Telling your story is a once-in-a-lifetime privilege.

The first wedding speech I ever wrote wasn't even mine to give. My sister asked me to help with her toast at our older sister's wedding, but once I started, I realized I knew exactly what I wanted to say, so I wrote the whole thing. When she decided to wing it instead, I asked the bride if I could give the speech myself — and it went over well.

A young couple from that wedding asked me to officiate theirs. I'd never done it, but I said yes and took it seriously — leaning on officiants who'd done this for years and rewriting the ceremony until every line sounded like them. By the day, it felt effortless.

Eventually, couples I'd never met began seeking me out. Early on, I would interview a couple and their wedding party for five hours or more — whatever it took to understand them well enough to tell their story authentically. I'm far more efficient now, but the standard hasn't changed, and the response to both the writing and the delivery has been consistently warm.

It's an honor to tell the story of how two people fell in love, and to say it aloud in front of everyone who matters to them. Even the guests who barely know the couple should leave feeling like they understand exactly why we're all there that day.

I take this work seriously — and I genuinely love it. Getting to know a couple, then solving the puzzle of how to capture them in words, is the best part of what I do.