Beach wedding permits bring needed controls to industry

The state will begin in August to enforce a requirement for vendors of beach weddings to obtain permits for each ceremony.

[kraid808]

Wasn't one of the homes near Lanikai featured on the Travel Channel as a luxury rental? I think it was portrayed as having exclusive access to the beach. Of course, when I actually saw the home it was over a collapsed sea wall and Lanikai Beach was actually adjacent to the property. Is DLNR caving so that a handful of residents can perpetuate this myth for their rentals?

[Keith Haugen]

Yes, keeping the public off the public beaches will help the wealthy who think the beaches are THEIR private property.

And who cares? Only the public suffers.

I've participated in many beach weddings and most are small and simple, over very quickly, and except for the 4-5 people involved, most people never know that the weddings even took place.

Maybe permits should be required for wedding parties of 50 or more ... or some other magic number.

Leave the small, unpretentious weddings alone, instead of trying to complicate things for the bridal couple, the kahu, and the photographer.

Or why not ban outdoor weddings in Hawai`i? Or permit them only in neighborhoods where wealthy landowners rent out their homes for weddings, parties, etc.

Keith Haugen
Nu`uanu

[Yeah]

Keith Haugen wrote:

Yes, keeping the public off the public beaches will help the wealthy who think the beaches are THEIR private property.
And who cares? Only the public suffers.
I've participated in many beach weddings and most are small and simple, over very quickly, and except for the 4-5 people involved, most people never know that the weddings even took place.
Maybe permits should be required for wedding parties of 50 or more ... or some other magic number.
Leave the small, unpretentious weddings alone, instead of trying to complicate things for the bridal couple, the kahu, and the photographer.
Or why not ban outdoor weddings in Hawai`i? Or permit them only in neighborhoods where wealthy landowners rent out their homes for weddings, parties, etc.
Keith Haugen
Nu`uanu

Well, 10 weddings throughout the day of 5 - 10 people becomes overly aggressive. Then you could have wedding planners pushing each other out as prep time comes, or worse yet, the locals.

It's good to hear they'll be regulated. But I'd like to know more about what the wedding people are allowed/not allowed to do.

[Stan]

This whole thing started because someone on Kauai was ask to "move over" so there could be a wedding.... There has not been one complaint from anyone on the island of Oahu.

O.K. Let me see if I've got this right.
If I'm standing on wet sand I'm on the "Beach"... State (DLNR)

If I'm above the high water mark, or on the grass, but not in someones private yard, that's..... City (DLNR rules do not apply)

All the weddings I've seen at Waialae Beach Park and Magic Island are held on the grass.... not on the "beach" where DLNR rules apply.

So if your having your wedding on the "Beach" at Magic Island or WBP you don't have to bother with geting a permit....

Even if you are having a wedding on the "Beach", no worry, by the time a complaint is called in and DLNR arrives to write a ticket... the wedding will be over and everyone long gone.

[wacko 2]

If they are in the military, let 'em get married at NO charge. Anywhere, any place , any time.

For out of State residents, charge them an arm and a leg to pay for our up-coming rail to no-where.

For local residents, they are already being riped off by our State government. No charge.

[halemalu]

LEAVE PEOPLE ALONE unless they hurt others. enough rules already! all this does is drive little businesses and services underground.

[woww]

shouldnt the beach be shared by everyone?!!!!!!

[george]

for goodness sake go bother the smokers that do not comply with the 20 foot "law". the economy is falling apart and DLNR is worried about a little ceremony lasting all but 20minutes?

[Honolii]

Increase the marriage license fee to accommodate beach weddings. If the newly weds **** about the fee it’s a good precursor for future civil complaints that have a 50% probability of occurring no matter where you take the plunge at the beach or in the church.

[Yeah]

Honolii wrote:

Increase the marriage license fee to accommodate beach weddings. If the newly weds **** about the fee it’s a good precursor for future civil complaints that have a 50% probability of occurring no matter where you take the plunge at the beach or in the church.

I'd like to see what conditions and restrictions are in place before we start talking about fees.

[Poi Boy]

The state needs the revenue, besides, the wedding planners have been getting a free ride all these years. Look at all the money they made!!!!!!!!!

[ay sos]

if it is a non-commercial ceremony of hawaii state tax payers they should leave the couple alone.

[snort]

george wrote:

for goodness sake go bother the smokers that do not comply with the 20 foot "law". the economy is falling apart and DLNR is worried about a little ceremony lasting all but 20minutes?

Ummm, smokers would still be inside, not bothering you if it weren't for your stupid law.
I notice that all you folks who said it would make your drinking pleasure better if there no smokers inside have yet to come to most of the bars that have lost business. I guess it was all about telling other people how to live their lives. You had no intention of ever going to those places in the first place.
But you are correct in the realization that they cannot enforce a law on the books, so what makes them think they can enforce this law about weddings on the beach. DLNR is so short of personnel that they cannot even enforce the most important laws they are responsible for.

[Yeah right]

Since when did America become a Communistic/Socialist country?? Oh yeah, I forgot -- this is Hawaii and run by Progressive Communistic/Socialist elites, with their little rugrats like this writer spewing this venom....

[Honolii]

Yeah wrote:

<quoted text>
I'd like to see what conditions and restrictions are in place before we start talking about fees.

The conditions are spelled out in the marriage contract with the “death do us part” being negotiable. The restrictions are monogamy meaning one marriage at a time. The fees well they’re absolutely horrific if you change your mind, which BTW we all entertain at some point. So the paltry cost of an additional fee to the broad based marriage license is moot.

[Yeah]

Yeah right wrote:

Since when did America become a Communistic/Socialist country?? Oh yeah, I forgot -- this is Hawaii and run by Progressive Communistic/Socialist elites, with their little rugrats like this writer spewing this venom....

Well, you're in a state where the mayor runs for a city that's under water, and then complains mightily when it actually gets flooded.

It's not like he couldn't foresee it happening in a place where hurricanes come by.

[Hetero]

Would the HSB editors be for the permits/fees if the couples in question were gay?

[Steve]

In 2001, there was a U.S. Court Ruling which stated that beach weddings do not need a permit, as it is on public land. Most beaches are public land, and not owned by the State or City and County. The DLNR gets through this ruling by charing a "right-of-entry" permit to use the beach...since they cannot charge a wedding compay for a "beach" permit. It also states on the application that the permit is a "right-of-entry" to "Unencombered State Land" which means, land that is not own by the State. So this is how corrupt this permiting law is...they are issuing permits against a court ruling, and charging permits for land which they don't own.

What's scarier is what to come. Whe the DLNR plans to regulate weddings, things will get messy. The big question is "who will get the permits?" If only 10 weddings can happen on Lanikai Beach, and one wedding company starts to purchase all those permits, couples will be FORCED to use the company with the wedding permits.... There will be no choice of whom couples want to use...what so ever. Companies can also sell permits to other competing companies as well, for a profit...thus creating a secondary permit trading market....

I've been in the wedding industry for over 10 years, and I can tell you that most beach weddings are very small...and don't last very long, and usually only consist of a few people. Very rarely are there beach weddings where 50-100 people attend....

The permiting process has hurt my business, and many others. Couples are scared...and they just don't want to bother waiting to see if they can get the location they want for their Dream Wedding... So they are opting to go to Mexico.

I have already lost 5 wedding couples beacuse of the permits...and will probably lose more over the course of the year. The DLNR, is just ruining everthing...