Hawaiian Wedding in Suburbia Without the Usual Clichés
May 21, 2009
The actual physical location of your ceremony and reception
will largely be determined by where you live and what you
can afford. With that said; determination, imagination and
some creative tricks can go a long way in minimizing both
location and money obstacles. One of my brides wanted to
marry in Hawaii but for several reasons that was not possible,
eventually agreed to an evening wedding to be held in the
backyard of the parents of the brides' 1960's ranch style
home for about 75 guests. The bride and groom decided they
still wanted an island wedding and so I began to create
a tropical setting right smack in the middle of landlocked
suburbia. The first thing was to was rule out all the old
clichés; wooden tiki god statues, coconut cups, volcanoes
with flowing lava, grass skirts, plastic of any kind and
of course the thatched roof bar. This was a wedding not
a clam bake.
The bride and groom wanted a casual but somewhat sophisticated
look and feel and this is how they got it. The emphasis
was on creating an illusion. When planning a theme don't
try to recreate an exact replica, it is impossible especially
when it is a location theme. What you want to do is create
a mood, an illusion really, an abstract much like what is
done for a theatrical stage production. The human imagination
is an incredible thing; when the senses are teased with
sound, sight, taste and scent the mind begins to fill in
the blanks and the illusion becomes an experience.
I began by measuring the area and drawing a rough plan
of where things would go. You don't have to be an artist
and the drawing doesn't have to be perfect but you do need
to get the scale and size fairly accurate or you'll end
up with too much stuff in too little space. When my drawing
was completed I had a pretty good idea of what and how I
needed in the way of props and I began renting an assortment
tropical trees and plants of varying sizes and textures.
Garden burlap was brushed with floor adhesive then covered
with sand and draped over and around the trees and plant
containers creating what looked like small sand dunes.
The look was completed by adding stems of tropical flowers
that had been inserted in water tubes and placed randomly
throughout the display, rocks, bunches of bear grass and
both Spanish and sheet moss were also used. And a focus
area was created for where the actual ceremony would take
place and where the cake would be setup later. Tiki torches
and string and up-lighting defined and accented the area
for the ceremony and the reception; the wedding took place
at early dusk and two sound systems were used; one for the
music and the other for an ocean soundtrack that played
softly and continuously throughout the evening. This is
very important; if you are going to have a location soundtrack
(ocean, rain forest, etc.) it needs to be unobtrusive. It
is subliminal background noise and should be soft and continuous
just as it would be if you were actually at a beach house
in Hawaii or in a forest.
Place the speakers around the perimeter or in the trees
or shrubbery. It is better to have several small speakers
than a huge pair of speakers blasting away, save the huge
speakers for another time. The reception featured Hawaiian
music and light jazz; the buffet consisted of roast pork,
vegetables, assortment of tropical fruits and breads, sushi,
jasmine rice and a tropical signature drink available with
or without alcohol. The guests were asked to dress for an
evening in Paradise. Round picnic tables were used instead
of the traditional luau seating (on the ground) out of consideration
for the older guests and the table umbrellas were lined
with lights. Tiki torches were originally planned but did
not provide adequate light. The umbrella pole and table
opening were covered with Spanish moss, sand, tea-lights,
and flower petals extending out about 8 inches in diameter
create a tropical centerpiece.
The bride kept personal flowers to a minimum, there were
no corsages or boutonnières, attendants carried one
orchid stem and the bride carried only a small casual bouquet
of orchids and gardenias and wore an orchid lei and the
groom wore a traditional Hawaiian Maile Lei. The slab style
patio was used for the dance floor. Tropical plants were
again used and placed around the patio highlighted with
up lighting. The buffet table was placed away from the patio
but close to a door that opened to the garage which had
been set up as a prep area by the caterer making it easier
to bring food and beverages to the table. The table was
lit using string lights underneath the table skirting and
with small tiki torches that were inserted into the three
large tropical arrangements placed on the three buffet table's
setup in corner style. Silverware and cloth napkins were
already on the reception tables, making it easier for guest
to maneuver food and beverage. This wedding turned out to
be one of my all time favorites. The lighting, the mood,
the music, the food... it was all perfect. So many small
details made this wedding great.
Lighting and audio played such a major role and because
of that electrical cords posed a real problem. To eliminate
the trip hazard posed by the cords I created a pattern using
twine and stakes by positioning the tables and other traffic
areas that required lighting; then the using a flat shovel
the sod was cut at an angle along the pattern and threading
the outdoor electrical extension cords through PVC pipe,
the pipe was then slipped into the cuts and the sod flattened
over the top. Writing this it seems so easy but it actually
took a great deal of time to create a workable pattern,
threading and connecting the pipe and making safe connections
but this small detail made an enormous difference.
Another detail that made a big difference was using burlap
as an under-liner for the all the sand used and it made
clean up a lot easier as did the fact that the tropical
plants used were for the most part rented and kept in their
original containers. Let us not forget the parking which
is always a major concern for home weddings. This particular
home was located in a cul de sac which offered very limited
parking. In this case a nearby church was contacted and
the family was given permission to have their guests use
the church parking lot and a shuttle was provided to and
from. In short, never dismiss your dream and never overlook
the details and never underestimate the time it will all
take to achieve the illusion. You may not have the exact
thing but you can come close even if you're 3,000 miles
away.
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