September 3, 2016: Officiating My Sister's Wedding

Katelyn and Chris Mayer’s Wedding Ceremony

Procession: Groomsmen, Groom, Bridal Party, Bride, Mother gives away Bride

Opening Remarks:

Aloha. (Aloha). Thank you all so very much for crossing Continents and Oceans to come to this most isolated island in the middle of the sea for Chris and Katelyn.  I hope in your time here you have tapped into the mana of this young, ma ssive, volcanic island, bursting with lava and growing as we speak.  As we stand here on the youngest land in the world, land that is literally being born right now, we are also witness to the creation of new love.

I am the bride’s brother, Andrew, and today, thanks to the Universal Life Church and the State of Hawaii, I am also the Officiant.  Before we get to the real reason we are all here, the union of Chris and Katelyn as Mr. and Mrs. Mayer, please indulge me for a brief moment to share a few words.

Welcome to one of the greatest moments in Katelyn and Chris’ life, and in any life: the celebration, with treasured friends and family, of a commitment to deepest love.

Love is with all of us here today, and all of us only exist, thrive, and evolve by the grace of love.

Look around you for a moment and consider how each of us is connected to Chris, Katelyn, and each other by love.

There is the unconditional maternal love of Holly O’Riordan and Gayle Mayer for the bride and groom.  

There is the proud fatherly love Wayne Mayer feels for the groom today.

There is the love across generations of Anita O’Riordan for her granddaughter Katelyn.  

There is the lifelong sibling love that I have for my sister, the same love all of you here have for those who know you and your family better than anyone on Earth.

There is the modern family love of half-siblings and stepparents, love like the love that my mother’s partner Peter Hackstedde has for Katelyn.

There is the love of dearest friends, who have traveled from the East Coast and the West Coast, from thousands of miles away, to be here to support Chris and Katelyn in this moment.

Finally, there is the eternal love of those who are no longer with us in body, but who never leave us in spirit.  Our ancestors, our grandparents, our parents our children, and today, most especially, the brightly burning heavenly love of sister of the groom Nicole Clara Mayer and father of the bride Michael Robert O’Riordan.

Chris and Katelyn, you have shared your light and your journey for seven years together already, and you’ve been characters in each other’s stories since high school.  You’ve walked a thousand roads, marveled at the most radiant sunrises, and kept each other warm in the darkness after sunset.  

Today you commit to each other to share all the rest of your sunrises and sunsets on this Earth.  You commit to  keep each other warm, safe, and deeply loved, forever.  

It is the smouldering fire of love that gives us all warmth and light on the unknown road of life, and today you commit be this light for each other.

It won’t always be easy.  After three years of marriage and one year of parenthood, I can say with a little bit of authority that you will need to become better, stronger, and kinder than you’ve ever been before, and you’ll do it for each other.  Give more to the other than you receive, every day.  That’s the trick. Marriage isn’t a commitment to love yourself.  That’s easy.  We all already do it.  

The reason this day, right this very second, is so sacred, is that you are committing, before all of us who will support you, to love each other the most, even more than yourself, forever.  It’s a challenge worth accepting, and that is why you are here now.

Chris and Katelyn,  all of us here love you and we wish you fortune, success, and happiness on your journey of love.  Kindle your fire, light each other’s path, share every step of of the journey, and your lives will be sacred.  Believe in your love.  We all do.  

Your new journey of married love starts now.  Let’s begin.

And now, before the vows, may I welcome Katelyn’s grandmother Anita Helen Cathcart Johnston O’Riordan to share with us a brief reading.

The bride will now deliver her vows.

Bridal Vows

The groom will now deliver her vows.

Groom’s Vows

Dearly Beloveds and Honored Guests: We are gathered here this day in the company of friends and family to witness the giving and receiving of the marriage vows.  Marriage is a sacred union between two people in love who want to pledge their lives to each other.

Please repeat after me:

“I, Christopher Wayne Mayer, take you, Katelyn Wiseheart O’Riordan to be my wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in heath, to love, honor, and cherish, in good times and bad, for richer or poorer, keeping myself solely unto you  as long as I shall live.

I, Katelyn Wiseheart O’Riordan, take you, Christopher Wayne Mayer, to be my husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and health, to love, honor and cherish, in good times and bad, for richer or poorer, keeping myself solely unto you for as long as I shall live.

By the authority vested in me by the State of Hawai’i, I now pronounce you husband and wife.  You may now kiss.

It is my honor to present to you for the first time, Christopher Wayne Mayer and Katelyn Wiseheart Mayer.

Procession out:

All people remain seated for final photograph.