Oahu Wedding Local Customs
How to Add a Local Touch to Your Oahu Destination Wedding
Many couples who choose to wed in Oahu incorporate local wedding traditions into their ceremonies. There are a number of ways you can add a local touch to your destination wedding ceremony and they are very simple and inexpensive. Give your wedding decorations, food, entertainment, and clothing a little “aloha” with these tips.
Flowers
One of the easiest ways to make your wedding have a more Hawaiian feel is to incorporate local, tropical flowers into your ceremony. Brides in Oahu traditionally wear a haku, or hair lei. These hair leis are beautiful and they are also a great way to keep your hair under control on a windy day. It is also traditional in Oahu for the bride and groom to exchange leis. Kukui nut leis are a popular option and it is tradition for the bride and groom to keep the leis and wear them every year for their anniversary.
Tropical flowers found locally are festive and gorgeous and they are much less expensive than flowers imported from the mainland. Some local flowers you can include in your bouquet, arches, centerpieces, and leis include hibiscus, frangipani, orchids, and Micronesian ginger. Maile are fragrant green leaves used to make leis for the groom and sometimes the minister.
Hawaiian Wedding Dress
Go “aloha” at your Oahu destination wedding by wearing traditional Hawaiian apparel. You can wear the formal tux and gown if you’d like but you’ll fit in better with the tropical environment and relaxed atmosphere if you wear light, flowing clothing that feels perfect in the Hawaiian climate. You can order aloha wedding wear prior to your arrival or you can buy it once you get on the island. Many couples end up buying aloha wedding wear once they arrive to Oahu because it is so much more comfortable and suitable for a Hawaiian beach wedding.
A Hawaiian Ceremony
For destination wedding couples planning a ceremony in Oahu that want to have a local style wedding, it makes sense to hire a minister of Hawaiian origin. Modern Hawaiian weddings in Oahu are usually a mix of traditional rites and Western customs we are familiar with. Traditional weddings in Oahu begin with someone blowing a conch shell. Local musicians play Hawaiian music during the procession. The minister typically does a chant or blessing in native Hawaiian. Leis are exchanged in the beginning, middle, or end of the ceremony. The end of the ceremony typically consists of the musicians playing a song and then a hula dance performed by a professional hula dancer.
Dinner on the Beach
To make your destination wedding ceremony unique, finish off the night with a tiki torch-lit dinner on the beach with the moon and stars shining above you. Local foods you can enjoy at your Oahu destination wedding dinner include kalua pork and fresh, grilled fish. You can even reserve spots for you and your destination wedding guests at a luau to enjoy a Polynesian dinner show complete with live music and dance. Your tables can be decorated with seashells, coconut-scented candles, and tropical flowers for a truly Hawaiian experience.
Being in Oahu will automatically make you feel the “aloha” spirit. The beautiful nature that surrounds you will provide you with an unmatched sensation of being in paradise while you exchange your vows. The most important day of your life can be even more meaningful if you incorporate some of these local traditions into your Oahu destination wedding ceremony. A ceremony complete with local flowers, delicious Hawaiian cuisine, Hawaiian music and dance, and aloha wedding wear will provide you with the ultimate destination wedding experience in paradise. |
