We recently connected with Jennifer Vineyard and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to start your own firm or do you wish you had started sooner?

I defintely wish I would have started my business earlier. I wanted to start a business for a long time but I always had the nagging voice of my mother in the back of my head saying, “you know, most businesses fail within the first 6 months.” This was intimidating and my lack of confidence in myself kept me from entering into the small business world. However, I do think that I had to wait to find the business that was right for me and built upon my talents. I started my business out of necessity. My son was entering college and I had to find a way to supplement my income as a school counselor to be able to pay tuition. I saw an ad online that stated, “we need wedding officiants!” I thought that sounded like fun, so I got ordained and made a business profile. I was incredibly nervous the first few times, but now after over 300 ceremonies under my belt, it is like second nature! My regret is that, if I would have started earlier in my life, I would have been able to expand my business even more so that it could have been my full time job. Once you get into wedding planning, it can be addictive and you think of all of the other opportunities and services that you can provide to make people happy on their special day! I wish I would have also started earlier because I enjoy bringing couples together and watching them profess their love to one another. It is a fantastic job!

Jennifer, 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?

I love performing weddings for couples! My goal is to create a custom wedding for each bride and groom and to make them feel special on their “Big Day.” I personalize each ceremony and welcome the collaboration with the bride and groom to create the perfect vows. I know that marriage is a one time deal, so I will help you through the process from planning, to coordinating the ceremony to filing the paperwork.

First, I meet with each bride and groom so that we can get to know each other and establish a comfortable relationship. I want to be able to provide a unique and special experience for each bride and groom. I can provide an elegant wedding or a laid-back wedding. I adapt to your needs. I want to hear my couples love story and deliver a ceremony that is one of a kind. I have performed over 300 weddings and this helps to set me apart because I can help couple problem solve issues that will help their ceremony flow and go smoothly. I can anticipate issues and solve them before they become bigger. I am an advocate for my couples to make sure their wedding day run smoothly. I am also very flexible and open-minded as I allow a great deal of collaboration with my couples in incorporating their ideas for the ceremony.

I work with all types of couples, religious, non-religious, traditional, theme weddings and am also LGBTQ friendly. Price includes: consultation, writing the ceremony script, performing the ceremony, travel time and completing licensure paperwork. I am licensed in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia. I welcome couples of all ethnicity, religions and sexual orientations. I am very proud of the hundreds of positive reviews that I have received in the past and that I am a Platinum vender on Thumbtack!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Weddings can be stressful events where unexpected problems can occur. One wedding in particular stands out to me where a couple decided to hold their ceremony on a large hill at a winery in October. It was a beautiful scene and fantastic idea, but on the day of the ceremony, the weather didn’t cooperate. It was cold and rainy and miserable. They asked me if it was still okay that we do the ceremony on top of the hill in the rain and I was game for it. We walked up to the hill and started the ceremony. with the entire bridal party standing in the rain and feeling the whipping winds as it swirled even more swiftly at the top of the Kentucky hill. When it came time to exchange rings, the groom realized that he had left the bride’s ring in the car in the parking lot at the bottom of this long, tall hill. Without missing a beat, I took off the ring I was wearing and gave it to him to place on her finger. They laughed and placed the ring on the finger and we moved on to finish the ceremony with a big, wet kiss! Resiliancy is key as you never know what weather or landscape or emergency that may occur on wedding days!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

When peope think of weddings, I think that they have a specific scene playing in their head about how the process is play out. I was no different. The weddings I have been to have been largely traditional but as I move through my experience as an officiant, I had to unlearn the traditional vision of weddings that I played in my head. After performing so many weddings, you learn the traditions and ‘untraditions’ of different cultures. I learned that my job legally is to witness their “I Do’s” but the ceremony itself can be much more creative. Couples are often hesitant to ask me if they can do things in their ceremonies that make them happy as if I am the wedding police! Now, I welcome the couples creativity and ideas in creating their wedding ceremony but it has taken me a good while to be able to have the confidence to to do so. Now, I am much more equipped in guiding them towards what they want and creating a space for their views.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vineyard-wedding-officiants.business.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vineyardweddingofficiants/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenniferjoyweds/
• Other: https://www.thumbtack.com/oh/loveland/wedding-officiants/vineyard-wedding-officiants/service/333513513298616542