Greetings Ministers, Friends and Family,

You’ll want to read this newsletter from front-to-back, because we’ve got big news that will make you proud to be an AMM minister -- your membership has never mattered more than it does right now. To start with, we’re excited to announce that AMM is a certified carbon neutral organization! That means every letter we send, every bus we ride to work, and every pizza that we order into the office is offset by investments in renewable energy, planting trees, and educational effort that promotes sustainability.  

It’s up to us to make the world a better place, but change requires action, and action requires goals. The details are below, but don’t forget to check out our page and help us in our mission to practice and achieve sustainability!

In line with those efforts, I recently had the honor of officiating the wedding of a fellow AMM minister whose local court had stopped offering courthouse weddings. In addition to being part of a beautiful ceremony, it gave AMM the opportunity to start a conversation about marriage equality. It turns out, lots of municipal courts chose to stop offering weddings rather than having to officiate ceremonies for same-sex couples.

AMM is founded on the principle that all people, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, have the right to marry. We take our advocacy efforts seriously, and we invite you to read about our efforts and support us in our fight for the American Dream for everyone.

Please enjoy the rest of this newsletter,
Lewis King, Executive Director
 

American Marriage Ministries is more than an online ordination service. We strive to make the world a better place. Our goal is to build a community through the free practice of matrimony for all Americans regardless of race, gender, sexuality, or economic class.
 
Now that you are an ordained AMM minister, you might want to join in our advocacy. Check out our newly launched Get Involved page on our website.  

 

Amour: American Style

Many of our Ministers are a part of destination weddings, but never have we had a wedding like this one.

Alexandra Habemont from Once Upon a Time is a wedding planner based in France. She makes couple's dreams of a fairy tale wedding in Bordeaux come true - including getting married in an actual castle. When Marie Josée and Alain, a couple from Corsica, wanted to get married in New York City, Alexandra stepped up. She planned the ceremony in Lady Pavilion in Central Park, and was able to successfully perform the ceremony and know all of her legal obligations by getting ordained with AMM.

She told us, “I took care of each details - marriage license, etc. and came with them to the City Clerk the day after to validate the marriage in France. It was an amazing experience; I wrote a personalized ceremony for them. I was afraid to cry because it was so emotional but no I stayed a professional minister."

We are so proud to be able to help this modern day fairy tale come true! 
 

Ask Natasha
 

Hello Natasha,

I’m a first time minister, and I’m working hard on the ceremony script. Do I have to ask if there is anyone that objects to the wedding? It feels weird and I don’t know where to include it in the ceremony.

Thanks,
Aaron in Illinois

---

Hello there Aaron,

This is a very popular question that we tend to receive no matter how many times it is addressed.

The quick answer to this one is: No!

Despite what we’ve seen (again, and again!) in popular films and plays, this part of the ceremony is actually not necessary to include in real-life wedding ceremonies.

In fact, there are no required words to say in a ceremony other the declaration/intent to wed - which is the part of the ceremony where you ask, "Do you take ..." and the couple responds with, "I do" or "I will."

For more information and background on this particular question, be sure to read our blog post, Are the words, “Speak now or forever hold your peace...” really necessary?

And as for crafting the rest of your ceremony, we encourage you to read one of the many books we have to offer (tip: Asked to Officiate is an excellent one-stop guide to officiating and ceremony creation).

Best,