When thinking about tropical weddings a lot of couples picture the ceremony venue to be a beach with swaying palm trees or lush gardens – there are a number of wedding chapels that give couples a combination of tradition and tropics.

Fiji is the chapel capital of the Pacific.

There are resort chapels at the Shangri-la Fijian and Outrigger Beach Resort on the Coral Coast, the Intercontinental Golf Resort & Spa south of Nadi and the Sheraton Denarau Island near Nadi.

In the Mamanuca group of islands the resorts with chapels are Treasure Island, Musket Cove, Mana Island and Tokoriki Island Resort.

I don’t know of any resort chapels in the Cook Islands (but there are lots of churches!) and in Samoa the only one I have been to is the cute coral church at Sheraton Samoa Beach Resort. It is a ‘working church’ and allows Catholic weddings only.

In Vanuatu there is a new wedding chapel at Tamanu on the Beach and the oldest chapel in the South Pacific is at Erakor Island Resort. It is an historic open-air chapel with only the original altar and bell as part of the spiritual experience. Even if you’re not religious, it is a peaceful and spiritual place to tie the knot.

Photo: Erakor Island Chapel in Vanuatu by Groovy Banana

Recently we had an inquiry asking whether we could arrange for a bagpiper to play at a chapel wedding ceremony into Fiji. Unfortunately we couldn’t find one. I have organised a piper for a Vanuatu wedding a few years back simply because there was a resident expatriate who was a piper – it’s not known as a tropical instrument! Having said that, there was a very Scottish kilted wedding at Erakor Island Resort in Vanuatu not that long ago…

The quest got me wondering what ‘bagpipes’ would be in the Vanuatu pidgin language, Bislama… It could be complicated when you consider that  ‘piano’ is ‘wan bigfala blak bokis hemi gat waet tut mo hemi gat blak tut, sipos yu kilim smol, hemi singaot gud’… This literally translates to ‘one big fella black box, him he got white tooth and him he got black tooth, suppose you kill him small (hit lightly) him he sing out good’…

Bislama is both an efficient and fun language. For example, Prince Charles is now 70 but age has not wearied him in the Bislama language – he is still known as ‘nambawan pikinini blong Misis Kwin’ which literally translates as the ‘number one baby belonging to Mrs Queen’…

Photo: Groovy Banana with more photos and videography of that wedding here)

Leith Campbell owns a business in Vanuatu called Top Shots – it is in the main street and sells photographic gear. Leith is also a top wedding photographer… here are a few of his weddings:

This one was taken at Benjor Beach Club… nice moment!

This one is at Eratap Beach Resort… bare feet in the sand can be so much part of a tropical wedding…

And this one could be Cocomo Resort… or Erakor Island Resort… or… well, who cares, she is just radiant!

And this is the happy snapper himself!