Wedding Planning Stage One

So now you are engaged and your are so anxious to put your dreams into reality. You are down to the Wedding Planning. But wait, don't go too fast. Those years of dreaming were just that, a dream. Now here today, your are down to reality and the real stuff. The castle with the carriage ride are just not affordable or real. So let's deal with what you can afford to do for your wedding event. What people in the wedding industry talk and write about over and over again...Budget. Small word but oh with such big meaning. And believe me they aren't talking and writing for nothing. They are talking and writing from experience because they have seen couples go into debt way over their heads to accomplish that unattainable wedding dream. It is so important to Be Realistic when it comes to planning your wedding. Talk with your fiancee and start with a dollar figure that you both can handle. If parents are involved with paying for the wedding make sure you know just how much they are going to pay for in dollars. There are so many ways of accomplishing "The Look" that you want today with DYI's or through help on Pintrest. Also stay within your relationship and your life interest. If you are campers, hikers, boaters and enjoy the outdoors don't go looking for a big hotel venue downtown. Look for something more meaningful to you both. Rent a camp ground, a state park or a boat club for the wedding. Have the wedding ceremony under the trees maybe at dusk with lite candle jars hanging from the trees. Maybe at a shelter in the state park or on the grounds of the yacht club. Get wedding ideas online and from a ton of books. Talk to your Wedding Officiant and include different traditions that will suit the location of your wedding ceremony. As a wedding tradition include "Planting a Tree", or release butterflies or flying Chinese lanterns . If your interests are more on the intellectual side rent a college hall that has something that you both love, telescopes, library, etc. People who know you will appreciate the fact that you are celebrating in a place that is more YOU than the popular wedding venue downtown that isn't YOU at all. If you start with a $ value, include your personal interest and your relationship you stand a much better chance of having a wedding that everyone, including yourselves, will be happy with the outcome. Good Luck!

Should We or Should We Not?

Congrats, Your engaged and your starting your quest of Wedding Planning. You have a list of things that should be done and by the exact date that it should be accomplished. Among that list might be the phrase...Writing your own wedding vows. This idea makes one or both of you nervous. Just remember that you have gone through a lot of wishing & dreaming & planning of the wedding now you are down to planning the Wedding Ceremony. Don't cheat yourselves by thinking that you should just repeat words after your minister. Take the time to personalize your Wedding Ceremony by writing personal vows to each other. If you ever planned on making an effort in your marriage here is your opportunity to show it and prove it. You literately make your ceremony much more personal by writing wedding vows and saying them to each other rather than just words repeated after your minister. Remember you don't have to memorize your wedding vows. The words can be printed out on a nice clean piece of paper for you to read from during the ceremony. If you both still believe that you are too nervous to stand up there and say the words why not include something personal in the ceremony about your relationship. This will let people know something personal about you both. Maybe in the ceremony introduction your Minister might talk about how you meet, how he proposed, or any other personal information about the two of you. Again you are adding some personal touches to your ceremony that people will remember and feel privileged that you shared something so personal about yourselves and or your relationship. Talk to your minister about personalizing your wedding ceremony and be informed about your options. Good Luck!

Why bother making Wedding Programs?

Okay so your planning your wedding and you have a list of things that should be tacked. You come across "Make sure to write Wedding Programs" and your thinking "Why?" Here's the reason You have planned this big party inviting Family and Friends. Some of those people don't know each other. Then up front you have your Bridal Party, Maid of Honor, Best Man, Bridesmaids, Groomsmen maybe a Flower Girl and Ring Bearer. A lot of guests sitting there will not know those people standing up front. Oh, and your Minister, again people may not know your Officiant. You have planned all this big event and it was meant for a celebration with Family & Friends. You want everyone to have a great time and to make them as comfortable as possible. One way of doing this is to introduce them to all of the Bridal Party up front. Programs give you the opportunity to do this by writing a program and listing the name of the Maid of Honor, Best Man etc. and how he/she is related or friends with you and your fiancee. When your guests gather for the reception after the ceremony, they already know the names of all those people up front and how you both know them. This definitely makes your guests feel much more in the know and they can start up a conversation with your Bridal Party because they know their names & how you both know them. Making Wedding Programs are so simply with all of the different types of programs out there in stores or online. All you need is paper and a computer/printer. Lots of craft store and office supply stores sell special program papers. You can also find help online with instructions and ideas to make it easy for you to make & print. You can make the programs as elaborate or as simply has you wish. If your getting married in June, July & August you might think about making "Fan Programs" to keep your guests cool and informed at the same time. The fans also serve as a wedding favor. Good Luck with your project!

Settling in Central Florida

I have been in Leesburg, Fl. now for three weeks and after unpacking and placing stuff I am now starting to exploring the nearby areas. I simply love the community where we are living and the weather is so Fabulous. Since my arrival in Florida I have noticed that there are lots of Wedding Officiants, Ministers, Notaries, Justice of the Peace etc. I think it's because Florida is such a tourist attraction in general. Because of all the beaches around with beautiful year-round weather and the packages for destination weddings, couples are drawn to Florida when doing their wedding planning. I haven't found any bridal networking groups yet but that's on my list of things to do in the next month. Happy Ever After Wedding Officiants has grown and we now have a new Facebook page www.Facebook.com/HappyEverAfterLifeWeddingOfficiants-CentralFlorida along with www.Facebook.com/HappyEverAfterLifeWeddingOfficiants. I am hoping to do more blogging on this new page and talk about Wedding Ideas, Wedding Programs, Wedding Vows and Wedding Ceremony Readings. Of course the whole reason for this Blog Page is to help all of the Brides-To-Be in their wedding planning stages. If you know someone who has become engaged and is looking for help with all of the planning stages and is not working with a Wedding Planner, please remember Happy Ever After Wedding Officiants and tell her about us.

BECOME A WEDDING OFFICIANT

Are you passionate about helping people, sharing your knowledge?
Do you Love, Love, Love weddings and all they offer a couple on their special day?
Have you ever thought about becoming a Minister/Wedding Officiant?


As an ordained minister, you have the legal rights to preside as a wedding minister for marriages. Beyond performing a wedding you are also ordained to perform other religious services like baptisms and funerals.You can be ordination without regards to an individual's religious and spiritual beliefs.

Happy Ever After Wedding Officiants provides a broad level of support, knowledge, files and forms to help you as you officiate at weddings. Or you can share ideas in different forums and find other areas that will help bring your spiritual community closer.

If you have questions or would like to discuss an issue of concern, there is no better place to look for the answer than by turning to the wisdom of other Ministers. I have been ordained since February 4, 2009.   At that time I started the ministry of Happy Ever After Wedding Officiants. Today, 2014 we are Four Ministers in Indiana and one in Florida. We are always looking to grow and widen our little Family of Ministers.

Do I need to earn a university degree in theology to become ordained?

No. There is a difference between a degree in theology and becoming ordained as a minister.
A theology degree is an academic certification, generally requiring anywhere from 2 to 10 years
of university study to obtain. Academically, a degree in theology is considered the same as a degree
in philosophy and is generally required if you wanted to teach religion at a university level.
Ordination simply requires a demonstration of your commitment to the church and is provided as an acknowledgment of the church's recognition of your commitment. Mostly all states accept your ordination to perform religious ceremonies, including weddings.

Call me and we can talk all about you becoming the person who legally and officially performs weddings. That person who is remembered every time a couple talks or remembers their wedding day and their wedding ceremony.

Rev. Ida-May Hanson
317-341-1121
info@happyeverafterlife.com

All About Love!

You chose to love that woman or man NO MATTER WHAT! 
Love works at it. Love endures the changes.  Love is long suffering.  Love is work.  
Because Love is a VERB.  It’s not just a momentary emotion.

Daddy Daughter 2

Ladies, choose wisely.  Gentlemen as well.  Look at the family tree.  Ladies, observe how your man’s father treats his wife.  Gentlemen, observe how she is treated by her father.
Marriage is not a place for the weak.  It is a place for the strong, who are willing to endure ups and downs, and even sideways.  Observe those who have been married a long time and you will “get it”.  They found something of substance that “early quitters” will never find.  Real love lasts.
Love is, after all, a VERB.  It implies actions.  That’s why the marriage is way more important
ABOVE than the wedding.

Rev. Marty Moran

May I have a drum roll please…….

I can’t believe all the changes that have happened at Happy Ever After Wedding Officiants. February 4, 2014 we celebrated our fifth year as a Ministry. We began with just me, Rev. Ida-May Hanson and now have grown into five ministers today. First Rev. Jennifer Johnson joined me December 1, 2011. Second was Rev. Melissa Lawson who came on board January 15, 2013. Third was Rev. Rev. Renea Gates who joined us February 1, 2014 and just recently Rev. Karen Kaplan as joined us. We are so blessed to have such caring and professional people here to help all of the couples on their quest to plan their perfect wedding ceremony. Wow! Look at us go!

To celebrate our Firth Anniversary we had a special anniversary contest for all the couples that have been married by Happy Ever After Wedding Officiants. And we would like to thank all those couples that participate in our little contest. We asked them to go to our Facebook page; post a picture of you both on your wedding day and a picture of you both today. Tell us the date of your wedding and which minister married you. Then tell us how your married lives have changed or grown since the wedding.

The winning couple was….
Billie & Dave Casillas they were married June 30, 2012 by Rev. Ida-May Hanson and their lives have changed because on January 5, 2014 Billie & Dave had 2 beautiful babies, Sophia & Jacob. Rev. Melissa Lawson, Queen Bee of Bizzzeybee Photography awarded the winners with 5 enhanced digital files of their babies.
Here is a sneak peak at the prize.