Hawaii is the ideal setting for those looking to tie the knot in style.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SUSANNE PRIDOEHL
BY KAREN LELAND
A musician is playing the ukulele and singing a lazy, pleasing melody. Guests gaze out over the azure blue ocean and palm trees sway in the breeze. As the sun sets, the bride enters. Wearing a ginger lei, she strolls past plumeriastrewn aisles and arrives oceanside to stand with her groom under an orchid-adorned gazebo. It’s just another romantic wedding day in paradise. Thinking about getting married in Hawaii? If so, here’s a guide to the four most popular islands for tying the knot.
maui
THE VALLEY ISLE
During the past 13 years, Tammy Ash Perkins, author of The Best of Hawaii Wedding Book, has planned thousands of weddings on the island. In Perkins’ opinion, the popularity of Maui as a wedding destination lies in the island’s temperate climate (between 70 and 88 degrees Fahrenheit year round) and easy access to a bounty of beautiful beaches. In addition, the myriad of activities available—from five-star spas to bike rides down Haleakala Volcano—is diverse enough to meet the needs of any wedding party.
Perkins’ choice for the best value is The Fairmont Kea Lani (www.fairmont.com/kealani). When Kaylyn Lehmann, a corporate trainer (33), and her fiancé Marc, a deputy sheriff (34), decided to get married, they chose the Kea Lani. “We liked the simplicity of going away to get married, but we wanted a location where our friends and family would want to join us,” Kaylyn says. “We also liked the idea that after the wedding, we could honeymoon in the same place. From that first morning when I woke up on my wedding day, I had a shivering sense of well-being. The wedding itself was perfect—not too formal but still elegant—and the price was right. Even though we were a small wedding, they treated us like it was a $150,000 event.”
For the best private estate wedding, Perkins highlights the Hokulani Makena (808-281- 1362). The property offers a lush tropical setting on the water’s edge with palm, mango, banana trees and bamboo. “This estate is the vision that people have in their minds when they come to Hawaii,” she explains. She says that a major advantage to having a wedding at a private estate is the expanded food and beverage options.
One of her top catering company recommendations for local-style food is Haliimaile General Store (www.bevgannonrestaurants.com) owned by Bev Gannon, a founding member of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement. Gannon specializes in developing customized menus for wedding receptions.
And for that final touch? Check out a cake with a sense of whimsy from Maui Wedding Cakes (www.mauiweddingcakes.com), where tropical-themed cakes transform aloha shirts, hula dancers and palm trees into delicious edibles.
oahu
THE GATHERING PLACE
For couples looking to blend the excitement of city life with the relaxation of a tropical paradise, this island offers the perfect solution.
Steve Young, owner of Dream Weddings Hawaii (www.dreamweddingshawaii.com), says that despite the predominance of towerstyle hotels on the island, Oahu has more than enough white sand beaches to satisfy happy couples, and recommends two sites in Ko Olina.
For a formal wedding with a structured atmosphere, Young recommends the Ihilani Resort & Spa (www.ihilani.com).
If a laidback Hawaiian-style wedding is in order, Young suggests the Lanikuhonua (www.lanikuhonua. org) private estate. “One nice thing about this property,” Young says, “is that they don’t discriminate based on how large or small your wedding party is. The service is just as good for a 10-person wedding as it is for 1,000 people.”
Both Young and Perkins caution couples that if they are going to use a private estate, they need to make sure that the location is licensed. They should also budget for grounds fees (for both resort hotels and private estates), which can run into the thousands.
kauai
THE GARDEN ISLE
For lovers of lush green who want to get away from it all, there is no better island than Kauai. Its small size makes it a laidback and quiet option for couples looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. Particularly on the north side of the island, “the only problem, wedding-wise,” Perkins says, “is the amount of rainfall.” For this reason, she suggests that despite the cost, a resort wedding is the best bet for both convenience and security.
Perkins highly recommends the Princeville at Hanalei (www.princeville.com), one of the island’s most elaborate resorts, offering a wide array of wedding and reception options including a semi-private beach location—perfect for a seaside wedding.
If a large lawn- or garden-style wedding is what a couple has in mind, The Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa (www.kauai.hyatt.com) is ideal. “We have two garden wedding sites,” says Kasey Schoettler, the hotel’s weddings manager. “One is elevated and offers a 180-degree view of the ocean. The other is on sea level amid meandering koi ponds, and has a sweeping ground-level ocean view.”
Schoettler says the Grand Hyatt prides itself on taking all the worry away from the bride and groom by focusing on one-stop shopping. The resort offers a variety of ceremony packages that include photography, an official, cake, champagne, lei exchanges as part of the ceremony, long distance consultation and musicians.
Perkins’ other top resort picks include the Sheraton Kauai Resort (www.sheratonkauai.com) and the Hilton Kauai Beach Resort (www.hiltonkauairesort.com).
hawaii
THE BIG ISLAND
The Big Island of Hawaii is a great choice for couples looking for a more native feel and experience. The Kohala Coast, just north of Kona, is the most popular spot for weddings, playing host to a variety of first-rate resorts and several of the state’s top 10 beaches.
Perkins explains that the issue with a Big Island wedding is the island’s size. “Once a couple reaches their destination, they will want to stay put, since going almost anywhere requires quite a bit of driving,” Perkins says. For this reason, she suggests picking a venue such as the Hilton Waikoloa Village (www.hiltonwaikoloavillage.com), which has everything contained within the property, including tennis, boating, golfing, more than a dozen restaurants and cafés, a fullservice spa, and the popular Dolphin Quest interactive experience.
But if it’s Hawaiian tradition that a couple is after, the Mauna Lani Resort (www.maunalani.com) and the services of its director of cultural affairs, Danny Akaka, are just what the Kahuna ordered. Akaka conducts the rituals, while a licensed official signs the formal papers.
“When I perform a wedding ceremony, I weave together Western marriage traditions with Hawaiian ones,” Akaka says. His ceremonies begin with blowing the conch to the four corners—east, west, north and south. He then escorts the bride to her bridegroom, chanting to clear the path of spiritual obstacles and calling upon the ancestors and spirits of the aina (land). The ceremony itself includes a purification ritual, where the couple dips their hands into a bowl of blessed seawater and entwines the ends of two maile leis as a tangible expression of their love.
At the reception, guests can have a whole pig, cooked luau style. The pig, which is steamed underground, is heated up with hot rocks from the riverbed, wrapped in ti and banana leaves, and buried for up to eight hours. The pork comes out of the ground whole and guests watch while the chefs strip and serve it—just as they have done at traditional Hawaiian weddings for generations.
Once the cake has been cut, the champagne consumed and the leis laid to rest, what is it that really makes getting married in Hawaii so special? Akaka puts it best: “Beyond the beautiful sunsets, beaches and nature that surround the islands is the spiritual magnet that connects us with this nature. It attracted the ancients to the islands and it is what still attracts people today. Aloha (love) is that element that brings what has been separate, together.”