Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gina Angel. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Gina, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

In my opinion, I believe to be successful in business you have to love what you do! I also know if you intend to serve people with a pure heart and want to make their lives better and make a difference in their world, success is inevitable.

I am passionate about writing wedding ceremonies that tell the love stories of my couples. I take the time to get to know them and when I officiate on their wedding day, it feels like an old friend is marrying them. I strive to deliver the most beautiful, heartfelt ceremony for my couple.

Gina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Reverend Gina Angel and I’m a wedding officiant in and around the Asheville area I specialize in LGBTQ+ weddings. I live here with my beautiful wife, Melissa, and our fur babies Truvy and King.

When I was younger there was a big tree at my elementary school where I would “officiate” weddings for my friends and classmates. How symbolic that tree is now to me. I recently went back to Ohio and visited that old tree. The school had been torn down but the tree was still standing tall.

When I was in high school I worked at a bridal shop and I would hang the gowns and put them back after our brides were done trying them on, I eventually assisted the brides in saying yes to the dress.

I was always a bridesmaid and never the bride for many, many years. I would rise to the occasion for all the bridal events. The engagement parties, bachelorette parties, wedding showers & of course dress shopping. I’m well-versed in weddings!

Many years later I was asked to officiate a family member’s wedding. They were Catholic but didn’t want to have a Catholic wedding. I said yes! It was 200+ people and it went pretty, darn well! Then a few other friends asked me to officiate and my niece did too, and I said yes! I loved it so much and it just came naturally to me. I genuinely love learning about people and listening to their stories.

When I moved to the mountains I realized a lot of people were getting married here! When my wife and I got married we noticed there were plenty of LGBTQ+ friendly officiants but not many who were a part of our community. I saw an opportunity to serve my community and offer a safe space for them to celebrate their love. Love is love so I will marry everyone, of course!

I got “officially” ordained and my wife, Melissa helped me build my website and we were off! I worked with a few different elopement companies when I first started and they would “assign” the couples to me and then I quickly realized I wanted to pick my couples as much as I wanted them to pick me.

I decided to branch out on my own. I now get referrals from venues, wedding planners, and photographers. I’m loving it so much more now that it’s intentional. I do video chats with all of my couples first to see if we are a good match. If we are I move forward with contracting and payment to reserve the date.

I customize all of my ceremonies. I write my couple’s love story! No two couples are the same and everyone has had different journeys to finding love so the ceremony naturally should be unique to them. I would say I’m God lite. I do mostly spiritual and non-religious ceremonies.

I also offer grounding ceremonies for my couples right before the wedding. I am a reiki practitioner so I do a mini reiki session for my couple and sound healing with my sound bowl. Clear any negative energy with some palo santo. I guide them through a process of letting go of anger, resentment, and anything that’ no longer serves them as they move into this union together. They set their intentions for marriage and connect on a deeper level to remind them of what their wedding day is truly about. Their love and connection. My couples rave about my grounding ceremonies and I love doing them!

I have to pinch myself every day because I’m in the business of love and I’m incredibly grateful!

How did you build your audience on social media?

I have a love-and-hate relationship with social media. I’m assuming most people do. I am on there rarely anymore but I used to be on there way too much. It offered me an opportunity to connect with a lot of vendors and clients.

The best advice that I can give when it comes to building a social media following/ presence is to be yourself. Show who you are not only professionally but personally. People want to get to know you. The good, the bad, and the ugly, We all want to work with real people. If your social media is too branded people are wondering who is the real person behind the perfectly curated pictures.

Share about your family, your pets, your garden, camping, or whatever you love doing personally. Then weave in posts about your business. Let your clients get to know you and you will attract the people you want to work with.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source for attracting my couples is referrals! I am going into my 4th wedding season and still as busy as ever thanks to my vendor friends & past couples.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.allthethingsceremonies.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allthethingsceremonies/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allthethingsceremonies/
• Other: Google reviews https://www.google.com/search?q=all+the+things+ceremonies&oq=all+the+things+ceremonies+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQIxgnMgYIAhAjGCcyBggDEEUYPTIGCAQQRRg9MgYIBRBFGD0yBggGEEUYQdIBCTEyNDE3ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#lrd=0x88598b6d5c1148a3:0x3c3937537608d22a,1,,,,

Image Credits
Headshot- Bryan Way- Bright Birch Film 1. Lauren Pippin Weddings & Elopements 2. Heidi Bee Photography 3. Morning Wild Photography 4. JameKay & Arlie Photography 5. Heidi Bee Photography 6. Tim Will Photography 7. Evergreen Era Film & Photo