Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Destination Wedding, Mahinui Style

The pros and cons of a destination wedding make their way to many a wedding blog.  We cannot remark on what they are for you, but we can talk about how they play out from our end.

The couples who come to us are usually looking for a wedding experience that mirrors the excitement they have for their relationship.  The idea of being married on top of a volcano has a zing and a zest that appeals.  They quickly pick up on the feeling that the goddess Pele is hovering in the wings, unpredictable and endowed with an ultimate feminine power.  Emotional chords are strummed.  There is some contemplation of being present as the earth itself is forming, while beginning a new phase of life.  It's potent and exciting.

Once the decision is made to go ahead with a wedding at our pavilion, the dreams and wishes begin to spill out. Sometimes it is a poetic, surreal set of wishes. Sometimes, the couple likes the idea of the rainforest but wants the ocean to figure into it somehow. This is where the fact that this is an island in the middle of the ocean with almost every climate found on the globe comes in. We can do the wedding in the rainforest and go down to the ocean for photos.  You want the blue ocean around your toes?  Let's go!

Because the weather is unpredictable, it is nice to be able to offer protection from the wind and rain at the same time as the experience of the full out of doors. The rainforest is all around, and the pavilion lets everyone stay comfortable. Then the photo sessions can bring it all on, and in that part of the drama accepting whatever the island offers up in the way of weather is more fun.

On the practical side, we make it easy. Whatever is uppermost in the bride and groom's mindset is what drives how it all unfolds. Sometimes it is budget, sometimes fulfilling a fantasy. We try to ask the right questions so it all comes together in the most beautiful way possible, and exciting in all good ways.

Somehow, this is not so hard to do when your props include a fiery volcano, an emerald green rain forest, and a treehouse.

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