After becoming a first-time Mom at age 40 in 2011, the last thing I wanted to do is go back to my office job. That’s all it was to me at the time. A job. A means to pay bills. When Joe and Anthony came into the world, that changed. I didn’t want to leave them and the salary I was making was nowhere near what we would need to cover daycare. I had only done a few ceremonies by the point, so I was nervous about not going back to what many people think is the only way to make a living…

work for someone else.

At the time, I was a travel agency manager. I felt overworked, underappreciated, I lacked enthusiasm for the position, and my heart was with my family at home. I started out as a Professional Wedding Officiant. My first wedding ceremony was in 2010. It was nerve-wracking and so exciting! I can’t even begin to tell you how great it felt to marry two people so deeply in love.

My first booking = $150. That included the ceremony writing, client meetings, the rehearsal, ceremony and travel. I thought I was making big bucks back then! Now, I am going help you learn from my mistakes. A peek into my first mistake… Not valuing my time and the work I was doing. Sure, I thought I was doing better than working at a big box store, or I would have had to put in 10 hours to receive the same amount of money I made in 4, but it wasn’t a fee that could carry me through to full-time. My goal back then was always to do weddings and events full-time. $150 per event would mean I would have to do 200 per year just to make $30K! Oh, don’t forget that is 400+ bookings just for me because I was including the ceremony and the rehearsal in my fee. Obviously, there aren’t 400 days in a year and I knew I didn’t want to even attempt to work every day of my life and double-up some days. Nope.