Note: Ernest adds beautiful, meaningful moments to his ceremony that are not reflected in this standard text – you will love him
GREETING
Shawn and Lori, we are here to celebrate your marriage. This day you have chosen to affirm your love for each other with spoken words, with prayer, and with the sharing of symbols.
May I ask who gives this beautiful bride away to this handsome man. Please give her a kiss on both cheeks. Give this man a hug. And now place her hands into his hands please.
May I have you look at all of these beautiful people who have come all this way and say “Mahalo”. And all of you please say “Mahalo” back please. One of the reasons I have people always exchange “mahalo” or thank you is to always be grateful for what you have in life, who you have in life. So understanding the beauty of love is appreciating love and you’ve got a lot of love right here right now. But you’ve also got a lot of love here in your hearts. I Love You got you this far. Recognize the beauty of Love.
Recognize the beauty of Aloha – Alo – is looking towards each other, face each other. The other part of Aloha is the Ha – lean towards each other and take a deep breath and touch foreheads and slowly exhale that breath towards each other and say I Love You and seal it with a kiss. Seal it with a real kiss. Look towards everyone here and remember one special thing – everything that you see on this incredible day, your day, everything that you hear in the sounds of laughter and the sounds of the beautiful ocean that surrounds you, also remember the reason today is a celebration of why you are standing here, because you love each other, so recognize the blessing of the journey have already had and look forward to the thousands of journeys to come. Look into each other’s eyes and whisper something to one another before I start. Look into her eyes and repeat after me –
Shawn and Lori, do you promise to let you love for each other grow, as it will, as it must, so that in the years to come, you will renew your acceptance, your understanding and your trust of one another? If so, please say, “We promise.”
I, Shawn, take you Lori, to be my wife. I promise to love you, only you, and cherish you. I will be a companion to you. I will share my strengths and my also my achievements with you. I promise to respect you and be a friend to you for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health for as long as we both shall live.
I, Lori, take you Shawn, to be my husband. I promise to love you, only you, and cherish you. I will be a companion to you. I will share my strengths and also my achievements with you. I promise to respect you and be your best friend for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health as long as we both shall live.
The reason I have you lean foreheads together, take a deep breath and exhale that breath towards each other and say each other’s name and say I Love You, is because this incredible journey you are about to walk in is thousands of blessings and you are going to go somewhere special – prior to getting to that somewhere there are a lot moments when you need to stop and appreciate the moments of life, when you need to acknowledge first each other, and your purpose of “I love you” and the beauty of a simple breath, but the most important and beautiful thing you’ll breath in life is each other. Recognize the simpleness of breath but also how precious it is, and seal that with a kiss.
We call this the lei of aloha. It is made up of many beautiful flowers. If all of the family and friends that you love forms a circle around you it is the lei of aloha in life. The beauty of each flower represents the beauty of someone you love. Remember it is a symbol of things fragile and temporal. A flower lei will last for a day or two and then it is gone. Our lives are like the lei within the span of eternity. We are here in this lifetime for only a brief moment. May the leis you now offer each other be recognized for the earnestness of your love for each other. Please take this beautiful lei and give it a kiss and say “I love you”, kiss on both cheeks, and slip one in the middle.
First recognize the beauty of these rings. Now recognize the simplicity of these rings. Just the beautiful simple circle. But if you add something meaningful to this beautiful simple circle – it has no beginning or end to it, allow yourself to recognize this day as a confirmation in life – 25 years from now you will look back and say what an amazing journey you have had in your life. Place that beautiful ring upon her ring finger and give her a beautiful smile – look into her eyes, hold onto both hands and repeat after me:
Lori, I give this ring to you . It is a symbol of all of my love for you. I give myself to you to be your husband so that from this day forward you will never walk alone. I feel so honored and blessed to have you as my wife. I vow to love you, and to sustain you in the covenant of our marriage for as long as we both shall live. Lori, I love you with all of my heart.. Thank you so much for loving me. Bless her ring with a kiss. Also bless her with a kiss.
Shawn, I give this ring to you . It is a symbol of all of my love for you. I give myself to you to be your wife so that from this day forward you shall not walk alone. I feel so honored to have you as my husband. I vow to love you, and to sustain you in the covenant of our marriage for as long as we both shall live. Shawn, I love you with all of my heart.. Thank you so much for loving me. Bless his ring with a kiss. Also bless him with a kiss.
I have two questions for all of you: Are you all ready to welcome this couple into your lives as a husband an wife, please say “we are”. And if they come knocking on your door looking for some blessings or guidance for their journey in life, do you promise to support them, if so please say “we promise”. This is your foundation right here. You are building your own beautiful foundation in life. A lot of blessing upon you as you learn from them be apart of you journey as you continue growing as a husband and a wife.
I am going to pray a blessing upon this couple, bow your heads please. Heavenly Father,we are so grateful for this beautiful day you have given us in life. And with that breath of life, we take every blessing that comes towards us and we are so humbled by the beauty that surrounds us every day. This is an incredible day. Now you are walking in the beauty as husband and wife. But also remaining the best of friends. Thanks you so much for the journey ahead of them.Allow them to recognize all the love and all the support around them but also supporting their new journey. Bless their family and friends. And this day is a wonderful celebration and a beautiful memory they will always cherish in their hearts. God bless in Jesus Christ name amen.
We have witnesses to this special day. Therefore, I, and those of us here with you, recognize that you have become husband and wife and we and all of your family and friends shall honor you as the same from this day forward.
May the blessings of our Father which is in heaven be given unto you here on Earth. May His kingdom come and His will be done in your lives together from this day forward. Amen.
Shawn and Lori, remember this day here in beautiful Maui with joy and thanksgiving, and may you love to live and live to love.