Funwed's Blog

OUR BLOG HAS MOVED!!

funwed — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:08:15 +0000

CHECK OUT OUR NEW BLOG.

I moved it into my company website.

www.SoCalOfficiant.com/blog

New Blog Location on Website

funwed — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 07:46:49 +0000

For those of you who subscribe to my BLOG

I have finally intergrated my blog into my website.

I will be redesigning the website to link to the new blog from all the pages But for now check it out www.socalofficiant.com/blog

David Performes his 500th #Wedding for SoCalOfficiant Today

funwed — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 22:31:47 +0000

I am so proud of David.

He has been such a positive person to work with. His insights and the way he works with his couples has been legendary.

Today he is doing his 499, 500 and 501 weddings.

He Rocks!!!!!!

The Big Red Bus brought in the #bride, groom, & all their guests to the #wedding

funwed — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 22:15:51 +0000

Kevin and Jennifer chose a very cool spot to do their wedding, at the end of the road at the Downtown Long Beach Marina. Since there’s no parking except for permit holders, they chartered the Big Red Bus, an open air, double-deckered, English style bus. Very famous on the streets on Long Beach. We did a Hawaiian style ceremony, with the exchanging of leis, the blowing of the conch shell, and a sand ceremony. They pledged their Aloha to one another, surrounded by a bus full of their friends and family. They then all boarded back onto the bus and headed to the party. We all wish them a BIG aloha!

The #bride was brought in on a horse and carriage at this magical #Disney #wedding

funwed — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 22:10:08 +0000

So Cal Officiant is the Preferred Officiants for Disneyland Fairy Tale Weddings. Today we had two weddings there.

Leslie was brought in on a horse-drawn carriage and escorted down the aisle by her father. Bernie waited patiently at the altar for her to arrive. I used alot of Disney-isms in the ceremony, and that made it very cool. They tried to do a unity candle, but I told them beforehand I guarantee it wouldn’t work. I wanted to do it, because their unity candle was so cool but as usual I was right. After the kiss, I shouted for everyone to hear “And they lived happily ever after!”. They then boarded their horse-drawn carriage and were whisked away to their own personal Tomorrowland.

#Navy boy sails off with his bride at their #wedding at the Edgewater Chapel

funwed — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:00:26 +0000

Michael, dressed in his Navy best, came into our chapel today to marry his sweetheart Victoria. Both from Long Beach, they chose our Edgewater Chapel to tie the knot. We love our military couples here and have special packages just for them. Ahoy, Michael. Hope the two of you will cruise through life together happily.

Just got some new chiavari chairs for Edgewater #Wedding Chapel. Check them out and tell me what you think!

funwed — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:40:03 +0000

So the chapel is nearly two years old, and it needed some upgrades. I had debated from keeping the white covered banquet chairs and switching to chiavari for many months. And after polling dozens of wedding professionals, almost all agreed to switching to chiavaris. So I did! And today they came in. So what do do you think? We also had the air conditioning upgraded, so now the cool chairs can be cooler.

Old chairs:

New chairs:

A-maze-ing #wedding as the bride and groom walk through a labyrinth to get to each other

funwed — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:51:01 +0000

I’ve lived in Southern California my entire life. I’ve been doing weddings for eight years. And I never knew about this place. Down a steep trail, behind Trump Golf Course in Palos Verdes, lies this hidden beach. It requires a 15 minute hike from the parking lot to get there, but boy was it worth it. Along the way, are different rock sculptures in the shape of stars, crosses, all sorts of configurations. And then you come upon the labyrinth. I shot a quick video of the labyrinth and the guests shortly before the ceremony started:

Since there were no dressing rooms, they brought a tent down to the beach and hid it behind some bushes where she got ready.

To begin the ceremony, I had the groom walk through the entire labyrinth to the center to signify his journey to meet his bride. Her dad walked her in, and their guests surrounded us 360 degrees. Three times during the ceremony, I had the guests take one step into an inner ring of the labyrinth and it was a beautiful magical moment. Then was the fun part: the hike back. It’s easy to go down. Coming back it’s a little more difficult but well worth it.

January #wedding in July… huh?

funwed — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:09:18 +0000

The bride’s name was January, and she married Stephan in the Edgewater Chapel this past Sunday. They wanted a

nice religious ceremony like “their parents had”. I was more than happy to oblige. They arrived in a limo, and she got ready in the bride’s dressing room. This is her with her dad.

Before the ceremony, he posed with the guys, with the Westin Hotel in the background.

Here they are, after their I Do’s. And now he doesn’t just have January, but all the rest of the months as well.

TWO “I DO” DON’TS at #Weddings

funwed — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 19:46:23 +0000

TWO “I DO” DON’TS

As one of the Top Wedding Officiants in Southern California, two things that always come up at weddings are the rings and unity candles. Let’s start off with the rings.

While Ring bearers can be very cute, the loss of the rings can be very devastating. So I tell my brides that the ring bearer is only a ceremonial position. Three times in the past, when they insisted upon it, the rings fell off the pillow or got completely lost in the grass. As you can imagine, it caused a major disruption during the ceremony. I always recommend to have the Best Man hold both rings, and have the seated in the audience after his walk down the aisle (unless he’s feel old enough for the responsibility). Also, instead of leaving the rings in a box where the Best Man’s pants would be “poofy”, place them in a pouch. I usually give my couples a small organza drawstring pouch to place the rings in. This way they can’t fall through the hole in the pocket of the usually rented tuxedos, and can be easily spotted if they do.

Next, the Unity Candle Meltdown. The unity candle is an old tradition that many couples like to have at their ceremony. It’s beautiful and inspiring when done indoors. When done outdoors, it’s usually a disaster. So many times my brides have asked to do this outdoors, and I explain to them that even the slightest wind will extinguish those dreams. I recommend to them replace that with a Sand Ceremony. If they insist upon it, I recommend that they get hurricane lantern style candles, which do work on occasion but still have the possibility of failure. If they are having an outdoor wedding, and they have their heart set on a unity candle, I recommend they do it as part of their reception indoors. This way, it can be done easily and with low stress as to the possible outcome.

Alan Katz is the owner of So Cal Officiant and the Edgewater Wedding Chapel. He and his team of 15 wedding officiants perform nearly 1,000 ceremonies every year. Alan Katz ~ So Cal Officiant ~ http://www.SoCalOfficiant.com ~ (562) 435-4000 ~ (714) 453-9971