Testimonials

“Pastor Mark is that favorite, cool uncle you want to hang out. I invited him to stay for the reception, and was genuinely disappointed that he wasn't able to. Let me add that I never met Pastor Mark prior to the day of our wedding. I planned a Hawaii wedding from California, so I relied solely on word-of-mouth and online reviews for everything. Pastor Mark was recommended to us by the wedding site vendor. The reviews on his website were vast and positive, but also detailed which is a sign to me that they are genuine. I decided to contact him after reading some great reviews and seeing various photos. I hate to sound shallow, but a wedding officiant is going to be in your photos to cherish so it mattered to me that s/he have a warm, friendly smile. We contacted a few different officiants and he was very prompt in his response to us, and very thorough in his communication. It included a questionnaire to ask ourselves what we envisioned for the ceremony, so that he could tailor it to us, as well as helpful information regarding applying for the marriage license and processing the certificate. We chose to have a "religious" service, as opposed to a civil union, and it was in one word: beautiful. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but somehow Pastor Mark made it perfect. God was there, working through Pastor Mark. From the moment I met him (just before the ceremony, one-on-one) and throughout the ceremony, I was very calm and very happy. I say this because I was fighting back tears for a couple of hours because I was afraid of what my mom would do when she realized we were not going to a catholic church for the ceremony. He was a stranger to us all but managed to create an intimate, meaningful ceremony for us that was filled with sincere warmth, humor, and counsel for a successful relationship, all while centered around God and the aloha spirit. I was smiling the entire ceremony. Several guests also mentioned how impressed they were with him, both Christian and agnostic. Brian and I took his words to heart and have quoted words from the ceremony since then. I highly recommend Pastor Mark, with four thumbs up. My only regret is that we didn't ask him to sing or play music!  Lastly, I'd also like to share some little details that I had no idea I would appreciate until after the wedding: one-on-one meeting just before the ceremony was a nice gesture of introduction, the eye contact throughout the ceremony made it very personal - in a good way; photos of our first kiss was just us and the ocean - Pastor Mark had stepped off to the side once he pronounced us husband and wife; and lastly the transcript of the ceremony he offered will allow us to remember and honor our vows since we did not have a videographer present. We hired a stranger to officiate our wedding, but instead, a dear friend came to host our special blessing.” 

“The process at the Department of Health can be a little bit confusing, but Pastor Mark helped us step by step from start to finish; he resolved all of our questions. And he had a plus! His lovely wife is part of the team, and she is amazing! We love her! She helped us with almost everything: flowers, decorations, photography, all the details in such a short time. The actual ceremony, and all the things that went with it, was romantic and perfect! We did the sand and lei ceremony and was soo very emotional. In addition, Pastor Mark play the ukulele and sang for us The Hawaiian Wedding Song, it was a unique moment!! Everything was more than we expected because our planning time was only one week!!! Sincerely, don’t waste your time looking for another marriage performer. Mahalo, Pastor Mark and Kelli.”

"I had such an amazing time at my wedding ceremony, and that was due in large part to Pastor Mark! He arrived early and was standing at the altar on time even though I arrived late. He performed a beautiful ceremony and made sure God was apart of it all. He also met with us before the big day and was able to plan our ceremony around our needs. My mom had passed a few years ago and Pastor Mark made sure to include her memory into my special day. If there was a rating, I would definitely give him a 10/10!."

"Aloha Pastor Mark. We have finally returned from our fabulous wedding and honeymoon in Hawaii and I wanted to send you an email thanking you for our extraordinary and beautiful wedding reception. You made this day so special for us and we both wanted to give you a special thank you we loved every moment of our wedding day. We are forever grateful that you were chosen as our officiant and pastor to bless our marriage. You went above and beyond to make everything perfect for us, and we would love to send you a thank you card in person to show our appreciation. We just received the video and pictures, and I am still in tears at just how perfect it was and how you helped make that day even more special for us if that is even possible. Thank you again for everything that you did for us including all of the advice and making this day not only special but perfect for us and our family. We will cherish this moment and video for the rest of our lives. Thank you again for everything, and we look forward to doing this again in 10 years, hopefully with you as our pastor for our vow renewals, still riding your Harley Davidson (which was “so cool,” as my teenager said).”

“Aloha Pastor Mark!! Let me start by saying thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my wedding day special! John and I got married on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Pastor Mark was picked to officiate our wedding from our wedding planners. We met him for the first time as we arrived to the location. He immediately made us feel comfortable and all my minor stresses went away. I was at ease. He is a professional and a genuine human being. We have never spoke to this man and I felt like he knew us! What he said during the ceremony hit close to home. He gave great married advice and incorporated beautiful Hawaiian culture into the ceremony. Even my family and friends commented on the ceremony - they felt like he was really involved and cared about what he did for a living. I love the touch of placing sand from the beach where we were married into our license packet. It's the small things ;) Thank you again, Pastor Mark!!!”

"Pastor Mark, Thank you again for attending our rehearsal and doing an amazing job officiating the wedding. We had so many of our guests who were extremely pleased and impressed by your beautiful introduction and dialogue during the wedding. You are amazing at what you do. Brian and I could not have had a better experience working with you for our wedding. From the start, you made us feel comfortable, informed, and excited about the ceremony details with your professional expertise and good attitude. It was very nice to get information on how to obtain a wedding license, get ideas for creative expression as well, and know the overall flow of the ceremony. You were extremely attentive and responsive to our requests for our ceremony, in which we wanted a mix of non-religious expression as well as some religious components. During the ceremony, you incorporated Hawaiian culture, which was very special to us and our guests. You gracefully led our ceremony -- Brian and I knew we were in good hands (which helped with our nerves during the ceremony!) We cannot thank you enough for making such an important and special contribution to our wedding day!! And many thanks for being so prompt with our wedding license! We wish you the best as you continue to do great work as a substance abuse counselor, pastor, and wedding officiant! Mahalo."