Wedding guests stunned as massive Hawaii wave demolishes reception ceremony setup

It was supposed to be their perfect day. Then a 20 foot wave wiped out their wedding reception. Photo / k.e.n_n.y.b / Instagram

Towering waves on Hawaii's south shores crashed into homes and businesses, spilled across highways and upended weddings over the weekend.

The large waves — some more than 20 feet high (6 metres) — came from a combination of a southern swell that peaked Saturday evening, unusually high tides and rising sea levels from climate change, the National Weather Service said.

A wedding Saturday evening in Kailua-Kona was interrupted when a few particularly large waves swamped the event, sending tables and chairs crashing toward guests.

Sara Ackerman, an author who grew up in Hawaii and attended the wedding, filmed the waves as they barreled ashore.

"It just was huge," she said. "I was filming it and then it just came over the wall and just completely annihilated all the tables and chairs."

The moment a 20 foot wave wiped out a wedding reception. Photo / k.e.n_n.y.b / Instagram

She said it happened about five minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin.

"It wasn't like a life-threatening situation by any means whatsoever," she said. "It was just like, 'Oh my gosh ... what are we going to do? Where are we going to put the tables?'"

She said they went ahead with the ceremony and cleaned up the mess after the newlyweds exchanged vows.

"We had the ceremony and it was beautiful, having all the (sea) spray," she said. "The ocean was really wild. So it was great for the photos."

It was supposed to be their perfect day. Then a 20 foot wave wiped out their wedding reception. Photo / k.e.n_n.y.b / Instagram

Chris Brenchley, the meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service office in Honolulu, called the swell historic: "It's the largest it's been in several decades."

He said the waves were a product of "an interesting convergence of events."

The weekend waves had faces in excess of 20 feet high, Brenchley said. Most large swells that come from the south are typically no bigger than about 10 feet, which would trigger a high surf advisory.

Hawaii's north shores, where professional surfers often compete, usually get much larger waves. The predominant swell hits the north shores in the winter and the south shores in the summer.

Lifeguards across the state had a busy weekend.

They conducted at least 1,960 rescues on the island of Oahu alone on Saturday and Sunday.