Asian Wedding in Hawaii

I had the great opportunity to document an international wedding with a Korean bride and Japanese groom at the Laie, Hawaii Temple. They are both students and met at Brigham Young University- Hawaii. When they speak to each other they use English, because they both can’t speak the others native language.  I can kind of relate to their situation.  I met my husband here in school and we were also married in the Laie Temple. He is from the Philippines and speaks Tagalog, and I am from Okinawa and speak Japanese. I remember how we struggled with communicating in English, and all the misunderstandings we had had when we started dating and through the beginning of our marriage. So many people told me how they can’t understand how we do it. But the truth is every couple goes through the same experience, no matter if they are from the same nation, or speak the same language. All individuals are different and have different values in their life. The important thing is to respect and accept the differences.  Speaking in different languages and having a different culture allows us to pay more attention to the conversation, open up our eyes to new experience through different backgrounds, learn to forgive, and feel love towards each other. During the wedding, I loved seeing Annie and Aki communicating just by looking into each others eyes. What a beautiful love they have and share together. At the end of the wedding reception the groom’s mother and grandmother dressed the bride in a Kimono (Japanese traditional dress), and she wore a Kimono for the first time in her life. On her big day, she showed her respect to her husband traditions. It was truly a beautifully humble wedding.

Content Edited By Sarah Gualberto