Wedding/Vows

This page was used in the planning and documentation of the wedding of Benjamin Mako Hill and Mika Matsuzaki. on May 29, 2006. Please take care when editing these pages -- they are kept here for historical purposes only.

Our wedding vows were written under constraint. The constraint is explained at the bottom of this page. At our wedding, we asked people to read the vows and try to guess the constraint before we revealed it to them. You might find it fun to do the same.

Mika Matsuzaki

Love, like pi, is irrational. Though unexpected, we've grown increasingly close over the years. Our circle of trust remains unbroken. Like a rock tumbling down a river, our relationship will continue to grow rounder and smoother.

Now, I give a total offertory to joyful union.

I'll honor - joyously, endlessly, loyally, devotedly - you.

In the marriage that unites us, paired Yang and Yin, Benjamin and me, forever soulmates, shall complement as partners steadily.

With a doubtless promise, I pledge integrity and stability sincerely. Our rounded rings, a completely noble treasure; it represents continual respect, love, perpetual link with trust, limitless.

My vow: absolutely lasting devotion.

Benjamin Mako Hill

Unlike this vow, my love for you will remain unconstrained. Like the vow, it will remain in perfect balance. Like the constant, our relationship will constantly grow in strength; naturally doubling while retaining the perfect proportion.

I notice a cheerful doubletake for our impending coupling.

Speedily, startle gets abolished -- unfading happiness.

This alliance will progress. It absolutely does taste familiar: simple artistry. Our love has stayed; still strong.

Now, honestly, I..

I promise defense of objectives and unapparent qualities.

I promise symbiotic struggle, absolutely joint romance.

Golden as wondrous ratios, as a oft cited rule. Also duration.

Constraints

In addition to being wedding vows that describe our feelings accurately -- a tough enough constraint for most -- the numbers of letters in each word in each vow matches consecutive digit in the decimal expansion of a famous mathematical constant. Mika used π and Mako used φ. Where the digit was zero, a word with ten letters were used. No words over ten letters were used at all. Punctuation (e.g., hyphens and apostrophes) were not counted as letters. A slightly modified version of this constraint has been used by Mike Keith in the production of, among other pieces of writing, Near A Raven.

We selected each constant for symbolic reasons. To explain our choices, we included this piece of explanatory text on the printed version at our wedding:

π symbolizes the enduring, cyclical nature of our relationship. φ, also known as the golden ratio, symbolizes balance and proportion. Like love, both numbers are irrational.