We recently connected with Yvonne Saldivar and have shared our conversation below.
Yvonne, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?
This one is a tough question, only because I’ve had such mixed feelings about this. My own immediate family is very supportive. So supportive in fact, that my sister asked me to marry her to my brother-in-law of over 30 years. I’ve had very little friend support, and I feel like it’s strange to ask people who should wholeheartedly support you because they want to to do just that. I’ve been blessed though with many vendors who have become friends who bridge the gap for me, and support me, refer me, and provide me with positivity all the way around. My brides and grooms have also been SUPER supportive of my business and have referred me.
So it’s really no hard feelings at this point. My couples are my couples ♥
Yvonne, 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 journey started 7 years ago, when I got married. I planned EVERY detail of my wedding myself from top to bottom. It was the best day of my life, besides having my beautiful daughters – Leilani, Analise, & Mikaela. I knew then that I would somehow make my way into the wedding industry, but I knew it would have to come later after I had my toddlers.
Fast forward to April 2023, a week before my birthday I unexpectedly lost my older sister Patty who was special needs. She was the biggest ray of sunshine and joy that my family could have ever asked for, the best sister I could have asked for, and the best aunt and friend to my girls. Losing her sent me into a pretty deep depression and sadness. I was crying every night after putting my kids to sleep, and one night I looked up and said, “please give me some clarity, I can’t keep letting this grief take over me.”
And it happened, at 3 a.m. I thought to myself – “It’s time”. I decided that officiating was the route that I was going to take in terms of joining the wedding industry. I put out my marketing materials that night, and 3 weeks later I had my first wedding. That is how Blissful & Blessed Unions was born.
I’ve married 224 couples now, and I have bookings into January of 2026 currently. There’s no looking back for me now.
That night I realized that life is so short, and so precious and I needed to do what I loved while I still could. My business grew out of my grief, and I find that every wedding and every couple that I marry heals my heart and makes me feel so honored to be part of their story. Because what all of my couples don’t know, is that they’re part of my story too. My journey through healing and self-discovery. Blissful & Blessed Unions is the heart and soul of who I am, and I dedicate all of my success to my angel, my sister Patty.
Blissful & Blessed Unions operates 7 days a week, 24 hours a day – anywhere in the world, all in the name of love. I’m always carry-on and passport ready.
I am a traveling bilingual wedding officiant (English/Spanish).
I specialize in personalized ceremony scripts, regardless of the size of your wedding (elopements, microweddings, destination weddings, traditional weddings, vow renewals, and quinceañera blessings). I have a zoom call with my couples prior to their wedding day to get to know them so I can create a ceremony that is 100% authentic to who they are as a couple so they experience the same magic that I once did. I’m also available to my couples 24/7. The same process is available for my quinceañeras and their parents.
My personality, attention to detail, and dedication to my couples most definitely sets me apart from other vendors. I always empathize with my couples, knowing the stress that weddings cause them and I do my very best to make sure that the ceremony from beginning to end is as painless as possible.
I’m most proud of the fact that those who work with me know me and my brand as one where the minute you book with me, you’re like family. I will give you everything I have in order to make the biggest day of your life, the best day of your life!
I want the readers to know that my officiant services are for ALL couples. Love doesn’t discriminate, and neither do I.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
My side hustle hasn’t turned into my main/full time business or career yet. But I really and truly am hoping that it will be in the upcoming year. I have put in tireless hours and effort into my side hustle and I have just been truly blessed with bookings from couples.
I still work part-time as a tax accountant currently, and my love for my co-workers runs deep. But my heart and passion is definitely wiht Blissful & Blessed Unions.
Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?
I had zero capital going into my business. Blissful & Blessed Unions was born from an idea that I had after my sister’s passing and in that grief believing in my dreams. I figured out a way to leverage what I could in the time that I needed to use social media platforms for free and online pages to market, and it all worked out. Where there’s a will, there’s always a way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bio.site/blissfulandblessedunions
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blissful.and.blessed_unions/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564510840511
Image Credits
Hannah Hix, Film + Photo; Your Moments Photography; TinTin Wynn Photography; Sugarwater Photography; Haley Sigala Photo