Word a Hawaiian Party Invitation
Whether you're throwing a luau or you just want a Hawaiian-themed party, the right words on your invitation set the tone. A good Hawaiian party invitation uses both Hawaiian words and a Hawaiian grammatical structure. Food, activities and dress code should be included in your instructions. And don't forget to tell your guests that they need to be on Hawaiian time-a couple hours late, brah.
Instructions
1. Start by deciding what you want to say. You'll need location and time, dress code, foods and any special instructions for your guests. Write your invitation in ordinary English.
2. Now get your Hawaiian on. Here's a short Hawaiian vocabulary of words commonly used:
Mahalo - Thanks
Aloha - Hello, with connotations of love and affection
Malama Pono - take care; a way to say good-bye
A hui hou - until we meet again - a way to say good-bye
Da - the; Hawaiians use "da" in place of "the" so consistently, the Oahu bus system is "Da Bus".
Brah - a version of "brother," Hawaiians use it the way we'd use the words "dude" or "pal."
Da kine - The Hawaiian catch-all word, means "thingy" or "that" when you can't think of quite the right word - or it can also mean "coolest" or "best", so you might be having a da kine party.
Yah - Hawaiian interrogatory word used at the end of lots of sentences in the same way as "you know" - we having this great bash with ono food, yah?
Ono - delicious
Broke da mouf - incredibly delicious, to the point that it "broke my mouth" - get it?
Mauka - toward the mountains, often used in giving directions
Makai - toward the ocean
Hale - home
Ho'olaule'a - street party or big festival
Keiki - children or child
Ohana - family
Talk story - Hawaiians often refer to informal get togethers and family gatherings as places to talk story, or sit around and gossip and/or chat.
Events you may want to include in your wording:
Our Wedding Day "Ko Maua La male 'Ana"
Baby Shower "Keiki Kuaua"
Birthday "La hanau"
Happy Sweet 16 "Hau'oli Momona 'Umi Kumaono"
Merry Christmas "Mele Kalikimaka"
Happy New Year "Hauoli Makahiki Hou"
Don't feel like you should use all or even many of these, but do look for logical places to include them in your invitations on that first rough draft you did in Step 1.
3. Use proper Hawaiian slang grammar. Hawaiians say "no" instead of "not", and often skip forms of "to be" when they talk: "Ho, that wahine no da kine me, yah?" ("That girl's not my type, you know?") Don't feel like you have to go really heavy on this, but do pay attention to how you're wording your invite.
4. Now put it all together.Start by translating what you've already got on your draft invitation. Now change that wording to blend in things you see in the word list above. If you're having a big family gathering, it might start "Come talk story at the Murphy ohana ho'olaule'a - bring your guitar." Or it might be "Come out to the Murphy luau, at Anne Murphy's hale. Broke da mouf food and hula lessons." Include a small sheet of paper with a list of translations for words you used in your invite.
5. Make sure your invitations can be understood. Test a couple of them on friends before you send them out. If they know what you're saying, the invites are ready to be sent. If not, thin out a little Hawaiianese and test again.
Tags: Broke mouf, dress code, feel like, Party Invitation, Word Hawaiian