Joe Miles

Conch Shell Blow: Here and at end of your ceremony.

Oli Aloha

Onaona I ka hala me ka lehua

Fragrant with the breath of hala and lehua

He hale lehua noʻia na ka noe

This is the sight I long to see

O kaʻu noʻia eʻanoʻi nei

Of this, my present desire

E liʻa nei hoʻi o ka hiki mai

Your coming fills me with eagerness

A hiki mai noʻoe oukou

Now that you have come

A hiki pū no me ke aloha

Love comes with you

Aloha e, Aloha e, Aloha e

Greetings, greetings, greetings

(Translation)

The Oli Aloha is a chant, which offers a word of greeting.

It says in part: This is the sight for which you have longed.

Now that you have come, love has come with you.

Today we meet by the sea as the two of you become one. Here where the earth meets this constant and unlimited force. And as are these waters, may the love you share be limitless, flowing and ever changing.

LEI EXCHANGE

For those of us who call Hawaii home, the flower lei is a symbol of love.

A Hawaiian wedding often begins as it does today with the exchange of leis and a kiss. We do this for several reasons.

One is that the lei is an unbroken circle, like the rings that soon will be blessed and exchanged, representing the eternal commitment of your hearts together.

Also, as each flower is brought into the circle, it loses none of its individual beauty, reminding us that in the unity of your love, you have lost none of your unique individuality.

In fact, the loving care and nurturing security of your relationship helps you grow even more fully into that special person with whom your partner fell in love.

As you exchange these leis you now will begin to weave your own lei of life. And now, with loving Aloha please present your leis to one another.

“E honi aku” (give her/him a kiss)

Aloha and welcome to the ceremony that will unite Groom and Bride in marriage.

We gather here today to celebrate their union, and to honor their commitment, to not just gazing at one another, but to looking outward in the same direction.

Today Bride and Groom proclaim their love to the world, and we rejoice with and for them.

As we celebrate their love that is so obvious on their faces, let us remember that we experience it in our own hearts as well.

It is a love that is universal which kindles our souls with hope and which is our true home, our true meeting place.

In marriage we give ourselves freely and generously into the hands of the one we love, and in doing so, each of us receives the love and trust of the other as our most precious gift.

But even as that gift is shared by two people who are in love, it also touches the friends and family members who in various ways support and contribute to the relationship.

All of you are Groom and Bride’s family, community and each of you has played some part in bringing them to this moment.

This is why gathering as we have today is such an important part of a wedding ceremony.

Because Bride and Groom are now taking a new form as a married couple and in this form they become part of their family, their ‘ohana in a new way.

INTRODUCTION TO VOWS

Groom and Bride, you realize that in a greater sense no other person or officiant can truly marry you.

Only you can marry yourselves.

By your commitment to love each other, to work with all your hearts toward creating an atmosphere of care and respect, and by your willingness to face together the fears and uncertainty that underlie human life; you marry yourselves more surely than any document we will put our signatures on today.

Your love for one another and your willingness to accept each other’s strengths and frailties with understanding and compassion will cement the foundation for a life together that will last.

Today you commit yourselves to honoring and protecting one another above your separate selves, and to valuing your union above your own interests.

In so doing, you will find a wealth of love and peace not otherwise attainable.

But with this joy comes a profound responsibility to protect the bond you share. For it is only with continual care that your love is truly secure in the face of life’s inevitable tests.

Please… regard each other with the deepest respect.

Appreciate each other’s talents, foster each other’s dreams, and be ever mindful of the many gifts each offers the other.

Inspire and encourage one another.

For by strengthening your partner, you strengthen your marriage.

Bring out the very best in each other. Be sparing in criticism and generous in praise for things well done.

In communication, be honest and open. For the heart that communicates truth without hesitation earns trust and builds a secure home.

Without truth there is no respect, and without respect there is no love.

Accept your marriage as a work-in-progress that will hereafter consume your attention, yet never be completed.

Because a lifelong love requires a lifetime of hard work.

But it is a joyous labor, whose fruits are the very richest.

A vast, unknown future stretches out before you.

That future, with its hopes and its challenges, its joys and its sorrows, is hidden from your eyes.

But it is a great tribute to your belief in each other that you are willing to share that life together.

May the pure, simple love with which you join hearts and hands today only grow deeper and stronger and more certain with every year you spend together.

Bride and Groom we are here to remember and rejoice with you and to recount with one another that it is love that guides us on our path; and to celebrate as you begin this journey together.

It is in this spirit that you have come here today to exchange these vows.

VOWS

Groom, repeat after me:

I, Groom, take you, Bride, to be my wife.

I promise above all else to live in truth with you, and to communicate fully and fearlessly.

I give you my hand and my heart as a sanctuary of warmth and peace, and pledge my love, devotion, faith and honor as I join my life to yours.

Bride, repeat after me:

I, Bride, take you, Groom, to be my husband.

I promise above all else to live in truth with you, and to communicate fully and fearlessly.

I give you my hand and my heart as a sanctuary of warmth and peace, and pledge my love, devotion, faith and honor as I join my life to yours.

RING EXCHANGE

You have chosen to exchange rings as a sign and seal of the promises you are making to one another today.

May these rings be blessed as the symbol of this affectionate unity.

These two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle.

Wherever you go, may you always return to one another in your togetherness.

May these two find in each other the love for which all men and women yearn.

May they grow in understanding and in compassion.

May the home which you have established together be such a place of sanctuary that many will find there a friend.

May these rings, on your fingers, symbolize the touch of the spirit of love in your hearts.

Groom take Bride’s ring and put it on her left ring finger and repeat after me:

Just as this circle is without end, my love for you is eternal.

Just as it is made of indestructible substance,

my commitment to you will never fail.

With this ring, I take you to be my trusted confidante and partner for life.

Bride take Groom’s ring and put it on his left ring finger and repeat after me:

Just as this circle is without end, my love for you is eternal.

Just as it is made of indestructible substance,

my commitment to you will never fail.

With this ring, I take you to be my trusted confidante and partner for life.

So may this shining hour be an open door through which Bride and Groom will go forth to build that dearest of all relationships, a happy marriage.

May the years deal gently with them; walking together may they find far more in life than either would have found alone.

BLESSING

PRONOUNCEMENT

Groom and Bride, although I am officiating here today to sanctify, legitimize and bless your relationship the two of you have already done so in your own hearts. So, by joining hands right now and looking into each other’s eyes, let it be known that you are joined, body and soul in this lifetime; and that this bond is sacred and eternal. Now that you have stood before all of us and have exchanged these vows and these rings, and have agreed to be married, it gives me great pleasure to pronounce that you are husband and wife together.

Groom, you may kiss your bride!