The Wedding: A Podcast by National Award Winning Officiant Sonita M. Leak Sonita M Leak

There is much more involved in our roles as Wedding Officiants than what people assume.

Are you looking at the option of becoming a Wedding Officiant? Are you currently an Officiant or member of Clergy already performing ceremonies and want to brush up on your Officiant skills? I now offer One-on-One ONLINE Wedding Officiant consultation sessions.















These hourly sessions are tailored to your experience level. For those new to the industry, the one hour consultation includes an introduction into the Wedding Officiant world. The consultation includes handy guides on ‘officially’ starting your business, from Marketing and Advertising, Budgeting, Staging, Self-Care, Vendor Networking and Ceremony Set-up.For seasoned Wedding Officiants, the one hour consultation will include an Officiant business analysis. During the consultation, I will also give you hints and tips on how to make your business more efficient, honing in on time management, scheduling, oration and vow writing.Interested in a personal One-on-One consultation with me? Please fill out the form below the image:













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(or any other holiday.)Communication is key to any ceremony planning.  Whether your ceremony is just the two of you or a wedding that includes 100 or more guests, your communication with any potential or actual booked couples is of importance.How prompt your response to phone calls, text messages, direct messages through Social Media are can mean the difference between booking and a miss.  I know, I’ve been there and although we attempt to answer EVERY phone call through Weddings by Sonita, there are times where the couple reaches another Wedding Officiant and books before you can even call them back.  It happens, so  be PROMPT!—Pre-plan your advertising images and video – Get a major start on your advertising 3-6 months in advance.Schedule a photoshoot with your favorite photographer, this can be someone in your family, a professional, or even selfie-stick or tripod it.—Develop pricing according to how much you VALUE being available on Valentine’s Day, one of the nation’s most-celebrated holidays. Some officiants ask within the Notary and Wedding groups, however, YOU must determine your pricing based on your local factors.  If it is a destination wedding, you must also consider travel costs.—Bring Related Novelty Items – balloons, veils, flowers and candy will go a LONG way for a couple getting married on Valentine’s Day.If you really want your couple to have a memorable experience, print a keepsake for the couple – Certificates with their picture, your logo and or catchphrase, you can even go as far as printing t-shirts or even drink cups with your logo for the couple.—DO NOT overbook.Also, ensure that your schedule allows for travel.  Take in account how long it will take for each ceremony, if you have multiple on the day of.  Not only do you have to arrive at one location, you also have to leave and possibly travel to another.  Through Map Apps, you have the ability to input all of your travel stops BEFORE you begin, doing so beforehand will save you so much time! Not only will you put cushion for arriving and leaving each ceremony, you will also have to make a little leeway for possible stops along the way to gas up, shop for items or fulfill personal obligations.Follow-up with the couple.Thank the couple for their business later (like not on the evening of, but a few days down the line.) It will go a long way to let the couple know that you enjoyed your time with them, wish them well and are still thinking of them.

Many businesses fail because they do not have a concrete plan on how they’re going to keep business.  Yes, it’s great to market and advertise… AFTER you seal the deal is equally important.Communication is key in ours and really any business.  You’ll want to operate your Wedding Officiant business so that every method of communication is meaningful. Letting the couple know that you are attentive to their needs is optimal.Thus, this begins the journey of you being their Wedding Officiant.If you currently don’t have a scheduling system in place, get one.  Some officiants, like myself use Google Calendar, Square, there’s Calendly, any good back end CRM is an excellent way to keep on top of your scheduling.Not familiar with a specific scheduling app?  Each and every one comes with a tutorial.  If you are an audio/visual learner, you can access different tutorials on outfits like YouTube.It’s highly important, especially if you Officiate part-time to be on TOP of your scheduling. You don’t know just how many times I’ve been called to officiate a ceremony where the Officiant either forgot about their duties on Wedding Day or overbooked because they may have had other underlying appointments.If you do not have a planner or paper form scheduler, you need to get one.  Although, you may have the electronic scheduling system, taking the information down on that paper does 2 things…  First, it makes the appointment real when you write it down.  Secondly, it allows you to open up a physical book and see exactly what options you have available for booking… at a moment’s notice.  







Just like governments have Checks & Balances, your scheduling system should have Checks & Balances too.Should you have any questions about officiant booking, you can contact me by emailing to greenvillenotary@gmail.com.Post comments below if you have any additional tips!

Air Date: July 20, 2020



















Mobile Notaries are constantly looking for opportunities to expand their business offerings.Learn how you can add Wedding Officiant to your list of services.In this workshop, you will:Learn the role of an officiant in legal ceremonies.Understand the process to become an officiant in your state.Hear tips on growing your new officiant business.What qualifications are needed?Five states — Florida, Maine, Montana, Nevada, and South Carolina — authorize commissioned Notaries to perform marriage ceremonies as part of their official duties. Nevada also requires commissioned Notaries to apply for permission to perform a marriage ceremony up to five times per year. In other states, Notaries can apply for a separate license to perform wedding ceremonies.Leave your comments and questions below! To view the conference schedule, visit: https://www.nationalnotary.org/nna2020 Join us for NNA 2021! Early bird pricing is now available: https://www.nationalnotary.org/nna2021. Don’t miss out on the inspiration, learning, and industry insights that NNA Conferences are known for. – – About the speaker: Sonita M. Leak is at the forefront of social media advertising for Notaries. NNA Ambassador and 2019 Notary of the Year Special Honoree, Sonita has found eccentric ways to advertise her multiple business ventures. Websites: https://weddingsbysonita.com http://greenvillenotary.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreenvilleNo… LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonitaleak Twitter: a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?redir_token=QUFFLUhqbnZGWGpiLUJWck9sTTV6XzE1RVBLVTVVd1BVUXxBQ3Jtc0ttcW05bG5oa1dVZHVkcWlVT0JfVWdLMnZwVzJ4bTJPNXIzbFljdU5tWGhmdHR0Z2RZbWFhWklzMEVTVFg4MkN1SVpmR1MwVG4xRlNXR0FiQ0Zsc1p1bWN3TlB6TFo1QUxydGV...

Marriage Behind a Mask” Pt 2Audio Podcast Recorded at Starbucks Five ForksGreenville, South Carolina on October 20, 2020With Coronavirus still raging, those who produce multiple-attendee events have had to change up their way of doing business. You see in major sports, people viewing the game in virtual ‘stands’.  While people are in their living room watching the game (or wherever else they may be), if the price is paid, you have the opportunity to see them at the game.Concerts?  Not safe, so you’ll see many vocal artists performing from a ‘safe’ location with their ticket-holders paying the price to see the exclusive event.But how do you get married? Without family and friends being present?  Can they be present, and HOW?Here in South Carolina, early within the onset of rules and regulations regarding group events, those in the Wedding Industry were given the Green Light to continue to hold wedding gatherings. But we had to proceed with caution during these times.  How do you not look like the bad guy for continuing to hold ceremonies where there is a large group presence.I remember having to tell couples that I married in Downtown Greenville, although your family is present, they still must all remain six feet apart from one another.No hugs, no handshakes, no pats on the back.What do you do with your children?  Will they keep a mask on?  Many questions loomed for us.And they continue to loom for us, as the death toll gets larger.While I am a Notary Public and many states are moving toward the Online Notarization Process, there are Wedding Officiants that are moving toward the Virtual side of Weddings, marrying couples wherever they are (ceremony-wise) over the Internet.But will this become OUR new normal?  We’re not through with Coronavirus yet, and the end of this pandemic does not seem near. Will we be stopped of doing what we do for larger wedding parties because of this?  There are so many questions that still loom.I have also noticed that the more prepared your business is, the easier it is to battle through pandemics like this one.If your Wedding Industry business was set up to handle business with ‘no contact’, you fare far better than those that deal in paper.By ‘no contact’, I speak of website contact, email correspondence and receiving electronic forms of payment online; when I speak of dealing in paper, this is in reference to negotiating with hand-written letters, contracts,  receiving cash, issuing paper invoices and meeting people in person to make your contact more personable.Have you seen a pattern for your Wedding Industry business because of the pandemic? Has your Wedding Industry business grown, has there been a lull?  If there is a lull, you may need to make some adjustments to better pattern our world’s current situation.Questions, Comments?  Leave them below.