Heather and Scott Iverson • Amery, Wisconson •

May 8th, 2011

Dear Captain Howie and the whole gang!

We wanted to say Mahalo for the beautiful, amazing, “Dream Come True Wedding in Hawaii”! Our date was April 13, 2011. We had a sunrise ceremony. Everything was perfect.  Words cannot express our gratitude. We thank you all and God for such an amazing day. Captain Howie and the gang are very friendly, down to Earth and professional. They were very helpful with information and phone numbers of people who could help us get our marriage license before our early morning ceremony. There can be a lot of stress and nervousness that goes along with planning a destination wedding in Hawaii. Thankfully, Captain Howie and everyone else had a way about them that made us feel calm and relaxed.  It was more like they were family.

Trusting that Captain Howie and his gang know what’s in your best interest is the first thing to do for an amazing day. Just like Jodi and Chrissy suggested to us, “We are recommending to all brides to have your hair and makeup done professionally”. Their makeup artist Wade works magic and is truly gifted by God. I felt like a bride out of a magazine. Wade was easy to talk to and had good advice on where to get great deals and places to see in HI. And our photographer, Fernando, was very friendly and willing to take non traditional photos. If you have a photo idea, he’ll try to make it work. His pictures captured not only the beauty of both Pukalani Falls and Angels Bay, but the emotions of the moment. Captain Howie’s Hobbit House is amazing all on it’s own. It is a beautiful place and we thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for inviting us into your home and orchestrating one of the most important days of our life.

If you are looking to have a beautiful, magical, amazing wedding in Hawaii, I would HIGHLY recommend Captain Howie and Above Heavens Gate.

Mahalo,
Heather and Scott Iverson
Married April 13, 2011.

Jim and Anna Wallace • Lincoln, Nebraska • Wedding Packages in Honolulu

May 7th, 2011

Aloha Everyone!

Words truly cannot express our amazement and gratitude for the most beautiful moment of our new life together. Your graciousness and hospitality was sincere and unwavering from our first phone call to our last goodbyes. Thank you Chrissy and Jody for answering all our questions and keeping track of the last minute changes!

I cannot imagine a more perfect place than Pukalani Falls to be married. And, Angels Bay beach added the blessing of a gorgeous sunrise. After my hair and makeup was done, I don’t recall feeling more beautiful than I did that morning. I felt like a princess and the look on Jim’s face when he saw me, made my heart sing.

Our photos are a masterpiece, reflecting the immense talent of Fernando. He is also another gentle soul at Above Heaven’s Gate who made Hawaii wedding experience exhilarating and fun. We only wish we could have ordered more pictures.

Captain Howie spoke to us during the ceremony and every word is part of our hearts. The devotion of that day, how Captain Howie articulated it, and the love between us will keep us both never wanting to “jump ship.”

We proudly tell everyone about our experience at Above Heaven’s Gate and will continue to recommend and praise all of you there. Everyone should have such a blessed experience on their wedding day. If anyone is shopping for Hawaii wedding packages in Honolulu, do give Captain Howie call.

Our deepest thanks and gratitude to you all, we are blessed and have memories we will always cherish.

Mahalo,

Jim and Anna Wallace
Married April 4, 2011

Kelly and Tonya Kopaska • Guthrie Center • Hawaii Beach Wedding

May 3rd, 2011

Aloha Captain Howie and Gang!

Words cannot express how truly grateful we are to all of you for being involved in such an important part of our life! You made the best day of our lives unforgettable! We do not even know where to begin to thank all of you for what you did to make our day so special. There has not been a day that has gone by since we have been home that we have not thought of all of you and the hospitality we received from the moment we came in contact with you. We have, and will continue to recommend you and your services to anyone and everyone that is having or even thinking about having a Hawaii beach wedding!

We have had so many compliments on our pictures, it is not difficult at all to convince anyone that Pukalani Falls and Angels Bay are the most beautiful places on earth to be married. Our day with you was absolutely PERFECT and we could only hope that anyone devoting their love to each other could feel the same way on their wedding day..

Mahalo for everything ~ Have a wonderful day!

Kelly and Tonya Kopaska
Married – March 7th 2011

Mark and Abby Walker • Fairfield, California • Oahu Wedding Packages

May 1st, 2011

Hello. My name is Abby Walker and I wanted to let everyone know how wonderful Captain Howie and his crew truly are.

My husband and I found Captain Howie and Above Heaven’s Gate online and we couldn’t have been more pleased with our choice. We were originally scheduled to be married at sunset on the North Shore at Pirates Cove. But Hawaii being Hawaii, and weather being weather, we found that the odds of a dry sunset on the north shore on our particular wedding day in April were slim. So with less than twenty-four hours notice, Captain Howie and his gang changed the location and time without a problem. We were able to get married at Angel’s Bay mid-day without a problem and we couldn’t have been happier.

The flowers were gorgeous; so fresh and bright in their colors and the cake toppers were fantastic. The cakes flavors were amazing (chocolate and passion fruit) and the frosting was probably my favorite. Oh, and Captain Howie’s Hobbit House is like a modern version of Swiss Family Robinson, so it’s the perfect backdrop for a low-key pictures and Hawaii weddings.

Also, of note is Fernando the photographer and Wade the “make the bride (and her bridesmaids) lovely” make-up artist. These two gentlemen truly made our experience memorable because Wade made us “pretty beyond imagination” and Fernando captured our wedding and wedding party at our best.

We have just recently received our pictures and CD with the MP3 file in the mail less than 3 weeks after our wedding. We were overjoyed and can’t believe the quality of the pictures. As Captain Howie shares, it’s difficult to remember the little moments in the ceremony. So the added MP3 audio file was wonderful to get to be able to hear again! All of Captain Howie’s special words of wisdom are ours forever!

We are forever grateful to Captain Howie and his gang’s debt and are soo very appreciative of their wonderful attention to detail. Weddings are usually soo stressful but with Captain Howie and his gang, it was a breeze!! Nothing about our wedding was stressful! It was a beautiful day and we couldn’t have been more pleased. So if you are looking for low-key Oahu wedding packages, and an original and truly memorable wedding day, we recommend without hesitation, Captain Howie and his gang at hawaiiweddings.com!

Sincerely,
Mark and Abby Walker
Married April 7, 2011

Jack and Lisa McLuckie • Guernsey, U.K. • Wedding Company in Hawaii

April 29th, 2011

We recently got married in Hawaii on Oahu with Above Heavens Gate. We could not praise them enough for everything they did in helping us planning a wedding in Hawaii. Every part of the day was fantastic and I would recommend them to anyone considering getting married in Hawaii.
The whole process was really easy and stress free. Chrissy and Jodie were fantastic. For any detail I wanted to include, I would send them a quick email and they would update our file, and also reply back really quickly. On our wedding day, they were absolutely amazing. They were really charming and made sure that everything ran according to plan.

Our hair and make up artist, Wade, was amazing – I have never looked so pretty in my life! Our photographer Fernando was also amazing, I was genuinely shocked how good the photos were when I saw them. All our friends and family were gobsmacked (British term for “totally astounded”) how beautiful they all were.

The ceremony itself was lovely, Captain Howie does not have a written script’ and therefore talks from his heart, and makes every ceremony unique, something we especially liked.

Above Heaven’s Gate is definitely the wedding company in Hawaii you should pick to get married in those magical islands. I was a bit worried about arranging a wedding from the United Kingdom via telephone or email.  Having not seen the place beforehand, we were absolutely blown away by the scenery in both Pukalani Falls Garden and Angels Bay Beach. Captain Howie and his team remembered everything we had asked for and nothing went wrong!

We had the best day of our lives, and would like to thank Captain Howie and the rest of his team for making that possible. It is a memory that we will cherish for the rest of our lives.

Thanks very much,
Jack and Lisa McLuckie
Married – March 22nd 2011

Stacy & Will Loga • Fenton MI • Married April 28th 2011

April 28th, 2011

Tara and Jeremy Hanson • Riverside, California • Wedding Planner in Hawaii

April 28th, 2011

Dear Captain Howie, Jodi, Chrissy, and Fernando:

We would sincerely like to thank you, with all of our love, for making our Hawaii wedding day a truly special time.  Your spectacular Hobbit House, amazing Pukalani Falls Garden, and the gorgeous Angels Bay Beach were the perfect setting for the ceremony itself and most importantly the wedding photos which we will cherish forever.  Captain Howie’s beautiful ceremony brought my entire family to tears.

More than that, you were all an absolute dream to work with. We truly enjoyed meeting you and getting to know you.  We met as strangers and in our brief time together we felt as if we left as family.  We would have no hesitation in recommending you to anyone looking for a wedding planner in Hawaii.  Rest assured they would be in good hands.

The best part of the whole process was the fact that we did very little work.  Everything was in place for the perfect day.  We just had to show up with the marriage license.  All was taken care of.  We had no stresses about the ceremony whatsoever; the cake, the flowers, the leis, sparkling cider, etc. were all waiting for us.  Even the drive to Above Heaven’s Gate from Waikiki was wonderful, with so many look out points and surrealistic landscapes to marvel. We cannot stop thinking and talking about the whole day.   You exceeded our expectations and for that, all of you should be proud.

No one should ever doubt placing their trust in you.  We never did, and were rewarded wonderfully for such trust. Thank you so very much for making us feel like the only couple you ever married.

Tara and Jeremy Hanson
Married – April 26, 2011

DiJana and Ned Malbasa • Aurora, Colorado • Oahu Wedding Planners

April 26th, 2011

Dear Capt. Howie and the gang,

Nedeljko and I want to thank all of you so very much for making our special day so wonderful and one of the most memorable days in our lives.
It all started with a web search for Hawaii’s most beautiful wedding spots. We came across Above Heaven’s Gate website and fell in love with it immediately! We called right away and Jodi answered. She was so helpful and wonderful that we decided right there and then, that this is where we want to be married. It took a couple phone calls and emails to arrange everything but every time we talked to Capt. Howie’s staff we were more and more convinced that we made the right decision in booking our special day with them! Even with their busy schedules, they were always able to accommodate our requests no matter how silly they were (I had asked Jodi and Chrissy to take a close up picture of the bouquet so I could match my nail polish color….they emailed me the photo within just a few minutes ☺ thanks ladies, it matched perfectly).

The morning of the wedding, the super talented Wade did my hair and make up. He did an incredible job!! He knew exactly what would make my features stand out and he nailed it! Ned’s reaction when he saw me was priceless and I received so many compliments from my friends and family when they saw the pictures!!! Wade, you are amazing! Thank you!

After hair and make up was done, we hit the beach at Angels Bay for our pictures. Fernando was great! On top of being a fabulous photographer, he was also very friendly and funny! He captured our love and happiness on all of those photographs and we are eternally grateful to him for that. Fernando, thank you for being so passionate about your work. Your passion for capturing the magical sensation behind our “I dos” makes your pictures that much more wonderful. Our photographs are spectacular! WOW!!!! THANK YOU!!!!! Also, thank you for recommending Roy’s ☺ It was one of the best meals we had.

After we took our pictures, Capt. Howie came down to the beach and performed the ceremony. It was the most marvelous feeling standing barefoot on the warm sand, holding hands and being kissed by the Hawaiian sun while Capt. Howie recited our ceremony and wedding prayer. Capt. Howie, those were the most beautiful spoken words we had ever heard. Everything about it was sincere, spiritual and inspiring, and the greatest thing is that we can listen to those same words on every anniversary and relive the most special day of our lives. We are truly blessed to have had such a wonderful person so full of wisdom and genuineness perform one of the most sacred ceremonies of our lives. Words can’t express our appreciation and gratitude towards you and your amazing staff. You guys will always have a special place in our hearts and we will never forget about you! We look forward to seeing you guys again the next time we visit O’ahu! Mahalo nui loa!

And finally, a HUGE “thank you” to Jodi and Chrissy for everything you ladies did, especially for the additional photo touch-ups. You girls made our wedding stress-free and we are honored to have had such wonderful Oahu wedding planners ☺ I have already highly recommended you to a few of my girl friends who are about to get engaged so expect their phone calls. We just can’t stop raving about you all! Big hug for both of you!

Again, thank you to everyone at Above Heaven’s Gate for being a part of our special day and for exceeding our expectations in every way!

Love always,
Dijana and Nedeljko Malbasa (Married on March 8th, 2011)

A Little note to readers:

If you are thinking about having a Hawaii wedding, you have come to the right place. You can stop looking because you have found the most amazing place on Earth. It is truly “ABOVE HEAVEN’S GATE”. Capt. Howie and his staff will treat you with respect, they will share your excitement and enthusiasm, and most importantly of all, they will go out of their way to make all of your dreams come true! They truly are an amazing group of people who genuinely care about the happiness and satisfaction of all the couples they marry, and they marry A LOT ☺
If you truly want a memorable, stress-free wedding day, you will call Capt. Howie and let his expertise and sincerity amaze you! Trust your instinct and all of the couples’ testimonials on this website, you won’t regret it! ☺

Colleen and Michael Amstein • Aurora, Colorado • Hawaii Vow-Renewal

April 20th, 2011

Aloha Captain Howie and Friends:

I would like to just take a quick moment to thank you for what was an absolutely amazing Hawaii Beach Vow Renewal. We could not have asked for anything better. When we decided to have a vow renewal ceremony for our 20th anniversary, I began to do some research on the internet and found your site, Above Heaven’s Gate. You advertise that it is not your typical “Mac-Wedding” service, and we were not disappointed. My lovely wife Colleen had her heart set on a sunset vow renewal on the beach and we had everything all set to head up to Pirate’s Cove.

Alas, Mother Nature had other plans and it sprinkled all morning. By about noon it was obvious there was not going to be a picturesque sunset. Not to worry, Captain Howie called us and suggested a, “Plan B”… a combination of Pukalani Falls and Angels Bay.  In hindsight, we probably should have picked that option to begin with.  It was beyond what we had dreamed of.

From the first phone consultation, Chrissy was fantastic, getting to know us over the phone and recommending options based on our preferences. She arranged limo service for our group to Pirates Cove and dinner at a near by restaurant. Thankfully, at the last moment Captain Howie and Jodi were able to reschedule the limo, recommend dinner at a new location, and get all the plans reset. When we arrived at the Pukalani Falls Hobbit House, we were warmly greeted and immediately knew we had made the correct choice. We truly felt like ‘ohana (family). The gardens were beautiful and meticulously groomed from the koi ponds to the lovely fountains.

Fernando, our photographer, captured some amazing shots of us and this particular one (above) made us all cry. It will be forever cherished and certainly personifies how lucky I am to have a such a fabulous family. The fact that he was able to spontaneously capture this shot, and how it portrays exactly what we were feeling was amazing. By the time we made it home from Hawaii ten days later, our photos and photo-story CD were waiting for us.

Angels Bay, across from Pukalani Falls, was just perfect. In five short minutes of chatting with us Captain Howie nailed our particular beliefs and delivered a great service that struck just the right chord. We would highly recommend Captain Howie’s services to anyone wanting a Hawaii beach wedding or Hawaii beach vow renewal.

Thank you again
Colleen and Michael Amstein
20th Anniversary – April 6th 2011

Jennifer and Brian Whitaker • Washington Court House, Ohio • Hawaii Destination Wedding on Oahu

April 8th, 2011

For All The World To Hear,

Let us start off by saying WOW!  We were delighted from start to finish!  Captain Howie and the gang were a pure delight.

Brian and I are from a small town in Ohio.  We had been engaged for a little over a year and had been trying to figure out when and where we wanted to get married.  We did not want a big, traditional wedding as this is a second marriage for both of us, but perhaps something a little off the beaten path, quiet, and intimate.  So, with those parameters in mind, we began our search for the right location and timing. Brian is a contractor in Iraq and is only home for a few weeks at a time.  I decided to return to school to further my education in nursing; also limiting my time.  So, the timing had to be perfect as we had no margin for error.  So began the quest.

One day while casually talking and brainstorming via Skype we decided, “A Hawaii Destination Wedding on Oahu”. Neither of us had been there and always wanted to go.  Yes indeed, this was the plan!  Then we narrowed down a timeframe in which we were both home together.  Now, came the hard part (at least this is what we thought); coming up with who would marry us.  Once again, the internet became our new best friend.  All of a sudden, Above Heaven’s Gate came up.  The more we read the testimonials, viewed the pictures, and saw the packaging options we fell in love.  We then began to plan by choosing a package that fit us perfectly.  I called with a whole list of questions expecting to be bombarded with sales pitches, but to my surprise, the more I talked to Jodi, the more at ease I felt.  The whole and I do mean WHOLE wedding was planned in approximately 30 minutes.  This was GREAT!!!  If I had a quick question, I always received a prompt answer and we never felt forgotten.

Now, let’s get to the good stuff!!!  We decided on a morning wedding and as such we arrived very early to have my hair and makeup done for the photo shoot.  Keep in mind that both of us were running on 2 hours of sleep, it was pouring the rain, very dark and extremely windy.  Talk about being stressed!  We had just got settled when in walked Wade.  He was in charge of making me beautiful.  From the moment we met him our stress melted away.  Let me tell you ladies… I have never felt so pampered in my life.  He was absolutely the best person for hair and makeup.  The conversation that we had was like being with a good friend, so comforting and natural.  Wade is so full of talent and personality; he truly is a master of his craft.  I was sad to see him go, but so glad that I was able to share that time with him.

Remember when I said it was raining?  Well, by now the rain had let up to just a drizzle, but the wind was really blowing.  Fernando, our wonderful photographer, introduced himself and he did not seem to be concerned about the rain at all.  We spent the next two hours dodging rain drops to get our photos in, but never a moment of anxiety.  In fact, Fernando made us feel right at home with all our shots.   It was not like I had expected and I struggle to find the words to describe how peaceful and calm we felt.  Once finished, all we could think about was what the pictures were going to look like.  We couldn’t wait to get them.

It is now time to take our vows.  We came together with Captain Howie and, like magic, the clouds parted and beautiful rays of sunshine beamed down on us.  The wind calmed and almost as if it were a queue from above, Captain Howie began.  He had never met us until that day, but we never felt that.  His words were as if he had always known us, so intimate and caring.  We truly felt blessed to have him marry us and he exceeded our every expectation.

Our wedding photos arrived the day after Brian had just left to go back to Iraq.  I opened them up and had to sit down because I began to shake.  They were perfect!!!! Absolutely breathtaking!!!!  I couldn’t wait to show Brian.  We both agree that Fernando is truly amazing.

Brian and I cannot express in words what we will carry with us for the rest of our lives about that wonderful day with Captain Howie and the gang at Above Heaven’s Gate.  AMAZING!!!!!!!!!  This was the second best choice we have ever made together. The first choice, if you are wondering, was to get married and spend the rest of our lives together ;)

Jennifer and Brian Whitaker
Married – March 22nd, 2011