Introduction

Welcome to The Wedding Where...! 
My name is Amanda and I'm an officiant sharing stories, advice, insights, tips and more from my experiences officiating weddings.

Episode 1 is a little introduction into who I am, how I got into officiating and what I have learned along the way.  I also share why I decided to podcast and some inside scoops on what's to come in the next podcasts.
Join me at least every other week as I share "The Wedding Where"

Any links mentioned in the podcast can be found on my linktree:
https://linktr.ee/OfficiatingbyAmanda

Feel free to connect with me or the business on social media and send an email with any questions that you have - there will be a special episode each quarter for listener questions. theweddingwherepodcast@gmail.com

Thank you so much for listening, liking, sharing, and engaging :) 

Transcript

0:01  
A free audio post production by alphanic.com This is The Wedding Where with Officiating by Amanda.

0:22  
Hello and welcome to the wedding where. I really just planned this episode to be a little bit of an introduction to who I am and what my business is all about, and why I started a podcast, and what you can expect to hear and see for as long as we're on this journey. So I'm Amanda. I am an ordained officiant. I can also use the title minister that had that has a certain air to it. So I normally just like to say that I'm an officiant. I have been doing this since 2014

0:55  
I actually was a week away from graduating from college with my degree in history and criminology, and hadn't thought a lot into what I was going to do next, so I decided to get ordained. I figured, why the heck? Why not? I'm really good with words. I have faith. Who knows what that's all in some days, but I do have faith, and I really work well with people, and weddings are always fun. And I was like, "All right, it'll be the backup plan, the plan to the plan". So a week before graduating, went online, typed a couple easy things, and got ordained. And that really was just it. I was gonna pull it out as a, you know, fun fact at parties, you know? Oh, you know, if I say God bless you, it means a little bit more because I'm a minister. And then in 2015 I had a friend get engaged and asked me to officiate the wedding. And I was like, All right, I'll do it for this one. That'll be that. That'll be it. Well, one turned into two and two turned into four and four turned into 10. And next thing, I had the website and a Facebook page, and I went to a couple expos, and all the while still working the normal jobs, and after 10 years, I have done 162 weddings, each with their own unique vibe and story. Some stories funny, some heartfelt and sentimental. And so after 10 years doing weddings, I was like, There's got to be a way for me to document, you know, all these stories that I've collected. You know, the weddings where X, Y and Z happened. So, you know, I thought, all right, I'll record them and share them out. And if no one else ever listens, all well and good, because at least I've got it preserved for my own memories. So that's a little bit of what I do and how I decided to launch into this realm with podcasting.

3:02  
What I enjoy most about officiating weddings?

3:06  
I certainly love having the answers to the questions asked of me. It was not always the case in the beginning, but certainly by now, yep, not a problem. I know what to do, or I can tell you what's been done at five or six weddings, or what's been done more in the minority of weddings, and really, just having the answer to pretty much any question that could be asked of me is one of the things I really enjoy most. But there's you'll think it's funny, I like the power. Not a minister on a power trip, what? But I always work with the grooms, or if there's, you know, one person, kind of down at the aisle already, awaiting the arrival of another person. I asked them, you know, do you want to see your significant other coming? Or do you want to have your back turned? And I would work then to turn you at the optimum moment, so that the photographer can get pictures from a bunch of different angles, as well as capture your reaction very pristinely, and so that you aren't seeing a little, you know, blob in the distance walking forward and forward and forward, you really get to see just your person right behind you, head to toe, all that they are. And I really like having that moment. It's a very unique moment. It's a very personal moment when someone says, yeah, like, turn me, you pick you decide when, and watching the anticipation. Do I get to look now? Do I get to look now? No, not now, not yet. Just wait. So it's a lot of fun.

4:46  
There a little bit more about me. I'm a I'm newlywed myself, married in November, to my wonderful husband, Nick. He's a joy. He is not a wedding kind of guy. So that's another area where. I can really empathize with some of my clients and the couples is there's always typically one person who is more into the wedding and into the planning than not, or than the other one is. And so I definitely fell in that realm, and he fell in the Yes, whatever you would like, as long as it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Let's see what else about me. I have a background in fundraising and nonprofits, and I'm currently assessing what's next for myself, so that'll be a part of this as well. You know, stay tuned. Maybe some updates as I need to amp up recordings or slow them down based off of what my work does, passions and hobbies. I play the flute. I like to crochet and cross stitch, anything with handicrafts, lot of lot of streaming, binge watching. I'm a a historical fiction, fiction kind of girl. So Reign, virtual 10, the crown, the tutors, like, yeah, all of them. Outlander, I'm in that I'm in that bucket. Maybe you are too. Let me know if we share the similar hobbies. 

6:15  
Something that makes me unique as an officiant is that I don't come with a pre written agenda into my consult calls. I don't have a certain bottom line outside of overhead costs that I'm trying to meet. You know, I packages are built realistically, and they're built to be tailored and adjusted and discounts applied and get the best bang for your buck. I mean, as long as I'm walking away happy and the client is walking away happy from our initial understanding and agreement on what this is going to be, it's going to be a fantastic wedding. It's going to be a fantastic day. But if either one of us is kind of walking away with okay, I'm doing far more than I'm getting paid for on my end, or the clients going, that's not really what we wanted. You know, the time to speak and say that is at booking versus kind of having that as a lingering thought all the way up to and through the wedding. There haven't been an awful lot of challenges, I'd have to say, in my officiating realm, getting to know the ins and outs, because every county is different, every state is different with how they give out their marriage licenses, how they accept back marriage licenses, how marriage licenses have to get filled out, who fills them out, what sort of powers and investments. So navigating some of that. But after 10 years, I pretty much have it down pat. 

7:45  
My goal overall with this podcast is really just preservation of these memories and showing them out. I love being a storyteller. Ask any of my my sorority sisters or my friends, I've got the stories. I've got them for days. So this podcast will be a hodgepodge of things, but all in a similar vein within the wedding wear. So I plan to be the main ghost in all of this. You know, it's the wedding where the bride's mom was drunk, the wedding where I had to play bartender, the wedding where I cried, you won't necessarily get the names of the couple. You won't get identifying facts or details. So I leave it to you to put that together in your own head, but you'll get the gist of it, of what happened, the drama, the highs, the lows, and then some insights from you know, okay, what I learned after this wedding, or what you might want to take into account as you plan your own day or as you might go about even attending more weddings. Additionally, you know, I plan to answer questions as they come in. So please, if you have any email me, let me know. Drop them. I think there's a little Q and A section through buzz sprout. And then we're going to have some different tips. I've wrote down a list of my pet peeves the other day as an officiant, so that'll definitely be an episode. And I do think that in the future, there'll be a spot for some guest speakers, as they also share their stories different vendors from within the wedding industry who see a side of things that I don't get to see, because my realm only really exists within the ceremony, and have them come in to talk about the planning process over the end of the night, or photography and the editing nightmares with couples that want, you know, pounds deleted off of their pictures. You know, the wedding where no one's ever happy enough. So I'm really excited to start this off, and I am excited to have you on this adventure. Stay tuned. 

9:51  
Next week, we are diving in to some of the 2024 trends we just wrapped up the year. And so I'll kind of. Give a lay the land everything that happened in 2024 and some of the little teasers of the titles that you'll see in the weeks to come. Thank you for listening to the wedding wear with officiating by Amanda. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and found some inspiration or insight for your own special day. This podcast is hosted on Buzzsprout and can be found on all major platforms. If you haven't already, please subscribe, like, comment and share to help us reach even more listeners who might laugh a little at the wedding wire for the links referenced in the show, visit linktree at officiating by Amanda. You can also follow the business on Facebook, Wedding Wire and the not stay up to date on everything going on. If you have a question you'd like me to answer on the podcast, just send an email to theweddingwherepodcast@gmail.com and if you're ready to inquire about officiating services for your own big day, you can reach me at officiatingbyamanda@gmail.com thank you so much for tuning in, and until next time this has been Amanda, free audio post production by alphanic.com you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai