What can we say about Marty and Love Notes, we love working with Marty, he has a incredible staff. We love it when we find out we are going to work with Love Notes they truly are the best in the business. And since its more then just a business to him and his staff you know you are going to have a wonderful ceremony. One that you will remember for ever. ”Love Notes ” is the only ones that we refer to that is just how great we think they are. We love working with Marty and all of the officiants at Love Notes.
How far in advance should you book your officiant for your wedding?
You can never book your Minister / Officiant too early. He or she is the one person you must have. You really only have to have 3 things for a wedding-the couple, the license and the Minister. If there is no minister, there is no wedding. The Minister sets the tone for the ceremony and the ceremony sets the tone for the rest of the day’s festivities. If your ceremony is a wonderful experience, then most likely, your reception will be a happy and fabulous event, too. However, if the Minister / Officiant you choose shows up late, is not engaged in the moment (seems aloof or distracted), calls the bride or groom by the wrong name, has his nose in his book constantly, goes off on some tangent, is not warm and personable, etc., then everyone leaves the ceremony with “a bad taste in their mouths.” The photographer will have a harder time getting a good picture because everyone is upset with how the ceremony went. The DJ will have a more difficult time putting everyone in a “party spirit” because the guests are focused on how bad the ceremony was. If you wait till the last minute to secure your Minister / Officiant, you might not have the kind of ceremony you always envisioned, one that fits you and tells your love story.
How long have you been in the “Love” business?
I have been in the “Love” business for 39 years and have “loved” every minute. Every year I learn something new about the industry and hope to continue to grow with it. I hope they still call me “Minister Marty, the Marryin’ Man” when I’m a hundred!
What got you interested in working in the wedding industry?
When I graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary, I became a “singles” pastor. Our singles group had hundreds of singles coming every sunday. Needless to say, boy would meet girl and they would fall in love and want to get married. So I was virtually officiating weddings every weekend. After 10 years as singles pastor I was put in the position of worship leader and associate pastor of my church. Even though I was in this new position, I was the “go to guy” for weddings, which I loved. Then I retired from the church but did not want to retire from “the ministry.” My sweetheart, Carol Sage, asked me what I enjoyed most about the ministry. I told her that I really loved the 10 years I was with the Singles Class – seeing people fall in love and want to get married and being invited to share in that special moment in a couple’s lives. Carol said, “OK, put an ad in this little book”. She held up the little Wedding Wishes Planner and Directory. And so I did (almost 20 years ago now). I got one call, and then another call and another until I was booked all the time. So I had to hire another minister, and another, etc. We now have 16 ministers on the LoveNotes staff.
What type of clients do you find yourself most working with?
I have had the joy of marrying all kinds of people. You see, love knows no boundaries. They are rich, poor, famous, unknown, all shapes and sizes, various cultural backgrounds, various religious heritages, inter-racial, inter-cultural, inter-denominational, etc. Just two people who fell in love and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. And how blessed I am that they invited me to share in the most important day in their lives.
What do you love the most about the wedding business?
It’s hard to limit it to one thing but I would have to say I love the people I have met that are in the wedding industry. I have developed some wonderful relationships with other wedding professionals. People who become vendors in the wedding business are truly special. To be involved in this business, you have to have a certain kind of spirit, heart and attitude. If you don’t, then you won’t survive in this industry. It’s a stressful business and everyone has a role to play. We’re a team. Every facet of the wedding day is important and every vendor plays an extremely vital roll to make sure all the pieces of the puzzle come together so the bride will have the wedding of her dreams. And I get to start it off. That’s why I take my job so seriously. I know if I tell the couples “love story” the way they want it told, and tell it in such a way that it is memorable, then the day is off to a good start. My goal is to give the couple “a day to remember, not a nightmare to forget”.
I also love the fact that I get to meet couples who are excited about life and love. To be invited to “tie the knot” and share in that special moment with them is truly an honor for me. I consider it a sacred trust. I know it is a scary thought for a couple to invite a stranger to be a part of the most important day of their lives. But I am committed to making a couple feel secure, safe, comfortable and confident with my role as their wedding Minister/Officiant. Bottom line, I love the relationships!
What kind of trends are you seeing this year when it comes to ceremonies?
When it comes to ceremonies, I see more and more couples wanting to make their ceremony more personal. They don’t want a “cookie cutter” ceremony. Couples are putting more emphasis on making their ceremony reflect their journey of love. They are giving more input on the words they want spoken during their wedding ceremony. That is why we wrote the book “A Wedding Ceremony to Remember,” so couples could choose the perfect words for the perfect wedding and design their ceremony exactly as they wish.
What kind of trends are you seeing this year when it comes to ceremonies?
When it comes to ceremonies, I see more and more couples wanting to make their ceremony more personal. They don’t want a “cookie cutter” ceremony. Couples are putting more emphasis on making their ceremony reflect their journey of love. They are giving more input on the words they want spoken during their wedding ceremony. That is why we wrote the book “A Wedding Ceremony to Remember,” so couples could choose the perfect words for the perfect wedding and design their ceremony exactly as they wish.
What was your wedding like?
Wow! That’s the word that comes to mind. When I saw my sweetheart coming down the aisle – yup that’s the word – Wow! That’s still the word that comes to mind when I see her each and every day. Our wedding was in our back yard. We had a gathering of family and friends who came from all over the country. As a surprise, I flew in one of Carol’s best friends from Iowa to sing and she was so overwhelmed with joy she burst into tears. Carol wrote and sang a song to me, “Now, Forever, and Always.” She is a fabulous musician. We all blubbered like babies! For the most part, it was a simple fairy tale wedding. We danced, yes danced in our garden shoes. I took ballroom dancing for many years as a young man. . . can still cut a rug I might add. 
It was truly a joyous occasion getting married to my best friend. When I asked her why she wanted to marry me, she replied, “Well, somebody had to, it may as well be me!” And then she smiled that wicked little smile that captured my heart. Lots of wonderful memories, but the saddest part for Carol and me is that we have no professional pictures of our wedding day because our wedding photographer never gave us our pictures. And after years of trying to get them from him, we have all but given up. And so a warning to all brides, make sure you do your research on your wedding photographer or you’ll have empty frames on your walls like we do. (Carol says that’s to remind her that she is not through with him yet! Look out!)
Tell us about your business where you are located, how to reach you?
LoveNotes-DFW Clergy Services is a business that allows us to have a ministry to people who don’t have a connection to a church or know a minister, priest, rabbi or judge to perform services for their special event. Although weddings make up about 85% of our business, we perform other ministerial services as well such as funerals / memorial services, baptisms, blessings, baby dedications, quinceaneras, vow renewals, etc. We now have 16 ministers from various backgrounds on our staff. We are all trained the exact same way so we are interchangeable in case of emergency or scheduling conflicts. Our 16 ministers live all over the metroplex. We officiate weddings throughout the DFW metroplex and to Sherman, Weatherford, Waxahachie, etc. We operate our business out of our home in Sachse. (We live downstairs and work upstairs.) As I mentioned earlier, I have been officiating weddings for 39 years, but LoveNotes, as an organization, has been in business since 1990. Carol actually began LoveNotes as a music business and then we added the ministerial services shortly thereafter. You can reach us at lovenotesweddings@earthlink.net or at 972-647-9580 / 817-917-5540 or visit our website at www.lovenotesweddings.com. We are excited to be opening an online store shortly called Love Notes Lane (lovenoteslane.com), which will offer items for all types of ceremonies. So take a stroll down Love Notes Lane, your pathway to memorable moments!
