Magical Maui Weddings

I just performed a magical Maui wedding -- or should I say a miracle Maui wedding. . . The young couple I performed the ceremony only for were for Holland. They spoke very good English, and they booked their wedding with us at the last second, calling us up for the first time the day before the ceremony.

When I met them at the location where we like to meet couples (one that is easy to find so they won't get lost), he was wearing a bright red T-shirt and she was dressed very casually. Not the usual clothes I expect to see from my couples (although I must admit, I've seen just about everything). When we got to the beach and they got ready to do the ceremony, they both took off their T-shirts because they wanted to get married in their bathing suits. He set up a video camera using the nearby rocks for a tripod (which I don't recommend) to catch the ceremony.

The couple was so "cute", if I can use that word. They were so much in love. They kept looking at each other during the entire ceremony, with those star struck eyes. When I finally pronounced them "husband and wife", they lite up. They kissed and danced and I picked up their video camera (which was an old VHS quality camera) and filmed them for a bit while they kissed. Then they ran down to the water and jumped in together. In a moment, a big wave came in and they both body surfed back up to the beach.

I enjoyed watching their exhurbant love of life and love for each other. When we filled out the wedding license we had to be careful, because they didn't even bring a towel and the groom did drip one big drop of sea water on the certificate. As they were filling out their name changes (they each added the other's last name to their own), they told me how grateful they were to be able to do this.

As it turns out, they had been in a car accident earlier in the day. Coming around the West Maui Mountains, near the tunnel, another driver sideswiped their car and sent them up the side of the mountain overturning their car. The next thing they knew, they were upside-down in the car, hanging their by their seatbelts! Fortunately, they were not hurt, only shaken up. Even their surfboards which were on top of the car survived.

The rental car company gave them a new vehicle and they still made it down to the wedding site that afternoon for their wedding with me. Wow. You never know what's going on in someone's life. And it is a little amazing to me that they were so loving at their ceremony. Then again, maybe it's not all that amazing either, considering how close they came to a tragedy earlier in the day.