Vow renewal at Outrigger Reef Hotel beachfront

With Valentine’s Day coming up, every travel destination has a package special with champagne and vibrating beds.  (No?  Not the vibrating beds?)  But nobody does Valentine’s Day quite like the people of Hawaii, and the hotel industry is the first place to turn.

At the Embassy Suites Waikiki Beach Walk, a special vow renewal ceremony will take place on the Grand Lanai on Valentine’s Day at 6:15, incorporating symbolic Hawaiian music and ritual.  The “Suite Romance” package includes an in-room massage for two, and massage instruction so couples can practice on each other at home.

To renew vows on the beach, couples can stay right down the street at the Outrigger Reef Hotel where the ceremony will take place at water’s edge.  Led by a Hawaiian priest, or kahu, the ceremony ends with a sprinkling of ocean water over the couple.  All participants also receive a commemorative certificate and a three-by-five photo that captures this romantic moment in time.

For those who cannot attend the special Valentine’s Day Hawaiian Vow Renewal Ceremony, Outrigger holds a similar ceremony every Tuesday and Friday at 8 a.m. and it is open to guests of the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach and the Outrigger Reef on the Beach (champagne, photo and lei are not included as part of the normal twice-weekly ceremony). Since the program’s inception, more than 4,000 vows have been exchanged.

If you’re planning ahead, you might want to pencil in Fall 2011, when Disney plans to open its own resort on the island of Oahu called Aulani.  You can have your wedding or vow renewal ceremony and you don’t have to choose between Disney or an island destination.  Call now and maybe they’ll add vibrating beds to their plan.