Kristin Kam and David Suzuki don't think their relationship is very exciting.

But their wedding sure was.

The couple had arranged to exchange vows in a perfect late-morning ceremony on Oct. 15, a Sunday, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Mother Nature had other plans.

First, it rained all night. Pouring, unrelenting rain. The couple decided to move their outdoor ceremony indoors.

Then, the next morning, just after 7 a.m., two earthquakes, at magnitude 6.7 and 6.0, rattled the Islands.

Kam, who had been up since 4 a.m. to get her hair and makeup done, was watching TV with her bridal party in her hotel room on the 28th floor when the building began to shake.

"Oh, we could feel it," said the 26-year-old from Kaimuki. "The tower was swaying ... I was getting dizzy."

Two floors up, Suzuki and his groomsmen felt it, too. But he wasn't sure it was an earthquake at first.

"I didn't know what to think," said Suzuki, 26.

The shaking stopped, and everything seemed to be fine.

That is, until the electricity failed 10 minutes later.

The couple figured it was just a power surge. But the power never came back on.

"We were told the generators would kick in," Suzuki said, "but they never did."

Kam and her bridesmaids had to walk down 28 flights of stairs, carrying their dresses. Suzuki and his groomsmen, already dressed in tuxedos, walked, too, lugging the flowers.

"We had no idea what to expect for the rest of the day," Kam said.

And it only got worse.

Without electricity, the kitchen staff said it couldn't prepare the five-course Chinese lunch the couple had requested.

The only food they had to serve was their wedding cake, but the hotel couldn't provide plates and flatware. So some of the bridal party went to the nearest ABC Store to pick up paper plates and plastic forks. But the lines were too long.

It was nearing 11 a.m. and the couple was desperate.

So they decided to go ahead with the ceremony only, which was moved to the foyer area outside the ballroom.

Despite warnings to stay off the roadways — and hotel staff telling guests who called that the wedding was canceled — most of the 220 guests who were expected showed up that morning.

Kam and Suzuki were touched.

"We were so surprised," Suzuki said, smiling.

Then, finally, some good news. The kitchen staff found a way to prepare four of the five dishes they had requested, cooking with gas-fueled woks. They were even able to serve lychee ice cream for dessert.

It wasn't exactly how the couple envisioned their reception. It was stuffy without the air conditioning, quiet without music and dark without lights.

But they didn't complain.

"We were trying to make the most of it," Kam said. "We were just trying to enjoy the moment."

Kam and Suzuki met in the seventh grade at Mid-Pacific Institute. They were in the same world geography class, and they both played clarinet for the school band.

Suzuki had a crush on Kam the next year, badgering her to go out with him.

She'd always refuse.

"I'd tell him to ask me later on," Kam said, laughing.

In ninth grade, the two became good friends, talking to each other on the phone for hours nearly every night.

One night in January 1995, Suzuki called Kam and told her to turn on the radio. He had requested a love song for her — and asked her out again.

"I didn't believe him at first," Kam said, smiling.

The deejay played "Always & Forever" by Luther Vandross, insisting that Kam should give Suzuki a chance.

So she did.

For 11 years they dated, going to proms and attending Oregon State University together.

During three years of college, they lived together in a one-bedroom apartment near the campus in Corvallis.

When they graduated in 2003 — Suzuki got degrees in accounting and environmental science, Kam got one in accounting — they decided to move back home.

Not able to afford rent, they moved in with their parents.

Living apart — Suzuki was in Waipahu, while Kam lived in Kaimuki — was strange at first. They had both grown so close over the previous three years.

"It was hard for me," Kam said. "I was really attached."

They had been talking about marriage for months, but not seriously. Not until they went to pick out engagement rings in 2004.

"I knew I wanted to marry him during senior year in high school," Kam said, smiling. "You just know."

A few months after ring-shopping, in August 2004, Suzuki planned a romantic getaway at a Waikiki hotel.

His real motive: He wanted to ask Kam to marry him.

His plan was to propose on the beach as they walked to dinner at Tanaka of Tokyo East in King's Village. But on their way to the restaurant, it started to rain. So instead, he pulled out the ring while they waited to be seated.

It wasn't the most romantic, but it worked. Kam said yes.

"I did want a better proposal," she said, jokingly.

Suzuki moved in with Kam at her parents' home in Kaimuki and quickly started planning the wedding.

Of course, no amount of planning can ensure a perfect wedding, as they both learned.

But sometimes life's little imperfections — or, in their case, an earthquake — can make for a memorable experience.

"If we can get through something like that," Kam said, "we can get through anything in our life."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.