Brenda M. Owen | Wedding Woman

Photo by Susan Gray Photography

Magnify

A wedding officiant and ordained minister, Brenda is best known in three states (SC, NC and GA) as the Wedding Woman because of her beautiful, romantic and memorable ceremonies. “I love when I send the couple their ceremony and they tell me it made them cry.” Whether it’s traveling to a venue of the couple’s choosing, or overseeing an elopement for two on the lake, Brenda’s goal is to personalize the wedding to suit the couple’s needs. “Often couples can’t afford or they don’t want a big wedding, but I try to give all of my couples a nice wedding ceremony centered around their love for each other, one that they can look back on with fond memories. For just a little more money, they can have the wedding ceremony they want instead of an impersonal, courthouse quickie. Uh, no offense, Your Honor!”  

More about Brenda...
Hometown: Atlanta, GA    
Currrent City: Anderson, SC
City that you work in: I serve upstate SC, Northeast GA and Cashiers, NC
Occupation and company: Lakeside Wedding Officiant & Minister – http://WeddingWoman.net - Wedding Officiant & Minister
Goals for the future:  To be the best of the best with the most beautiful, romantic, memorable wedding ceremony.  
Did you graduate college?  Yes, West Georgia College -  Marketing
Single or Married? Married to Ray
If married, any good stories about your wedding?  We couldn’t decide if we wanted to ‘run away’ and get married or get married in the church…so, we did both! We got married on Valentine’s day in Las Vegas with our two best friends as witnesses on a Wednesday.  We flew home, had a big church wedding on Saturday Feb. 17th then went for our honeymoon in Jamaica.   Both weddings were wonderful…in different ways.
Children? This is my 2nd marriage.  I have one Son, Bradley Long -  40 yo.  He and his wife Lesley are big into caving (spelunking) and being outdoors, in fact they got married in a cave, Cathedral Caverns in Alabama.  They have no children but I have a Grand Puppy named Bodi, and 2 wonderful Grand Ferrets, Loki and BART!
Any pets? We have two Schnoodles, Lily & Daisy (dogs – poodle, schnauzer mix)
Hobbies?  We live on Lake Hartwell and love to go boating during the warm weather.  We also enjoy cooking together, I am always looking for ways to improve my wedding ceremony and new ideas to share with my couples… currently I am trying to incorporate “Flying Wish Paper”.  I think it is going to have to stay at the (outdoor) reception though…Great way to entertain guests while they wait for the couple to have ‘after ceremony’ photographs made.
Other interests?  Strong family bond. God and family are the most important things to me.
Favorite thing you do to relax: Sunset cruises on the boat with hubby and “the girls” ..our pups when the water is calm and the sky tuning pink.  I also enjoy reading & A good “Chick Flick”.
Your best friend says that you are…I called her and asked, she said, “outgoing, generous and unpredictable”.
Do you have a motto or quote that means something to you?  “And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
Who do you look up to?  My mother, she is intelligent, hard working  (all her life, she’s 82 yo now) and has a great sense of values that she passed on to her children.
THREE things most people don’t know about you:
1. I really am the WeddingWoman 24/7.  I truly love what I do…I am always trying to find new material for my ceremonies and ideas and new trends to share on Facebook or with “my couple”s.
2. My cell phone ring tone is “Going To the Chapel…(gonna get Married!)”.
3.  In the past, people thought I could be intimidating at times…but I don’t mean to be, I just like to share my thoughts…to give them other options & ideas and, time has mellowed me.

Tell me about your work; how you got started, why you love it: I started as a mobile notary, went to notary training class and learned that Notaries could perform weddings in SC. I am a retired outside sales manager for a major Fortune 500 company.  I was accustomed to giving sales presentations, thus not afraid to speak in front of large numbers of people.  During my 30 year tenure in sales, dealing with customers and giving good customer service is second nature.  Being an Officiant is a perfect fit for my talent and abilities. About a year into starting the wedding part of my business I became ordained so that I can perform religious, holy union ceremonies as well as semi-religious and non-religious weddings.
 Why do I love it?  The privilege to be the one to take 'my couple' from being 'two people in love' to 'husband and wife'! - In the seconds after I say "I declare that you are now husband and wife!"   Their eyes always light up and they smile at each other – so priceless!  I love being able to create not only a moment, but also a memory.

Do you have any good stories? I am giving you two…
#1 - I was on vacation with hubby at the beach and received a call from Jason (not his real name) on Tuesday.  He wanted to get married on Sunday and needed an Officiant.  I told him I wasn’t planning to come home until Monday…he insisted, so I told him, “If you can’t find someone by Friday call me back and I’ll come home early.  He called on Thursday, “Miss Brenda we can’t find anyone I need you to come”.  We left Sunday morning, I wrote his ceremony and headed for the wedding location.  While rushing to the wedding I was stopped by “one of the Upstate’s Finest” and given a speeding ticket.  I called the groom to let him know I was going to be a little late and why.  
He laughed out loud, “Yeah, they will sure nuff get ya in “that town”…the photographer got a speeding ticket, too!”   I replied, “Well Jason, don’t you think that is something you might have wanted to share with me…that I should be extra careful of my speed while traveling thru this ‘town’ ?”    
  I arrived at the venue full of family and friends, got the paperwork done and walked to the gazebo in back for the ceremony.  Just as I was pronouncing them husband and wife I heard (what I thought) were firecrackers.  I looked up and the bride’s father, father-in-law and brothers were firing handguns into the air!!   Dogs and ducks were running around everywhere people were laughing and shouting.  All I could think about was the episode of “CSI Miami” when a women was hit in the head and killed by a stray bullet from a gun shot a mile away…I hi-tailed it out of that back yard like I had been shot out of a cannon!

#2- Any bridezillas?  On the appointed wedding day I went to the room where the bride was getting dressed with her bridesmaids to say hello and let her know that I had arrived.  I knocked on the door, went inside and told her I was there and how beautiful she looked.  She just stared and me and didn’t say a word.  I felt uncomfortable and said, “I’ll be outside if you need me.  Just let me know when you are ready to start.”   We started late, everyone was in place…here comes the bride on her father’s arm…giggling all the way down the aisle…
  As I was speaking, she giggled (cackled like a hen) thru the entire wedding.  When it came time for vows, she kept shoving the groom as she continued to laugh.  This was very unusual…I thought she must be nervous…you know, a ‘nervous laugh’.   After the wedding I went back into the brides room to leave their marriage license and there were empty Champaign bottles everywhere!  Appears the bride was more than a ‘little tipsy’ during her wedding.   When I left the ‘newlyweds’ had just had an argument.  He was sitting alone on the front porch with his head in his hands. I heard that it got quite bad at the reception…arguing with her new husband in front of the guests and making quite a scene.  A sad memory for her guests of their wedding day.