All of our Officiates are licensed and registered with the State of Hawaii and can perform all of the ceremonies we offer. Each provides their own personalized decorative wedding certificate which is included in our wedding packages (this is not a marriage license).
Our wedding ceremonies and vow exchanges are emotional but not mushy, thoughtful but not "preachy", just long enough and not tiring, and include Hawaii prayer and a lei exchange with our Kukui Nut lei included in most packages or with flower lei you may order.
Ceremonies average 10-15 minutes in length. Length will be longer with ceremony extras, the venue, or type of wedding i.e. personal vows, sand ceremony, lei giving to parents, breaking of the glass, jumping the broom, larger weddings with bridesmaids and groomsmen, processionals, weddings at hotels with formal set-ups may go 20 minutes.
Ceremony Types:
Romantic non-religious ceremony: Officiates wear aloha or beach wedding appropriate casual attire.
Christian non-denominational: Christian based ceremony. Minister wears aloha or wedding appropriate casual attire. If you would like traditional robes, select this on our Order Form.
Christian or Romantic Hawaiian accented ceremony: A ceremony incorporating Hawaiian accents.
Marriage License: YOU MUST APPLY FOR YOUR MARRIAGE LICENSE WITH THE STATE OF HAWAII.
You must come to the ceremony with your marriage license! If not, it won't be legal and additional charges to meet the Minister/Officiate on another day will be charged. FYI: Like a drivers license, only you and your fiance can apply for the license. This must be done at the State Department of Health. See our website under "Marriage License" for information.
What happens on wedding day?
- Bring your marriage license to the ceremony... and the rings!
- We'll meet you at the designated area or at the parking lot of the site. Please keep your eye out for us and do not walk out to or try to find the site. Also, it does no good to sit in your car, to walk around the park, etc. where we can't see you.
- It is important that you be ready to walk out to the ceremony site at the start of your coverage time. You should have your car parked and be ready to go at the listed time or before.
- After we meet, we'll walk out to the ceremony location.
- The officiate will give you ceremony instructions just prior to the ceremony. If you have special words you wish to share with each other or vows, just let the officiate know what you have in mind at this time.
- We're going to set you up "in-place" or give instructions for a processional if appropriate.
- If you want to "not see" each other before the ceremony, we'll work with you on that. Note: People say they want to be "traditional" but hey, you're on the beach, a church with the door closed is "traditional" :) Just let the officiate know and arrive earlier.
- Once everything is set, the ceremony will commence and you'll be married forthwith :)
- After the ceremony, you will sign the marriage license. You do not need a witness to sign.
- The officiate will take possession of the marriage license as required by law.
- Your marriage license will be mailed to the marriage license office at the soonest opportunity. If you would like it hand delivered, most ministers can accommodate you for a extra fee.
- A copy of the marriage license will be mailed to you by the State of Hawaii.
- Copies of the marriage license cannot be made by the officiate, it's illegal and they could lose their license to perform weddings so please do not ask.
Do we need a witness? No, you do not. The photographer can act as your witness.
Can we include special words or traditions in our ceremony? Yes. Let the minister/officiate know when you are being given instructions prior to the ceremony that you have special words to share with each other before or after the ring exchange. You can also add your own personal or cultural traditions but, if you do, please keep in mind that this may lengthen the ceremony and shorten the time for photos, video, etc. , you may need an extra 1/2 hour of coverage. You must let us know in advance. Any extra ceremony items must be brought by you i.e. sand ceremony, etc., we do not provide any item that's not on our Order Form.
Can we meet or speak with the Officiate before our wedding day? No. Mainly because, he may be substituted before your wedding. Additionally, our price does not include the extra time for meeting or email correspondence with individual vendors (who provide for this for their own clients by charging them higher prices). No worries, all instructions are given on the day of the wedding and it's pretty straight forward. There's no need to meet. If you are having a "regular" type wedding at a hotel or estate which will require more instruction for a processional, your bridal party, and your family, you might want to schedule a rehearsal on another day, et us know and we'll give you the cost.
Can we use our own Officiate/Minister? We highly recommend using our officiates for a variety of reasons including the effeciancy of our "team", the outcome of your photo/video ceremony coverage (doesn't affect the scenic or other shots after the ceremony) and the time allowed for your ceremony and we make no warranties in these regards. With that said, if you have a licensed relative or someone special we may allow them to perform your ceremony and as they will know, they must process your marriage license as required by law (we can't do it). We charge a non-AHW vendor fee to cover including them on our permit. FYI: It's not a problem to have others participate in the ceremony without having them to actually "officiate". This will relieve you of the problem of making sure your license will be valid.
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