Launching a brand-new website is a lot of work, and there are always bugs that need to be resolved. Sometimes lots of them. But through it all, our network of ministers – that’s you reading this – stuck with us.
Now it’s our turn to return the favor, in the form of free AMM t-shirts and other swag, as a token of our gratitude for your loyalty. The details are below. Please keep reaching out to us with ways that we can serve our growing network of ministers and couples. With every passing week, our web-development team is rolling out new features to make your officiating duties easier, and more responsive to the needs of the couples that you serve.
The big news around the office is the addition of Colin, our new web developer. Colin works with our customer service guru Natasha to ensure that our website is a powerful tool for our ministers. If there’s a bug, he fixes it. Colin is an avid gamer and technology enthusiast. That means he’s usually playing video or tabletop games or attending weekly coding meetups. He also likes hiking, although mostly during fair weather. Most of all, he loves to travel — and hopes that his next international destination is Germany.
The summer might be ending, but our iconic Joined Rings and Three Stars AMM t-shirts are in style all year. They’re perfect for officiating a less-than-formal wedding, where you still want to look the part. Or if you want something more comfortable to slip into after the ceremony. But really, theses shirts look good on anyone at anytime.
That’s why we are running a contest. If you want an AMM t-shirt, just post your minister story, tag #theamm on social media, and send a screenshot to community@theamm.org, along with your t-shirt size and address. The first ten submissions will get a FREE t-shirt sent to them.
Already have a t-shirt? Post a picture with you wearing it, tag it with #theamm, and send us that screenshot. We’ll still show you some love!
Niko sporting his AMM t-shirt
How I Found the Perfect Officiant
When tragedy struck, an AMM minister found solace in a colleague, which turned into a lifetime friendship and the perfect wedding officiant.
Shannon is one of my favorite people in the world. I have known her for a bakers dozen of years and she still surprises me. In many ways Shannon is a walking contradiction, she is a super athlete with the drive of Leslie Knope, the chill of The Dude, and the face of a model. She can drink like a fish, cuss like a sailor then turn right around and charm your grandparents with her wit and winning personality. So of course when the time came for my fiance and I to choose our wedding officiant, we chose Shannon.
I was Shannon’s mentor during her senior year of high school. When we first met, Shannon didn't make much of an impression, but that all changed when we became close friends a few summers after she graduated from high school, and we worked as camp counselors together. The week was full of excitement and youthful energy when all of a sudden tragedy struck. The third day of camp a mutual friend of ours and fellow counselor drowned. We spent that day trying to console over 200 traumatised students while trying to deal with our own trauma. On our six hour drive home from Lake Shasta, Shannon and I laughed but mostly cried as we reflected on the life of our deceased friend, talked about religion, life, loss, our hopes and fears for the future. By the end of that car ride Shannon had become my sister.
We ended that Summer with another long road trip to Seattle where she dropped me off to finish my final year of college before she headed back to school in Arizona. Since then, our lives have taken us in all different directions but we always find our way back to each other, most recently for my wedding last month!
When my now husband, Andre and I asked Shannon to officiate our wedding she exclaimed, "I've always wanted to do that!!!! But I'm going to need to think about it. That sounds terrifying." It didn't take long for her to accept. Of course she did an amazing job.
I've been working with AMM for over four years now. I've officiated nine weddings. I've always believed in the mission of AMM and the service that we provide, but now that I've experienced first hand the joy of having a loved one officiate my wedding, I could not be more proud of what we do. I am so grateful for my friendship with Shannon. I love looking back on all of the memories that we've made together and feel unbelievably lucky that she was standing with my husband and me on our wedding day.
Brittany & Shannon
Volcanoes, Hurricanes...Helping our compatriots in Hawaii
It has been a rough year for Hawaii. After months of destructive volcanic activity, the islands were struck by Hurricane Lane. Here at AMM, we feel especially close to the residents of Hawaii, since it’s a wedding destination for so many of our ministers and couples. We think that Hawaii could use a little love. That is why we chose to donate to Direct Relief for the month of September.
As a 501c3 designated nonprofit, providing aid and volunteering are central to AMM’s mission. That ethos is also central to the American spirit, and we’re proud carry this mantle in the names of our hundreds-of-thousands of ministers around the world.
If you would like donate yourself, here is a list of wonderful, harding working charities that will turn your dollars into meaningful assistance and aid:
Direct Relief’s mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies – without regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay.
Aloha United Way has an obligation to help our community become stronger, more resilient, as a result of our work and partnership with nonprofit agencies.
Maui Food Bank has distributed over 2.5 million pounds of safe, nutritious food each year including 500,000 pounds of fresh produce.
Uplifting Hearts of America, meets the immediate needs of those hit by disaster, by providing emotional and emergency financial support to help rebuild lives with donations from companies, local agencies and the general public
If you officiated or attended a wedding in Hawaii, please share photos and stories with us. You can email them to community@theamm.org or preferably share them on social media using #AMMcares #Lanerelief so that we can advance this cause together.
To the Faithful Departed...
It’s always sad when a colleague decides to move on. That’s what’s happening with our fulfillment expert Niko Stathakopoulos, who is stepping down to dedicate more time to his awesome band Scarves. With a new album coming out, and a national tour starting this month, he’s moving on to bigger and better things! We asked Niko to write a few paragraphs about his his time here at AMM, which we condensed below:
“For the past couple of years, I felt a great pride hailing a rideshare and telling the driver the destination. The AMM office is located in Smith Tower, an iconic building in Seattle. Once I confirmed that I did work there, the standard follow up would be “What do you do?”
I took great joy in explaining that for the past three years of my life I have been employed by the American Marriage Ministries. During that time I’ve processed many orders for Ministers in every state. You may have even seen my signature that notarized your Letter of Good Standing. But that's just a fraction of all this job has been. I’ve spoken to thousands of people at the country's largest wedding expo in Vegas, been on TV ordaining one of my favorite comedians, and answered the phone to provide customer service to AMM Ministers from all over the world. Needless to say, it’s fun to explain to friends what I do for the AMM.
And as wild as all of that has been what I am most thankful for is what the AMM has allowed me to pursue outside of the workplace. At the end of this month I will be leaving the AMM to pursue my own dreams, but the AMM family will never be far from my thoughts.”
The big news around the office is the addition of Colin, our new web developer. Colin works with our customer service guru Natasha to ensure tha
