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When Melissa Curie and Dotan Schips decided to tie the knot, they asked their former college professor and American Marriage Ministries (AMM) minister Florence Hunt to officiate the ceremony. While most weddings are more intimate affairs, this one was different. Melissa and Dotan invited millions of viewers to join in their experience. As part of its More Perfect Union series, CBS television cameras were on hand to capture the moment…
The couple knew right away that they wanted their former college professor to do the honors. “She had just been that one person that had always been there through the good times and the bad … and probably knew more about us than we knew about ourselves and our relationship,” Melissa told CBS.
The three met during a study abroad program in London, and stayed in touch afterwards.
“It's the way they looked at each other,” Flo told CBS. “I know all couples in love look at each other cow-eyed and everything. But theirs was different.”
Melissa and Dotan’s wedding reflects a growing trend — having the wedding ceremony officiated by a friend, family member, or someone else who shares their values, or history. American Marriage Ministries provides online ordination, state-by-state training, and ceremony writing tools to help first time officiants rise to the task.
American Marriage Ministries’ online ordination is free and only takes about a minute. Once ordained, ministers have full legal standing to perform wedding ceremonies anywhere in the US.
Online ordination is a growing trend, especially for millennial couples like Melissa and Dotan. Weddings are an important community-building moment, and having an officiant with a shared story is important.
For Florence, who had just undergone a double mastectomy, her officiant duties were so important that she postponed her scheduled reconstructive surgery in order to be there to officiate. She says there's nothing she wouldn't do for the couple, whom she thinks of as her children.
Get ordained in just one minute, or check out American Marriage Ministry’s other helpful online tools to create a memorable wedding ceremony that embodies your values and beliefs here.
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I have been a minister with AMM since 2013 and have done many weddings over the years and this month get a chance to marry my niece in beautiful Basking Ridge NJ. I live here in Gulf Breeze Fl. and perform many weddings at hotels and on the beautiful beaches of the Emerald Gulf Coast !.