Across Aotearoa, wedding bells are ringing. - Kua tuhono nga whakapapa! - I do. - I feel very lucky to be a celebrant. - And making them official... - So fancy. - ...are our Maori celebrants. (BREEZY MUSIC) - Which one is it? - Oh, I nearly gave him a ring around the ears. (ALL CHEER) - Raise your glasses for the newlywed couple! - From the vows to the rings,... - You may now kiss your bride. - ...they help couples say 'I do'. This is Aroha Nui. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2022 (SMOOTH HIP-HOP MUSIC) - Hey. Ka haere tatou mo te hikoi? - Ne? Ae? - Ae. - Husband and wife celebrant team Iripa and Jess Rangi are in high demand. - Hikoi. Pupuri ringa me Papa. Haere mai. - Their passion for te ao Maori and weaving it into their weddings is a key factor to their success. (SMOOTH MUSIC) - Just trying to transition between Maori and English. Yeah, just trying to get a feel for them as people. - As Papa works, son Rameka entertains himself. - Te mea nui ke, me haneanea ai nga tokorua i a maua. Tino nui ke tenei ki te tu i mua i o ratou hoa, o ratou whanau hoki. - For us, it's about just building a connection face to face. We talk so much over Zoom, and then it's really just talking them through what the day is gonna look like, so that they feel really comfortable. - I'm sure you'll figure it out. - Mm. Getting there slowly. - Jess and Iripa's own romance has been anything but slow. In fact, you could say it was love at first sight when the pair met in Auckland. They've been happily married since 2018. - Kei te... - Pakipaki! - Pakipaki. Aue! - Aue! Mwah! - 10 years on, they're helping other couples to write their own love stories. - Pirangi peke, whiua ki runga? I tenei wiki kei te marena maua a Beth raua ko Edward. - What do I do with my bouquet? - You're gonna keep coming. You're gonna keep coming. Once you've reached here, you'll then pass your bouquet off. Turn back round. And then a secondary job is to... There you go. (CHUCKLES) And then fluff the train, make sure that's all good. Yep. And then absolutely happy for you guys to hold both hands until such time that we get on to the next part. Cool? You're happy with that? - No dancing. Yep. - Yep, cool. - We chose Iripa because a post on my Facebook page come up about him. And I just sent it to Edward straight away. I was like, 'There's something about this that just fits.' - We're just gonna go for a little bit of a detailed run through, then a quick run through, and then go from there, all right? - Awesome. - Sweet. - Being part Maori, it was really great to be able to incorporate that into our ceremony ` have a really proper Kiwi wedding. - And then I'm gonna pass the mic off to Edward, and he's gonna repeat the same process. The feeling is great. I'm looking forward to pronouncing them as husband and wife. - You're trapped now. - (ALL LAUGH) - Happy days? - Yep. (BREEZY MUSIC) - Are you guys gonna go to Mainly Music? - Yep, we're gonna try to. He woke up pretty early, so hopefully he's not super tired. - Like most young whanau, life is busy for the Rangi trio. Their wedding mahi has to be scheduled around Iripa's full-time job. - Mama. - Mama's. - Me Mama. Cheers. - Cheers. - Inu. Ahh! So, my full-time job mahi is a physical education officer for the police of the Bay of Plenty. - Papa? - Yep, Papa's gone to mahi. Then he'll come home after. Slow yourself down up there. Nice and safe. Good work. One minute 19. Making good time. I am facilitating the Physical Competency Test, which is a physical fitness test that police officers have to do every two years to remain compliant and to remain deployable. On my call. Three, two, one. Slump it forward for me. That's it. Ka pai. Over to the fence, and then over we go. On a normal week, I'm pretty busy. - Kia ora. - P1, even. Whee-hee! Tino pai ke te wa ka noho au i te taha o taku whanau, na te mea taku mahi ki te taha o te Pirihimana, ka haere ki wiwi ki wawa hoki, a rohe, a motu hoki. Mahia te wai ki roto nei. Titiro. Ooh! Oh! Oh! (LAUGHS) Kua tata. (GENTLE MUSIC) - Today the focus is on Beth and Edward's upcoming wedding. - Do you want your poi? - No. - We are hitting the road again. We're on our way to Hamilton. We're gonna meet with Beth and Edward, a couple who came through online, and we're gonna start planning their wedding. - Hello! Nice to meet you guys. - Nice to meet you too. - Hello. - I just texted you and said, 'A or B?' Then I went, 'Oh, actually neither.' - High five? - Hoatu he high five? - Oh, nice! - High five? - High five. Yeah! - Rameka is very used to roaming the motu with us, and he settles really quickly, thankfully. - Thanks for letting us take over your house. - That's all right. - Story of our lives. - Lug him around everywhere. - Always have the Portacot in the boot. - Yep. - Ka whakatuwhera a Papa to moenga. - OK. - (ALL LAUGH) - With Rameka tucked away, it's time to plan this wedding. - We'll start from the top, and we'll make our way through the order of the ceremony, yeah? So, with your greeting, I think, Beth we talked about potentially Iripa doing it in Maori, and then also translating it into English. So you're happy to keep it like that? - Yes, please. - Cool. Have you decided if you want to do the same promises when you exchange rings, or just do your own? - We're just gonna do our own, right? - Yeah. - You have to vow and promise to each other ` so that's one of those legal requirements. Your full name, as we mentioned. - But we can cover that in the 'I do' moment, so 'Pa can say your full name. - Iripa, I reckon, is the man on the ground for the day. But definitely, he wouldn't be able to do it without his wife, Jess. - (CHUCKLES) - Yeah. - And then you can make some calls on what you want in your ceremony and what you want to keep out. Yeah. Does that sound all right? - It's very exciting, because I want to incorporate a blessing into the end of our ceremony, and I am intending to speak it in te reo. - It's quite heartening, being able to help people rediscover or even just discover reo. It's been a bit of a blessing, really, to be able to offer that service, and something that both Jess and I are quite passionate about. - And, like, all of this, we're still a couple of weeks out, so it's super easy for us to come back in and change it. - Oh, man, it's gonna be choice. Well, less than two weeks. 13 days, eh? - Yep. Crazy. - Yep. - With multiple weddings on the go,... - We good to go? - Yeah, we're good. - ...will Iripa and Jess be able to juggle their commitments? - So, Jess isn't here today. She's in Rotorua. (ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC) - Let's go. - Yep, coming. - Do you wanna grab the water bottles? - Yep. Got your hat? The celebrant book. - Back home in Papamoa, while working on Beth and Edward's ceremony, celebrant team Iripa and Jess have been requested by another couple who are eloping at Mt Maunganui. - This is just beautiful. - Yeah. Love the colours of it too. - Brooklyn and Nate are actually having a proper wedding later on in the year. But with all the stress of planning, they've decided to strip it right back, to keep that moment special and intimate to them. - OK, we'll whack those feet on. - Looks pretty sturdy. - It's on you. - It was really important for Brooklyn to find a celebrant that was going to represent the coming together of two cultures. She's Maori, and she's really just begun finding her roots again. One, two, three, up. And I think we have to do a 180 on it, eh, cos the screws are at the back here. Ko te elopement ke he hononga okawa na te mea koira ke nga ahuatanga o tenei mahi, ko nga mea okawa noa iho. - Last few moments as officially single people. - Singles. Yeah, and then soon to be married. - Right, we good to go? - Yeah, we're good. - Good to go? All right. - Ready steady. Anei te wa, whanau. Ata marie. Tena korua. Kua uwhia mai tenei honore i te ata nei. An intimate moment stripped right back and kept just for the two of you and a couple of cheeky witnesses. - BROOKLYN: Cool. B, you're up. Just a deep breath. You can grab his hand if you like. - Do you want me to grab your hand? I choose you. I choose you today, tomorrow, and I promise to wake up every day and choose you for the rest of my life, as long as I shall live. - Beautiful. Ataahua. Ataahua. - Top that, eh? - I'll try. Here you go. Your turn, my friend. - I am truly beyond excited to share a life full of memories with you and go through seasons with hands held tight. - Mm. - Let's move through the chapters of life together and find something good in every single page. - Some beautiful vows, team. How good. - For Nate and Brooklyn, they wanted it to be basic ` just do the vows, rings. - I do. - Just give it a push, babe. It'll come on. And then twist it. - There we go. - Lovely. Just an opportunity for them to share the moment together, without the big fuss. - I do. - Beautiful. Ka pai. It is my absolute privilege to pronounce you husband and wife. - Ee! - You may kiss your bride. (ROMANTIC MUSIC) - Super humbling to be a part of an elopement, because it is really just them to the core, and nobody else knows, so you get so much more involvement with building that picture. Yeah. - They're just cool people, eh? - Yep. - They're the sort of people that you look at and you're like, 'Oh, I wanna be friends with them.' That's the worst part about this, is you have to give couples up at the end of it. It's sad when you get to know someone so intimately, and then you have to say goodbye to them when it's all over. - It's the world's fastest friendship, eh? - Yeah. (CHUCKLES) - Ki a Brooklyn raua ko Nate, e kore te tai o te aroha e memeha ki a korua. Tino waimarie ki a maua ki te tutaki i a korua, ki te mahi ai i tenei mahi. Na reira, tuku atu nga mihi nui, nga mihi aroha ki a korua. (LAID-BACK MUSIC) - It's Beth and Edward's rehearsal day in Kumeu. This time, Iripa has made the trip north solo. So, Jess isn't here today, and the reason why she isn't here today is she's in Rotorua currently facilitating another rehearsal for us. I've got another wedding down there. So, from here, I'll break into a little bit of the welcome to everybody, then acknowledgements, as we've covered in the meetings prior. Then we move on to the building of your guys' relationship, the story behind it all. All right? - I'm finding it really hard to focus, because I'm absolutely fizzing. (LAUGHS) - And then we move on to... - There's a lot. Yeah, I know, I know. We move on to the vows that you've written for each other, OK? When I come into a new space like this, particularly with very few people that I do know ` it's often only the bride and the groom ` I just try to be as confident as I can. They have asked me to play this role of their celebrant, and I make sure that I understand what I'm going to be going through, the process of the day, and that there gives me the confidence that I need to make it happen. I'll give you the mic. Just take a deep breath, gather yourself, and then get into it. - Ka whakamanawa koe i a maua, ka aho mai te... Far out. I'm getting nervous. Awesome, just when you say the 'maua' part, see the line on top of the 'a'? That just requires you to drag the A sound just a touch, so instead of 'maua', 'maaua'. - Maaua. - Yep, perfect. That's it. - I'm not fluent in te reo yet, but its something that I am learning. I feel it's part of me. ...o maaua marena. Identity is in the language. Yeah. - Happy? - Yeah. I'll keep practising tonight as well. - (LAUGHS) - Eh? - We're clubbing tonight in West Auckland. - (LAUGHS) (GROWLS) - Chur, doc. Perfect. - (ALL LAUGH) - It still doesn't feel real to me that we are getting married. - You're trapped now. - (ALL LAUGH) - Happy days? - Yep. - Cool. - It just seems so wild. But I really appreciated how to do things, so I knew what to do on the day. - So, that's the process. - We'll be full of laughter on the day, and not even tears. - Probably. - It's going to be awesome, so that way we don't need handkerchiefs to wipe the tears away. - Do you have tissues? - I can have tissues if you like. - Can you have tissues? - I'll make sure that I have some tissues. - Awesome. (LAUGHTER) - It was an awesome rehearsal. Choice as. - You may now kiss the bride. And then I'm gonna duck out of shot. You guys can do your magic. All in all, it was a beautiful rehearsal. I can't wait for the real thing. - Weird week. - With just 24 hours left, Edward's in a race against time to learn his karakia. - I just want to get it perfect. - Will he impress or leave the bride blushing? (UPBEAT MUSIC) Ko te ra nui tenei mo Beth raua ko Edward. - Oh, that skin is glowing. - And Edward is putting all his energy into learning his lines. ...i roto i tenei o maaua marena. And I'm practising my karakia. I just want to get it perfect, so I've been practising it day and night. E te Ariki, tenei taku patai... mou... i a maaua mai tenei ra. - He tino harikoa ahau ki te tu i mua i a koutou. - Ka taea hoki. - Amine. - ALL: Amine. - Kia ora! Beautiful, brother. - Tidied up those 'maaua's anyway. - Yeah, maaua. - And it looks like Edward's nailed it. - Next thing, you'll probably be like this ` throw the pad away. - Hi! - E te Ariki... (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) - With everything in place and guests arriving, Edward can't contain his excitement. - Whoo! - (CHUCKLES) - A few deep breaths, cuz. - Oh, I'm not worried. - Or is it nerves? Whatever it is, it's time to begin the ceremony. - 'I get the signal from the staff, and the music begins.' (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC) - BETH: Oh, goodness. I didn't think this would be so emotional. - Karawhiua, brother. Karawhiua. - Karawhiua nga roimata. - (EXHALES DEEPLY) - Ka pai. - (SIGHS) (BREATHES DEEPLY) (LAUGHS) (ROMANTIC MUSIC SWELLS) - I couldn't take my eyes off you. - (CHUCKLES) I couldn't. Yeah. (LAUGHS) - (LAUGHS) I told you you would cry. - He's been holding back the tears for a little while now. - I've had a few moments. - Here we go, team. Here we go. - (LAUGHS) - This is it. (SIGHS) - Kia ora tatou katoa. Ko Iripa Rangi toku ingoa. He tino harikoa ahau ki te tu i mua i a koutou katoa hei kaiwhakahaere i tenei ahiahi. Let's give your ears a break from my voice and listen to Beth and Edward, as they share the words they have written for each other. - Beth, let's start with you. - I can do it. - Edward, today is the day we finally become husband and wife. I have felt this day coming since the moment you asked me to marry you one month into dating, - and then every month after that. - (LAUGHS) From the moment we met, I have felt so comfortable and drawn to you. Right from the start, we both knew where this was going. I promise to love you with all my heart for the rest of my life. - Beth, I love you. I love you because you are a wonderful woman, a wonderful person. You are fantastic in every way. - And thank you for today... (VOICE BREAKS) becoming my wife. - (LAUGHS) - Beautiful. - I promise to love you. And on this day, I give myself to you wholeheartedly in marriage. - (SNIFFLES) - You all right? - I don't think we have enough tissues after that, eh? - I'm all right. - You'll need to wipe your tears. - Let them go. - (CHUCKLES) - Your wedding rings are an outward and visible sign of the inward and invisible bond which connects you. They have no end. Neither will the love you have for one another. Edward Earl Edwards, do you give Beth this ring as a sign of your commitment to building a life together as her constant friend and faithful husband? - I do. - Beth Dorry Louise Richie, do you give Edward this ring as a sign of your commitment to building a life together as his constant friend and faithful wife? - I do. - (EXHALES) - I feel very lucky to be a celebrant. When I'm amongst it and when it's all happening, you're overcome with a sense of euphoria, and it certainly feels like you're a part of a fairy tale. It is my absolute privilege to now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride. (ROMANTIC MUSIC) (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - The time has finally come to declare the karakia for our marriage. (SIGHS) E te Ariki, tenei taku patai mou i mua i te timatanga o te maua marena. Ka whakamanawa koe i a maua. Ka oha mai to mata ki runga a maua. Ka manawanui koe i a maua. Ka makoha koe ki runga i a maua. - You did a good job with it. - Thanks. - Very proud. - I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. - Beth me Edward, tenei ke te mihi ki a korua mai ahau, mai taku hoa wahine mai taku tamaiti hoki, ta matou ke waimarie ki te tutaki i a korua i roto i tenei ahuatanga, to matou waimarie ke hoki ki te hanga i to marena. Na reira, tena ra korua, nga mihi ki a korua mo nga tau mutunga kore. - (LAUGHS) - Next time on Aroha Nui, we're in Opotiki with local celebrant Annette Papuni-McLellan. - Who's got the rings? - Um... - Oh my God! - (CHUCKLES) I don't like that!