Tahiti and Her Islands

What if a couple not only wants to honeymoon – to lune de miel – in French Polynesia, they want to go one romantic step further and get married while there? Well, getting married in Tahiti is not legal unless one of the couple has been living there for at least a month. But atmost hotel, a married couple can renew their wedding vows amid the setting of these lovely islands. After the ceremony it is possible to have a traditional Tahitian dance group perform for the couple, or to spend the wedding night on the lagoon in a floating fare, complete with dinner and champagne.

Island resorts also provide a traditional Polynesian wedding ceremony for visitors, on the beach at sunset. The beach is decorated with flowers and palm fronds in traditional Polynesian style and the area encircled by flaming torch brands. Just before sunset the bride and groom are taken to separate rooms and dressed in white “pareu” (sarongs). Women dancers then accompany the bride to the ceremony area, serenaded by ukeleles and guitars, before the blowing of a conch signals the arrival by water of the groom, in an outrigger canoe. The groom is welcomed onto the beach by the Master of Ceremonies, then led up the sand towards the bride, while a Tahitian group sings the traditional love song, Haere mai na tau here.

The Master of Ceremonies unites the couple by a uniquely traditional and romantic custom. He hands them “tiare” (flowers) leis - garlands made from “tiare” blooms – and they exchange the garlands as a symbol of exchanging their vows. The couple is then baptised with their Tahitian names and presented with a marriage certificate made from authentic tapa cloth. The family, or witnesses of the bride and groom, then cover the couple with a tifaifai, a Tahitian wedding quilt, and as the couple is united, they are given a blessing by a traditional priest.

The ceremony ends with singing and dancing to celebrate the couple’s union, then they return to their room or fare, where the bed has been decorated with tropical flowers, and where a complimentary bottle of champagne and canapes await tasting. Thereafter, the night belongs to the newlyweds alone.

Another variation on a romantic theme is to luxuriate in one of Spa Resorts, which are found on Tahiti, Moorea , Taha’a and Bora Bora. In these spas, a skilled masseuse will provide a natural and tropical series of massages for couples which arouses their sleeping senses, releases muscular ‘knots’ and harmonises the body’s natural energy paths. For honeymooners, a bath in water filled and scented with fresh tropical flowers, followed by a massage is a must. Each couple are then taught how to massage each other therapeutically, a gift that can sustain them for years.

As seductive as the land-based honeymoon activities are in French Polynesia, for a truly romantic ambience there is nothing really to compare with cruising the waters of its lagoons and islands on a luxury vessel. Traditionally, the Tahitians always looked to the sea for their living, today honeymoon couples can look in the same direction for their loving.

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