MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile promotes tourism marriage ceremonies in Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Easter Island is widely famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, created by the early Rapanui people

If the standard white dress wedding is too staid, and vows read by an Elvis impersonator too clichéd, don’t despair. There is a Rapa-nui wedding ceremony, complete with loincloth, awaiting you on Chile’s Easter Island.

Chilean tour companies offer a range of ceremonies on beautiful island locales that include traditional singers and dancers and a tasty wedding feast.

Tropical flowers decorate the Polynesian-style wedding, where bride, groom, singers and dancers are all dressed in Pareu – a colourful flower printed outfit.

The traditional Rapanui ceremony has the bride in a feathered gown and the groom in a leaf and feather loincloth - and body paint called kiea. Guests may also be decorated with kiea for the ceremony where ancestral rites are performed by one of the island elders (koro) in the Rapanui language.

Rapa Nui has attracted tourists for years with its ancient Polynesian Moai statues and archaeological sites. Tourism, the main industry on the island, is also a source of concern for locals who worry about the effects on the ecological balance of the island.

By Pamela Morales - Santiago Times