Our ceremony and reception location is about a 28 mile drive from where Mr. Eel and I live, and about 22 miles from Waikiki. While this may sound like a relatively short distance (because it is), according to data from INRIX, Inc., Hawaii has the 10th worse traffic in the nation, which could make this short drive hours long. As recent as 2013, Hawaii was ranked as second in the nation for worst traffic!

Orange Star = Wedding Location; Purple Star = Waikiki/Downtown Honolulu
Image via AaccessMaps.com and edited by me
It is not uncommon in Hawaii for a minor fender bender on the freeway to create hour-long delays. We didn’t want to have to worry about traffic on our wedding day, so while Waikiki has a number of luxurious hotel options to get ready at, we knew we needed something closer to our wedding venue.
Traffic aside, we also wanted to provide accommodations for our wedding party so that we could all get ready together. Here was our criteria:
1. Single or separate units. I honestly don’t care whether Mr. Eel sees me before our ceremony or “first look,” so I wasn’t too particular about having separate getting ready areas. We were more partial toward separate prep areas so that the guys and girls could each have their own time together pre-wedding, but budget would ultimately rule.
2. Close to Kualoa Ranch. The prep location needed to be relatively close to Kualoa Ranch so that we wouldn’t need to worry about the aforementioned traff...