Category: Uncategorized

Keeping Count

Istanbul, Turkey, is the worldwide wedding capitol. Las Vegas is the U.S. city with the most weddings (along with Los Angeles/Orange counties CA, followed at great distance by Cook-County/Chicago IL, San Diego county CA, Miami/Dade FL, King-County/Seattle WA, and the Main Island of Hawaii, including Honolulu). Every year 2.3 million couples marry in the U.S…. Read more »

Words Matter

Have you been to a wedding ceremony lately? It’s not just the famous words (“I do”) that matter. One couple heard a minister say “Dearly beloved” and cringed. These two words reminded them of a funeral. Describing wedding rings as a “symbol” cheapens them in the eyes of some people. A young couple married in… Read more »

Life Is Not a Stage

We’re amazed at stories we hear of officiants treating weddings as their own personal stage, as though your wedding is their opportunity to polish their self-image or stuff their wallet. We’ve also been contacted way too many times by panic-stricken brides whose officiants cancelled within weeks of their wedding. These “Reverends” are so self-important that… Read more »

Let’s Get Married: 12/13/14

Do you want to marry on 12/13/14? This Saturday date is filling up fast. Consider: Las Vegas issued 4,333 marriage licenses intended for 7-7-7, another 3,090 for 10-10-10 and 3,024 for 11-11-11 (sorry, they haven’t updated us for 12-12-12 or last year’s sequentially cool 11-12-13). 20,000 couples nationwide already plan to marry on 12-13-14 according… Read more »

Wedding Hashtags

A new survey by Mashable, partnered with The Knot, reports that 55 percent of couples used a wedding hashtag, plus another 5 percent wish they had. Over two-thirds of women began Pinning to their wedding board before they were engaged. There’s more, including a full infographic, revealing the latest digital and social habits of new… Read more »

Good Intentions – Unanticipated Results

Wedding magazines and websites are filled with “tips and trends”. These set your imagination soaring – but may result in sore memories. Creative writers aren’t experienced officiants. They aim to be daring. What they see as possible (and may even have worked in one particular circumstance) isn’t accompanied by cautionary advice. When a bride follows… Read more »

Being We is Me at my Best

Marry for love. What you get from loving the person you marry is: loving the person you marry! Loving is the limitless experience of giving your best to another – and becoming better by giving your best. Marry because “we” is better than “me.” Being “we” is to live so intensely that giving is never… Read more »

iPod Wedding ???

Lowen Liu entered the debate about recorded wedding music last month. But she wasn’t advocating for live music or a DJ. After a few sad tales about each, Lowen comes out strongly for an iPod wedding. After all, she argues, who can set your wedding playlist better than you and yours? Lowen’s idea may sound… Read more »

Real Men in Underwear

You’ve seen the Dove campaign featuring “real” women – ostensibly designed to encourage realistic expectations about women’s bodies. Could something similar be aimed at men’s bodies (or at teasing hubby-to-be)? Maybe so. A British newspaper asked four men to imitate underwear ads by Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham. Results can be seen here. Wince or… Read more »

Naturally and Totally Unscripted

Last week’s wedding was a blast. It was one of those where I just had to let happen what was happening. I make a deliberate effort to keep ceremonies focused on the bride and groom and to adjust, slowing down or speeding up or adlibbing my words to fit the genuine spontaneity of their emotions…. Read more »