted our wedding a little different (no dance), and Cherise had a wonderful suggestion of more of a dinner-party feel, with 5-6 courses; the chef introduced each meal, and we had wine/beer pairings with each course. She also had suggestions to save money; for example, we had flowers on our ceremony arch that then decorated the tables for the meal. The wedding day was so much fun; she supervised set-up and decorations, as well as clean-up. We only had to show up and get married! The day was stress-free, and fun, most importantly. Cherise is a sweet person, on top of her excellent services, and I couldn’t recommend anyone more. Book her! You won’t regret it! (Also, she is very reasonably priced, making this a no-brainer!)  ~ Leslie & Tanner 1-10-18

Cherise came highly recommended to me and my new husband by a friend. We are so happy we decided to go with her because she made our wedding day absolutely perfect! Prior to officially choosing Cherise as our wedding planner, we spoke with her on the phone just to chat about what our wedding vision was. After we got off the phone, my husband and I both agreed simultaneously that we wanted her as our wedding planner! She was very knowledgeable on the phone and answered our many questions. We were planning our wedding from California, so our planning was done via phone calls and emails. She is just so patient, kind, and sweet — it is such a pleasure to work with her! She is very responsible and detail-oriented as well as responsive to emails and text messages, which is wonderful, because I can get stressed out easily, but when she responds, it is very thorough and prompt. She is also flexible and accommodating, which is really great. Sometimes I would question something, such as why was the cake cutting scheduled so early right after the bridge/groom entrance, shouldn’t it be after dinner? She explained it was because it would be better for pictures with the sun still up at that time, but no problem if we wanted to move it to a later time. We stuck with her suggestion. I am so grateful we had Cherise to help us through our very special day. She definitely knows what she’s doing and I would highly, highly recommend her. Within a couple of days after my wedding, I’ve already recommended Cherise to a couple of friends! I cannot emphasize enough how perfect our wedding day was, which was only a couple of weeks ago. Everyone keeps talking about how amazing our wedding was. Thank you, Cherise! We love you! P.S. Cherise deserves way more than 5 stars! ~ Katie & Joe 1-20-18

Cherise and her beautiful daughter Angele were amazing! I will definitely recommend Cherises services to plan, and execute any wedding. I helped my daughter and her fiancé plan their wedding in Maui long distance from Coronado and from the first time iI spoke to Cherise onthe phone I loved her. She is prompt in responding to phone calls and emails and texts and always with the best attitude. She is very efficient and always suggests great ideas and suggests ways to save money if she feels from experience things aren’t necessary. She suggested placement of LOVE sign by dance floor and it was a great idea because otherwise we would not have seen it and enjoyed it. She also suggested a clear tent because in Maui you never know with the weather and the clear tent enhanced the decor and was perfect because no leaves fell on table and we had the peace of mind of knowing that if it rained or was windy we were protected. Her demeanor is calm and soothing. She is very sweet and Super efficient. I didn’t worry about one thing during the ceremony, cocktails or reception. Nor did Bride and Groom. She was there with her daughter until the very end and made sure everyone got taxis back to their destinations. Most important, she kept the bride calm at all times because she doesn’t impose, she just delivers and works with your ideas. Thank you so much Cherise and Angele!!! ~ Francesca & John 3-20-16

I chose cherise as my wedding planner based on other peoples reviews and I am glad I did. I was the most unstressed bride ever. I am very indecisive and a procrastinator. She would always reply back within a timely manner. I would email her pictures and special requests of what I wanted. Cherise would then find the perfect match from all the vendors that she works. There were a few times where I had to cut the cost on certain things and she made it work. Even the venue I had originally wanted was booked for the year so she suggested another venue based on what I had wanted and it was better than my original plan. On the day of, I had my dream wedding that I will always remember. I could not have done this without her. ~ Grace & Samuel 9-6-16

You will have a perfect wedding with Cherise as your planner! Planning a destination wedding in Maui from Nevada was not easy. You have to completely trust in your planner. Cherise has been doing this for years and has established wonderful vendor contacts. Researching a wedding planner and a venue was about as much work as I wanted to do! Cherise had recommendations for every aspect of my wedding. It was so easy! Cherise had no problem staying within budget and kept a detailed spreadsheet of all my charges that I could easily understand. I relied on her to make my wedding look like the pictures I sent her. It really was more perfect than I ever could have imagined! The day of the wedding she keeps you on time and always makes sure you are doing alright. Most planners charge 20% for every service you book through them. Cherise charges a flat rate for her wedding planning. This will save you money. Cherise will save you from pulling your hair out with stress. You will not go wrong with her as your planner. ~ Aimee & Michael 3-20-14

I had an amazing experience working with The Perfect Wedding Maui/ Cherise and I would highly recommend her to anyone thinking of planning a destination wedding in Maui! I am a little type A and an extremely detail-oriented perfectionist, so I had high expectations from our wedding coordinator. I needed someone very organized and who pays attention to the details as much as I do and whom I could fully trust to execute my vision for our wedding day. From the minute I began exchanging emails with Cherise to our first meeting, it was clear that she is one of the most organized individuals I have ever met. She had checklists for every detail. Throughout the year of planning, she was incredibly responsive to my COUNTLESS e-mails. Every little thing I asked her about was answered as if it were of the utmost importance. She never told me that it couldn’t be done. She moved heaven and earth for us to get what we wanted. All of her recommendations were spot on for our budget and personal style and it truly showed on the day of the wedding.  Speaking about the wedding – it was spectacular! Cherise really understood our vision and she nailed it! On the day of the wedding she was completely on top of everything and literally took care of EVERYTHING – I did not have to worry about any details, other than having fun! She was at the wedding the entire day and made sure everything went smoothly. She was everywhere helping in every department and she did a spectacular job! Every detail was executed the way I had envisioned it in my head or even better. Our wedding day was perfect, magical and went by way too fast! I can’t say enough good things about Cherise. She made our dream day come true. She is a phenomenal wedding planner and coordinator and this review hardly does her justice. If we were to do it all over again, I would call Cherise again in a heartbeat. Thank you SO MUCH Cherise for executing our wedding and making it such an unforgettable day! You are truly THE BEST!! ~ Tatyana & Aaron 7-11-15

Cherise Shulman, owner of The Perfect Wedding, is fantastic and did an incredible job on our wedding in Maui! I live in Canada, so deciding on hiring a wedding planner for our destination wedding was a no brainer. My husband found Cherise, and I’m so grateful he did. Cherise was a joy to work with for so many reasons. She is a pro at what she does and made planning a destination wedding so much fun. She had great advice from A-Z, but always let us decide in the end what was best suited for us. She was very organized and always three step ahead of me! My wedding was literally “The Perfect Wedding” and my family and friends still talk about it. Everyone kept telling me it was the most beautiful and romantic wedding they had ever attended! Cherise has many years of experience in the wedding industry. She has developed such great relationships with other vendors in Maui, and they love working with her. My florist went above and beyond because of that relationship. We chose to not splurge on everything and anything, and I really appreciated that Cherise worked with our budget. I was able to have a beautiful wedding but not break the bank account that badly 🙂 I trusted Cherise and our wedding was an absolute dream come true. My vision became a reality on my wedding day, and I have Cherise to thank for that. I was blown away when I saw how everything came together. She allowed me to be stress-free the entire day and this was because of Cherise’s laid back but also very organized approach.Cherise was a dream to work with, and I would recommend her services 100% ~ Dana & Kurt 8-29-15

Cherise is absolutely amazing. Planning a destination wedding can be super stressful because you are not there to actually meet the vendors, taste the food, pick the flowers, etc. Cherise puts all you worries at ease with her “get it done” attitude, combined with her gentle demeanor. When we arrived the day of our wedding, it was exactly how I envisioned it. We had planned everything for almost a year prior, and all I had done was send her pictures of my vision….and she made it come to life! I can be pretty picky too….and Cherise nailed it! She is such a genuine person, who really cares about your big day. This isn’t about a paycheck for her…you can tell this is her real passion. I loved working with Cherise and would highly recommend her to any bride-to-be. ~ Brianna & Brandon 7-6-16

Cherise was an absolute dream to work with! Her demeanor is very calm and collected. I never once felt her stress over anything. We hired Cherise after firing our previous wedding planner and she was a joy from the beginning. I was freaking out because I was worried she already took on a wedding on our date, but come to find out, she doesn’t take “special” dates. But since we had a bunch of vendors already booked for our 12-12-12 wedding, she graciously took on our wedding. I remember the day of the wedding being stress-free! I sat on the lanai getting my hair and makeup done watching everything come together, thanks to Cherise. She saw my vision perfectly. All I had to do was give her my stuff and tell her where they all went. I cannot say enough about Cherise. She was so great. My husband and I loved working with her and she really knows what she is doing. She was always quick to respond with emails, even setting up “vacation” notices when she would be away for a few days (which I greatly appreciated), and she was easily reachable by text/cell phone for emergencies–not that I had any! Even though I knew she was there on our wedding day working her butt off, I never once noticed her! She was like a ninja and I loved that! Not at all overbearing just so sweet and kind. Thank you, Cherise! ~ Diana & Armando 12-12-12

Cherise gets the highest score, because she was responsible for putting most of the team together. She would have to be the best decision we made with planning the wedding. She is incredibly lovely and easy to talk to. Her response time was quick and she was always there toanswer any questions we had. My husband (still feels weird to say) did most of the planning with her and he cannot say enough nice things about her. I was not the bride who had envisioned her wedding day since she was little and thus Cherise walked us through all the steps and reminded us of all the details we hadn’t thought of. She was never pushy, gave us a list of vendors to choose from and always worked with any ideas/decisions we threw at her. We had a few vendors cancel shortly before the wedding and she seamlessly replaced them with excellent vendors without worrying us. The day of she was sweet and funny and reassuring. She kept things running smoothly in the background. She is worth many times more than what she charges. She was AMAZING. Honestly, I could go on, but this post would just be way too long. ~ Tanya & Lincoln 2-5-12