We were lucky to catch up with Natalie Remington recently and have shared our conversation below.

Natalie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

Being the owner of a walk in wedding chapel – the one and only one here in Kansas City – brings in a huge variety of couples. We provide beautiful chapels and super low prices for all the couples that just want a fast elopement – similar to Vegas style weddings. In the course of doing business we have come across some pretty remarkable situations and we have a treasure trove of crazy stories to tell! We have had couples wearing attire that completely exposed “off-limits” anatomy, couples dressed up as famous movie characters, personal vows that are sung offkey with such stunning volume it nearly shattered our crystal chandelier and couples where they are under the influence to the point of saying “I Do” and then immediately laying down on the floor in the middle of the ceremony to pass out! Our favorite story is the 1-hour couple. They had met the day before on Facebook and she liked his posts so much she told him they should get married. He agreed (!!!!) and the next day they went to the courthouse to purchase a marriage license and then came to our chapel for a walk in wedding. At that point, they had only known each other in person for 1 hour. I asked them if they were crazy and they assured me they were positively serious and deeply in love. We got them married and watched them waltz out on a magical cloud of happiness. The next day the bride called us and said, “I can’t do this anymore. He’s nothing like he was yesterday!”. Favorite story by far!

Natalie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Natalie Remington and I started my wedding business, Your Magical Day, because there were no beautiful and affordable options for my husband and I when we wanted to elope. I said to my family that Kansas City should have a Vegas type of option and they all told me I was crazy. I researched how to get ordained (and not just the quick online ordination that took 30 seconds) and found a school where I took classes for two years to get my Diploma of Ministry. I created a website, a Google business listing, a logo that I trademarked immediately, and made a little wedding chapel in my townhome so couples would have an actual place to go. I looked at the industry to see what their prices were, and saw they were still outrageous, so I charged what I could have afforded at the time my husband and I got married. Turns out, there are a ton of low income people out there and our wedding chapel was so cute that we got business very quickly. The business just kept growing and soon we were able to rent business space to set it up. We made 3 rooms with different styles of decor so couples would have a choice, and we kept our prices extremely low. The whole business has literally been a labor of love and I wish all of this had been available to me when my husband and I got married. I’m honored that so many couples come to us for their “magical day” and hope their wedding day will be unforgettable. Most wedding chapels cater to a higher income crowd, and their prices reflect it. For what they earn doing one wedding we would have to do about 50 weddings. We aren’t in this to get rich – we are here to give couples what they truly deserve and money should not be a factor in having a lovely wedding.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have stage fright and do not like speaking in front of a crowd. The very first wedding I did was at a couple’s home – it was supposed to be them and their 2 parents. I figured I could handle that alright, but when I got to the residence there were 50 people all crammed into their home. I started shaking uncontrollably, my mouth got dry as sand and my voice was quivery. I had very little knowledge on how to conduct a ceremony and no idea how to fill out the marriage license. It was a total nightmare and I nearly fainted. Probably most people would have quit after such trauma, but I was really determined to see this through. I decided that I would only do tiny elopements where they came to me – I couldn’t handle going to someone else’s location. The next wedding was a couple and their 2 small children. I was still nervous but managed to get through the ceremony. Each time I did it I got a little bit more confidence. Soon I was doing 2-3 weddings every day and getting brave enough to travel to other venues and do larger weddings. Mind you, I still had stage fright but just focusing on the couple and ignoring everyone else helped tremendously. Today we are so busy at our chapel that we don’t have time to go to other venues to officiate. I’m so glad I had the courage to do that second wedding.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I started my business at home so I wouldn’t have a lot of overhead or have to pay rent for a commercial space. I waited until the business had grown big enough before renting an office. It was a huge leap of faith – I had no idea how successful it would be. We used all of my husband’s check to pay the first month’s rent (and only made minimum payments on utilities at home, cut out tv services, etc). Nobody would give me a business loan when I needed it, so I just added to my chapels a little at a time. An arch here, some silk flowers there, until little by little my 3 rooms became perfect. Then I was able to get a credit card and maxed it out to catch up on bills. My business did grow very quickly and soon I was able to get a larger loan from our credit union to purchase the many things needed to run a business properly. It took some time, but baby steps can grow an empire.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yourmagicalday.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourmagicalday1/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077152911779
• Youtube: http://youtube.com/channel/UChleTM2pR8J74FGJ_T8cnXw
• Other: Google Link: https://www.google.com/search?q=your-magical-day