For your questions or to check
availability call me at 615-500-5747 or
email here
Introducing....
Mary's
Wedding Services - Nashville Wedding Rehearsal and
Ceremony Direction
Done all the wedding planning yourself, but just need
someone to help make sure the wedding rehearsal and ceremony go well? In
tough economic times, some couples opt not to hire a wedding planner.
While not ideal, we do understand.
However, as a result we’ve shown up at some very nice
& expensive weddings, and there was no one in charge! Not always,
but sometimes it’s a real mess.
That’s why we decided to begin offering a service to
help couples with their wedding rehearsal and the wedding ceremony.
We do know weddings. We’ve
done a bunch. While my husband, Ralph mostly officiates weddings, I am more available to help with rehearsals and
directing the wedding.
Here’s what I offer to
do for you:
Meet
with you at our home (or phone/email if necessary) to create a ‘Day
Of’ Ceremony Schedule. It’s all laid out in an excel
spreadsheet, including who does what and when. I coordinate with the
wedding musicians and provide them a copy.
Conduct the rehearsal. Rehearsals can be a
pain if you don’t know what you are doing. Planned and
conducted well, a rehearsal should never last over an hour, and often is
much shorter than that. Family members can have different ideas about
how to do what leading to stressful situations. It’s good to have it all
worked out beforehand and have someone in charge who sticks with the
plan when others want to “help”.
Direct the wedding
ceremony. It’s really helpful to
have someone to take care of little things the day of, to answer
questions anyone in the wedding party has, to get everyone in place when
it’s time to start, and to get the show on the road. The director
makes sure everybody does what they are supposed to on cue.
Confirm wedding service vendors the week of.
If you have a list of your wedding vendors with phone numbers and
email addresses, I can do one last check with them to make sure
they will arrive and do what they are supposed to do.
Emergency kit. Have a wedding emergency kit
on hand to deal with those little things, that aren’t always so little.
Ralph mentioned a recent wedding that started late because the groomsman
broke the pin trying to get the boutonnière on the groom! There were no
pins to be found anywhere.
How much is this service? $375.
And, if Ralph is
officiating your wedding, I can give you a $75 discount.
p.s. I hope to provide help to couples that they
might not find elsewhere. Many professional wedding planners prefer not to
offer this service. Understandably, they can earn more by doing more –
that is, providing full wedding planning services. A good one can be well
worth the price, but if you aren’t able to swing that, maybe we can help.
Just let me know.
I've finally written some new posts that I've
wanted to do for some time for couples. They are listed on my Free
Wedding Guides page. There are some other posts there written by wedding
pros you might like too. The free guides include an info-graphic on getting your
license, 3 ways to write your own vows, real-world wedding ceremony ideas, and
more.
If you'd like to see a video brief segment of a
wedding ceremony I officiated, go
here. This was
a wedding at Scarritt-Bennett, and there's a humorous out-take during the vows
(about two minutes and a half in). Very nice couple and family!
I was the "pretend" wedding minister on the TLC
show What Not to Wear at the Hermitage Hotel as a surprise for a local
wedding florist. If you like, watch
here.
Thank-You Notes
Hi Ralph, I wanted
to write to let you know how thankful Sam and I are for you! The
ceremony was perfect in every way. We received so many compliments
afterwards about how wonderful it all was. The wording of the ceremony
especially. It would not have been possible without you. Thank
you...from the bottom of our hearts. We are truly blessed to have found
you. I also wanted to give thanks to you for the promptness of our
marriage certificate. When we got back from our honeymoon on Monday
10/12 it had come in the mail that day and was waiting for us. I was
able to go the next day and get my name changed on my license before
going back to work on Wednesday. Thank you again SO MUCH for
everything!!! Sincerely, Audra & Sam
Ralph, We just wanted to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for
being the minister at our ceremony! We loved how fun and easy the
marriage counseling was. I really enjoyed being able to write our own
ceremony online with you as well. I loved your style, and it wasn't your
typical cookie cutter ceremony! The sand art turned out great and my
favorite was when TJ and I read our vows. That was a very important day
for us, and you made it so special to be the presenter of our love! God
Bless you and your family. Keep up the great work in all you do for the
future. You have shared a special time in our lives, and we appreciate
it! We will definitely refer you to anyone we know getting married in
the future! Thanks! TJ and Selina
Ralph, We are running off to our honeymoon, but wanted to send you a
quick photo of our BEAUTIFUL wedding. You did such a great job - we
received so many compliments about
your service. Literally, everyone was moved to tears by the service.
And, you made the whole process easy and FUN! Thank you so much. You
have a true gift and we are so pleased you could share it with us!
Thanks, Nicole
Just a note this morning to thank you so much for your wonderful
addition to our daughter's wedding. Everyone there felt your warmth and
kindness throughout the ceremony - it felt as if you had always been our
pastor! We are so happy we found you, and now you are forever a part of
our cherished memories of the day... -Matt & Regina
Mr. Griggs, I just want to tell you how thankful we are to have had you
as a part of our special day. Everything was so easy and went smoothly.
We are certainly going to tell everyone of you fantastic service. It was
a pleasure to meet you. We wish you all the best in the upcoming holiday
season!
Thanks a bunch, Jacqueline and Philip
Dear Ralph....we cannot thank you enough for playing such an important
role in our most special day. Without us knowing you very well, you
really seemed to fit us as a minister. The ceremony was more than we
could've ever asked for. I felt a calm spirit come over me that I'd
never felt before...you didn't just marry us, you allowed our family &
friends the genuine opportunity to experience what we feel in our
hearts....and we thank you for that." -Bethany & Josh
How
are the winners determined?
The WeddingWire Bride's Choice Awards ™ recognizes the top local
wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate
excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism.
Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the
organization, the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ are awarded
solely based on the reviews from over 1.2 million newlyweds. Awards
are determined by a combination of four factors: Overall rating
(quality), total number of reviews (quantity), review performance
from 2011 (recency), and consistency of reviews from year to year
(consistency). This year's recipients represent the top 5% of
WeddingWire's vendor community, across all service categories and
all regions throughout the US and Canada.
Meet
with you at our home (or phone/email if necessary) to create a ‘Day
Of’ Ceremony Schedule. It’s all laid out in an excel
spreadsheet, including who does what and when. I coordinate with the
wedding musicians and provide them a copy. 
Hi Ralph, I wanted
to write to let you know how thankful Sam and I are for you! The
ceremony was perfect in every way. We received so many compliments
afterwards about how wonderful it all was. The wording of the ceremony
especially. It would not have been possible without you. Thank
you...from the bottom of our hearts. We are truly blessed to have found
you. I also wanted to give thanks to you for the promptness of our
marriage certificate. When we got back from our honeymoon on Monday
10/12 it had come in the mail that day and was waiting for us. I was
able to go the next day and get my name changed on my license before
going back to work on Wednesday. Thank you again SO MUCH for
everything!!! Sincerely, Audra & Sam 
really enjoyed being able to write our own
ceremony online with you as well. I loved your style, and it wasn't your
typical cookie cutter ceremony! The sand art turned out great and my
favorite was when TJ and I read our vows. That was a very important day
for us, and you made it so special to be the presenter of our love! God
Bless you and your family. Keep up the great work in all you do for the
future. You have shared a special time in our lives, and we appreciate
it! We will definitely refer you to anyone we know getting married in
the future! Thanks! TJ and Selina 
