Kauai Information > Kauai Lei Making

Kauai Lei Making “In Hawai`i, our most beloved chants and songs speak of lei, for a lei is not simply a strand of flowers sewn on a string, it is a garland of the many strands of love which grow over time, woven together into a symbol of affection and care for the recipient. Things strung on a string are a necklace. A gift woven of love is a lei.”

The wreaths of flowers and foliage worn by both men and women add fragrance and beauty to island life. Any flower can be used to make the Kauai lei. Most leis are made from the sweet plumaria. There are different stringing styles. The most common is kui, which is the stringing the flower from the side or middle. The kumuhumu style is much more difficult. In the humuhumu style, the flowers lay flat and are sewn to some type of lei to give it stability. Wili is made by a technique of winding flowers or greenery together. If flowers are used in a hili the style is known as the haku style. The haku is the most difficult, intricate and beautiful lei type.

Not all lei are made from flowers. A special song composed for a loved one can be a lei. But all of them are a tangible expression of aloha, and as such are given to show love, joy, or sympathy, and as greetings and farewells.

In modern times, a lei is often given with a kiss. The story goes: During World War II, a hula dancer at one of the USO clubs was dared by her girlfriends to kiss a handsome young officer. She met the challenge by going up to him and giving him her lei, saying, "It is our custom to give a kiss with a lei." Thus a new "ancient" custom was born.