In God’s name, with the deepest respect and the warmest aloha, Ms. Bride and Mr. Groom, from all of us who are here and those with us in our hearts and thoughts, we welcome you today (date/Year) to the Island of Maui, in the spirit of Aloha, the spirit of love, with great happiness and joy on this your wedding day.
Love is precious and marriage, eminatingg from this love, is the highest relationship we can have.
Bride and Groom, Love is an elixir of the heart that guided your commitment to become husband and wife. Ad- versity is the glue that cemented your commitment to each other and has shown you that your friendship and love will and does conquer the travails of life. Khalil Gibran, the great Lebanese writer and poet, wrote about love from his book The Prophet saying:
“When loves beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep. Loves give naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; for love is sufficient unto love. Love has no desire but to fulfill itself.”
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(Optional Leis Ceremony): The exchanging of leis at a wedding ceremony is a time honored tradition here in Hawaii. The significance is somewhat similar to the exchanging of rings with both being a token of your mutual love and respect that you give to each other. So as you place these leis on each other, allow the fragrance of these blossoms to encircle you in the spirit of these special Islands, please repeat these words of commitment to each otherandsealitwithakiss.. “Igiveyouthisleiswithallmyloveanddevotion.”
Bride and Groom, marriage is an act of faith, and a personal commitment that requires and deserves daily atten- tion. A good marriage requires a lot of hard work, effort, energy, time and a strong commitment to make it work. In the course of our daily lives their is not a more richer, rewarding experience than two partners striving and working side by side, with each partner supporting and enhancing the other, while maintaining their own individ- uality, interests, and pursuits. When two people, in the presence of God, pledge to love and care for each other in marriage, they create a spiritual bond that brings them closer together, more than any written or spoken word ever could. Marriage is a promise, a potential made in the hearts of two people who love, which takes a lifetime to ful- fill. Marriage is being the right partner, caring and supportive. In life and especially in marriage, nothing in life is easier than saying words, and nothing is harder than living these words day after day after day. What you promise each other today, must be renewed and decided again tomorrow, and tomorrow after that, and tomorrow after that. At the end of this ceremony, legally you will be husband and wife, but each and every day that stretches be- fore you, you still must decide that you want to be married! Make such a decision, and keep on making it, for the most important thing in life… is to love and to be loved!
In your voice I hear it. In your smile I see it. In your touch I feel it. You are all the things I love.
I have never loved anyone the way I love you.
I have never known someone so well and still feel there was so much left to discover..
I have never been able to say “I love you” and have it mean something beautifully different every time. I have never known someone I could spend hours with and still long for time to share…
I have never felt so close to someone in so many ways.
And even though I know I will never be able to tell you with words how much you mean to me…
I hope you somehow understand that the love I feel for you
is more beautiful, more meaningful than words can ever say.
Do you have the rings? The wedding ring is the symbolic representation for unending and everlasting love show- ing outwardly your inward commitment to one another.
Do you Mr Groom accept Ms. Bride as your wedded wife? Answer I do or I will
Repeat after me: I Groom, promise that I will love, honor, cherish, respect, appreciate, encourage, uplift, and be
faithful to you.. I will protect and support you in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer. I will share my life openly with you, speaking the truth to you in love; and, I promise, I will faithfully care for your needs, as your devoted husband, as long as we both shall live. Place the ring on her finger With this ring, I, Groom take you Bride, with all that I am, with all that I have, and with all I may become as my wedded wife.. (Own Words after repeating or own vows)
Do you Ms. Bride accept Mr Groom as your wedded husband? Answer I do or I will
Repeat after me I Bride promise that I will love, honor, cherish, respect, appreciate, encourage, uplift, and be faithful to you.. I will protect and support you in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer. I will share my life openly with you, speaking the truth to you in love; and, I promise, I will faithfully care for your needs, as your devoted husband, as long as we both shall live. Place the ring on his finger. With this ring, I, Bride take you Groom with all that I am, with all that I have, and with all I may become as my wedded husband. (Own Words after repeating or own vows)
Bride and Groom`, may you unfold the adventure of marriage; exploring the world together, loving fearlessly, feel- ing how real and present your union is from moment to moment, living your dreams, loving unconditionally, being fully aware of your power and sensitivities, and being happy by creating a life full of promise, success, ad- venture, excitement, joy and consciousness, full of commitment to the love and understanding of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And may the worst day of your future be better than the best day of your past.
As the Apache benediction says:
Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be the shelter to each other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other. Now there is no more loneliness for you, now there is no more loneliness. Now you are two bodies, but there is only one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place, to enter into your days of your togetherness. And may your days be good and long upon the earth.
The ancient Hawaiians in their wisdom and perception of our universe put the act of finding a mate and the join- ing of two persons in marriage into a beautiful and simple mele or chant. Let the words of an ancient Hawaiian marriage chant telling us of love sought and love found be our benediction and pronouncement
There was a seeking of the lost, now it is found. A mate is found. One to share the chills of winter.
Love has made a plea that you two become united.
Here is a perch, a perch in heaven. You two are now one. For the day is here at last. You are wedded
The prayer has gone its way.
Since both of you have joined voluntarily in this ceremony which unites you together in marriage by the power vested in me by the State of Hawaii and most of all, by the power of your love for each other, Bride and Groom, I now pronounce you husband and wife.
You may now share your first married kiss
It is my honor to introduce Bride and Mr Groom, husband and wife.
Opening Prayer
In God’s name we welcome you with deepest respect and warmest aloha.
Let us pray! Please bow your heads Eternal God, It is with great joy and happiness we have gathered here on the Island of Maui, today (date/year) to celebrate and bless, in your presence and these witnesses, the joining together of Mr. Groom and Ms. Bride in holy matrimony. We give thanks to you for the precious gift of life, and for its renewal each day. We give thanks to you for the dreams that Bride and Groom have for their life together and for their hopes for themselves and for each other.
On this day of their marriage, as we stand here together may bride and groom find in each other the love for which all men and women yearn. May their home be a center of love, joy, and affection sending out an invitation of friendship and understanding to all who enter into their presence. We pray with each passing day, that their love and their devotion towards each other will be the ban- ner for the rest of their lives. May they always love one another in sickness and in health, for bet- ter, or for worse; and may their lives together embrace and nurture the promise of this moment, so that all that know them will call them truly blessed. We pray that the words and spirit of our gathering may be filled with meaning which will deepen with the passing years as their nurturing, loving, giving, caring relationship matures and grows. Let us say Amen
Bride and Groom love and loyalty are the foundation of a happy and enduring home. The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy, for the help and comfort given another in prosperity and adversity; and when it is God’s will, for the procreation of children. Therefore mar- riage is entered into with reverence, deliberation, and forethought. During the days of your engagement you have given careful thought to your marriage. You began the joining of your lives and we pray that you will con- tinue to grow together throughout the time you share. No one knows the future. Yet your love for one another and your trust in the goodness of God’, and your love for each other, will make possible the act of faith you now make in our midst. As you exchange your vows of faithfulness, we will be listening and supporting you with our love. As you make your promises to each other, we will be reminded of promises we have made and be moved to renew our own.
Affirmation of Consent
Bride will you have this man, Groom, to be your husband, to live together in the covenant of holy marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor him, and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live. Answer: I do or I will.
Groom will you have this woman, Bride, to be your wife, to live together in the covenant of holy marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor her, and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faith- ful to her as long as you both shall live. Answer: I do or I will.
Man and women face each other; man takes right hand. Groom, please repeat after me.
I Groom, in the eyes of God and these witnesses, take you Bride to be my wedded wife. I will honor, respect, and appreciate you. I will have and hold you from this day forward, for better or for worse, in joy and in sor- row, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, promising to love and to cherish you until death do us part. Answer I do or I will
Woman takes man’s right hand. Bride, please repeat after me. I Bride, in the eyes of God and these witnesses, take you Groom to be my wedded husband, I will honor, respect, and appreciate you. I will have and hold you from this day forward, for better or for worse, in joy and in sorrow, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, promising to love and to cherish you until death do us part. Answer I do or I will
Ring Blessing
Do you have the rings? (Rings held by minister) Heavenly father bless and protect the wearing of these rings by Bride and Groom. May these two rings symbolize that spirit of their undying love and commitment to each other. Allow them to trust life and your love, and not be afraid of the experiences that life holds for them. Bless
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O Lord, the giving of these rings so that they who wear them, may live in your peace, and continue in your favor, all the days of their lives. And let us say: Amen.
Ring Exchange
The man places the ring on his brides ring finger and repeats: Bride, in God’s holy name, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow and my undying devotion, with all that I am and with all that I have.
The woman places the ring on her husband’s ring finger and repeats: Groom, in God’s holy name, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow and my undying devotion, with all that I am and with all that I have. .
(Optional recitation of Lord’s prayer/ Unity Ceremony available)
Optional Leis exchange Ceremony
These leis, as do the rings, depict the unity in which your two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle, a circle which symbolize holiness, perfection, and peace. Allowing these blossoms to encircle you as you stand here on this your wedding day, and listen to the words of an ancient Hawaiian marriage chant of love sought and love found: There was a seeking of the lost, now it is found. A mate is found.
One to share the chills of winter. Love has made a plea that you two become united.
Here is a perch, a perch in heaven. You two are now one. For the day is here at last! You are wedded
The prayer has gone its way.
Scripture reading From I Corinthians verse 13, there is a special reading to celebrate your love:
“… Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends… So faith, hope, love, abide these three, but the greater of these is love.”
Wedding Prayer and Benediction
Heavenly Father, May you, in your infinite wisdom, bless and grace your love on this marriage allowing Bride and Groom to continue to build this relationship strengthened by their devotion and faith in you. Fulfill every worthy wish of their hearts; open their eyes to the beauty and mysteries of the love they hold for each other, everyday as today. May Bride and Groom continue to grow together and may their love for one another deepen with the passing years, and may their life together continue to embrace and nurture the promise of this moment so that all who know them will continue to call their marriage truly blessed. Sustain them through the difficult and uncertain times that come to all relationships while allowing them to continue to find in each other the resources which will mature and deepen their love and commitment to each other. With your grace and blessing O Lord, surrounded by the love and devotion of Bride and Groom, I will recite a traditional benediction: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord’s light shine brightly upon you and be gra- cious unto you in joy and in sadness. May the Lord grant you peace, prosperity, love, and abundance now and forever, And let us say: Amen.
Now that Bride and Groom have exchanged their promises of faithful love and have given themselves to each other by solemn vows, with the joining of hands, (placing leis on each other), and the giving and receiving of rings in the presence of our holy father and those assembled for this joyous celebration of love, under the authority of the State of Hawaii and in the name of eternal love, we now recognize that Groom and Bride are husband and wife.
You may kiss your bride. It is my pleasure to introduce Mr. and Mrs Groom, husband and wife.
