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How cool is this? A story of
Referrals:
Here’s Tree One: |
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Heather and Patrick got married at
Magnolia Manor.
One
of Patrick’s groomsmen was Derek. |
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A year later, when Derek proposed
to his longtime love Lindsay, he asked me to perform his
ceremony. Lindsay and Derek were just about to open a dance club
called Thirsty’s Too, and we
held
the ceremony at their Club.
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A year after that, Nina called and
introduced herself as a waitress at Thirsty’s Too. Nina, an Iranian
Muslim, was marrying a local blonde-and-blue-eyed Christian man
named Alex. Lindsay and Derek had told her there was only one
person to call. We had a blast, including my transliterating part
of the ceremony into Farsi for her family. This ceremony was held
in Winston-Salem in Tanglewood Park.
Not long after, a Pakistani Muslim
friend of Nina’s sister was marrying a Christian man, and referred Maryam
and John to me. This ceremony was held at a Winston-Salem bed &
breakfast. |
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The next year, a couple who dance
at Thirsty’s Too every single week—Delores and Jerry, who are both
grandparents—decided to tie the knot on the bandstand above the
dance floor at the Club.
Not long after, I got a call from
a woman named Caroline, who is a lactation nurse at the local
hospital and a regular at Thirsty’s Too, asked me to
perform her wedding to McCrae, at the Club.
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Now here’s where it really gets
interesting.
Tree Two:
Gwendolyn, an aesthetician at a
terrific salon, saw my website and asked me to perform her
wedding to Mark. It was held on the patio at Revival
Grill--gorgeous.
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A few months later, one of the
hair stylists at the salon, who had attended Gwennie’s and Mark’s
ceremony, asked me to perform her stepdaughter Casey’s wedding to
Alex at Magnolia Manor.
On Gwennie’s and Mark’s first anniversary, I performed the wedding
of Carmen and Kirk.
Carmen was the salon’s Nail
Technician, as well as a concert pianist! Gwennie’s and Mark’s
newborn son, Mark Samuel, was one of the guests of honor! Carmen
was born in China and Kirk is from North Carolina, so we had fun
combining various traditions in that one, too. Their enchanting
wedding was held at the Empire Room, with a stunning view of the
city.
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You know how I mentioned
Caroline’s and McRae’s wedding in the Referral Tree above? They
found me because Caroline had been the lactation nurse for both
Lindsay, from Tree One, and Gwendolyn, from Tree Two—and both of
them had told her that I was the only minister they should consider! |
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I’ve also performed Baby
Welcomings and Blessings for a number of these couples, as well as
House Blessings…and have just been invited to the birthday party of
the mother of one of my long-ago grooms! When I tell you we
become close, I mean it!
This is just an example of
how referrals have always proven an integral part of my work—there
are many more “trees” that have branched over the years. I like to
think that having such a strong Referrals clientele reflects well on
how dearly I love what I do! |
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