Island Weddings & Real Love Stories with Kim Crinella

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Interview Transcription

ADRIENNE: 
So our guest today is a dedicated wedding officiant who has been crafting love centered non religious ceremonies on Oahu since 2016 she offers a wide range of options, from intimate beach elopements and courthouse style weddings to unique, themed ceremonies and even tattoo weddings in a local tattoo

ATTILIO: 
shop with a background in photography and travel writing, she brings creativity, compassion and personalized touch to every celebration, helping couples from around the world say, I do In a way that’s true to them. Please welcome. Kim Crinella,

KIM: 
Aloha. Adrienne and Attilio, hello, hello on your show. Yes,

ADRIENNE:
welcome. We’re so excited to have you and to share with our listeners your you know your story, and this just this uniqueness that you’re offering here on Oahu.

ATTILIO: 
So if I wanted a Star Wars Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica mashup wedding, you are my go to person.

KIM: 
Oh, my God, that would be my dream wedding. Actually, I have dreamed of doing a Star Wars wedding, but yet to do one. But yes, I do themed weddings, and I the most elaborate theme I’ve done so far is a Beauty and the Beast theme wedding, bride and groom dressed. They were in costume, like you might expect somebody in a Star Wars wedding to be. They just did you know they had dressed in white tuxedo, and she was in a very formal gown, and every all the white, red roses accents, and the reception was all Beauty and the Beast theme. But I wrote the ceremony incorporating a whole bunch of quotes throughout the movie. I went and got the script from the movie and just pulled out all like things that were relative to the wedding ceremony and personalized a really nice script for them. Nice,

ADRIENNE:
wow. That is, like, really going above and beyond to make, to incorporate the Beauty and the Beast theme into that. You know, that whole experience, I’m sure that it was quite memorable, you

ATTILIO: 
know? I mean, like, if I was having one of those theme weddings from like, Marvel or something. I want people to walk by and go, is that a wedding or is that Comic Con? But, I mean, it’s super cool, right? Because people, well, first of all, we, I forgot, where were we? Where? Oh yeah, we were at, we’re on a cruise. And they did. It was the Trivial Pursuit question. And one of the Trivial Pursuit questions was, where are where in the United States? Or would I think it was where in the world where people most likely want to have a honeymoon? And the answer was Hawaii. Yes. Yeah. So interesting. Well, a lot of

KIM: 
people like to incorporate their wedding into their like a lot of my weddings are elopements, where it’s just the couple, intimate ceremony with just them, because witnesses are not required in the state of Hawaii to get married. So the couple can come out here on their vacation and then roll it right into their honeymoon, or they might. Sometimes they’ll travel with just a few of their most closest family and friends, and then they’ll just have a small wedding. I mean, they there are big destination weddings here, yeah, but a lot of the couples that I work with are just small, little, intimate weddings. Oh, nice. So,

ADRIENNE: 
so what do these couples need to do in order to prepare, like, is there paperwork or What’s that process? Process look like to getting married here on it can be

KIM: 
confusing, especially if you’re coming from another state or another country. But people can come from anywhere in the world to get married in Hawaii, and they just need to go to the state of Hawaii’s website to do the online application for their marriage license. And then once they get to Hawaii, and they can do that up to a year in advance. And then once they get to Hawaii, or if they’re already in Hawaii, if they’re local, then within 30 days of getting married, they actually have to physically go to the state of Hawaii’s Department of Health and go get the physical license. They have to show their IDs. There’s no blood tests, like some states require blood tests. There’s none of that. They just need to verify that you are who you say you are. So you bring in, like a state ID or a military ID or your support show them that. Then what you have to go in together, though, and then they’ll issue you the actual license. That license can be used immediately. There’s no waiting period, so you can actually get married that same day, or else, you have up to 30 days to use the license. It will expire, though, if it’s not, if you’re not, if you don’t take it to a marriage license, a licensed wedding officiant to get legally married, it will expire. So I’m a licensed wedding officiant, and I can legally marry couples. They bring me their their license, and I’m able to either do a marriage license signing if they just want a quick and easy wedding, or they want a more formal wedding. We do a wedding wherever they want to have a ceremony. So

ADRIENNE: 
So Kim, how, like, how last minute? Like, what’s the most last minute kind of planner that you’ve come across in your in your experience, yeah,

KIM: 
I had a couple they didn’t understand the wedding process, and they thought that when they went to go pick up their marriage license, that that was going to be their wedding. Yeah, so they got all dressed up, went and showed up to get their their license, and they picked that day because it was the anniversary of when they first met and had their first date, and they wanted it to be their wedding day. Well, she was mortified to find out all she was getting was her license, and she wasn’t going to have that as her wedding day. So she went on to Wedding Wire, and I have, I have a listing on Wedding Wire, and it’s a wedding planning website, and she messaged me through Wedding Wire, and she’s like, I urgently need to get married today. Are you available? And I, I saw the message, I messaged her back, and within two hours, I was making making her dream come true. Her fiance and their daughter came, and I had a nice ceremony for him right on my lanai. Oh, and you

ADRIENNE: 
have a beautiful lanai, yeah?

ATTILIO: 
All the way to diamond head from your place. Kim saves the day, yeah.

KIM: 
So those are situations I like being a part of, because it meant so much to them to have that day. And it can be a confusing process. The state does let you know that you you are going to need to take it to a licensed officiant. But sometimes people are just so excited about the process. They missed some of the steps, and so I’m glad it was able to save the day on that one.

ATTILIO: 
So if you’re you know, I’ve been out of town for a little bit, you come back home before you chug that yellow check the expiration date and check the expiration date on your wedding certificate

ADRIENNE: 
for the 30 days. So So Kim is there anywhere here on Oahu that couples are not allowed to be married?

KIM: 
Yes, there are beaches that there are not permits available. The State of Hawaii will issue permits for many beaches, especially the most popular beaches, and you are able to have a ceremony with, typically up to 30 people on the water line. So that’s wherever the water is, just the farthest end that it’s reaching. Right now, at whatever time you’re having your ceremony, they don’t want you blocking people’s access to it, and you’re limited to up to 90 minutes. So you can legally get married at a beach, providing you get a permit from the state of Hawaii. There’s also places like parks that you can get married at, but you do also need permits from them. So as far as where you can’t get married to Ko Olina would be the big no no that a lot of people request. That’s a private a lot of people question whether or not that’s private access, but they are. It is a private community, and they monitor their beaches so they do not let outsiders they have their own marriage, they have a chapel there. There. Yeah, exactly. They have several chapels there. So they require that if you’re going to get married on their beaches, you have to use one of their services. So there’s other places in the area that people can go legally. So I always just encourage people just to go down the down the. Coastline just a little bit, and you’re not gonna be interrupted during your ceremony in a sneak having a ceremony. Yeah,

ATTILIO: 
I think it’s important to call Kim, because if you just go and do it on your own, you might have Bobo from Alabama as your ring bearer.

ADRIENNE: 
So, So Kim, what? What types of traditions are popular for couples to incorporate. What have you been seeing? Yeah,

KIM: 
well, the lot of people who are especially coming to Hawaii to get married from other places, they want to incorporate traditions that are seen as popular in Hawaii. So they like to incorporate lay exchanges. Some couples in their own culture, don’t exchange wedding rings, so they can incorporate where they exchange lays or even token gifts during their ceremony. I once had couple, um, They packed their wedding rings in their luggage, and then the luggage never made it to Hawaii. Oh, so they showed up to their wedding in the clothes that they left in two days ago, because they still were trying to work out getting their luggage, and they had no wedding rings, and so they just tried to have a good attitude and go with it. They still wanted to be married. And instead of exchanging rings, because they were going to just have to get them at another time, I had them look for shells on the beach, and they exchange shells a token gift to one another and in the moment, and then they had that as a keepsake as well. Yeah,

ADRIENNE: 
that was a quick on your feet kind of solution. Yeah, yeah,

KIM: 
exactly. And another thing that couples like to incorporate is the Honi Honi. So it’s the HA breath of life tradition. And that’s something that’s not only a Hawaiian tradition, but it’s also incorporated in many traditions around the world, where you put your forehead and nose together and share a breath of life, and it’s a very intimate moment. And it doesn’t seem like a lot, but when couples do it, they say it, it just it’s a really special moment during their ceremony. It only takes a minute, and I highly recommend it for couples having a ceremony. It’s really great for photos as well.

ATTILIO: 
What’s your favorite story of officiating a wedding?

KIM: 
I’d have to say I had a couple that I was they had a huge ceremony. I was like over 100 guests. It was, um, up on a platform outside, on a hula mound. And they, the whole entourage came out, got on the hula mound with me, and then it they were going to do a lay exchange. And then everybody just looked at each other, and they had left the lays back in the room, and I thought real quick on my feet, and we had already started to kind of do the ceremony. We’re just going to start doing the exchange part. And so I invented the invisible lays of love, where I had the couple draw a lay, a heart lay, and then place that invisible lay over each other instead of an actual lay. Yeah. And the mother of the bride came up afterwards and said, You saved the day. I thought my daughter was going to have a complete meltdown when everything didn’t go as exactly as planned. And she said, Now you gave them a tradition that they can do no matter where they are. Every year, they can, every year, exchange an invisible layer of love no matter where in the world, because they’re a military couple. So that that was just a really special moment I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

ATTILIO: 
Yeah, plus, it’s, you know, even with the military discount, they’re still cheaper than the ones down at the airport, at the Lay shops.

ADRIENNE: 
Now we had tradition. We had mentioned in your introduction some like a tattooed themed wedding. Yeah, I’m curious about that. Can you, you know, share with our listeners, what does that look like, and what’s your connection to this tattoo shop? Yeah,

KIM: 
well, it’s neck deep tattoo in Kaneohe, and my husband is, that’s his tattoo shop. He’s a tattoo artist, and in 2018 he had some clients that wanted to get married and wanted wedding tattoos, and they knew that I was a wedding officiant, so they said, Could we get married at the shop and get wedding tattoos? So that’s where it all started. And we have done a couple other weddings as well. It sounds to be like people visiting or two of the couples were military couples, and none of them got rings. What they do is they come, they have a nice, little intimate ceremony in the reception area, and then they immediately following the ceremony, they go in the back and they get their each get a tattoo, and they can choose whatever they want. They can choose a ring if they want, or if none of the couples have actually chosen rings. Um. Them. One couple got their date in Roman numerals, yes. Another one got a lock in a key, and the third one got they were visitors. And the guy, the gentleman, got a hula girl that looked just like his bride, and the bride got a Kiki to represent her. Man.

ATTILIO: 
Anybody got like arrows pointing in the two in one direction? I’m with her. I’m with him. No neck tattoos. I’m with her. The but, yeah, that’s cool. And then I’m sure you guys have that capability of doing the ring the ring tattoos. I’ve seen those. Yeah, they can do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot of the no military, like, if you’re a mechanic working on stuff and or just in the military, you that’s you take your ring off, but you want that tattoo ring on there too, to still have that special meaning, but you just don’t want your finger torn off and caught on something. So that’s why they take the exactly the rings off in military situations.

ADRIENNE:
So Kim, I know that our listeners are probably like, what is her website? How about you know, hold of this woman I want to play and I want to I want to plan this wedding. Or I know someone that might, you know, need her service. They just want to look at the pictures. Yeah, take a look. So what is a good website or social media. How can they learn more about what you offer? Or, you know, how do they get a hold of you? Yeah,

KIM:
my website is weddings on oahu.com Okay, very easy to remember. I also have a tiktok channel that has lots of helpful tips, and I take Video Everywhere I go, every time I do a wedding, I’m taking videos, so I share those as well. It helps to inspire people on work, because there’s so many amazing options, it can be overwhelming to choose, and so it helps you to see what the different options are and find one that will best meet the background that you’re looking for for your ceremony. All

ADRIENNE: 
right, so lastly, as we wrap this up, what is your top advice for couples on their wedding day? Yes,

ATTILIO: 
remember the flowers?

KIM: 
Well, actually, I I take this back to my own wedding day, where I spent so much time worrying if everybody else was having a good time. The whole day flew by, and I never took a moment for myself. So I actually stopped couples and tell them, take a moment and just breathing in and just the two of you like this is the day you’ve been waiting for a wedding is just one day your marriage is your lifetime, you know, and and couples need to spend as much time on their marriage as they do, preparing for that one day. So yeah, I want them to enjoy that one day without the stress of all the planning and just be in the moment that is my and to go with the flow, because things are good. No matter how hard you plan and take precautions for things. There’s always something that’s going to go wrong or not the way you planned. And if you just go with the flow, you never know what might happen. And you know that is life and handling things like just as they come, and using a positive attitude. If you can do that on your wedding day, you’ll you’ll be all right, I can. I always tell the people who are who are going to be together forever, because they’re just so happy to be there being married. They don’t care if they didn’t have the ring or if they’re not in their fancy clothes that they bought, like they just wanted to be married. And that is the that is the point of the whole thing, awesome.

ADRIENNE: 
Well, Kim, thank you so much for sharing a little bit about you know your your wedding business. Again, it’s weddings on oahu.com Wait, what’s that website? Weddings on oahu.com and then follow her on Tiktok. Um, hey,

ATTILIO: 
Kim, if somebody hears this about you on the show, and then they book with you. Can you promise to give us a call and let’s have you back on the show and talk about it? Yes, yes.

ADRIENNE: 
You want to hear about the radio, the radio wedding

ATTILIO: 
from Alabama makes it in there as a flower girl, yes, but All right, well, thank you. Kim, yes. Thank

ADRIENNE: 
you. Thank you so much for having me on our pleasure. All

ATTILIO: 
right. Again, that’s weddings on oahu.com weddings on oahu.com

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