Clearwater Wedding Officiant on the Importance of Sleep and your Wedding

Clearwater Wedding Officiant on the Importance of Sleep and your Wedding

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Sleep or shall I call it beauty sleep!!

As a Clearwater wedding officiant, I have noticed most couples forget about something very important when planning their wedding… SLEEP!!  It’s so important to think about getting proper sleep and realize how important and necessary it is when planning such a special occasion your as wedding day.

Improper sleep can add more unnecessary stress, increase irritability and even effect how you look. Mistakes can be made, many things can be overlooked and lack of sleep can cause sickness.

Travelling can make it difficult to get proper sleep. If you are planning a destination wedding where you will be travelling to a different time zone your sleep schedule will be affected. Sleeping in hotels or places outside of your home, will also affect your sleeping habits. A suggestion to consider if you are planning a destination wedding plan on arriving a few days earlier so you can adjust to the time zone and recover from jet lag. If you have a comfy pillow take it along. Pamper yourself with a nice massage, take some time to listen to some peaceful relaxing music, go for a leisurely walk or attend a yoga class. These are few things that can promote calming, and relax your brain so you can get a good night sleep.

Without the proper sleep stress and anxiety will likely affect your thoughts, feelings, moods and emotions. All of the things you don’t want for on your wedding day!! Getting a good night sleep before your wedding is so important. Weddings planning can be so hectic. We often hear how little sleep one gets when planning a wedding. Be sure to get your beauty sleep and have a beautiful wedding.

Your Wedding is Your Day!

Your Wedding is Your Day!

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So often we hear couples stressed about their wedding. They get so many suggestions and ideas from so many different people that they don’t know what to do. Planning your wedding should be fun. Couples shouldn’t feel pressured into doing something they can’t afford or don’t necessarily want to do just because someone else has done it or what someone else thinks you should do. Your wedding is YOUR day. The bottom line is you are getting married to the person you love most. The wedding should be what you should want and feel comfortable with, as well as, what works within your budget. The internet offers so many wonderful resources to help couples in planning their wedding. A great source for wedding planning ideas is Pinterest. On Pinterest you can find anything from wedding dresses, makeup, shoes, invitations, ideas for small, medium, large or elopement ceremonies you name you will find it on Pinterest. But it also can make you crazy!! Keep in mind many of the images you see on Pinterest are from styled wedding shoots with very very large budgets.

Wedding planning making you crazy

Keep Calm! Your Getting Married!

Depending on the size of your wedding a great stress saver would be to hire an experienced day of  coordinator. Your wedding coordinator can handle all the timeline of events and insure that everything runs smoothly. The last thing you want on your wedding day is to be stressed. We offer full service wedding day of coordinator service in the Tallahassee area. We offer partial day of coordinator service throughout the Tampa area which is perfect for couples on a budget. If your wedding is small a coordinator isn’t necessary.

A professional wedding officiant can guide you with all you need for a smooth ceremony including preparing your vows and performing your ceremony. When considering an officiant service price is frequently one of the first questions. Our officiant services reflect our professional services and years of experience. We hear some nightmare situations where officiant cancelled, got nervous and backed out last minute, or showed up unprofessionally dressed. There are many things to think about that quite often when considering a friend or co-worker perform your ceremony that can be overlooked. We are always available to answer any questions or concerns you may have in planning your wedding. Have fun with your wedding planning. It’s your special day.

Wedding Officiant Clearwater Beach Florida

Our prices reflect our years of experience and professional service. We urge you to consider quality and price when selecting wedding vendors.

 

Florida Winter Ceremonies

Florida Winter Ceremonies

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The holiday’s have come and gone and we’re busy officiating Florida Winter Ceremonies

We’ve had some cold weather here in Florida this winter, but that hasn’t stopped Florida winter ceremonies and vow renewals from happening.

Angel and Bernard were married on Clearwater Beach on January 2nd. They traveled to Clearwater for vacation from South Carolina. Angel thought she’d be swimming and be able to wear her wedding dress without a jacket but it turned out to be a cold sunset beach wedding. Although it was cold the beach was so quiet and gorgeous making it an ideal time for a private beach ceremony. Even thought it was cold their love was true, and Bernard kept Angel warm in his arms throughout the ceremony.

Clearwater Beach Winter Wedding Ceremony

Warm hearts, cold beach!!

Every year Jon and Patty visit to St George Island for their wedding anniversary week. St. George Island is where they went on their honeymoon and continue a yearly tradition going to St George Island. This year Jon surprised his wife with an anniversary vow renewal ceremony. On the day of, it was a bit of a foggy cold day. As they were walking their dog on the beach Amanda approached them and asked if they would let her take a photo for a school project she was doing. When she looked at the photo and asked if they were Patty & Jon they said yes.  Amanda let Patty know that she was here to celebrate a special occasion, and perform a vow renewal ceremony for their wedding anniversary. Patty was so surprised, and loved it so much.

St. George Island Vow Renewal Ceremony Officiant

Surprise vow renewal ceremony- St George Island.

Another cold ceremony was this past Saturday at Sand Key Park. LaTressa and Desyouth are both in military. She was in Jacksonville and he in Miami. They had been trying to coordinate schedule and when to have wedding before they are both deployed. LaTressa planned her beach wedding and when Saturday arrived it was so cold. We didn’t even go all the way down to the beach for the ceremony. It was beautiful. The love they have for each other truly warmed them both up. LaTressa e-mailed me and thanked me for everything.

Rain or shine, wind or cold …we will perform a beautiful wedding for you.

Wedding Ceremony at Sand Key Park in Clearwater

Cold ceremony on Sand Key Park

 

Florida Marriage License Fee Decrease

Florida Marriage License Fee Decrease

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Florida Marriage License Fee Decrease!!

Getting married in Florida is simple, and now it just got a little less expensive! This week, Governor Scott signed House Bill 1-A.This bill eliminates the “Displaced Homemaker Trust Fund,” of which $7.50 was allocated from the $93.50 marriage license fee.  The bill is effective July 1, 2017.

Therefore, effective July 1, 2017, the marriage license application fee will be $86.00.  Please note that the application fee for couples who complete premarital counseling will remain at $61.00 as the $7.50 “Displaced Homemaker Trust Fund” fee was already waived for completion of counseling.

FEES EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2017

Item Fee Amount
Marriage application and license (includes one certified copy of license) $86.00
If pre-marital class certification filed (3-day waiting period waived) $61.00
Providing a certified copy $3.00

We notarize a lot of Florida Marriage Licenses. Whether you want to have a big fancy wedding or simply have a notary sign your marriage license, we can do it. Many Florida courts do not offer civil wedding ceremonies anymore so if you’re looking for an affordable way to get married please contact us.

Palm Harbor-   727-641-3374 

Check out our Clearwater Wedding Specials https://abeautifulweddinginflorida.com/clearwater-beach-wedding-ceremony/

Tallahassee-  850-322-0911

Check out our Tallahassee Wedding Specials https://abeautifulweddinginflorida.com/tallahassee-wedding-ceremony-specials/

Florida Marriage License Fee Decrease= less expensive to get marriage in Florida!

 

Ways to Use Rose Petals at your Wedding Ceremony

Ways to Use Rose Petals at your Wedding Ceremony

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You want to use rose petals at your wedding ceremony but not sure how. Check out our favorite ways to use rose petals at your wedding ceremony!

Whether it be on the beach, park, venue, or elsewhere rose petals can be incorporated into your wedding ceremony. We’ve used rose petals to make a heart, down the aisle, lining the aisle, circle, accent petals around an arbor, and much more! Here are some different rose petal options to consider for your wedding ceremony.

Fresh mixed colored rose petals

Mixed colors of fresh rose petals

Rose petal heart ideas

A rose petal heart can have mixed colored petals or a solid color. We always use fresh petals on the beach or on the grass because the artificial petals easily get blown away into the ocean and all around the park. Fake rose pedals need to be picked up, which is super annoying, and are are harmful to the environment.

You can do a pretty flower heart with artificial flowers that are strung together. This is always a good option on a windy day or for a grass location. The string of flowers can easily be picked up and secured into the ground.

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A mound style heart in the sand with fresh rose petals in the center of the heart is a very pretty idea to consider. The heart can be accented with tiki torches and greenery with flowers at the end of the tiki torch posts or shepherds hooks with hanging lanterns or flower balls.

heart in sand with tiki

How about a circular ceremony with rose petal heart in the center of the circle! We love this setup because all of your guests are truly around you. Having a rose heart in the middle of the circle gives the ceremony a beautiful pop of color.

Rose petal heart in center of circular ceremony setup. Siesta Key Beach

Rose petal heart in center of circular ceremony setup at Siesta Key Beach

Lining the aisle

At the beach, park, or inside venue adding rose pedals to line the aisle is a great touch. Adds just a pop of color and really pulls the look together. Here are a few pictures of wedding ceremonies we’ve done with fresh and artificial flowers lining the aisle.

Artificial string roses accenting arborabwif-alc1photo-4-e1447982386561-784x441

Wedding at Hotel Duval in Tallahassee, FLWedding Package #1 jim&ann2
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Circle

If a heart is not your thing you can make the flower petals into another shape. We think it’d be neat to have a circle of rose pedals for the couple to stand inside showing their love will go on forever. Another idea we had was to make an infinity sign out of pedals!

Down the aisle

The traditional rose pedals down the aisle is always a great look! Keep in mind if you are having an outdoor wedding ceremony and use artificial rose pedals you need to pick them up…and that’s not easy or fun.

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Cereon

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Shapes down the aisle

If you want to get real creative use flower pedals and make shapes down the aisle. This is a wedding Charmaine officiated at the Kapok Tree in Clearwater Florida. If you create a flower design in the aisle you need to make sure to block the inside chairs (see how they did it hear with fabric) so guests enter into their seats from the outside in….and don’t mess up the design. We can do these designs or you can have your florist or coordinator do it.

Kapok Special Events Wedding Room

 

There are a ton of neat ways to use rose petals at your wedding ceremony. We love working with couples to make their vision come to life! Keep your wedding simple, affordable, and pretty by using rose petals whether it be beach or elsewhere. Contact us to discuss your wedding ceremony ideas: info@abeautifulweddinginflorida.com

Types of Wedding Ceremonies

Types of Wedding Ceremonies

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Your wedding ceremony is personal! It’s the time where you stand in front of your family and friends and vow to be with someone for the rest of your life– a very special and personal moment. So why wouldn’t there be different types of wedding ceremonies?

Kelly and Daniel had fun with their wedding....and we did too! Photo by Black and Hue Photography.

Ring exchange during a Cape San Blas wedding ceremony. Photo by Black & Hue Photography.

When we started officiating weddings in 2001 our goal was to provide all couples with a way to celebrate their love. We when we say, “Let us celebrate your love with the wedding ceremony of your dreams!” and we mean it. Whether you simply want a Notary Public to legalize your marriage license, have recently been divorced, are an interfaith couple, same-sex, young, or old we are more than happy to work with you on your wedding ceremony.

These are the most common types of wedding ceremonies:

  • Civil or secular– there will be no mention of God in any form and no blessing will be given. Added readings can range from humorous to romantic to philosophical. Ceremony will include wording about family, love, commitment, and values shared by the couple.
  • Spiritual- this is broad because spiritual can mean different things for different people. Some people are spiritual in nature, in leaders or teachers, or ancestors. Some couples chose to have a spiritual ceremony  to share variations of their faiths like Christian and Jewish.  A spiritual ceremony would typically be for those who follow Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Shinto, Zoroastrianism or Sikhism. Spiritual ceremonies are neat because they can be written to fit your spiritual following. Some couples will have mentions of God and blessings included in their spiritual ceremony and other’s do not.
  • Interfaith or intercultural- this is when a couple from two difference religious gets married. One time I officiated a wedding that included Christian bible readings, a reading from the Velveteen Rabbit, and a Jewish glass breaking at the end of the ceremony. Interfaith weddings can sometimes take a little bit of research to figure out the best way to blend the traditions, but end up wonderful because both families are happy.
  • Religious- you can have a religious wedding and not be married in a church. Religious wedding ceremonies can be performed anywhere that makes you happy- a park, beach, venue, garden, or one’s home. Although we are not affiliated with a church we are happy to officiate a religious wedding ceremonies. Only a Catholic priest can perform a Catholic mass and discuss Catholic married life wedding ceremony.
  • Vow renewal- the couple is already married and is having a celebratory vow renewal. We love vow renewals. Vow renewals can be planned, a anniversary surprised, or super of the moment.
  • Commitment ceremony-this is not a legally binding marriage. Sometimes couples request to commitment ceremony as a way to pledge their love to one another.

All of these ceremonies can be adjusted to fit your personal wedding ceremony preferences. For example adding a unity sand ceremony, include a hand fasting, or have your favorite poem read. Your wedding ceremony should be exactly as you want. When planning your wedding ceremony you’ll get a lot of feedback from others. Some will be helpful and others not. Remember it’s your wedding ceremony so do what makes you happy.

When we begin working with a new couple, we encourage them to have a wedding ceremony will reflect reflects their personalities, family traditions, spiritual, religious, or non-religious beliefs. We guide them through the different types of wedding ceremonies and are always open to new ideas.

Celtic Hand Fasting ceremony picture by Megan Pitts

Celtic Hand Fasting ceremony picture by Megan Pitts