Sample Maui Wedding Vows & Ceremony

Maui Marriage Ceremony
©2002-2017 Rev. Ayesha Sandra Lee

(Click here to view Vow Renewal version of this ceremony)

We are gathered here (If you have guests: to share) in the marriage of _____________________________ & _______________________________. (If you have no guests: Although, your family and friends are not here with us to witness this wedding ceremony, they are here in spirit and in love. If you do have guests: We are blessed that much of your family and friends have come all the way to Maui to witness this wedding ceremony.)

Dear God, Creator of us all, we thank you for your Loving Presence in our lives. Today we especially thank you for the gifts of Love made real among us this day; the beauty of laughter, the tears of joy, the warmth of touch made real in this moment of marriage.

Marriage is the coming together, two parts of the whole, transcending the illusion of separateness, and symbolizing the unity of all humanity. Marriage is a physical representation of a shared dream of unity, coming forth through this union. It is a place of safety, where you can find your true home, and feel free to be able to express your true feelings, thoughts and emotions to each other the same. This unity of marriage is the very foundation of family life...and so in forming this union, ______________and ______________are beginning a new family as well as strengthening and perpetuating their historical family.

We rejoice that ___________ and ___________ have found in each other a loving companion and a friend.  That through each other, the path of life will always have meaning, even when it is at its steepest. Yes, I take this person to be my partner in life, to share my experiences, to be my teacher, my student, my companion, and my friend. In this world which can be so troubled and which can appear to be so fragile, it is in acts such as marriage that we see the continuing force of human good, the power of love which is truly our guide.

As you live your marriage, you will find that your relationship has moods and seasons; wonderful times as well as challenges. From time to time, the delightful spirit of your wedding day may not be with you, and you will have the opportunity to make the decision to reach for something deeper within yourselves.  Reaching for the love that is stronger, the love that is truer. Your relationship is a progression, a wondrous journey that will take you to unexpected places within yourselves: separately and together.

May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also, patience, tolerance, and understanding.  May you always need one another, not so much to fill your emptiness, to help you to know your fullness.  A mountain needs a valley to be complete, the valley does not make the mountain less, but more, and the valley is more a valley, because it has a mountain that makes it so.  As with the mountains and valleys, your support for one another will prevail and continue to solidify your companionship and marriage.  And may you, ______________, and you ______________, need one another, but not out of weakness, may you want one another, but not out of lack.  May you embrace and entice one another, but not compel one another.  May you succeed in all important ways with one another and not fail in the little graces.  May you look for things to praise and often say, "I Love You".  ______________and ______________, may you have happiness, and may you find it making one another happy.  May you have love and may you find it in loving one another!

Marriage is the maturing of love through time; love's highest calling - it's finest work, and it's own reward.  Above all, choose love.  For it is love that will prevail.  It is the love you hold for one another that will be the answer to any difficulties.  Choose love.  Return to love.  For that is who you are.  In love you shall forgive.  In love you shall be healed.  In love you shall join as partners.

Wedding Vows

______________, will you take ______________to be your wedded wife, to love, to cherish, to have and to hold, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and health, in sadness and in joy, to share together as long as you both shall live?

(I do)

______________, will you take ______________to be your wedded husband, to love, to cherish, to have and to hold, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and health, in sadness and in joy, to share together as long as you both shall live?

(I do)

And so we come ______________and ______________, to the presentation of rings by which you symbolize and bind your love:

Exchanging of the Rings

Let us pray: God, bless these rings with your Love, may they be blessed as a symbol of this unity, so that each who gives and each who receives them shall live together in and Peace and Love always.  These rings symbolize the sacred commitment made by each of you today, for they represent the unending circle of life.  Let their strength and beauty serve to remind you that your love is also unending and strong enough to withstand what ever may come.  May your love, like these rings, shine brightly all the days of your life together. May you hold the peace of this moment in your minds, and return to it whenever you need a source of strength and inspiration in your lives.
Amen.

Repeat after me ______________:
______________, with this ring, I promise to grow with you, to build our Love, to speak openly and honestly, to listen to you, and to love and cherish you now and forever.  I give you this ring as the pledge of my love and as the symbol of our unity.

Repeat after me ______________:
______________, with this ring, I promise to grow with you, to build our Love, to speak openly and honestly, to listen to you, and to love and cherish you now and forever.  I give you this ring as the pledge of my love and as the symbol of our unity.

The Pronouncement of Holy Union

And now ______________and ______________, because you have chosen one another, honored each other with the precious gift of your rings, and pledged to love each other for all the days of your lives, it is my honor and delight to pronounce you forever joined in Holy Union.

Your lives are now joined in the one unbroken circle.  May you grow in understanding and compassion.  May your home be such a place of sanctuary that many will find there a friend.  May your rings symbolize the touch of the spirit of love in your hearts.

The Benediction
May you live out your days in joy; may you live in one another's company in peace, and may your days be filled with the rewards of a deep and abiding love.  Go forth with jubilation in your hearts and gladness in your feet. May you live happily ever after!  Amen.  I as an ordained minister and with the power vested in me by the State of Hawaii, hereby pronounce you husband and wife!!!

Aloha Pa Ole, May your love be everlasting!!!

You may now rejoice and kiss the bride!!!

Exchange of Leis

OPTIONAL (usually done at the beginning of the ceremony)

Minister: “Greetings… ‘Ano’ai me kealoha, ma ka inoa ka Makua, e me ka Keiki, a me ka ‘Uhane Hemolele. Greetings in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.”

Minister: “Aloha means more than, ‘hello,’ ‘goodbye,’ even ‘love,’ though it means all of those. The Hawaiians translate aloha into ‘I give you the breath of my soul.’ It is pronounced, ‘A-low-HA!’”

Minister: “It is a tradition in Hawaii to greet those special to us with flower leis, signifying our open hearts and aloha for one another. Traditionally, Hawaiians exchanged leis, in the way that we exchange wedding rings. Now, Hawaiians add the lei exchange to the ring ceremony.”

Minister (to groom): “‘_______________________,’ please give ‘__________________’ your lei, with a heart-felt ‘aloha,’ to show your deep love.”

Groom: “Aloha.” (placing lei over the head of bride…)

Minister (to bride): “‘________________________,’ please give ‘__________________’ your lei, with a heart-felt ‘aloha,’ to show your deep love.”

Bride: “Aloha.” (placing lei over the head of groom…)

Minister: “Mahalo.” (Thank you)