Hawaiian Wedding Theme: Flowers For Table Decorations and Leis

If you'd like to add an authentic note to your Hawaiian wedding, be sure to include traditional Hawaiian wedding flowers and leis in your wedding attire and table decorations. The Pacific Islanders count many wedding traditions among their plant and flower lore. Borrowing a few for your Hawaiian wedding table decorations and hall decor can be just the romantic touch you want to make your wedding day extra special.

A Hawaiian wedding calls to mind beaches and sunsets, leis and luaus, but Hawaiian flowers come in such a wide variety that they'll suit any style of tropical theme wedding from the sophisticated drama of tiki torches to the casual simplicity of a barefoot beach wedding.

Traditional Hawiian weddings always include leis for the bride and groom, and often for the guests. A beautiful and unusual way to incorporate flower leis into your Hawiian wedding table decorations is to create a 'tree' of leis as a centerpiece. Carefully coil a lei for each guest seated at the table around a crystal column centered on a round mirror scattered with plumeria blossoms and dendrobium orchids. When the leis are removed, light votive candles to reflect and sparkle off the crystal column.

You can also incorporate leis into the ceremony itself. In a traditional Hawaiian wedding ceremony, the bride and groom each wear an open-ended maile lei around their necks. As the vows are spoken, they each tie the ends of the two leis together, forming a circle with the bride and groom standing inside.

Often, the entire ceremony is conducted inside the lei to symbolize the unity that is being forged in the wedding vows. You may choose to create your own meanings with the use of the lei - perhaps opening the circle to bring children of the bride and groom into the newly wedded family, or formally stepping out of the circle with hands joined to symbolize the beginning of your new life in the world as a couple. Maile leis also make an attractive table edging for the head table, especially intertwined with white orchids and purple anthuriums.

For a dramatic Hawiian wedding table centerpiece, choose tropical flowers in bright colors. Birds of paradise, with their vibrant red and violet hues, can be combined with red ginger flowers and scarlet anthurium to add a splash of the exotic to any Hawiian style wedding table setting. Scatter individual white dendrobium orchid blossoms against a deep red tablecloth to add a touch of delicate beauty to the dramatic decorations.

If you prefer more traditional Hawiian wedding table decorations, opt for the elegance and simplicity of all white flowers. White hibiscus, with its star-shaped petals, glossy green foliage and feathery scarlet central spike make beautiful centerpiece flowers. Combine them with spills of dendrobium orchids and white anthurium in an elegant silver vase for a classic wedding look. Hawiian wedding table decorations for gift and buffet tables can consist of silk-lined baskets filled with tiny white orchids and plumeria blossoms to complete the appeal