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As John Mount (Mus’69; MA’72) proclaims the couple united, the day’s latest��Japanese wedding at Oahu’s Saint Catalina Seaside Chapel reaches crescendo.��Japanese citizens love marrying in Hawaii. Mount makes their dreams come true.��Of the estimated 20,000 Japanese��weddings that took place in the Hawaiian��Islands last year, Mount and late wife��Lorna Mount (Mus’69) presided over��more than 400.��

“ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ five years ago, I gave up my job as��choir director at Kailua United Methodist��Church and now spend my Sunday mornings doing five or six weddings,” he said.

Lorna, a singer (mezzo-soprano), first��drew him into the work: Over 40 years, she��performed in more than 10,000 ceremonies.

“I enjoy meeting the couples and��making their ‘American’ wedding a joyous��experience,” John said. “Every wedding is��unique. That’s why I keep doing these.”

The Mounts moved to Hawaii in��1975 after John accepted a position as��a voice professor at the University of��Hawaii Manoa. He continues to teach��full time and also performs in operas,��most recently with the Hawaii Opera��Theatre and Honolulu Symphony.��

Lorna died earlier this year.��When John decided to join her in��the Japanese wedding business — work��they could do together — he imagined��himself a singer, too.

“But it seems the Japanese couples��prefer a female over my bass-baritonevoice,” he said.

Mount saw there might yet be a role��for him. Most officiants in Japanese��weddings in Hawaii have little in the way��of formal training.��He pursued a civil license from the state��of Hawaii after receiving an ordination��certificate from the Universal Life Church.

“A fellow minister gave me a copy��of the service in Japanese, spelled out��phonetically, and I worked with some��Japanese friends until my Japanese was��passable,” he said.

Mount leads the vows and a prayer��in Japanese, with additional prayers and��readings in English. Sometimes he adds��a Hawaiian chant. At times, Lorna sang��“Ave Maria” in Latin, too.��Depending on the wedding package —��all-day photographer, limousine, flowers��ranging from an orchid bouquet to roses,��white tuxedo and traditional white dress��— the 20-minute ceremony takes place in a��hotel wedding chapel or seaside location.��Afterward, there’s usually a reception, John said, “even if it’s just the��two of them.”

Mount and Lorna’s own love story had��its roots in ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ: They met at ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ as��students of Berton Coffin, then head of��the College of Music’s voice department.

Their December 1968 wedding, during��the semester break, took place in snowy��George, Iowa, Lorna’s hometown.

“A blizzard chased us all the way��home,” he said.

That never happens in Hawaii.