You ask. We answer.

HAWAII Magazine reader David Sand had a question about announcing a marriage in Hawaiian.

How do I write "I am pleased to announce the marriage of my daughter, (girl’s name), to (boy’s name)" in the Hawaiian language?

Of course, we queried one of the best authorities we know on the matter: Hawaiian language expert Puakea Nogelmeier. Frequent HawaiiMagazine.com visitors might be familiar with Nogelmeier’s voice. He’s the voice on our Web site’s “How Hawaiian Should Sound” page.

Nogelmeier’s answer on the wedding question?





To get it absolutely right, you would need a kahako—that short line above the “o” in no and the “a” in ia, otherwise known as a macron. The macron indicates a long or stressed "o" and "a" sound.

In any case, best wishes to the bride and groom (and parents) from all of us at HAWAII Magazine.
 
 

As promised, here’s HAWAII Magazine’s list of the eight most romantic songs ever to come out of our Islands.

Many of the compositions that made the final cut were pretty obvious when our editorial staff got together to brainstorm song selections in January. The occasion wasn’t Valentine’s Day. We were actually putting together our upcoming March/April HAWAII Magazine cover feature “Romance Hawaiian Style.”

But with today being Valentine’s Day, we figured “Why not share our list a bit early?”

Feel free to agree or disagree with us, or add some songs you believe we missed.

And be sure to click on each of the song titles to hear them.

1.    “Ke Kali Nei Au” (The Hawaiian Wedding Song) It just wouldn’t be a Hawaiian wedding without a performance of this song, composed in 1925 by Charles E. King.

2.    “To You Sweetheart Aloha” For decades, this song—written by Harry Owens—was the last song played at any Hawaii dance or nightclub.

3.    “I’ll Weave a Lei of Stars for You” One of R. Alex Anderson’s greatest tunes. Singer Emma Veary says, “The lyrics are just breathtakingly romantic.”

4.    “I’ll Remember You” If you want to hear the real Don Ho, forget “Tiny Bubbles” and listen to him sing this classic penned by Kui Lee.

5.    “Night Bird” This composition by the late Mackey Feary was a huge hit for his group Kalapana in the mid-1970s. It captures young love at its most intense.

6.    “Kawaipunahele” This haunting ballad about longing for a former love was Kealii Reichel’s first big hit. A decade and change later, it remains one of his most-requested songs.

7.    “About You” Cecilio Rodrigues never got the girl he wrote this song for. But it was a massive hit from Cecilio & Kapono's "Elua" album in 1975.

8.    “Better Together” Jack Johnson’s charming, heart-on-sleeve simple love song for his wife has in a few short years become a wedding staple, both in Hawaii and on the Mainland.
  

While your mind is on romance today, here’s a suggestion.

Tickets for the Hawaii Romance Festival go on sale today. For 10 days in May, the second annual music fest will give attendees more romance for their buck than a Nat King Cole ballads CD on repeat.

The Honolulu-based festival will run from May 2 through 11.

There’ll be concerts full of music’s greatest love songs interpreted live by the likes of Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Aaron Neville, Boz Scaggs, Sergio Mendes and Hawaii vocalists Amy Hanaialii Gilliom and Jimmy Borges.

(The line-up’s old school, yes. But the combo of love and vocalists like Smokey Robinson never goes out of fashion.)

Dinners, dancing and love flicks will be served up at the legendary Royal Hawaiian Hotel, under the stars at the Waikiki Shell and other venues around Honolulu.

Providing the soundtrack for all of the above? Romance Festival co-founder Matt Catingub (pictured) and his own Matt Catingub Orchestra.

If you’re in Honolulu, in May, and in love, it’s a sweetheart of a plan.

Tickets for Hawaii Romance Festival events and fest information may be found here.

  

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.

And the last time we checked, Hawaii was still one of the most romantic spots on Earth. So … if you’re with us in the Islands this week, consider this list we put together of places ideal for spooning with your loved one tomorrow.

1.    Hanalei Bay by moonlight. A song has been written about the Hanalei moon, but even if you don’t know the tune, you’ll feel its harmony. Even tomorrow night's quarter moon will suffice.

2.    Lanikai at sunrise. There is nothing more beautiful than watching the sunrise over the Mokulua Islands, with your bare feet in the sand.

3.    Kona Coast at sunset. Even better with a chilled glass of something nice in one hand, and your partner nearby.

4.    A nighttime cruise off Waikiki. It may look crowded from the sidewalk, but from the water, the lights of Waikiki are like diamonds.

5.    A picnic along the shore, just past Hana. It’s the closest you’ll come to your desert island fantasy.

Need a soundtrack for your day of romance? Return to Hawaiimagazine.com tomorrow for our staff-approved list of the eight most romantic songs ever to come out of Hawaii.

Trust us, it’s mix-CD nirvana.

Post-Valentine’s Day, HAWAII Magazine’s March/April cover story “Romance Hawaiian Style” promises sun-kissed stories of romantic adventure, extravagance and simplicity from our Islands. Look for it on newsstands later this month.

  

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom got engaged in Hawai‘i last weekend—to actress Jennifer Siebel. 

Newsom’s a colorful figure, best known for issuing 4,000 marriage licenses to gay couples, and for having an affair with his campaign chair’s wife.

The Big Question, according to California’s Sen. Dianne Feinstein, was: When?  When she asked him in public, Newsom declined to name a date.

Being from Hawaii, our question was: Where? What part of the Islands is suitable for mayoral proposal?

An AP story out of San Francisco insisted the bethrothal took place in the Big Island Kailua-Kona region.  We doubted it.  So HAWAI‘I Magazine called Newsom’s press office.  Their answer was: an unspecified location on Maui.

One rumor was that Newsom and Seibel were holed up in a condo in glittery Wailea, and seen hanging around a little at the Four Seasons there.

But we have a different theory, because a little internet digging turned up an interesting fact. 

In 2001, Newsom and other partners, including the Getty family, bought Hana Ranch.  Then Oprah Winfrey turned around and bought some of the remote Maui property from them for herself.