WHO I AM
Professional Wedding Officiant
I am passionate about the power of people’s stories.
I’m a recovering alcoholic. For 25 years I’ve been a member of AA, where recovering alcoholics come together to share stories and experience connection.
I was a lonely kid who felt like an outsider. Alcohol, in addition to my need for achievement, served as a stand-in for human connection. Alcohol lowered my inhibition, while success gave me a sense of worth. In my desire for success, I went on to compete on the men’s gymnastics team at the University of Minnesota. After college, I worked at a Fortune 500 company, where I won numerous awards for the success I had with customers, all the while hiding my struggles with addiction. For years I struggled this way; craving meaningful connection, but looking to outside sources instead.
A DUI brought all of this crashing down. I was forced to confront my alcoholism in AA. After a painstaking struggle, I started to find meaning in the stories I heard in that circle, and eventually, in my own. I learned that even at our lowest, we can find hope in love. We can overcome hardship through our connection to others.
I’m passionate about these stories: stories of lonely people experiencing hardship, where love and connection have the final word. It was in letting my guard down and opening myself up to love and connection that I was able to pull meaning from my story.
Officiating a wedding is a chance for me to learn and participate in people’s stories. A wedding is a highlight of many people’s stories, not because it’s the end, nor because it’s the beginning, but because this is the meeting point where two fully formed people with their own history choose to build one together. My passion for people’s stories means that I will invest the time and energy it takes to learn yours, to learn your partner’s, and to help you set a course for writing your combined story together.
To anyone who has ever felt like an outsider, I want to hear your story. If you are LGBTQIA, non-religious, Buddhist, Muslim, recovering addicts, looking for a non-traditional wedding, or whatever your case may be, I affirm you and will listen to your story in order to provide you with your ideal ceremony.