Wedding Ceremonies
Religious Ceremony
Religious Ceremony
Wedding Ceremony
of
Groom and Bride
Maui Hawaii
Date
Optional: Conch shell blow, here and at end of your ceremony.
Oli Aloha
Optional: Goes nicely with conch blow.
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 – Optional
For those of us who call Hawaii home, the flower lei is a symbol of love.
Here in the Islands a 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)
Opening Prayer (Optional)
Let us take a moment to meditate on the sacrament of marriage, open our hearts to the Lord to enter this ceremony, and give thanks for the beauty that surrounds us.
Let us pray.
Groom and Bride come today desiring to be united in this sacred relationship.
So God, we thank you for the love that Bride and Groom, have for you.
We believe that you have led them to this day and we ask your blessing as they exchange their vows and seal their promises.
As they become husband and wife, may they do so not only in our presence, but in Yours, with Your grace surrounding them and Your love within their hearts. We pray through Christ, Amen.
Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the love of Groom and Bride, as they make their pledges of marriage before God and before this company.
Jesus Christ was once asked, “What is the greatest Law that mankind must follow?” And he answered them by saying that we must love God with all our hearts, and love our neighbors as our selves.
I think that when he said these words, he touched upon something we all feel very deeply in our hearts, and that is that love is the greatest gift we can offer one another.
And that is what makes marriage so very special and such a cause of joy and celebration for all of us who have come here today to share in this event.
Marriage is an act of faith and ever-deepening commitment, as well as a loving union between God’s children.
It has been described as the best and the most important relationship that two people can share, the creation of a single growing energy of spiritual life.
Marriage can be a lifelong unfolding of loving kindness, backed by the will to make it last.
There is no limit to the knowing of another’s soul, and when you learn to love one person, you grow in love for all of humanity.
We hope that the words and spirit of our gathering may be filled with a truth that will deepen with the passing years.
We hope too that the meaning of the vows that Bride and Groom are about to share with one another will deepen as well, as they discover the endless possibilities of this life together.
We ask that the vision that you have of one another be always informed by that Radiant Power which first brought you together.
Love is stronger than your conflicts, bigger than life’s changes, the miracle always inviting you to learn, to blossom and to expand.
It is to Love that you must always return.
INTRODUCTION TO VOWS
The ceremony of marriage in which you come to be united is one of the first and oldest ceremonies in all the world, celebrated in the beginning in the presence of God himself.
Marriage is a gift in that we give ourselves totally to one another.
I believe that marriage is a gift given to comfort the sorrows of life and to magnify life’s joys.
Marriage is the clasping of hands, the blending of two hearts, the union of two lives into one and your marriage must stand, not by the authority of the state, nor by the seal on your wedding certificate, but by the strength and power of the faith and love you have in God and in one another.
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 and in God 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.
INVOCATION Optional:
O God who gives us life, we bring the lives of Groom and Bride before you.
Bless their commitment of themselves to one another.
Breathe into their marriage the vitality that only your spirit gives.
Grant them the strength, the energy and the fortitude to nurture this relationship through whatever they face.
Protect them and guide them each day so that they can live before you, honoring you with this union.
Only you, O Lord, have given us life and love.
Lead this happy couple in the path of love.
May their lives, joined together, reflect your presence in this world, in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
VOWS
Now, will you please turn and face one another and join hands to express your vows of love and devotion each to the other.
Groom will you please repeat this vow to Bride, saying after me:
I, Groom, take you, Bride, to be my wife, to have and to hold,
from this day forward, for better or for worse,
for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, in sadness and in joy,
I promise to love and cherish you for as long as we both shall live.
Bride, will you please repeat this vow to Groom saying after me:
I, Bride, take you, Groom, to be my husband, to have and to hold,
from this day forward, for better or for worse,
for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, in sadness and in joy,
I promise to love and cherish you for as long as we both shall live.
The word of God tells us what love is like and what love does:
Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous;
love does not brag and is not arrogant, it does not act unbecomingly;
it does not seek its own, it is not provoked,
and it does not take into account a wrong suffered,
it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
for love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, and endures all things,
but above all, love never fails.
— 1 Corithians 13:4-8
RING EXCHANGE
Having this kind of love in your hearts for one another, you have chosen to exchange rings as the sign and seal of the promises you are making to one another today.
May God bless these rings as a symbol of this affectionate unity.
Rings are very large in their significance.
They are made of a precious metal and precious stone and that reminds us that love is neither cheap nor common; but indeed, love is very valuable and dear to us.
These rings are also made in a circle and their design tells us that we must keep love continuous throughout our whole lives just as the circle of the ring is continuous.
As you wear these rings, whether you are together or apart for even just a moment, may these rings be a constant reminder of the promises you are making to one another this day.
To Groom: Groom, will you please take this ring and place it upon Bride’s left ring finger, and holding her hand in yours, please repeat this promise to Bride, saying after me:
With this ring, I seal my promise, to be your faithful and loving husband,
as God is my witness.
To Bride: Bride, will you please take this ring and place it upon Groom’s left ring finger, and holding his hand in yours please repeat this promise to Groom, saying after me:
With this ring, I seal my promise, to be your faithful and loving wife,
as God is my witness.
PRAYER
Let us pray.
O thou Eternal God, who art our Father and our Friend, as You have heard these words of promise just spoken, may the Holy Spirit deepen in the mind of this man and this woman the sense of the sacred and binding power of their vows.
And as in Thy Name these words were spoken to make these two lives one, may your rich Blessing be added.
Give them your grace and guidance, that they may loyally fulfill the vows that they have taken.
When selfishness shows itself, grant generosity; when mistrust is a temptation, give moral strength; when there is misunderstanding, give patience and gentleness; if suffering becomes a part of their lives, give them a strong faith and an abiding Love.
May your joy abide with them always, that thus they may be a blessing to each other and to those about them. Amen
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, you have come here today before all of us and before God and have expressed your desire to become husband and wife.
You have shown your love and affection by joining hands and have made promises of faith and devotion, each to the other and have sealed these promises by the giving and the receiving of rings.
Therefore, it is my privilege to pronounce that you are husband and wife.
Groom, you may kiss your bride!
Spiritual Ceremony I
Spiritual Ceremony
Wedding Ceremony
of
Groom and Bride
Maui Hawaii
Date
Optional: Conch shell blow, here and at end of your ceremony.
Oli Aloha
Optional: Goes nicely with conch blow.
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 – Optional
For those of us who call Hawaii home, the flower lei is a symbol of love.
Here in the Islands a 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
May these rings be blessed as a symbol of this affectionate unity.
For thousands of years, lovers have exchanged rings as a token of their vows.
These simple bands are not of great value in themselves but are made precious by our wearing of them.
Your rings say that even in your uniqueness you have chosen to be bound together.
Let these rings also be a sign that love has substance as well as soul, a past, a present and a future, and that, despite its occasional sorrows, love is a circle of happiness, wonder, and delight.
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.
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; and even more fully, may they come to know this one supreme truth….
That caring is sharing….
That Living is giving….
That Life is eternal….
And that Love is its crown.
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.
Groom, you may kiss your bride!
Spiritual Ceremony II
Spiritual Ceremony
Wedding Ceremony
of
Groom and Bride
Maui Hawaii
Date
Optional: Conch shell blow, here and at end of your ceremony.
Oli Aloha Optional
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.
HAWAIIAN BLESSING Optional:
A o ka mea nona ka mana
E hana mai ai i na mea a pau
A kakou e noi aku ai, ‘a e manao iho ai
A nui loa aku hoi
And of the things of power….
All great and small things from above for all…
Beyond measure….
*This is a very rough translation. I will explain it more fully during your ceremony, e.g. “and of the things of power” means the power of Love, the power of Creation, the power of the Universe…
LEI EXCHANGE – Optional
For those of us who call Hawaii home, the flower lei is a symbol of love.
Here in the Islands a 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)
INTRODUCTION TO VOWS
If it were possible to begin this ceremony by gathering together all the wishes of happiness for Groom and Bride from all present here… if we could gather together those precious wishes of affection and our very fondest hopes and turn them into music, we would be listening now to a most inspiring anthem, where it would be composed of the most harmonious notes possible to produce.
Even though this is not possible, just speaking of it should assure Bride and Groom that our hearts are attuned to yours in these moments so meaningful to all of us for what greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen each other in all labor, to comfort each other in all sorrow, to share with each other in all gladness.
Marriage is an act of faith and a personal commitment as well as a moral and physical union between the parties. Marriage has been described as the best and most important relationship that can exist between two human beings; the construction of their love and trust into a single growing energy of spiritual life.
It is a moral commitment that requires and deserves daily attention since no earthly happiness exceeds that of a reciprocal satisfaction in the conjugal state.
Marriage should be a lifelong dedication to the ideal of loving kindness, backed with the will to make it last.
We read in “The Prophet”,
True love gives nothing but itself and takes nothing but from itself
Love does not possess, nor would it be possessed
For love is sufficient unto love.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself,
To awake at dawn with a winged heart and
Give thanks for another day of loving.
To rest at noon and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude,
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart
And a song of praise upon your lips.
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 the other offers you.
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 with every year you spend together.
It is in this spirit that you have come here today to exchange these vows.
VOWS
Groom, do you take Bride to be your wedded wife, to love, to cherish, to continually bestow upon her your heart’s deepest devotion?
Groom says: “I do.”
And Bride, do you take Groom to be your wedded husband, to love, to cherish, to continually bestow upon him your heart’s deepest devotion?
Bride says: “I do.”
Please hold hands and repeat after me:
(To Groom)
Bride, I receive you now as my wife, from this day forward,
to love, to cherish and to have and to hold, for better or for worse,
for richer or for poorer in sickness and in health, in sadness and in joy,
to share together as long as we both shall live.
(To Bride)
Groom, I receive you now as my husband, from this day forward,
to love, to cherish and to have and to hold, for better or for worse,
for richer or for poorer in sickness and in health, in sadness and in joy,
to share together as long as we both shall live.
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 a 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.
(hand ring to Groom) Groom, in placing this ring on Bride’s finger repeat after me:
Bride, I give you this ring as the pledge of my love and as the symbol of our unity.
(hand ring to Bride) Bride, in placing this ring on Groom’s finger, repeat after me:
Groom, I give you this ring as the pledge of my love and as the symbol of our unity.
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 you; walking together may you find far more in life than either would have found alone.
PRONOUNCEMENT
In as much as Groom and Bride have consented together in marriage before this company; have pledged their faith and declared their unity by each giving and receiving a ring and are now joined in mutual esteem and devotion.
As an ordained Minister, it is my privilege to pronounce that they are husband and wife.
Groom, you may kiss your bride!
Spiritual Ceremony III (combo of 1 & 2)
Spiritual Ceremony
Wedding Ceremony
of
Groom and Bride
Maui Hawaii
Date
Optional: Conch shell blow, here and at end of your ceremony.
Oli Aloha Optional
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 – Optional
For those of us who call Hawaii home, the flower lei is a symbol of love.
Here in the Islands a 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 and it is with the greatest joy we share with them as they embark on life’s journey together.
Bride and Groom, marriage is the promise between two people who love each other, who trust that love, who honor one another as individuals in that togetherness, and who wish to spend the rest of their lives together.
It enables the two separate souls to share their desires, longings, dreams, and memories, their joys and sorrows, and to help each other through all uncertainties of life.
A strong marriage also nurtures each of you as separate individuals and allows you to maintain your unique identity and grow in your own way through the years ahead.
It is a safe haven for each of you to become your best self while together you become better than ever could be alone.
You are adding to your life not only the affection of each other, but also the companionship and blessing of a deep trust.
You are agreeing to share strength, responsibilities and love.
To make this relationship work, therefore, takes more than love.
It takes trust, to know in your hearts that you want only the best for each other.
It takes dedication, to stay open to one another, to learn and grow, even when it is difficult to do so.
And it takes faith, to go forward together without knowing what the future holds for you both.
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.
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.
With this ring, I take you to be my trusted confidante and partner for life.
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.
Groom, you may kiss your bride!
Spiritual Vow Renewal Ceremony
Vow Renewal Ceremony
of
Groom and Bride
Maui Hawaii
Date
Optional: Conch shell blow, here and at end of your ceremony.
Oli Aloha Optional
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 – Optional
Here in Hawaii we exchange flower leis, signifying our open hearts and love for one another.
The beautiful lei with all of its hand-picked flowers, are twined and carefully bonded together with love.
A reflection of the many years of your love and Aloha for each other.
As you exchange these leis you now will continue 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)
Let this be a day of gladness, thanksgiving, possibility, and good fortune for all of us, but especially for Groom and Bride, who are here to renew and celebrate their love.
Good relationships never stop growing. Like fine wine, they get better with age.
Bride and Groom, date, marks the ___ anniversary of your marriage and through all the years of your journey together, you have now returned to Maui, to this beautiful setting, so that you could renew your vow and commitment of love for each other.
If it were possible to begin this ceremony by gathering together all the wishes of happiness for Bride and Groom from all present here.
If we could gather those precious wishes of affection and our very fondest hopes and turn them into music, we would be listening now to a most inspiring anthem, where it would be composed of the most harmonious notes possible to produce.
Even though this is not possible, just speaking of it should assure Groom and Bride that our hearts are attuned to theirs in these moments so meaningful to all of us for “what greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel they are joined together to strengthen each other in all labor, to comfort each other in all sorrow and to share with each other in all gladness”
Marriage has been described as the best and most important relationship that can exist between two human beings; the construction of their love and trust into a single growing energy of spiritual life.
Marriage should be a lifelong dedication to the ideal of loving kindness backed by the will to make it last.
We read in “The Prophet”: Optional
True love gives nothing but itself
And takes nothing but from itself
Love does not possess, nor would it be possessed
For love is sufficient unto love.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself,
To awake at dawn with a winged heart and
Give thanks for another day of loving.
To rest at noon and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude,
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart
And a song of praise upon your lips.
Marriage is more than a contract. It is a commitment to take your joy deeper than happiness, deeper into the discovery of who you really are.
It is a journey to a life of becoming.
Marriage is even deeper than commitment.
It is a covenant…a covenant that says: I love you. I trust you.
I will be here for you when you are hurting.
And when I am hurting, I will not leave. . .
Marriage is intended to provide a sanctuary safe enough to risk loving, to risk fully living and risk sharing from the center of yourself
Just as spring blossoms anew after a harsh winter, so must spouses renew their love for each other in their daily lives.
Today you renew your vows and your love as husband and wife.
This moment begins the new spring of your love for one another. So may it be renewed each day in your hearts.
Bride and Groom, we are here today 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 continue this journey together.
It is in this spirit that you have come here today to exchange these vows.
VOWS
Groom and Bride, have you come here freely and with the intention of a renewal of your marriage vows?
(Both answer “We have.”)
Will you continue to love and honor each other as husband and wife every day as you have promised to do?
(Both answer “We do.”)
Will you love, comfort and cherish, keeping each other forever more?
(Both answer “We will.”)
Groom please repeat this renewal vow to Bride saying after me:
I again take you to continue to be my wife… my partner in life,
I give you my unending love and devotion.
I promise to be true to you and to cherish you
And to share my thoughts, hopes and dreams with you.
I thank you for the time we’ve had together,
And it is with hope, faith and joy that I look forward to continuing our journey.
And with this renewal of vows, our love and commitment will grow even stronger.
Bride please repeat this renewal vow to Groom saying after me:
I again take you to continue to be my husband… my partner in life,
I give you my unending love and devotion.
I promise to be true to you and to cherish you
And to share my thoughts, hopes and dreams with you.
I thank you for the time we’ve had together,
And it is with hope, faith and joy that I look forward to continuing our journey.
And with this renewal of vows, our love and commitment will grow even stronger.
RINGS
May these rings be blessed as a symbol of this affectionate recommitting of your lives.
The wedding ring is the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual bond, which unites two loyal hearts in endless love.
Your rings say that even in your uniqueness you have chosen to be bound together.
Let these rings also be a sign that love has substance as well as soul, a past, a present and a future, and that, despite its occasional sorrows, love is a circle of happiness, wonder, and delight.
Groom, repeat after me….
Bride, with this ring, I continue to take you to be my trusted confidante
and partner for life.
Bride, repeat after me….
Groom, with this ring I continue to take you to be my trusted confidante
and partner for life.
May this shining hour be an open door through which Bride and Groom will go forth to continue to build that dearest of all relationships, a happy marriage.
May the years deal gently with you; walking together may you continue find far more in life than either would have found alone.
PRONOUNCEMENT
Although I am officiating here today to sanctify and bless your relationship the two of you have already done so in your own hearts.
By joining hands right now and looking into each other’s eyes, let it be known that you are recommitted, body and soul in this lifetime, and that bond is sacred and eternal.
Now that you have stood before me and have exchanged these renewal vows and these rings it gives me great pleasure to pronounce that you have reaffirmed your life’s commitment to one another.
Go forth in love and friendship for the rest of the days of your lives.
Groom you may kiss your bride!
Religious Vow Renewal Ceremony
Vow Renewal Ceremony
of
Groom and Bride
Maui Hawaii
Date
Optional: Conch shell blow, here and at end of your ceremony.
Oli Aloha Optional
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 – Optional
Here in Hawaii we exchange flower leis, signifying our open hearts and love for one another.
The beautiful lei with all of its hand-picked flowers, are twined and carefully bonded together with love.
A reflection of the many years of your love and Aloha for each other.
As you exchange these leis you now will continue 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)
Dearly Beloved,
Let this be a day of gladness, thanksgiving, possibility, and good fortune for all of us, but especially for Groom and Bride, who are here to renew and celebrate their love before God and before this company.
Good relationships never stop growing. Like fine wine, they get better with age.
Bride and Groom, date marks the ___ anniversary of your marriage and through all the years of your journey together, you have now come (returned) to Maui, to this beautiful setting, so that you could renew your vow and commitment of love for each other.
If it were possible to begin this ceremony by gathering together all the wishes of happiness for Bride and Groom from all present here….
If we could gather those precious wishes of affection and our very fondest hopes and turn them into music, we would be listening now to a most inspiring anthem, where it would be composed of the most harmonious notes possible to produce.
Even though this is not possible, just speaking of it should assure Groom and Bride that our hearts are attuned to theirs in these moments so meaningful to all of us for “what greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel they are joined together to strengthen each other in all labor, to comfort each other in all sorrow and to share with each other in all gladness.”
Marriage has been described as the best and most important relationship that can exist between two human beings: the construction of their love and trust into a single growing energy of spiritual life.
Marriage should be a lifelong dedication to the ideal of loving kindness backed by the will to make it last.
The Word of God tells us what love is and what love does:
Love is patient, love is kind, love is not jealous;
love does not brag and is not arrogant, it does not act unbecomingly;
it does not seek its own, it is not provoked,
and it does not take into account a wrong suffered,
it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
for love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, and endures all things,
but above all, love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Marriage is more than a contract. It is a commitment to take your joy deeper than happiness, deeper into the discovery of who you really are. It is a journey to a life of becoming.
Marriage is even deeper than commitment. It is a covenant…a covenant that says: I love you. I trust you. I will be here for you when you are hurting. And when I am hurting, I will not leave. . .
Marriage is intended to provide a sanctuary safe enough to risk loving, to risk fully living and risk sharing from the center of yourself.
Just as spring blossoms anew after a harsh winter, so must spouses renew their love for each other in their daily lives.
Today you renew your vows and your love as husband and wife.
This moment begins the new spring of your love for one another.
May it be renewed each day in your hearts.
INVOCATION
O God who gives us life, we bring the lives of Groom and Bride before you. Bless their
recommitment of themselves to one another. Breathe into their continuing marriage the
vitality that only your spirit gives. Grant them the strength, the energy and the fortitude
to nurture this relationship through whatever they face. Protect them and guide them
each day so that they can live before you, honoring you with this union.
Only you, O Lord, have given us life and love. Continue to lead this happy couple in the path of love.
May their lives, joined together, reflect your presence in this world, in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
VOWS
Bride and Groom, we are here today 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 continue this journey together.
It is in this spirit that you have come here today to exchange these vows.
Groom and Bride, have you come here freely and with the intention of a renewal of your marriage vows?
(Both answer “We have.”)
Will you continue to love and honor each other as husband and wife every day as you have promised to do?
(Both answer “We do.”)
Will you love, comfort and cherish, keeping each other forever more?
(Both answer “We will.”)
Groom please repeat this renewal vow to Bride saying after me:
I again take you to continue to be my wife… my partner in life,
I give you my unending love and devotion.
I promise to be true to you and to cherish you
And to share my thoughts, hopes and dreams with you.
I thank you for the time we’ve had together,
And it is with hope, faith and joy that I look forward to continuing our journey.
And with this renewal of vows, our love and commitment will grow even stronger.
Bride please repeat after me to Groom:
I again take you to continue to be my husband… my partner in life,
I give you my unending love and devotion.
I promise to be true to you and to cherish you
And to share my thoughts, hopes and dreams with you.
I thank you for the time we’ve had together,
And it is with hope, faith and joy that I look forward to continuing our journey.
And with this renewal of vows, our love and commitment will grow even stronger.
RINGS
May God once again bless these rings as a symbol of this affectionate recommitting of your lives.
The wedding ring is the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual bond, which unites two loyal hearts in endless love.
Your rings say that even in your uniqueness you have chosen to be bound together.
Let these rings also be a sign that love has substance as well as soul, a past, a present and a future, and that, despite its occasional sorrows, love is a circle of happiness, wonder, and delight.
Groom, repeat after me….
Bride, with this ring, I continue to take you to be my trusted confidante
and partner for life as God is my witness.
Bride, repeat after me….
Groom, with this ring I continue to take you to be my trusted confidante
and partner for life as God is my witness.
PRAYER
Let us pray.
O thou Eternal God, who art our Father and our Friend, as You have heard these renewal words of promise just spoken, may the Holy Spirit deepen in the mind of this man and this woman the sense of the sacred and binding power of their vows.
And as in Thy Name these words were spoken to recommit these two lives as one, may your rich Blessing be added.
Give them your grace and guidance, that they may loyally fulfill the renewal vows that they have taken.
When selfishness shows itself, grant generosity; when mistrust is a temptation, give moral strength; when there is misunderstanding, give patience and gentleness; if suffering becomes a part of their lives, give them a strong faith and an abiding Love.
May your joy abide with them always, that thus they may continue be a blessing to each other, and to those about them. Amen
May this shining hour be an open door through which Bride and Groom will go forth to continue to build that dearest of all relationships, a happy marriage.
May the years ahead deal gently with you; walking together may you continue to find far more in life than either would have found alone.
BLESSING
PRONOUNCEMENT
Groom and Bride, you have come here today before us and most importantly before God to renew your vows as husband and wife.
You have shown your love and affection by joining hands, and have made renewal promises of faith and devotion, each to the other, and have sealed these promises by the giving and the receiving of the rings.
Therefore, it is my privilege to pronounce that you have reaffirmed your life’s commitment to one another.
Go forth in love and friendship for the rest of the days of your lives.
Groom, you may kiss your bride!