Already being marketed as a place for the ultimate romantic getaway, Kaua’i is also benefiting from a statewide promotion driven by wedding coordinators in the four counties which is encouraging couples to get married, celebrate anniversaries, renew wedding vows or
Already being marketed as a place for the ultimate romantic getaway, Kaua’i is
also benefiting from a statewide promotion driven by wedding coordinators in
the four counties which is encouraging couples to get married, celebrate
anniversaries, renew wedding vows or commemorate family commitments across the
state.
A pair of California couples won contests and were flown to the
islands and given the royal treatment as they celebrated their 50th wedding
anniversaries on Maui and O’ahu. They were winners in a nationwide contest
sponsored by Weddings of the Pacific Rim magazine.
Kaua’i’s celebration
took a decidedly local flair last week, as a Maui couple who honeymooned on the
South Shore of this island in 1984 came back for a vow-renewal ceremony which
their two daughters participated in, on the grounds of the Coco Palms.
The
ever-present Larry Rivera was there, and the couple enjoyed the “Blue Hawai’i”
wedding in the lagoons and chapel that is a re-enactment of the wedding scene
from the classic Elvis Presley movie of the same name.
The groom comes down
the canal in an outrigger canoe with two paddlers and the strains of Rivera’s
guitar and voice, to meet his bride and proceed to the chapel for the ceremony.
Then, the two of them board the canoe again for their ride off into the sunset,
with Rivera again providing the traveling music.
Rivera performs the
service hundreds of times a year on the ancient grounds where Kaua’i kings,
queens, princes, princesses and other ali’i (royalty) once roamed. Complete
with conch shells heralding the beginning of a significant event, Keith and
Celia Moniz and daughters Megan, the maid of honor, and McKenzie, the flower
girl, proceeded to the chapel, where the Rev. Daryl Kua performed the
ceremony.
Part of the Hawai’i Millennium Commission efforts to bring more
people to the islands between now and the end of next year, I Do 2000, LLC
(Limited Liability Company) was formed to offer affordable vow-renewal
ceremonies on all the islands, starting at an affordable $250.
Coconut
Coast Weddings & Photography is the Kaua’i connection, and Dianne Reynolds
is the owner of that Hanalei company (www.kauaiwedding.com).
“It’s to
promote tourism,” Reynolds said. Earlier, the Hawai’i Millennium Commission had
proposed a massive group vow-renewal to occur simultaneously on all the
islands. That plan was scrapped as plain too commercial.
“Brides want
something personal,” she said.
Enticing people to come here to renew their
vows, though, is an appropriate potential market, as long as the ceremonies are
done with style, grace and elegance, she added.
The Moniz family was
treated to typical Kaua’i-style aloha, arriving and departing in a North Shore
Limousine, enjoying a passion fruit wedding cake created by Suzi’s Date Bar,
and sharing with family and guests a pupu and sparkling cider reception catered
by Jason Bannert of Princeville Golf Club.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts
provided a complimentary three-night stay at the Princeville Resort, wedding
flora including lei were provided by Mr. Flowers in the Princeville Resort, and
the family enjoyed dinner at the Bali Hai Restaurant at Hanalei Bay
Resort.
Saison Des Brides provided the holoku worn by Celia Moniz, and the
groom’s attire as well. Coconut Coast Weddings & Photography (Reynolds and
Kaye Vea) did the photography, and Video Lynx provided videography and a
complimentary video for the Moniz family, contest winners who chose Kaua’i for
the island of their vow renewal. Smith’s Motor Boat Service, Inc. donated a
Fern Grotto cruise for the family as well.
It is entirely appropriate that
the Moniz family won the trip, Reynolds said, as on Maui Keith Moniz devotes
lots of volunteer hours to coaching baseball and basketball, and has a program
for troubled youth, called POI (Positive Outreach Incentive).
Daughter
Megan, a student at Kamehameha Schools, said her choral class watched the “Blue
Hawai’i” video, because of all the music the movie includes.
Invited guests
included Sally Wilson and Carmen Ochoco of H&S Publishing, and Eric Honma,
county liquor commissioner and county representative on the Hawai’i Millennium
Commission.
Besides the commission, the Hawai’i Tourism Authority,
www.luxurycollectionhawaii.com, Hawaiian Airlines, MarriageLive, Studio West
and Saison Des Brides are supporting the I Do Hawai’i promotion
(www.idohawaii.com), reachable on Kaua’i through Coconut Coast Weddings &
Photography (826-5557 or toll-free 1-800-585-5595).
Besides the simple
ceremony, which includes a celebrant, lei for the couple, and a certificate,
there is everything in between, including barefoot sunset beach ceremonies,
Hawaiian ceremonies complete with chanting, hula and slack-key guitar, paniolo
(cowboy) ceremonies at ranches, and traditional, formal events at classic
resorts.
Where I Do 2000 is concerned, the wedding coordinators on the four
islands decided to join forces to enhance the image of Hawai’i as a destination
for romance, increase visitor traffic, and extend the image of the islands as
the ideal romantic getaway that offers the aloha spirit, tranquility and
serenity as well as the beauty of nature.
While Hawai’i has long enjoyed a
reputation as an idyllic setting for weddings and honeymoons, the awareness
about vow-renewal ceremonies in the state is just beginning, the partners
said.
For those whom money is no object, the Hyatt Regency Kaua’i Resort
& Spa has just announced its 2001 ultimate wedding package, Awaiaulu Ke
Aloha (love made fast by tying together), which includes round-trip limousine
service between Lihu’e Airport and the hotel, golf for four men and ANARA Spa
pampering for four women, three nights stay for the couple, an elaborate
wedding ceremony, preferred status at the resort, spa membership for the couple
their entire stay, monogrammed robes, chartered sunset sailboat with
monogrammed towels, a royal Hawaiian wedding, intimate dinner for the couple,
champagne, and more.
The price? A paltry $40,000. Call 742-1234 or
1-800-55-HYATT (1-800-554-9288), or see the Web site, www.kauai-hyatt.com, for
more details.
Business Editor Paul C. Curtis can be reached at
pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
