Nora Ellison
Editor of My Hawaii Wedding, responsible for every guide on the site. Nora Ellison is a pen name. Each guide is checked against the official sources it lists, and its date shows when that last happened.
How Nora checks a guide
Every guide is compared with the official sources it lists before it is published, and again when a rule or fee it mentions changes. The date at the top of a guide shows the last check; how we check facts explains the method.
Guides by Nora
- Hawaii Marriage License Online: How to Apply and What Stays In Person
What you can do on the state's EMRS portal, what has to happen in person, the code to save, the 30-day count that catches couples out, and what to do if your date moves.
- Documents for a Hawaii Marriage License: Divorced, Widowed, Under 19
You each need a government photo ID. Divorce or death proof is required only if it happened less than 30 days before you pick up the license. Checklist by situation.
- Getting Married in Hawaii as a Foreign Visitor: License Rules
Foreign couples use the same $65 Hawaii marriage license as residents, with a passport as ID. Here is what differs: the Social Security number field, translations, arrival timing, US entry and recognition at home.
- Hawaii Marriage Certificate: How to Order Copies, Cost and Timing
Hawaii DOH lists $12.50 in total for one certified copy of a Hawaii marriage certificate and $20.50 for three. Who can order, how, how long it takes, and how many copies you need.
- Hawaii Marriage License: Requirements, $65 Fee and Steps for Visitors
A Hawaii marriage license costs $65: apply online, then meet an agent together no more than 30 days before the ceremony. Requirements, steps, timing and what the state leaves unclear.
- Hawaii Wiki Permit for Beach Weddings: Fees, Insurance, Steps
What a DLNR Wiki Permit costs, worked fee examples, the exact insurance wording, the steps from application to printed permit, and which beaches are not in the system.
- Hawaii Beach Wedding Permit: Who Needs One, Cost and Rules
Who needs a Hawaii beach wedding permit, who issues it for sand, parks and resorts, what it costs, what the terms ban, and what is unclear for unpaid ceremonies.
- Who Can Officiate a Wedding in Hawaii? Licenses, Fees and Steps
Only a performer licensed by the Hawaii Department of Health can marry you. Compare the religious, civil and judge routes, the $35 and $110 fees, and how a friend can get licensed.
- Hawaii Marriage Certificate Apostille: Steps, Fees and Timing
Certificate issued after January 1, 2025? Send it straight to the Lieutenant Governor. Older or no copy? Order a new one from DOH. Fees, forms and timing.
- Magic Island Weddings (Ala Moana): Permit, Sunset Timing & Parking
Who issues what at Magic Island, what the city's published rules say about ceremonies, sunset times by month, and the parking, restroom and crowd limits to plan around.
- Waialae Beach Park Weddings: Permit, Parking & Rules
Who controls the sand and grass at Waialae Beach Park, which permit each part needs, parking, restrooms, sun times by month, and where the Kahala dispute over weddings stands.
- Best Time to Get Married in Hawaii: Weather, Cost and Crowds by Island
May is the best all-round month for a Hawaii wedding. Monthly rain, hotel rates, visitor numbers and real wedding counts for Oahu, Maui, Hawaii Island and Kauai.