The Contract:

* Wedding service to be performed at "The Point" w/scripted monologue (3 choices-we picked

the Hawaiian/Christen blend w/ lei exchange) $395 + $75 beach fee

* 100 Professional photos $250

* 2 purple orchid lei's (included w/service)

* 1 purple orchid head piece $75

The Wedding:

The wedding was contracted to happen at The Point near Poipu. We drove down the day before to get familiar with the area. The morning of the wedding we called Mike Hough owner of Kauai Island Weddings several times. We got his voice mail. We headed to The Point site 1 hour prior to the 6pm starting time he had set up praying he would be there. He did call us back en route at which time he wanted to change the location, something about watering the lawn at The Point or lawn restoration? I found out later from a local minister who also does wedding at The Point, that the lawn watering story was a fabrication. We detoured as requested to the new location. Admittedly we were approximately 10 minutes late due to Mike's location change.

There were two other weddings already rapping up when we arrived so Mike Hough of Kauai Island Weddings suggested we climb a hill to the cliff overlooking the ocean. I mentioned to him that other people were already up there, but he said not to worry. We scrambled up a goat trail in our wedding clothes, finally getting to the top. It was already getting dark and we hadn't even started. As he fiddled around with positioning his gear, the last of the couples standing there (newlyweds) wandered off. Mike took a few quick photos of us, then to my surprise he called the newlywed couple back to take their picture. After wasting time with that he rushed through our service omitting the most beautiful part, the lei exchange. As he took more pictures he muttered how he should have brought a tripod for taking low light pictures, but that he forgot it Several times he stated that he could fix any problems with the pictures so we should not worry. In the end he took 36 images with the last ones being taken next to the parking lot posing us in his cars headlights. If you brighten it up a lot you can see the chain link fence behind us. All in all a disappointing experience. We followed all his instructions and recommendations as he sold himself as a professional who did this all the time and we were constantly reminded of that by him as things unfolded. I thought, well it wasn't perfect but we are married now and as long as the pictures come out as he promised they would, I could let the inconsistencies slide. When the pictures did arrive weeks later we looked at each other and decided to ask for a refund. We would need to do the whole thing over again to re-capture that moment making his poor attempt a waste. We have already contacted someone on Kauai who has agreed to perform a redo.


Back to the contract:

1. We contracted Kauaiislandweddings to perform a scripted wedding service. Mike took it on himself to omit the lei exchange an integral part in the wedding service failing to fulfill part 1 of the contract.

2. We contracted for 100 pictures. He took 36 images. He then sent them to us in color then again in black and white to give the illusion there were 72. Not acceptable in amount or quality failing to fulfill part 2 of the contract.

My Rant:

Where we live in Washington state it got dark at 7:30pm so Mikes suggestion of a 6pm starting time sounded reasonable. He sold himself as a professional, he lives there and should have known that starting time was too late. He justified schmoozing the newlywed couple by saying he could be fined for asking them to leave if they complained. They were already walking away before we started and only came back at his insistence. He wasted valuable time moving the location, having us climb the hill, chatting up an uninterested couple, climbing back down the hill, and fumbling around with his gear. He constantly berated my sister for taking her own pictures saying they would never come out as good as a professional like him could take. He should have brought a tripod in anticipation of the possibility of low light conditions.

Even if we had started on his original starting time of 6pm and nothing else had gone astray he could never have taken 100 decent photos, deliver the promised ceremony, and finished by night fall. In our case he managed his time poorly, was not equipped properly, and started too late to do it all himself.

Because he refuses to refund any portion of our money the BBB has been notified. Please beware of Kauai Island Weddings promises and tell everyone you think may get married or re-vowed in Kauai. Buyer Beware He has a slick website as an ex advertising person but in our case didn't live up to his own press.

We have now been contacted by a second couple who felt scammed. See page two for their story it will make steam come out your ears! Are there more victims are out there?