K E L I I- Bio Aloha mai ka kou, my name is Sean Aquino. I was born and raised on the island of Maui. My given Hawaiian name Keliipono, often called “Kelii” for short. Meaning one who exhibits dexterity, excellence, and a good moral character. I stive to live up to the name each day while remaining humble through each experience in my life. I’ve been a part of Manutea Nui E for over 12 years performing hulas, chants, conch shell ceremonies, fireknife dancing and wedding ceremonies. Having been immersed in the Hawaiian culture from an early age through hula halau (class) I’ve learned and embraced a lot of my Hawaiian culture and protocols. Allow me to share my culture with you and leave a lasting impression on your special day.

Offering wedding officiant services, customized wedding ceremonies, and vows. Hawaiian incorporated ceremonies that entail conch shell blow, chant, lei exchange, and Hawaiian blessing. Oli Aloha chant translation: “Fragrance with the breath of hala and lehua, I long for your arrival; it fills me with eagerness. Now that you are here, love is here.” Aloha e!.

Available for Hawaii Island Weddings 

Kanani Enos is a Hawaiian musician, songwriter, singer, healer, dancer, and cultural practitioner. A native of Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii and having recently relocated to Maui last year, Kanani has been immersed in the traditions of these islands all her life. She has a background in performing arts, hula instruction, as well as guiding others on their paths to healing and self-discovery. Ceremony is and always has been an integral part of Kanani’s creative, passionate work as well as her dynamic life as an artist and mother. A new-comer to the Maui wedding officiate scene, Kanani spends her time between Maui and the Big Island where she works with couples, co-creating and performing their special ceremonies of love and life.

SERVICING OAHU ONLY:

Kāhea in the Hawaiian language dictionary by Pukui and Elbert is “to call, to cry out, invoke, greet, name …; to summon, a call, alarm.” Life for me has been a progression of calls and summons from the Creator who lives in each of us, from Akua – from God. When a person responds with a ʻyes” to a kāhea, then he should accept the kuleana or responsibilities that are inherent with it. Briefly, these are the kāhea I have responded to over my lifetime:

Seminarian for 6 years – St. Stephenʻs Seminary, Kāneʻohe, Hawaiʻi
Juvenile Detention Officer 1 ½ years, State of Hawaiʻi
Federal Agent for 33 years – DEA, U.S. Customs, ICE
Police Commission Investigator for 8 years – Honolulu Police Commission
Kumu Hula for 14 years – Hālau Hula Keliʻi Puʻukū O Ke Ao
Ordained Minister & Licensed Marriage Celebrant in the State of Hawaiʻi

Conduit for Blessings, Cleansings, Healings

Throughout my law enforcement career, I served my people – the world ­ with aloha, with love. It was no accident nor contradiction that I embraced the hula and practiced it with the mana or divine energy within, and with the hā or chosen breath of life. The series of kāhea then started. First with a request from a family member, friend, or colleague to say grace or pule for gatherings of people before a meal; then home and office blessings, cleansings, healings, rites of commital and marriage celebration. I asked often, “Why me?” and the response in different forms basically came back, “Why not?” Thus the kāhea and my kuleana once I said yes.
I believe in God and that there is God – in His image ­ in every person. I believe that we should love or aloha one another (remember the greatest commandment?). I believe that there are many paths to God, whom we call by different names. I say all this because this is who I am as a kahu and celebrant – very important to know and understand for those seeking a sacred path,
as in marriage.

With mana and hā I relate to the land, the ʻāina and all its people in the warmth of Aloha. I conduct ceremonies within the parameters of traditional Hawaiian protocols, using ti leaves,
Hawaiian salt, special water, the sounds of hula and most importantly, oli (chants) that
communicate with God, with the forces of nature, with generations that have passed and with
generations to come.

I conclude by saying that I am but a conduit for Akua. It is not my power but His. I have been informed that I am helped in sacred endeavors and healings with the wonderful grace, light and sword of the Archangel Michael. Why me? Why not?

Mahalo Ke Akua and Blessings to us all.

DENNIS CHONG‐IMAMURA – Oahu Officiant