Couples say "I do" all over again at Outrigger's Complimentary Vow Renewal Ceremony popular throughout Pacific
February 15, 2005
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii - Throughout the Pacific, Valentines Day was especially romantic for guests at Outrigger Hotels & Resorts thanks to complimentary vow ceremonies hosted by the Hawaii-based hotelier.
Dozens of couples vacationing in Hawaii, Australia, Tahiti, Guam and Fiji took advantage of the hotelier's romantic offer to re-tie the knot in special oceanfront ceremonies at 18 Outrigger properties.
In Hawaii, 44 couples were gathered on the beach to renew wedding vows as the sun rose over Diamond Head and lit up the golden sands of Waikiki.
South of the equator in Tahiti, seven couples at the Outrigger Te Tiare Beach Resort recited vows on the very beach where crewmembers from the HMS Bounty fell in love with the local islanders in the late 1700s.
Across the international dateline in Guam, four Japanese couples recited vows through a translator at the Outrigger Reef Guam Resort; and in Fiji, two couples actually got married in special ceremonies on property at the Outrigger on the Lagoon Resort.
Down under in Australia, eight couples at the Outrigger Hervey Bay Resort and four couples at the Outrigger Beach Club & Spa celebrated the world's most romantic day of the year by renewing their wedding vows overlooking the South Pacific Ocean.
The ceremony on Waikiki Beach at The Outrigger Reef on the Beach was by far the largest ceremony. The 44 couples were split into five groups to keep each group ceremony somewhat personal and intimate. A Hawaiian "Kahu" (priest) led the 15-minute ceremony which included song, hula and lei exchange between couples. Couples enjoyed champagne toasts after the ceremony and received a commemorative vow renewal certificate.
Frederick and Rosemary Depew of Montour Falls, New York, decided to celebrate their 50th Anniversary by staying at the Outrigger Reef and participate in the ceremony. "We just love it here," Rosemary said after the ceremony. "This is our 14th visit in 14 years. Our first trip here was a dream, and I didn't think we'd ever be able to return. If we had come here when we were young, we never would have left."
Another couple, Tim and Gerri Reagan, who met in Hawaii while attending high school, celebrated their first return visit to Hawaii after 21 years of marriage by participating in the ceremony. "I was shopping for hotels on the Internet and looking for a good rate," said Tim, an officer in the United States Air Force. "When I read about the Valentine's Day Vow Renewal ceremony, that was what clinched it for us to stay here (at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach)." The couple met here in Hawaii while their parents were stationed at Hickam Air Force Base in the late 70s and became high school sweethearts. They stayed in touch after their families moved to the mainland and later married after college.
The Hawaii-based hotel company introduced the complimentary Valentine's Day vow renewal ceremony as a way to promote the romantic locations across the Pacific where they operate resorts. Management hopes to make this an annual event.
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