If you’re married, you probably fretted about your wedding. How many people could you afford to invite? Who would make the cut and who wouldn’t? Where would it be held?
Two people who didn’t fret were Harry Soukop and Kalo Mataele. On Dec. 13, 1975, they had one of the largest wedding receptions that probably has ever been held in the state. Nearly 3,900 guests attended, including Gov. George Ariyoshi and Mayor Frank Fasi.
More than 80 guests were friends of the groom. The other 3,800 were the bride’s friends, family and business associates.
The event was so large, it had to be held at the Blaisdell Center, then called the Honolulu International Center. Newspaper and television crews reported on it.
Harry Soukop was a pilot for Holland Airlines. Kalolaine Mataele was a dancer at the Hawaiian Hut, next to the Ala Moana Hotel. She had come to Hawaii in 1957 from Tonga.
Kalo became a dancer at the Hukilau in Laie, which evolved into the Polynesian Cultural Center. She was the first woman and first Polynesian on its board of directors 20 years ago.
She also danced at Spencecliff’s Queen’s Surf and was show director at the Hawaiian Hut for 38 years.
"Harry wanted someone who didn’t drink or smoke," Kalo says. "A friend brought him to my show. I was the dancer right in the middle. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off me. I brought him up on stage and made a fool of him that night. Rolled up his pants and shirt and taught him to hula. It was part of my act."
Harry and Kalo dated for more than a year and he popped the question.
Harry was unfamiliar with Tongan culture. When he met with Kalo’s family to tell them he planned to ask Kalo to wed, they all broke into tears.
"Oh no, they hate me," he told Kalo after.
"No, they are just happy for us," Kalo had to explain. "They cry when they are unhappy. They cry when they are happy."
Kalo is one of 13 children. She danced three to four shows a night for as little as $25 and helped bring all of her siblings and their large families to Hawaii. In all, she brought more than 1,000 people from Tonga. She paid for many tickets and, because she knew so many people in Waikiki, was able to arrange for employment for most of her relatives.
She told each of them to save $10,000 for a down payment on a home, and all did. In the 1960s, homes in Honolulu cost $30,000 to $40,000. Mortgages ran $250 to $300 a month. When they were paid off, she encouraged them to renovate and enlarge.
"Kalo’s family, from grandma down to the youngest grandchild, divided up the many wedding chores and duties," Harry Soukop says, "from location, facilities, food, head table, entertainment, program, music, stages, MCs and table configuration, into manageable pieces."
Everything would be prepared by the large Mataele family and their friends. One brother, Kauasi, went to the West Coast for suckling pigs, since no dealer in Hawaii could deliver the thousand that were required.
They were stored in Spencecliff restaurant freezers all over town. It took all night to cook them in Waimanalo.
While the pigs were cooking, the family was busy preparing the reception hall with tapa mats and flowers everywhere.
Between the rows of tables, the building’s supporting pillars were decorated with palm fronds and white flowers. On the opposite sides of the hall were two stages: One was used by musicians, while the other was used by guest performers and Polynesian dance groups.
Sterling Mossman, the "Hula Cop" from the Barefoot Bar at Queen’s Surf, was master of ceremonies. Entertainers included Melveen Leed, Genoa Keawe, Al Harrington, Danny Kaleikini, Loyal Garner, Hilo Hattie and the Hawaiian Hut Polynesian Show.
The wedding ceremony was held at the Mormon tabernacle on Beretania near Punahou. Guests came from as far away as Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Mexico, Canada, the mainland and even Europe. Since the wedding was on Dec. 13, the couple had 13 bridesmaids and 13 groomsmen.
The 3,897 guests sat 10 to a table at 400 tables. Three suckling pigs were placed on each table, along with lobster, crab, chicken, turkey, ham, prime rib, sashimi, octopus, curry, yams, fruit, taro and breadfruit.
The reception started at 1 p.m. and finally wound down around 10 p.m. It was a one-of-a-kind, traditional Tongan wedding celebration, the likes of which had never been witnessed in Honolulu before.
I asked Kalo how she handled all the wedding presents.
"We stored them at several condos around town," Kalo says. "I gave many to my family and kept the rest. We gave a printed thank-you card at the reception, when the gift was given, and Harry spent weeks writing more substantial thank-you cards."
Harry and Kalo have been happily married for nearly 38 years, and have written a book about Kalo’s life titled "Kalo’s Spiritual Impressions." It just came out this month. Find it at Native Books/Na Mea Hawai‘i, Brigham Young University and the Polynesian Cultural Center.
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Bob Sigall is the author of “The Companies We Keep” books. His third book is now available in the Amazon Kindle store. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
