Reverend Patrick Thompson
MARRIAGE CEREMONY
(Greeting of the Guests).
DEARLY BELOVED, we are gathered here today to join this couple in the vows of holy matrimony. By performing this marriage ____________ and _____________ make a public statement about their private thoughts and commitments to each other. Marriage means sharing your most intimate self with one other person being united with someone you can trust, you can turn to in time of need, you can give love to and receive love from. Marriage means living in love with your best friend. Love is reality, affinity and communication. Marriage is a symbol of creating a new life in which the base is love.
LEI CEREMONY
Now ___________ and ___________ have chosen to begin their wedding with a traditional exchanging of lei, reflecting the elemental beauty of the islands and the sweet fragrance of their love. The lei represents respect, aloha and the unending circle of love.
Na ke aloha i kono e hui 'olua e. (It is love that calls you both).
PRAYER FOR MARRIAGE
Let blessings now rest upon this man and woman as they enter into this holy union. Let all the days before them be bright and happy. If pain or sorrow enters their life, help them bear it together - with compassion be joined all the more closely by it. Let them be aware of each other's uniqueness. Grant that their house, wherever it shall be, may be for them the happiest place. Grant that their home be nurtured with mutual love, honor and respect. And as they begin their wedded life today in prayer, so may they continue it. AMEN
He waiwai nui ke aloha. (Love is a great treasure).
"Love possesses not, nor would it be possessed; for love is sufficient unto love.... so let there be spaces in your togetherness and let the winds of heaven dance between you. Give your hearts but not into each other's keeping, for only the hand of life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together; for the pillars of temple stand apart, and the oak and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow."
(Kahlil Gibran)
E pili mau na pomaika'i me 'olua. (May good fortune cling to you both).
PROMISES
Do you ___________ promise to love _____________ and to live with him/her through this lifetime to build with him/her a new home that is a place of love, joy, sharing and growing?
(Says, "I do.")
Do you ___________ promise to be with him/her in all of his/her adversities and triumphs and in his/her happiness to give him/her your best counsel and above all freedom to be himself/herself?
(Says, "I do.")
Aloha kekahi kekahi, pela no ka noho 'ana. (Love one another; that is the way of living).
RING BLESSING
(Minister hands bowl to couple).
The bowl that the couple is holding is made from koa, a tree that grows in the uplands - strong, beautiful and enduring, like your love. In the bowl is ke kai, the ocean water. It is what separates our islands and unites our islands. It is life, purity and cleansing. The ti leaf throughout Polynesia is representative of blessings for mind, body and spirit.
Na ke akua e ho'omaika'i ia keia mau komo. (Blessings on these rings from above).
(Minister sprinkles water over rings with ti leaf).
(Minister hands groom the brides ring, he places it upon her finger and repeats), “____________, with this ring as a symbol of my love and devotion, I thee wed."
(Minister hands bride the groom's ring, she places it upon his finger and repeats) , “____________, with this ring as a symbol of my love and devotion, I thee wed."
BENEDICTION
"Now you will feel no rain,
for each of you will be shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold.
for each of you will be warmth to each other.
Now there is no more loneliness.
Now you are two bodies,
but there is only one life before you.
Go now to enter into the days of your togetherness.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth."
PRONOUNCING MARRIAGE
In the name of all that is sacred, we commend the consummation of this marriage to be strong and joyous.
Aloha e hui mau. (Always together in the spirit of love).
I now pronounce you husband and wife!
You may kiss.
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Weddings on the Big Island of Hawaii
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