Custom Weddings by Tim Greathouse

Steve and Miranda’s wedding was a unique and classy affair at Rosemont Country Club in Fairlawn, Ohio. Among the highlights of the evening were the cocktail hour before the ceremony (pure genius!) and Steve’s vows, read from his iPhone.

Whenever I can, I enjoy telling the story of how the bride and groom met. Steve and Miranda met on a city bus in San Francisco when Steve, a police officer, boarded the bus while on patrol. She noticed him, but he didn’t notice her. She later tracked him down. Here’s how I told the story:

It all started on the #14 inbound toward downtown San Francisco. She was kicking off a weekend of high adventure. He was scanning the bus for troublemakers. He gave her the slip, but she made it her Mission Street mission to find him again – and the rest, as they say, is history. It’s a beautiful thing to think that, in a place as ordinary as a city bus, an extraordinary romance was born – and from that romance, a true love.

It was an honor to be there for this happy occasion with the two of you and your families and friends. Thanks for having me!

On a chilly autumn day in the heart of the Cuyahoga Valley, Mark and Melissa pledged their love and devotion to one another. The two truly had a vision as to how their wedding day was to go, and I was more than happy to help them make it a reality.

Mark and Melissa opted to have friends and family perform readings – one was the time-honored passage on love from I Corinthians, and the other was a lighthearted song lyric from the 1950′s pop hit by Kitty Kallen, entitled Little Things Mean a Lot:

Blow me a kiss from across the room
Say I look nice when I’m not
Touch my hair as you pass my chair
Little things mean a lot
Give me your arm as we cross the street
Call me at six on the dot
A line a day when you’re far away
Little things mean a lot
Don’t have to buy me diamonds or pearls
Champagne, sables, and such
I never cared much for diamonds and pearls
’cause honestly, honey, they just cost money
Give me a hand when I’ve lost the way
Give me your shoulder to cry on
Whether the day is bright or gray
Give me your heart to rely on
Send me the warmth of a secret smile
To show me you haven’t forgot
For now and forever, that’s always and ever
Honey, little things mean a lot

A lot of little things made today special. Thank you both for inviting me to help you celebrate your love today.

Anyone in my neck of the woods knows that it has been a punishing summer when it comes to the weather. It seems that I haven’t been able to escape the extremes when I perform an outdoor ceremony – it’s either blisteringly hot or witheringly humid. Or both. Today it was the wind, cruelly blowing carefully coiffed hair and carefully placed flowers in all directions – but it was Joe and Anna that really blew us all away.

Getting a laugh during a wedding ceremony is a delicate maneuver. In my opinion, it has to be in a way that calls out the endearing qualities or experiences of the bride and groom. Anna gave me some great background on her and Joe that was too funny and poetic not to share with their family and friends.

By all rights, on the surface, Joe and Anna don’t have much in common. He’s a gamer. She’s not. She’s a vegan. He’s not. She bakes. He loves pre-packaged snack cakes. He’s laid back. She’s high strung. But none of that really matters.

Because when I asked Joe and Anna each why they wanted to marry the other, the answers were as beautiful as they were simple.

Joe said: “I honestly couldn’t imagine my life without her. She puts up with my hobbies, my bad jokes and everything. I love her with all my heart and it continues to grow each passing day.”

Anna said: “He is absolutely all I have ever wanted.  He completes me. He makes my heart sing when it is sad. He calms me when I am in a rage. My soul misses his soul when it is away.  He makes me happy all the time. I am a happier person when he is near. I cannot imagine my life without him in it.”

This is why those differences don’t matter. The dissimilarities between you are cosmetic. In the way that truly matters, you are the same. You share a trenchant and steadfast love for one another, and it’s something that some people will never experience in their lifetimes.

She’s a scone, he’s a Ding Dong… and it works. Congratulations, my friends!

It was my most intimate affair to date – just me, the bride and the groom, standing on the shore of a private lake, surrounded by palatial estates in the heart of Youngstown. I retooled the entire ceremony to address the only attendees – Earl and Barbie.

I love being able to slip a reference to an inside joke into a ceremony. It worked especially well in this case, as there were no friends and family around to feel “left out” of the joke.

It started in a place where not many romances begin – on a used car lot. It made its move to another unlikely spot for love – an amusement park. The stretch of time between then and now has been packed with memorable moments – a certain game of Cranium comes to mind – amid a sea of  not-so-memorable but still wonderful moments, like the two of you curled up on the couch watching the Buckeyes. And here we stand together now, in the midst of your most memorable moment together.

It was a singularly unique and unforgettable experience to marry a couple in such quiet solitude. Earl & Barbie – I hope your wedding day was everything you imagined. Thanks for having me. I wish you all the best.

Someone flipped a switch today and turned a scorching summer into a merciful autumn. And there, surrounded by loved ones and by the fading splendor of the Quail Hollow herb garden, Bill and Tracy giggled at each other as they walked down the red brick path, past the bumblebees and the butterflies, to unite themselves as husband and wife after twelves years as lovers and best friends.

To Bill and Tracy: I see in you the same warmth and levity that my wife and I share, and it makes me smile. We should all be so lucky as to find in anyone what you both have found in each other. Congratulations to you both and may you enjoy many happy and prosperous years!

Joe & Leah tied the knot on a rooftop balcony at the Sheraton in Cuyahoga Falls. And although the runner nearly blew away, and the crotch-rocket guys with something to prove were out on Route 8 in full force, and the occasional feedback from the wireless microphone was deafening… none of it was enough to, even for a moment, dampen the magic of the proceedings.

Today I truly witnessed two best friends commit their lives to one another, and it was a stone cold honor to be there for it. May you both take comfort in knowing that, even if the Cavs never win an NBA championship again, you’ll always have each other.

Seriously, though. One love, you guys. Congratulations and thanks for having me.

Often, love is quiet, understated and noble – it moves in shadow, passing between two people in subtle, fanciful ways that others can barely perceive.  Other times,  love is obvious – you can see it move between two souls like rays of light. Sometimes love manifests itself in both ways at once – this is the love that James and Terri share. All in attendance agreed – it just felt right. It just made sense, like an equation that could no longer go unsolved.

You turned a dingy VFW Post into a bohemian paradise, an ordinary day into an extraordinary one, and two lifetimes apart into a single lifetime united. You each overturned the stones in the others’ gardens until you found each others’ hearts. May your life together and your love for one another remain as Marius imagined it – incorruptible, indivisible and imperishable.

On a clear summer’s day at their beautiful Ashland home, Rob & Caley opted for a ceremony that did away with convention and felt right to them. Rob & Caley each brought their own families into this union, and it felt only fitting to celebrate that fact.

Today, we unite not only Rob and Caley in the union of marriage, but we unite their families in a unique bond as well. Triton and Tikara, and Roman and Milan stand beside you today, both figuratively and literally, in support of your union. And as they have so far looked to you for guidance in all aspects of their lives, they will look to you to exemplify a loving and expressive relationship.

Rob & Caley – thank you for inviting me to your home and allowing me to join you, your friends and family for this blessed event. May all your days be filled with grace and beauty!

Jon & Christy tied the knot in Christy’s father’s backyard in my very own neck of the woods – Ellet. It was an uncharacteristically temperate day amid this otherwise scorching summer. The groom’s party wore khaki shorts and yellow polo shirts, while both the bride’s & groom’s parties wore white flip flops.

The happy couple are also happy parents to a radiant baby boy, Austin. It felt only fitting to mention him during the ceremony.

It’s certainly clear to me and to all who know you that this abundance of love you have for one another is rivaled only by your love of your son, Austin. Remember that Austin (and any other happy additions to your family) will look to the two of you to learn how to love. I think you’ll both be excellent teachers.

To Jon & Christy: you and your entire family were a delight to meet and get to know. Every time an archway blows over in the wind, think of me. I wish you all the best.

Bill and Jen were looking for a short, simply ceremony on the back porch of their Mogadore home for a few close family members. The two met not quite a year ago, and although it might seem quick to some, for them it just made sense. This next step in the evolution of their relationship was as natural as it was beautiful.

And so, I say to Bill and Jen – thank you for having me. May all of your days be filled with happiness and grace.