Ever since starting Your Wedding Belles, we’ve received many common questions. How did you get started? Why did you become officiants? What sets you apart from the others? We wanted to share our story and how we got here, along with the ways we aim to make your wedding your best day ever.
Your Wedding Belles’ Beginnings
To be honest, this business of all women officiants happened by chance and grew unexpectedly. Around five years ago, Julia’s son and daughter-in-law were getting married and wanted a relative to perform the ceremony. While she was doing the research, she found out she was already ordained. See, Julia went to college and received her degree in Theology. While she could’ve been ordained in a church, she ended up becoming ordained online, which started this endeavor.
After doing that research, the algorithm began sending ads for officiants based in Southern California, and Julia not only realized the need for them but also felt compelled to become part of this industry. Once she created a profile on Thumbtack, the inquiries came in.
Building the Wedding Belles Team
What started as a one-woman venture soon expanded. Julia’s sister, Katie, is also ordained and asked to join since things were getting so busy for Julia on her own. The bookings increased, and so did requests from friends who wanted to be part of this amazing opportunity.
When requests for bilingual ceremonies came in, Alejandra joined the team and performed the first Spanish-English wedding for Your Wedding Belles. Even a friend from Palm Springs wanted to become involved, and the evolution grew organically from there.
In these five years, Your Wedding Belles has grown. A big part of our brand, culture, and story is that we’re a woman-owned and operated business, with women as all of our officiants and support staff. (Hence, the name Belles, like Southern Belles!)
What We Do Differently
Your Wedding Belles understands that we have an unusual business model. We know that finding an officiant feels unfamiliar and intimidating, especially compared to the usual wedding vendors such as florals, cake, and photography. People tend to have an idea of who they think officiants are, and couples feel like they’re speaking to a pastor or minister.
Where we differ is that we’re more than just officiants. We write ceremonies for couples and personalize them by writing them around a theme or idea that is specific to each couple. As a team, we are committed to the idea that you don’t get a do-over on your wedding day, and we aim to make it as special and meaningful as possible.
We’ve offered a variety of services and have worked with a diverse range of couples, from LGBTQ+ couples, Wiccan ceremonies, and hockey game weddings to nature weddings in Joshua Tree, Sedona, and the Sequoias. We also try to partner with women-owned wedding vendors, such as DJs, photographers, and florists.
All our officiants have many different skills and wear lots of hats. We cover all of SoCal, from Ventura to Palm Springs to San Diego, and everything in between. Your Wedding Belles even offers micro weddings and elopement planning (ceremony only) with photography, flowers, art, chairs, and more, which we’ll share more about soon.
Want to learn more about us? Stay tuned for more of our blog posts!
