Dressing for a Hawaii Rainforest Wedding

Whatever your preference in attire for your wedding, you can adapt it to a Hawaii Island wedding in the rainforest.  The climate is comfortably cool rather than beach hot, and the pavilion at Mahinui Na Lani provides shelter.  The surrounding forest captures the mountain winds, such that you experience them under all but the most stormy circumstances as gentle swaying of the ohia trees.

Having chosen Hawaii as a wedding locale, it does fit the environment to wear Hawaiian style attire.  Particularly on the Big Island, that is casual.  Casual with flair.  The pavilion is open to the forest, and you will walk through the forest on the way to the ceremony.  A dress that trails on the ground will need to be lifted.  The path is not so difficult that you cannot do this.  For a freer, looser feel. a shorter dress is very nice.  The look and feel of natural fabrics, especially woven linens and light cotton and rayon is particularly fitting to the forest setting.

The dress above is by Gina Mastio and can be purchased from her Etsy shop.  It is designed to be a wedding dress for a forest wedding, and is made of woven organic silk with an inner layer of soft merino wool.  Etsy is a very different way of shopping for your wedding gown.  You will not try it on until it comes to you, so you may want to shop around and find a similar style before you order, just to make sure.  The bonus for you is there is no pressure from the wedding store vendor, and you buy direct from the artisan.

Ivory is the color of choice for most of the brides who have come to us.  However, convention does not rule and any and all colors are suitable.  Reds and greens in particular echo the colors of the forest.  Remember you will be adding lei, and in doing so will add green for the groom and oft times purple for the bride.

This aloha shirt is by Reyn Spooner.  The classic aloha shirt is made of rayon, and has a beautiful drape and feel.  It will last for decades, and retain both shape and color with machine washing in cold water.  When selecting an aloha shirt, one detail to look for is the pocket match on the fabric.  As in the shirt above, the fabric design is an exact match where the pocket is set onto the rest of the shirt.

The search for a great aloha shirt can happen on line, or you can work it into your Hawaii travels.  By far the best all around selection of shirts is found at Bailey's in Honolulu.  With over 15,000 new, used, specialty and vintage shirts you are certain to find your favorite, a shirt for life.  If Honolulu is not a stopover for you, Hilo's bay front offers several shops where you can find aloha wear.  The "Most Irresistible Shop" has a small but tasteful selection of shirts and some dresses too.  Of course Hilo Hattie's is also in town, and there you can even purchase white aloha wear especially for weddings.

The slacks above are linen.  These too can be purchased online, and that is often your best bet as there is no guarantee you will find linen slacks on this island when you need them.  This is one of the drawbacks of living in the middle of the ocean.  Everything you need or want is not always at hand.  Some grooms choose shorts, but most prefer slacks, and linen goes best with aloha shirts.  Denim is too heavy for island wear.

As for footwear, it is completely possible to find stylish shoes that adapt well to island wear.  Remember your photos are likely to show your feet whenever the scene around you is also brought into the picture.  The right footwear may take the better part of a day to locate, or a couple of hours online.  This is something to take care of before you come to the island.  As with the slacks, you cannot count on finding what you are looking for here.  The guys have it easier, as flip flops or slippahs as they are called on island are readily available in a huge variety.  The girls can go this way too, but the female styled slippahs rarely are quit as engineered as the male styles, and the feet slip off them as easily as into them.  We like crocs.   Consider for example the sleek example shown here. A white orchid tied to the thong instantly transforms this into a wedding shoe.  We will provide the orchids and the raffia ties.  Crocs come in

a variety of colors and designs.  Many are surprisingly nice looking on the foot - not the clogs you usually associate with the brand.
The big advantage to this shoe choice is that you will find it is good for beach wear, whether a lava or sand beach.  We used to suggest hiking sandals, but styles have all gone into a rugged look designed for protection of the feet over style.  Great for hiking though!

While you can choose a more conventional pump to wear for your ceremony, remember that you will walk through the forest.  Some brides change into their fancy shoes after entering the pavilion, and change back to walk back down the path.  Some couples are married barefoot.


Whatever shoe choice you make, take your time with it, and you are likely to end up with some footwear that will become your favorite casual shoe choice for months to come.

Aloha!

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.

Fantasy Wedding - chapter 5

The day after the wedding is the photo shoot.

Morning begins with coffee that tastes almost like chocolate, sliced papaya with a squeeze of lime, and croissants with lilikoi butter and macadamia nut butter.  They sit on the treehouse lanai and watch the cardinals flitting from limb to limb at their eye level.

They call their hosts when they are ready, and within minutes are picked up for their island photo adventure.  The couple feels like celebrities everywhere they are taken around the island, from private lagoons where the waters are pristine aquamarine and clear as jewels to beaches studded with flowering trees where sea turtles come out to sun themselves.

The island around them feels alive and interactive, playing with them with mist and sun, soft breezes, offering up flowers and colors in the most unexpected of places.

Throughout the day the colors of the sky change around them, as if a kaleidoscope had been on order just for their wedding photography.

A feeling of playfulness that began in the treehouse spills over throughout the day, as they clown for the camera and each other.

There is a stop at the rim of the volcano, where from a hole in the caldera a white plume rises and wafts upward and away in the breeze.  They will be back at dusk, after sunset at the ocean on a deserted beach, to watch the orange red glow begin, the lava lake rising and falling in the caldera of Halema'uma'u.

Fantasy Wedding ~ the Honeymoon - chapter 4

It had been friends of theirs who told them about the treehouse.  Someone they knew had stayed there, come back and told all their friends.  Another friend said they thought it was on Facebook.  Finally they had located the website from which they had launched their wedding plans: mahinui.com.

And now they were on their way to their honeymoon at the treehouse.

The Land Rover arrived, and they walked together through the moongate.  It was like entering another world, a forest from eons ago.  Hungry pitcher plants hung down from giant ferns.  The air was so different, it was as it if had the color of the ginger flowers that permeated it.    

As they stepped around a curve in the path and began the ascent to the house, a trail of orchids marked the way.  The orchids led them up and up to the bedroom.  Candles surrounded by orchids lined the window sills.  A bottle of champagne was chilling on the bedside table.  Next to it were two champagne flutes etched with heliconia flowers.  This would be for later.

For now, it was time to celebrate the blessing of their marriage.
The candlelight was reflected in the stained glass windows that surrounded the bed.  The music of the moment was the night sounds of the rainforest.  The vaulted ceiling overhead was lined with woven bamboo, over which black bamboo purlins supported the roof overhead.  Outside, a light mist turned suddenly to rain, dancing on the metal roof overhead.  The magic was just beginning.

Fantasy Rainforest Wedding part 3

During the ceremony, the wedding cake has been on display on this white draped table in the pavilion.  The couple have decided for their wedding it will be dessert first.  There is great fanfare as they remove a slice of cake and first tenderly accept morsels from each other before playfully drawing frosting designs across each other's lips.  The cake is then served to the guests, and a thick slice removed for later...

As the light of the day fades into dusk, the songs of birds also begin to quiet. The guests bid a fond farewell to the newlyweds and a caterer whisks away the cake plates and sets two place settings at the table.  Dinner music replaces the festive slack key, a jazzy accompaniment to the very private wedding meal about to be served.  The bride slips away to the house below to change into a slinky dinner gown and cozy cashmere wrap while the dressing assistant carefully puts away her jeweled wedding dress.  When she re-enters the pavilion, the groom touches his lips to her neck and removes pins from her hair so it cascades down onto her shoulders.

A bottle of 20 year old Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon, a nice library selection, sits on the table, uncorked and breathing, as it has throughout the ceremony.  The groom has prepared the menu with the caterer.  He chose her favorite wine to accompany island lobster tails and a delicate array of barely heated through julienned island vegetables tossed lightly with miso and a variety of sea vegetables.  The greens are both tender and crisp in the mouth.  The buttery dip for the lobster has been made delectable by fresh lilikoi and tiny slices of hot pepper.  There is root vegetable puree that perfectly complements the rest of the meal.  Water with ice and thin cucumber slices accompanies the food.

The entire scene is now lit by candles and strands of tiny lights embedded in strands of crystals strung across the tall Balinese ceiling.  Firebowls add both light and heat.  Natalie and Nat King Cole sing "Unforgettable" and the groom sweeps the bride into the dance.  As Frank Sinatra begins "The Way You Look Tonight", they head arm in arm down the path along the tiki torch lit way, where the driver meets them.

Opening the rear door of the Land Rover, he helps them in, the canopy of stars winking above, and within minutes they are at their honeymoon destination.

Fantasy Wedding ~ chapter 2

The deep sounding of the conch announced the groom's arrival.  He fairly sprints up the forest path along the tiki torch lit way, so eager for his first glimpse of his bride.

In a reversal of the standard order, she awaits him, glowing in the center of a circle of flickering candles, blushing orchids and fern tendrils.  The entire scene is lit by hundreds of candles, the forest outside a brilliant emerald green in the late day light.  The scent of puakinikini and tuberose mingles with the sweet air of the forest, and hundreds of birds sing, chirp, call, filling the air with the song of the forest.

The groom steps into the circle of candlelight as if in a dream, the pu sounds once more, and the music of the marriage begins.

Gentle Hawaiian slack key guitar mingles with the bird song, the artist a reknowned musician whose art has appeared in movies and who has been awarded small statues of excellence.

The couple face the altar, draped with ferns braided together, and topped with a bouquet of island orchids, tuberose, bird of paradise, and palm. Smiling, selves entwined such that they feel each within the other, they  have eyes only for each other, as the ceremony that celebrates the joining of their hearts and beings commences.  They have studied the words, but as they experience what is happening, it is more than words and feelings.  A nearly supernatural sense is all around, as if unseen beings carrying blessings were in attendance.  When the part of the ceremony arrives where they exchange lei and rings and share the sacred breath; the ha, the joy of the extended moment becomes a part of all there is.  Now and forever, both timeless and ephemeral...

The music of the guitar, the birds, laughter becomes jubilation and celebration.  The candles of the blessing circle are moved to the bases of the fire bowls.  The soft short phhffft of a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne being uncorked is all but lost in the song of knowing love.  Antique hollow stem champagne glasses are passed to the couple and their guests, and the toast to the marriage is made.  Out in the forest a pair of bright red honeycreepers known by their Hawaiian name apapane  flit and play as if to echo the heart song of the couple in the pavilion, who see them and raise a toast to the birds, guests in their wooded mountain abode.  Then from the darkening jungle comes rhythmic ipu drumming and a Hawaiian chant, as if the forest itself had raised a voice, the words calling down blessings of the ancestors on the couple.  The chanting halau enters the pavilion, completes the chant, and bestows more lei on the couple, then disappears back into the ferns and ohia. The mystical magical sense is much like the ancestors had heard them and made an appearance.  

... to be continued...

Fantasy Wedding!

Imagine an ultimate romantic fantasy, set on an island in the middle of the ocean.  Your plane lands in a lava field, the blackest black you can imagine, with the bluest ocean beyond.  A short conveyor belt deposits your luggage, and you are greeted by a smiling island guy with lei.

Your luggage is stowed in the back of the Land Rover and wreathed in fragrant soft petals, you are transported to a sandy beachfront for cocktails and small plates of delectable treats, while you watch the sky change color at sunset.

Now rested from your transoceanic flight, you settle in to being transported up the volcano.  Through the darkness the headlights reveal a canopy of giant ferns you travel beneath, to the first night in your adventure.  Your bags are carried into the house, where bouquets of orchids, birds of paradise, heart shaped anthurium, and other tropical flowers greet you.  A bottle of your favorite beverage is at hand, with appropriate glassware, and plenty of ice, should you need it.

The driver leaves, and you settle into the steaming hot tub, glasses in hand, Hawaiian slack key guitar music in the background and candlelight making dancing shadows around you and your favorite person.

Your day begins with the best coffee you have ever had, an array of delectable fruits, creme fraiche, and delicate pastry.  Granola and yogurt are also at hand.  A note on the table lets you know your massage  for two is scheduled for 11.  You enjoy your breakfast while sitting on the level of the lower canopy. 

During the massage, the trade winds gently caress your skin as the last of the weariness of life before is rubbed away.  Another languid soak in the tub, and it is time to ready yourself for the wedding event itself.  The smiling island guy returns to take the groom off to the treehouse to prepare himself, and a dressing assistant helps the bride into her gown covered with faintly aquamarine tinted sequins and jewels, and a headpiece of white orchids and tuberose, accented with tendrils of fern. 

There is the sound of the conch, like the horn of an ocean liner, and a torchbearer ascends the path, lighting tiki torches and adding the element of fire to the path.

In a switch from tradition, the bride secretly ascends a forested path adorned with living orchids and lined with anthurium to a chorus of birdsong.  Meanwhile, the groom has been readying not only himself but also preparing the boudoir in the trees for his bride. 

Another sound of the conch, and the groom walks the path through the flickering flames, and enters the pavilion, where the bride awaits in a circle of candles and lavish white orchids.  An award winning island musician is playing.  The conch sounds again, and the ceremony begins!

... to be continued! ...