Even though a wedding is all about you and your story, it might help you to know a bit about my story.

I actually started speaking early in life…like in my first year. But I started speaking publicly in a formal way in Jr. High school when the speech class bug caught me. When I started working as a youth pastor after graduating from University in West Texas, I found myself preparing short messages every week for a teenage audience. That’s a tough crowd! So I learned how to tell stories and use humor to get and keep their attention.

During that time I met and married my wife Karen. (She’s the pretty one in the picture on your right. We’re sitting on steps in St. Mark’s Square in Venice.) We’ve traveled the exciting adventure of marriage since and are still enjoying life together. We’ve raised two sons along the way and are now on our third dog (Baylee) during our lifetime together.

My first wedding was right after college when friends from school asked me to officiate their wedding. It was presented well but I had a lot to learn about what makes a great wedding script. Along the way I started being asked to conduct more and more weddings as teenagers I worked with became adults and wanted me to be a part of their wedding ceremonies.

The biggest thing I learned along the way was that people loved to hear the story of how the couple met and became engaged. It’s amazing how many people attend weddings but know very little about the couple. Once I caught onto that fact all my weddings started centering around the Story.

Being a pastor for a number of years gave me the context to grow the skills needed for public speaking and also presented me many opportunities to conduct wedding ceremonies. Some have been a more religious setting. Others have been for community friends who just wanted to get married. Either way, these have been highlights of my “professional” career and is now a great weekend side-gig to my full-time job of helping manage a Chick-fil-A restaurant.

Other fun facts:

• I’ve lived in Texas, Colorado and currently Virginia.
• I love to travel with my wife, especially to Italy.
• I met and became friends with the owner of the Parma Panthers, an Italian “American” football team made famous in the book Playing for Pizza by John Grisham.
• I’ve done service work in Haiti, building water wells and clinic work.
• I enjoy fitness, making pizzas, tennis and travel.
• I’m the author of two books that have sold tens of copies.
• And…I love to work with couples to create their StoryBook Wedding!