Second weddings
Second weddings John Armengol Jr., president of operations at Andre's Banquet Facilities, said the area's large Catholic population leads couples to find Wedding Officiants, particularly in the case of second weddings when a spouse-to-be is divorced. Some Wedding Officiants say business also is getting a boost from military personnel who want to get married quickly before being sent to Iraq. Price and flexibility can also be factors. In the St. Louis area, Wedding Officiants fees tend to range from about $50 to $350, with additional costs for rehearsals and travel. Most will perform wedding ceremonies just about anywhere -- from their own backyards to Busch Stadium. "You have an unlimited choice of locations wherever imagination leads for you to share this important moment," reads the Web site for All-Couples Married, made up of three semiretired Wedding Ministers. But the message continues: "Important Notice: The officiant will not jump from airplanes -- the bones don't work like they used to, besides it is sometimes hard to hear with a parachute flapping." Barker, who actually performed a ceremony at Busch Stadium, said Internet advertising and word-of-mouth keep the three Wedding Officiants booked, with each performing about 100-150 weddings a year.
"It is a growing business in every community," said the president of the National Association of Wedding Officiants. The organization was formed about five years ago as a way for officiants and clergy to post their services on the Internet. It has about 200 members listed on its Web site, nawoonline.com. Couples can review Wedding Officiants backgrounds on the Web site and comment about the services they receive. Christine Isaak, director of sales and marketing at the Falls Reception and Conference Center, a popular wedding venue in Columbia, Ill., said she is receiving calls from Wedding Officiants asking to be put on the center's referral list. And Andre's Banquet Facilities, a 25-year-old St. Louis-area business providing five different banquet facilities and a range of wedding services, is seeing a rise in requests for the use of its two staff Wedding Officiants, Armengol said. He said officiants have conducted 135 wedding ceremonies in the current fiscal year, compared with 85 the same period last year. The banquet facilities are in Oakville, Fenton, Festus, Richmond Heights and Sunset Hills. Wedding Officiants offer couples the means to fashion a customized ceremony, said Marlene Bricker, a Chesterfield independent Religious Science minister who has been performing weddings for more than five years. She offers four different ceremonies, including one using a clear glass heart that she fills with yellow glass symbolizing friendship and red glass symbolizing passion. She said the clearness of the heart symbolizes the clarity of balance between the two.
Jeffrey DeBlase, a Wedding Officiant in Sparta, MO., who a year ago began running the Can-A-Lope Web site, www.canalopeweddings.com, also stressed the ability of Wedding Officiants to serve couples who want something different. DeBlase, who said the Lord suggested the name Can-A-Lope to him while he was praying, has about 125 Wedding Officiants listed on his site. He recalled one ceremony in which the bride and groom insisted that their dog be the ring bearer at a backyard wedding. DeBlase was worried, but the couple assured him there would be no problems. But during the service, a canine guest got the ring bearer's attention. "The dog had the rings tied on a ribbon around his neck, and he just took off," DeBlase said. "Yeah, he was trained all right."
