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Twelve years have passed since our first beach wedding, twelve years of sand, sun and surf. My office is a beach, actually numerous beaches. If you don’t mind sand and the occasional coconut on the floor, it’s a great gig. Over the years we’ve seen every conceivable style of wedding attire on Maui’s shorelines, from full-on formal to bikinis.
One wedding inquiry we received stands out, in respect to wedding attire. The couple decided on Maui’s Little Beach for their ceremony. Little Beach is famous for ‘all-over’ tanning. No tan lines –anywhere. Guest attire including musician, photographer and even minister was to be restricted to hair flowers or maile leis, maybe sandals. To quote the groom:
“The prospect of a completely nude wedding excites me!”
I’m not kidding.
The thought of this groom in an ‘excited’ state was disturbing, never mind the dozen or so wedding guests. We referred him to one of Maui’s many ‘Internet’ ministers for help, but, I digress.
Beach wedding attire spans the formal to informal scale. With hundreds of weddings under our cumberbun, we recommend attire in the middle of the scale. Sun, even for sunset weddings, is intense on Maui. And, at sunset, you and your guests are getting hit twice by sun rays. Once from the orb itself and again by sunlight reflecting off the ocean. And there is a third component, warmth radiating from the sand. Formal attire, especially for men, can become uncomfortable.
If you’re not ready to say “I Do” to cargo shorts paired with loud, garish Hawaiian shirts consider light colored, linen clothing. Comfortable and sophisticated, linen ‘breathes’ and works well with Hawaii’s sun –and– your pictures. Other fabrics to consider are cotton and silk. The only drawback with any of these are their wrinkle properties. However, we’ve seen a trend toward a fashionable, rumpled look opposed to the pressed. Touch ‘em up in the dryer and enjoy your Maui wedding.
If silk is a consideration, consider this. Silk, a natural fabric, breathes well unless the weave is tight. Make sure you select loosely woven, lighter silk shirts or its benefits are lost.
Whatever fabric you choose, another important consideration is color. Pay attention to this. Medium to ‘darkish’ colors will prominently display wicked (as in candle) body moisture or, to be indelicate, sweat. Blues, peach, pink and reddish fabrics are notorious offenders. Even for men this is embarrassing, as well as painfully obvious in your wedding pictures.
Bright whites, for men and women, are vaguely popular. This color remains the overwhelming choice for brides. While white-white looks and feels cool, a spin-off difficulty exists, other than keeping toddler attendees away from their natural habitat of mud, chocolate and spit-up. Photography and videography –especially at sunset– relies on light that falls on the subject. It also relies on background lighting, that is, the light reflecting off water, palm trees and clouds. Every bride and groom wants these elements in their pictures.
Really white wedding attire, at sunset, tends to wash out, especially with video. Photographers and videographers must compensate for backlighting or everything would be silhouetted. Photographers can more readily compensate with flash but flashing isn’t as pleasing as natural light and is best kept to a minimum (unless your wedding is held at Little Beach where flashing is typically maximum).
Videography is especially sensitive. Videographers must open their iris to allow more light through the lens. White, reflecting more light than skin tones, tends to develop hot spots and lose detail. People with darker skin tones should definitely pay attention to light colors. While artificial light (color corrected, stand lighting) helps, the lighting is cumbersome and will add additional planning and cost considerations.
Natural fabrics with cream, ivory or sweat masking colors, feel good and look good. On Maui, you’ll find lots of stores that sell island wear suitable for your wedding. From Tommy Bahamas to Hilo Hatties, even alternative bridal attire can be purchased at surprisingly reasonable prices (well, maybe not TBs). You can certainly rent bride and groom’s attire if you want to pass on the pain of transporting a wedding dress.
Feel free to visit our website and click the “Request Information” link on the right. We’ll send you names and contact info for local stores that specialize in resort and island wear suitable for your wedding.
One more thought. High heels are often worn at beach and beach park weddings. Just as often, they are left at the shore. Bring the heels for the reception but think “sand” when it comes to the ceremony. Even beach side parks with grass can be problematic. This site has alternatives to traditional footwear, one even seems to be designed for men if the thought of flip-flops bores you. A word of caution, if you plan a barefoot event, be aware of kiawe tress along the sand. They are common and shed some wicked (as in witch) thorns, sandals should be worn at least until past their overhanging limbs.
Aloha,
Ron Winckler
because maui and las vegas are oceans apart®
