Los Angeles Wedding Officiant

Helicopter wedding!

revjonflores — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:08:31 +0000

When I started working as an officiant, I never dreamed I’d have a day like today! The adventure began late last week when I got a call from George at Pacific Rotor Ways. He was searching for a wedding officiant to preside over a helicopter wedding! I couldn’t believe my luck in receiving this call. George gave me the groom’s contact info and I called him right way to discuss what exactly he needed, which turned out to be me!

I admit that I was slightly skeptical that this would all come to pass, but I talked to the groom a couple of times over the weekend, and today I marked off one thing from my bucket list…a helicopter ride. It’s a wedding venue I highly recommend. After our chopper safety orientation, George strapped us all in and gently guided the beautiful burgundy aircraft into the skies.

We headed from the Burbank airport up and over North Hollywood, Studio City and then across the airspace above some incredible real estate in the Hollywood Hills. We sailed past the Getty Museum and approached the beach at Santa Monica. After a northern turn, we buzzed along the Malibu scenery. Spectacular! Rakesh and Chiragi recited their vows and exchanged rings over the Malibu pier, then we soared over Pepperdine and Topanga Canyon before George aimed our flying wedding back to Burbank.

I can’t thank this beautiful couple enough for the honor of being their officiant. It was truly a beautiful hour in the skies, a moment I’ll always cherish. And thanks also to George for safely piloting us over the Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Malibu landscapes.

Toluca Lake Wedding

revjonflores — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 13:42:35 +0000

Music is a wonderful theme to build a wedding around. I had the pleasure last night serving as Doug and Samantha’s wedding officiant at Ramsey’s at the Club, an absolutely beautiful venue in Toluca Lake, and I used musical analogies and of weddings and marriage for my remarks, and I was very grateful for the compliments I received afterwards. One guest even asked me if I was a poet! Doug the groom is a musician himself, the bridal entry music was Etta James “At Last,” and the couple both love Pink Floyd. Those were the nuggets I used to personalize my remarks and engage the guests. I even got everyone to sing the line “We don’t need no education.” Sounds crazy, but it was all good! I can now say that I’ve successfully used Pink Floyd lyrics in a wedding. In addition to the rebellious school kid mantra from “The Wall,” I also showed the connection between “How I Wish You Were Here” and Etta James “At Last.”

This was my first time to see Ramsey’s at the Club, and I hope I get to go back soon. It’s an elegant, intimate space, and does not require much at all in the way of additional decoration. This photo is taken from the Ramsey’s website:

Photo from Ramsey's at the Club website

Depending on your budget, I would highly recommend Ramsey’s, not only for its charm and appearance, but also for it’s wonderful food, prepared under executive chef Jesse Genovese. I only stayed for appetizers after the ceremony, but YUM!

Congratulations, Doug and Samantha! Thanks again for the honor of being your wedding officiant.

Love of cars leads to wedding

revjonflores — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 07:34:01 +0000

If you’re looking for a cool, atypical wedding venue, I highly recommend the Automobile Driving Museum in El Segundo. Manny and Samira, who met at a Honday S2000 enthusiast club, held their wedding here, and I had the pleasure of officiating, surrounded by their family, friends, and a showroom full of antique and classic cars! Since I myself own a 1965 Mustang, I thoroughly enjoyed the unique, elegant setting. I had time before the wedding to walk through the showroom. It’s a great place to visit, even if you’re not getting married there.

The museum has a separate banquet space that looked classy all dressed in black with chrome trim. The wedding party were enjoying cocktails and preparing for supper when I bid my adieus to the couple. Congratulations, Manny and Samira! I was a true honor being your officiant.

Los Angeles Wedding Officiant starts the year at Zuma Beach

revjonflores — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 07:04:17 +0000

About a week before Christmas, I got a call from Sean, asking about my availability for his January 5th wedding at Zuma Beach in Malibu. Luckily, I was available and quickly set up a meeting with Sean and Oralia, his fiance. We met during the pre-Christmas SoCal floods and I’m so glad everything worked out. Sean and Oralia celebrated their wedding today at Zuma Beach under bright blue skies as the sun prepared to set over the Pacific. They’re an amazing couple, and I’m so glad I was asked to be their officiant.

Surrounded by close family members, I led the ceremony featuring Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116, the Hand Blessing, unison vows, ring exchange and a unique sand ceremony. For their sand ceremony, Sean and Oralia scooped up sand from the beach, each using a hand to come together and create unison scoop, and dropping it into a beautiful pottery vessel. Different from the usual sand ceremony, but that made it even more special. It’s a good illustration of how any couple can adapt any part of the ceremony to make their own unique expression of love.

Congratulations, Sean and Oralia!

Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Los Angeles Wedding Officiant at Elysian Park

revjonflores — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:01:49 +0000

This past June, I had the great pleasure of officiating a wedding in a little known venue within Elysian Park, the Montecillo de Leo Politi Park. It’s a private, intimate setting just off of Stadium Way between Scott Avenue and Academy Road. There are picnic tables, restrooms, electrical hookup, a small semicircle of stepped seating, a nice lawn area and parking for about 60 cars. It was pretty hot on that day in June, but a spring or fall day should be very pleasant there. You can reserve the Montecillo through the LA Dept. of Recreation & Parks. Unfortunately, I don’t have photos to show from the wedding I officiated, but I did find this blog of Lizz and Isaac’s wedding with some really great photos of the Montecillo. Lizz not only highlights Montecillo Park, she also describes the eco-friendly aspects of her ceremony and reception.

So if you’re looking for an offbeat outdoor wedding venue in LA, consider Elysian Park’s Montecillo. Even if you’re not looking for a wedding venue, check it out as a romantic picnic destination. And if you’re looking for an officiant, give me a call! Many thanks to Tricia and Enrique for honoring me as their officiant and introducing me to this great venue.

Disability-friendly Day of the Dead Wedding

revjonflores — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 07:24:55 +0000

When I became a wedding officiant in Los Angeles, I thought I’d be called on pretty quickly for lesbian and gay weddings. I finally have my first tentative lesbian wedding booked…for the summer of 2012. I also thought I’d be doing wacky themed weddings, being in Hollywood where all manner of creative, offbeat folks are getting married. None yet! Imagine my delight, then, when I read about Jo and Liz’s wedding, a couple in England who had a Mexican Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, theme. To top it off, Liz was in her wheelchair, and most their guests live with some form of disability, so the logistics were pretty complex!

There were 170 guests present, at least half of whom were disabled. The room was like a health and safety time bomb and the seating plan a logistical nightmare. The wheelies and blinkies had to have enough space to move about freely. Our deaf friends had to sit near the front so they could lip read. The agoraphobics needed to sit at the back so they could escape. The assistance dogs had their own pen, as did the personal assistants. There isn’t a wedding planning book in existence that could have prepared us for this.

Read all about this festive wedding, especially for some great tips about disability-friendly weddings.
Congrats, Jo and Liz!

Los Angeles Wedding Officiant at Crowne Plaza in Redondo Beach

revjonflores — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:12:18 +0000

Click to enlarge

I’m not sure what it is about grooms from the UK and brides from California, but I have pretty good track record so far for being honored as the officiant of such couples. Last night, Brie Hassall and Simon Donoghue tied the knot on the pool deck of the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the Redondo Beach pier. The guys were dashing in their gray suits, pale green boutonnieres, and hot pink ties, which matched the pink and black bridesmaids’ dresses worn by the rest of the wedding party. As the sun set over the Pacific behind me, the couple recited their vows and exchanged rings in a touching, simple ceremony. The groom’s family and guests from Wales were hoping for warmer weather, but at least last week’s rains moved out just in time for the wedding. Thanks again, Brie and Simon, for including me as your officiant.

Los Angeles Wedding Officiant auctions his services

revjonflores — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 18:53:12 +0000

Weddings are expensive, right? What if all that money you spent was donated to a couple in need to provide them with their own dream wedding? For the first time in history, you can plan your wedding, from virtually any major city in the United States, hiring the top wedding vendors in the industry… knowing that the money you spend is benefiting someone in need.

Who will you be helping?

Your bid helps raise crucial funding for Wish Upon a Wedding: the world’s first nonprofit organization, that provides weddings & vow renewals for couples facing terminal illness and other serious life altering circumstances.

Launched in January of 2010, Wish Upon a Wedding has already impacted hundreds of lives by offering hope, courage and strength to couples facing life’s most challenging situations.

What is available?

Find everything needed right here to plan your own perfect wedding day! Just by planning your wedding, YOU can make wedding wishes come true for some very deserving couples! All proceeds go directly to Wish Upon a Wedding. Here is my auction page. On the left side of the page, you’ll see links to cities across the US who are “hosting” wedding vendor auctions, so be sure to check out what else is available.

Not Getting Married?

Check out our auctions for hundreds of other items including amazing trips, jewelry, spa treatments, dinners, entertainment and MORE… Even if you are not planning a wedding, we have what you are looking for!

Help us Make Wedding Wishes Come True!

Wish Upon a Wedding

PO Box 1141 Santa Clara, CA 95052
Ph: 877-305-WISH
http://www.wishuponawedding.org

Los Angeles wedding officiant at Malibu on 10-10-10

revjonflores — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:54:51 +0000

Janelle and Marc; click to enlarge

October 10, 2010 was a huge wedding day! I had the honor of serving as officiant for Janelle and Marc at Point Dume in Malibu. When I arrived, there were at least six other weddings either happening, concluding or getting started. Janelle, Marc and I staked out a patch of sand just below the cliffs, in front of the enormous rock seen in my photo. Janelle surprised Marc with a violinist who provided beautiful stringed music that added to the music of the crashing waves.

Congratulations, Janelle and Marc. It was a true pleasure and honor to be included in your wedding.

Los Angeles Wedding Officiant at Lakeside Golf Club, Toluca Lake

revjonflores — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 19:33:37 +0000

This past Saturday, Thomas Harris and Elisa Ruffino exchanged wedding vows and rings and had a handfasting, and I was lucky enough to be their officiant! It was a beautiful ceremony, set under two ancient oak trees just outside the Lakeside clubhouse. Tom was the dashing British groom, and Elisa was gorgeous in her Italian styled dress and veil. Such a lovely couple, surrounded by an amazing gathering of friends and family. I’m so glad I got to know the Harris and Ruffino clans a little bit, and to hear about some of the differences between British wedding laws and US wedding laws. Did you know that legal weddings in England must be held inside, and that every wedding venue building must be officially registered? What would Californians do if they couldn’t run down to Malibu, Santa Monica, Hermosa or any of their great beaches for their weddings, not to mention the beautiful gardens, public parks and lush backyards that host so many SoCal weddings?

This was my first wedding at Lakeside Golf Club. It’s very old-Hollywood classy, and the staff was warm and attentive to all the details of the day. I also had the pleasure of working with Laura Ward-ElByr (wedding coordinator, keeping everyone calm and the event running like clockwork), Renee Fontana (floral designer, whose creamy white floral arch was SO beautiful), photographer Laura Grier, and DJ Ian Cotler. What a great group of vendors!

I should also mention the delicious, romantic rehearsal dinner Tom and Elisa had Ca’ Del Sole last Thursday evening, an intimate Northern Italian restaurant in Toluca Lake. Yum! I highly recommend the pumpkin ravioli. The bride’s mom told me about a wedding they had attended at Ca’ Del Sole just a few weeks ago. I recommend taking a look at their website to see just how beautiful this venue can become for a wedding.

from the Ca' Del Sole website

Congratulations, Tom and Elisa! Thanks again for inviting me into your lives for the honor of officiating your wedding!