Coconut Coast Weddings & Photography

Our wedding was November 2011 near Tunnels beach. It was perfect for us. I only talked to Kent a couple of times before the ceremony. He made arrangements for signing our marriage license the day before in Kapa’a at the deli (which was an experience to remember). I decided to pick my own flowers at a local florist instead of having him take care of it. We met him at the church in Hanalei in the late afternoon and then we followed him to a beach. There was a small family down the beach out of range, but otherwise no people. He had arranged for the Hawaiian officiant (Koko from Kanak Attack — featured in The Descendents), videographer (brother of Bethany Hamilton — Soul Surfer) and the ukelele player. The ceremony included special Hawaiian touches that I’ve never seen before. One note if you plan a wedding on the beach — the audio on the video is a little hard to hear because the waves are crashing nearby.
We didn’t want to spend thousands on a big wedding production and there were too many complications with trying to have a local wedding. We just wanted to be married to each other. If you want to just show up for your wedding without stressing over details, this is a perfect way to go. We remember our wedding as an intimate and romantic day instead of remembering it as expensive and stressful. I made some custom photo books on Shutterfly for family and friends, and shared the video with them.
We’ve returned to Kauai for 2 anniversaries so far. We even went to Tahiti Nui when Kanak Attack was playing so we could say hello to Koko. We like to split the trip with a few days at the St Regis and a few days in Poipu. Kauai is a wonderful destination for a wedding, honeymoon and romantic anniversary trips. Highly recommended.

Although Kent has not been a part of a wedding or vow renewal for my family — he did photograph us twice. Years later — — these are the pics that are still on the wall! His eye is absolutely fabulous and he managed to capture not only my kids and their growing personalities while we lived on Kauai, but also my mother, nephew, husband, myself and our dog! That’s skill! I’m not sure he’s the absolute best wedding coordinator available on Kauai — but if you want an extremely skilled photographer to join in your celebration, embrace your love affair and orchestrate an incredible and memorable simple event — — I truly believe he’s your guy. As with the other review, I would give him six stars were it possible!

My husband and I were just in Kauai and renewed our wedding vows, thanks to Kent at Coconut Coast! Everything was just amazing! We just received our photo CD a little less than 4 weeks after our ceremony and they are just gorgeous!
Kent was very hands on from the start, when I contacted him about the vow renewal while in Kauai (to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary). Our set-​up was really simple — just the two of us, a minister, lei’s, bouquet and the photography (I think it was the barefoot package + additional with the bouquet). We had a few check-​in calls and e-​mails to finalize details and then we talked the morning of the ceremony. Kent was really great to work with, easy going and attentive. Our minister (Hawaiian Spiritual) was equally great and made the ceremony extra special. Overall, things could not have gone any better — it was a day that we’ll never forget. I still can’t get over how amazing the photos were. Our ceremony was at Shipwrecks beach :)
I think overall as long as you give all the details to Kent and tell him what you’re looking for everything will be great! He has a lot of information and takes pride in what he does, and it shows. I would highly recommend Coconut Coast Weddings!

Kent was fantastic, he was so very helpful and went above and beyond what we could imagine for our wedding. He brought a great energy to the whole experience and had some great ideas for the ceremony… it was the perfect wedding! Planning a wedding from so far away (San Diego) was a little interesting to say the least but Kent made me feel very comfortable and confident that things were being handled.
He is also an incredibly talented photographer… we didn’t even hire him for that but he took it upon himself to go ahead and snap a few pictures that turned to be even better than the ones that our paid photographer took! I would recommend his photography services as well… again, above and beyond! Thanks Kent for all you did!

We’re back from beautiful Kaua’i now, so an update is due.
A couple days before flying down there for the
We got on the island just the day before the wedding, which by itself was already pretty challenging. Got in touch with Kent, responsive as ever, assured us everything was set up & we finalized the details on where to meet, beach decision and all that. Early next day we had the appointment to get the wedding ceremony. followed Kent’s instructions and all went perfectly even though it was a Sunday & Mother’s day!
Regarding the ceremony, in a word, everything was just _​perfect_​. Just a couple days before the wedding we changed our minds regarding having a musician and Kent was able to tackle that and got Tommy (did I mentioned it was Sunday & Mother’s day?), who made the whole ceremony even more special.
We stayed on the island for a week after the ceremony and Kent was great getting us the pictures before we left (he actually went down to the hotel pool to get them to us!)
In a word, Kent is awesome! Everything exceed our expectations by far and we feel that everyone that helped bring the ceremony together now somehow have a special part in our lives. looking forward to go back to Kaua’i to meet these old friends.
Mahalo!

Plain and simple, Kent was awesome. I’d give him 6 stars if it were possible. He was an integral part of our spectacular and flawless wedding on Secret Beach. My wife and I would highly recommend Kent’s services if/​when you decide to get married in Kauai.
I wasn’t as involved during the planning phase, so I’ll speak to the important part, the wedding and all that followed. First, Kent was super punctual and ready to roll as soon as he got to the site. He conducted several innovative photo sessions with myself, and more importantly my wife (including our parents) prior to the wedding. During the wedding, Kent was very professional and incognito (I didn’t even notice him running around taking pictures). I’ve been to several weddings in the past where the photographer and their assistants can be extremely intrusive on the ceremony, creating distraction. Kent was able to snap some incredible photos with little to no footprint on the ceremony.
After the wedding, Kent was very patient with us and our families during the photos. He kept the mood light and fun. It almost seemed like everyone was having fun taking the pictures, including the kids. Most importantly, he didn’t make the photo process seem taxing like I’ve felt at other weddings. We were in Hawaii, it’s supposed to be fun! After the family photos, Kent took my wife and me around the property taking some really amazing shots. He was more than willing to accept requests (as we had lots).
Kent is a skilled and professional photographer with a side of plain awesomeness. He was a joy to have at the wedding. I’m 100% sure that his services couldn’t be topped by anyone on the islands. In addition to the photography, Kent organized an amazing crew including the officiant (Koko Kanealii), ukulele player (Tommy), and coordinator (Diana Gardner). All of which went way beyond our expectations. Kudos to the crew and for Kent for having a 6^th sense of organizing a great wedding.

I will keep this as brief and objective as possible. My fiancé’ and I (both from Minnesota) contracted with Kent Chastain in March 2011 to conduct an intimate ceremony in Kauai in September 2011. I was hesitant to trust a man with my ceremony (you just always feel that a woman will be more in touch with these things) but not wanting to be sexist, I was happy to give him a shot. Throughout the summer, we had significant difficulty receiving responses from Kent, repeatedly having to follow up via phone on emails that we had placed. He was always cordial, but never apologetic. He repeatedly forgot details of the ceremony, so much that I ensured that I kept my own file on all communications to ensure that I had proof of the messages. Again… no apologies. Friendly and very true to his Hawaiian culture, but the antithesis of professionalism.
Concerned about the actual conduct, we agreed to meet with him to review logistics once we were on the island. However, we never got that far. With just 12 days to the ceremony, he had the audacity to email us and ‘suggest’ that we change the location of the ceremony because ‘he didn’t realize that we were staying at the resort that we were staying and felt that it was not convenient.’ Needless to say, with no confidence of his abilities to execute our wedding the way that we wanted, we let him go with only a week to replace him. You can only IMAGINE the anxiety! Shentel at Hanalei Colony Resort stepped in and, in just two days, replaced all vendors and conducted the PERFECT ceremony for my fiancé’ and me. She was FLAWLESS!
Not once throughout this entire experience did he apologize for his ineptitude. This man relies on the reputation of a coordination business that he has only recently assumed responsibility for. He is a photographer by trade and I would highly recommend that he relinquish his coordination hat and stick to photography.