Just Maui'ed
More than 6,000 couples a
year come to Maui to tie the knot,
with many of them choosing unconventional venues and dress.
Wednesday, February 3, 1999
MORRI H. MOSTOW
Special to The Globe and Mail
Maui, Hawaii -- We knew our wedding on
Maui was going to be unorthodox when Rose Roselinsky arrived at our rented
condo with Hymie, a singing Amazon parrot who refused to sing.
This was our first face-to-face meeting
with Rose, who would be conducting the ceremony. A self-styled "cantorial
soloist" with Maui's Gan Edan Reform Congregation, Rose officiates at
dozens of Jewish wedding services a year. I had hired her sight unseen, by
phone, almost a year earlier.
This was a second marriage for both Doug
and me. This time, I wanted to be married under the chuppah, or Jewish marriage
canopy. While no ordained rabbi would marry us (Douglas isn't Jewish), Rose,
who subscribes to a kind of New Age Judaism, was happy to oblige. To complicate
matters, this was to be a joint simcha (celebration), also honouring the
50th-wedding anniversary of my parents, Harold and Lillian. So, we had a lot to
discuss with Rose in the few days before the big event.
Hymie, the parrot who assists Rose at her
outdoor ceremonies, was banished to the lanai, where he communed with the abundant
bird life in the adjacent ravine. Blessed with a powerful music-hall voice,
Rose was still basking in the glowing reviews from her recent one-woman musical
in Wailuku, Maui's county seat. My father seemed apprehensive; Rose tended to
wander off on tangents and break into impromptu song. Despite a repertoire
reputed to include arias, Hymie refused to join in.
When we decided to wed on Maui, we knew
it wouldn't be an ordinary event. But then, that's what "Getting
Maui'ed" is all about -- making one-of-a-kind memories in one of the
world's most stunning settings.
While we opted for a traditional, formal
wedding in the Seaside Chapel on the spectacular grounds of the Grand Wailea
Resort, many of the more than 6,000 couples a year who come from around the
world to tie the knot in Maui choose more unconventional venues and dress.
In bikinis and holokus (the traditional Hawaiian wedding dress), sandals or
bare feet, couples exchange vows while paragliding or scuba diving; at remote
waterfalls accessible only by helicopter; aboard sailing yachts, in lush,
tropical gardens; on black-lava beaches or in secluded coves.
Some locales, such as historical
churches, botanical gardens and parks, need to be rented in advance; others,
including all of the beaches on Maui, are public and free.
Weddings -- and vow renewals, for
romantic married couples -- are big business on Maui. From Lahaina and
Kaanapali in the northwest to "Heavenly Hana" in the east and Wailea
and Makena in the south, virtually every major resort and hotel on the island
has a wedding co-ordinator on staff, ready to handle every detail of your big
day.
To keep things simple, you might want to
buy a hotel wedding package. It could include the services of a minister or
other officiant, the use of the hotel's indoor chapel or outdoor terrace, a
champagne-and-cake reception or formal sit-down dinner, a photographer and/or
videographer, flowers and music. Most hotels also offer a discount on their
room rates if you hold your wedding there.
If, on the other hand, you want to
explore your options, you can engage the services of an independent wedding
consultant, or co-ordinate the event yourself, by phone, fax and E-mail. The
Hawaii Wedding Professionals Association (HWPA) numbers more than 130
accredited wedding service providers on Maui. Whether you want to seal your
"I do's" by releasing doves or butterflies, order a fanciful wedding
cake, rent your gown and tuxedo, reserve a limousine or horse-drawn carriage,
an HWPA member can satisfy your every whim.
Doug and I, accompanied by three of our
five children, arrived a week ahead to finalize the arrangements. My parents,
in Maui six weeks beforehand, had become our de facto wedding planners, a role
that proved more daunting than they had expected. Somehow, they had lined up
suppliers from all over the island: a pastry chef from Wailuku, a florist and
photographer from up-country Makawao. The logistics were frightening. In the
end, we replaced most of them with suppliers around the corner. We did retain
Stedman, the pastry maker, whose passion-fruit-filled wedding cake proved to be
as delicious as it was gorgeous.
Asa, the Grand Wailea's florist, created
our spectacular orchid leis, sprays and boutonnieres, my trailing
orchid-and-tuberose bridal bouquet, and my mother's haku, the traditional
dried-flower head wreath that, quipped my eldest daughter, Cassandre, made her
look like a character out of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Obtaining our marriage licence, at a cost
of $50 (U.S.) was as easy as making an appointment with a licence agent in
nearby Kihei, whose home office opened onto her driveway. As is customary, we
doffed our shoes at the door and filled out the forms barefoot. Maui has no
waiting period or residency requirement for a marriage licence. We simply produced
our passports (a birth certificate or photo ID will suffice) and divorce
decrees (although only dates and locations are officially required.)
Despite a missing hotel wedding
co-ordinator at the chapel (she suffered a major asthma attack; her replacement
had not been briefed), everything came off splendidly. As always on Maui, the
weather was perfect -- warm, with just enough cloud to cast a soft, flattering
late-afternoon light during the photo shoot on our, well, mature faces. As Rose
sang the Hawaiian Wedding Song, accompanied by a harpist, we strode down the
aisle to the orchid-festooned chuppah (supplied by a theatrical-props company,
with flowers by Asa and co-ordination by the parents of the bride).
Light streamed through the chapel's
magnificent stained-glass windows, with their larger-than-life murals of
traditional Hawaiian figures. Rose chanted and recited the wedding ceremony in
Hebrew and English. My parents joined her in a blessing. We exchanged vows, and
Doug concluded the ceremony with the traditional stomp and smash of the glass
-- all caught on film by Making Maui Memories photographer Jillian Rocha and
her videographer husband, Joe.
Afterward, our guests joined us at a
reception on the terrace of the Diamond Resort's Bella Luna Ristorante, with
its breathtaking view of Wailea Bay. As the sun slipped into the ocean and
humpback whales breached and blew, Rose broke into a spontaneous a capella
rendition of Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof, and suddenly it was all
over.
We can't wait to come back and do it
again, for our 50th.
Morri Mostow is a Montreal marketing-communications consultant. She and her
husband, Douglas Long, were married in Maui in March, 1998.
Getting There. After more than a dozen trips to Maui
using a variety of carriers and routings, we have found Air Canada to be the
most convenient way to get there from Eastern Canada. In high season (December
to March), Air Canada flies non-stop to Maui from Vancouver, three evenings a
week. Canadian Airlines does not fly into Maui, but will route you there --
often on other airlines -- in about the same amount of time, via Honolulu, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago or even Boston, depending on your
departure city. Travel agents have details of seasonal (October or November
through April) Canada 3000 flights into Maui or Honolulu from a number of
Western Canadian cities and into Honolulu from Toronto.
Where To Start. Order your free copy of the Maui Wedding Planner, from the
Hawaii Wedding Professionals Association, HWPA Office, P.O. Box 2255, Wailuku,
Maui, Hawaii 96793. It provides a complete roster of HWPA members, plus lots of
useful information covering every aspect of a Maui wedding. Check out http://www.maui.net/prof profwed.html for
supplier links.
Useful Contacts. Grand Wailea Weddings: (808) 875-1234, fax (808) 874-2412.;
wedding services manager, Maui Prince Hotel (Makena): (808) 874-1111, fax (808)
879-6907; wedding co-ordinator, Kea Lani Hotel (Wailea): (808) 875-4100, fax
(808) 875-1200; wedding services, Hyatt Regency Maui (Lahaina): (808) 667-4433;
Making Maui Memories Photo/Video: (808) 875-8461,
http://www.mauiphoto.com .
Something To Consider. Hawaiian culture and language are experiencing a
renaissance on the islands, but most native organizations are seriously
under-funded. You might consider asking your wedding guests, as we did, to make
a donation to a native organization in lieu of gifts. For example, a donation
to Kauahea, Inc. Building Fund, P.O. Box 966, Wailuku, Hawaii, 96793, will help
this non-profit organization build a traditional learning centre where Hawaiian
language, art, culture, healing and spiritual practices can be taught and
shared.