GETTING READY

Kaua'i resorts offer wedding and honeymoon packages that are lavish and wide-ranging. Top-to-toe pampering is the norm. The independent Kaua'i Wedding Professionals Association can also be helpful: www.kauaiwedpro.com.

Weddings held in public settings require a state or county permit, depending on the location. A resort wedding planner or independent professional planner can obtain the permit for you. Marriage licenses are a must, also obtainable by a professional planner. For more information on marriage licenses, go to www.hawaii.gov/doh.

Where to SAY, “I Do”

Some couples favor sunrise, others the blazing sunset. Some opt for a boat cruise, others a tropical waterfall. Possible venues for Kaua'i weddings are as numerous as the island's beauty spots, limited only by access and the imagination.

Weddings and water are natural partners: waterfalls, rivers, beaches, saltwater lagoons, and mountain pools. And tears of joy, naturally.

At a 30-acre tropical garden in east Kaua'i's Coconut Coast, couples can exchange their vows on the banks of a river revered for its cultural sites. The tropical garden is on the banks of the 21-mile Wailua River, a silky-smooth waterway favored by Hawaiian royalty and now a scenic favorite of Hollywood filmmakers.

The Wailua River is lined with hau trees with heart-shaped leaves. Up the river, the Fern Grotto is another popular wedding site, a geological wonder drippy and covered with ferns. After the boat reaches the dock, the wedding party takes a short walk through a jungle garden to a deck at the entrance to the grotto. A Hawaiian trio sings “The Hawaiian Wedding Song,” their voices wafting through the garden of bamboo, gingers, banana plants, ti, and other lush tropical foliage.

The gardens of the Garden Isle are natural locations for weddings. A guided tour of Limahuli Garden in Hā'ena, in the shadow of the mountain named Makana, made famous as “Bali Hai” in the movie South Pacific, is a great way to celebrate a honeymoon or anniversary. On the south shore of Kaua'i, a tour of the Allerton Garden brings a cocoon of beauty on this most beautiful day.

Also on the south shore, on a hilltop in charming Kalāheo, the Kukuiolono (“light of Lono”) Park is hidden near the end of easy-to-miss Papalina Road. The Hawaiians made fires of kukui nut (candlenut) and placed them on the hillside to guide Hawaiian mariners, hence the name Kukuiolono.

Walter McBryde donated the park to the people of Kaua'i in 1919, and it remains a quiet Kalāheo treasure next to a 9-hole golf course. Bonsai trees and a small footbridge are part of the Japanese rock garden, shaded in Zen-like tranquility by ironwoods, eucalyptus and Royal Poinciana trees. Butterflies flutter, and the air is perfumed with laua'e ferns. Bird of paradise, vandal orchids, and ti leaves add color, and a short (0.8-mile) loop trail reveals the view. Couples will find this is a romantic setting perfect for an intimate wedding before dark; the gates close at 6:30 p.m.

Na 'Āina Kai Botanical Gardens, on the north shore in Kīlauea, has a range of romantic environments within its 240 acres: garden, waterfall lagoon, beach and meadow, and hardwood plantation. There's also a maze to entertain the party after completion of the ceremony. The garden's non-profit foundation supports many community and environmental efforts.

With more than 50 miles of white-sand beaches, weddings and honeymoons are naturally beach-bound. State and city beach parks are abundant (permit required), and most of the resorts located on the shoreline have their own ocean settings to suggest and the coordinators to plan them.

PEERLESS PAMPERING

Resort settings are romantic and offer every possible amenity. In addition to full-time wedding coordinators, resorts have facilities and services for the receptions and private dinners that are part of the celebration. Banquet rooms and services, gazebos and chapels as locations, a quiet beach or a festive wedding lü'au—the wedding choices can be customized.

Wedding packages often include a honeymoon suite, complimentary champagne or sparkling wine upon arrival, and a festive welcome of flower petals and special amenities. Couples can customize their weddings with torch lighting and the sounding of a conch shell, a Hawaiian chant and hula. Orchid showers and fireworks, or a Chinese lion dance before or after whale watching. An oceanside couples massage before or after the wedding. A sunrise ceremony or a sunset cruise—and why not both? The master stroke is in the details.

One Po'ipū resort offers a honeymoon package that includes a 15% spa discount. Imagine a couple's massage in a private bungalow with a lava rock shower and steam grotto. After a treatment with the healing Kaua'i clay, a couples massages and facials, who wouldn't want to get married or renew a wedding vow?