Helicopter wedding!

Posted on April 20, 2011 by

Helicopter WeddingWhen 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!

Rev. Jon's Helicopter WeddingI 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 thenHelicopter Wedding 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.

Los Angeles Helicopter WeddingI 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.

Malibu coast from the helicopter wedding

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Toluca Lake Wedding

Posted on March 6, 2011 by

Samantha and Doug and Ramseys at the ClubMusic 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:

Los Angeles Wedding Officiant at Ramsey's in Toluca Lake

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.

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Love of cars leads to wedding

Posted on February 14, 2011 by

Los Angeles Wedding Officiant at Driving MuseumIf 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.

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Los Angeles Wedding Officiant starts the year at Zuma Beach

Posted on January 5, 2011 by

Los Angeles Wedding Officiant at Zuma BeachAbout 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.

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Los Angeles Wedding Officiant at Elysian Park

Posted on December 31, 2010 by

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.

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Disability-friendly Day of the Dead Wedding

Posted on December 22, 2010 by

Disability Dia de los Muertos WeddingWhen 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!

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Los Angeles Wedding Officiant at Crowne Plaza in Redondo Beach

Posted on October 24, 2010 by
Los Angeles Wedding Officiant

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.

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