There’s an unspoken rule in Hawai‘i that if you are attending a graduation, you must have a lei for the graduate.
In the Aloha State, it’s a common sight to see high school seniors stacked with lei on commencement day. Lei made of flowers, ti leaves, candy and even money are part of the celebration.
With high school and college graduation ceremonies scheduled in the coming weeks, lei makers on Hawai‘i Island have been taking pre-orders for at least a month, with some already completely booked.
Muscian and kumu hula Kuana Kahele explained that from the Hawaiian standpoint, lei for a graduate should be made from leaves and flowers gathered in the place they grew up.
“To receive that lei grounds them in where they come from,” Kahele said. “It reminds them of the land and love they come from.”
Kahele also is an accomplished lei maker who teaches the art. He said there’s been a surge in lei artisans, including a dozen on the Big Island who took his class.
There are a handful of traditional styles of lei, including twisting strands, braiding and weaving fibers and materials together. Kahele said the grad lei is the party lei where non-traditional materials are incorporated into the garland.
Materials include ribbon, non-native plants and even money with bills from the $1 to $100.
Big Island native April Qina, who owns Qina Girl Floral in Kealakekua, said kids growing up on the island knew how to make a basic lei.
Qina has owned her shop for 12 years and said graduation is one of her busiest times. This year, she already has stopped taking pre-orders.
Qina said she wants to make her specialty lei, like ilima, to “someone who knows how special it is.”
Ilima is a native plant to Hawai‘i, which historically was worn by royalty and has since been used in weddings, birthdays and other special occasions. It takes about 1,000 flowers to make a lei.
Qina perpetuates traditional lei making by planting as many lei plants as she can, like the ti leaf or the crown flower, because it helps with supply. She also makes lei with popular non-native fragrant flowers, including tuberose, pakalana, crown flower and lokelani.
Qina taps into her network of kūpuna who make lei with native and non-native materials.
Qina said she is making a lot of twisted lei this graduation season.
A basic single-strand floral lei, like plumeria, costs about $20. A double carnation is $80. A ti maile is $50. Qina will also make lei po‘o (head lei).
Click here to see Qina’s lei.
Lei maker and Kumu hula Lahela Spencer, owner of Mōhalu Hawai‘i in Waimea, said lei giving has to be done with intention and aloha, with graduation as a person’s “first big accomplishment.”
Spencer, who grew up dancing hula, learned how to make lei at a young age. As a dancer, she learned about how to correctly harvest and the significance of the flowers and leaves used for certain dances.
While Spencer would make lei for friends and family, she didn’t get into making large quantities of graduation lei until she did so for the graduating Class of 2019 at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy.
As part of the private school’s tradition, the boys and girls don’t where the traditional cap and gown. The boys wear a white shirt and white slacks and the girls wear a white dress. The school’s administration would gift each graduate a maile lei.
Maile, a fragrant endemic vine that grows in Hawai‘i, has historically been used for ceremonies and ancient Hawaiian rituals. Now, maile is one of the most sought-after lei to give a graduate.
To protect the special plant, Spencer, whose husband worked at the school, suggested to him that they make a ti-leaf lei in the maile style instead.
Spencer did a lei pop-up stand outside her house the following year where she sold out. She ultimately opened her small business where she teaches how to make lei as well as taking orders to fulfill.
Spencer also has continued to make ti maile for the graduates at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy.
Spencer opened this year’s graduation orders at the end of February. She currently has 150 lei orders and expects to get a bit more. You can order from Spencer’s business by clicking here.
She offers the ti leaf maile style lei and lei po‘o.
Spencer sells a single ti maile style lei from $25-$30. A double ti maile costs $45-$55.
Spencer said she tries to keep the maile-style ti leaf lei under the price of a maile lei, which ranges in price from $50 to $100.
Spencer makes colorful head lei as well as head lei from the leaf of the kukui, a nut tree that represents enlightenment, “which is perfect for graduation.”
The lei po‘o range in style and cost varies depending on that and the materials used.
“A lei is a way to show aloha for one another,” Spencer said. “A lei doesn’t have to cost much if you are making it yourself. You are putting all your good intentions into the lei that you are placing on the graduate’s shoulders.”
