Margaret & Jenning Seto

December 27, 2011

Ritz Carlton Kapalua

Maui, Hawai’i

 Minister: Reverend Pia Aluli

 

GREETING  ~ Oli Aloha

Onaona I ka hala, me ka lehua E hale lehua, no ia na ka noe

O kau no ia, e anoi nei  E halia nei, hoi o ka hiki mai

A hiki mai no olua, a hiki pü nö me ke aloha, Aloha e! Aloha e! Aloha e!

 

The Oli Aloha is a chant, which offers a word of greeting.  It says, in part, this is the sight for which I have longed.  Now that you are here, love has come.  Aloha and welcome

 

We gather today in the spirit of love, the spirit we know intimately in these islands as the spirit of Aloha.  It is the same spirit that brought you Margaret and Jenning together.  We celebrate this new and exciting moment in your life’s journey, and embrace now this moment and wonders of creation surrounding us.

 

There is so much beauty to behold here in Hawaii.  Trade winds, fragrant flowers, singing of the birds, sunsets.  But I would like to take a moment to focus on the ocean.  This ocean has been here a long time flowing with a sense of awe and life giving power.  The ocean does so because it is alive and constantly changing. The ocean brings life and cleanses all it touches with its ebb and flow.  So I invite you to be like the ocean.  Be open to changes, be excited about new challenges and share these moments with each other.

 

LEI EXCHANGE
Here in Hawai’i we exchange flower leis, signifying our open hearts and love for one another.  The beautiful lei, with all of it’s hand picked flowers, are twined and carefully bonded together with love.  A reflection of your love and aloha for each other.  As you exchange these leis, you will now begin to weave your own lei of life.  And now, with loving aloha, please present your leis to one another.

 

READING  - I Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient.  Love is kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful.  It is not arrogant or rude.  Love does not insist on it’s own way.  It is not irritable or resentful.  It does not rejoice in the wrong but rejoices in the right.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.  Love never ends.  So faith, hope and love abide, but the greatest of all is Love.

DECLARATION OF INTENTION

Jenning/Margaret, will you have Margaret/Jenning to be your husband/wife to live together in holy marriage? Will you love him/her, comfort him/her, honor and keep him/her in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him/her as long as you both shall live?

(Groom and Bride respond: I will)

 

EXCHANGING OF VOWS

I, Jenning Seto/Margaret Liu, take you Margaret Liu/Jenning Seto, to be my husband/wife,

To have and to hold, from this day forward,

For better for worse, for richer or poorer,

In sickness and in health,

To love and to cherish, now and forever

This is my solemn vow.

 

 

 

EXCHANGE OF RINGS

Jenning/Margaret, I give you this ring, as a symbol of my love, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you

 

CLOSING MARRIAGE CREED

Margaret and Jenning, you are finally united in matrimony.   Go forth on your journey.   May you trust each other, trust life and not be afraid.  May you be given the gift of memory of this moment, day, and place for the rest of your lives.  We say in these islands, the spirit of aloha, love is reflected in all the beauty surrounding us, but I say to you Margaret and Jenning that the beauty and spirit of aloha is reflected intimately in the joy and happiness in your faces.

 

DECLARATION OF MARRIAGE

And now in oneness with the Spirit of Love, of Aloha and in accordance with human law, it is my great honor and pleasure to pronounce you Jenning, and you Margaret, husband and wife

 

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Jenning and Margaret Seto

 

 

You may seal your vows with a kiss.