Today we’d like to introduce you to Carolyn Burke.
Hi Carolyn, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I have been part of the wedding industry since 1999. I was the Wedding Liaison for my church and acted as the point person who also assisted the minister performing the ceremony. I started my own business coordinating just the ceremony part of the wedding. My first business name was Wedding Ceremony Services.
In 2005, I started getting phone calls from couples looking for an officiant to perform short, sweet and simple ceremonies. I became both a Wedding Officiant and Ceremony Coordinator and even helped couples find ceremony sites. I changed the name of my business to Carolyn Burke STL.
I have always followed the trends of the industry to spark my skills. In 2008, I started Elope in St Louis which has a package that includes an officiant, wedding photographer, and flowers for the couple.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Wintertime is always a time to reflect as a wedding professional as business slows down a lot.
My struggles have been how to market a unique service yet not be so unique that no one else does what I do. Competition is needed for the consumer to find the right match based on budget and experience.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Wedding Officiant who specializes in sweet and simple ceremonies.
I perform mostly small and intimate weddings, but also large and traditional.
My ceremonies are meaningful but not necessarily personal as I do not MEET most of my couples.
From small intimate weddings to large traditional weddings. My warm personality and expertise will guide the couple through all the parts of the ceremony, allowing vows and readings to be as unique as they are as a couple.
ALL COUPLES !! I am a member of the Unitarian faith and accept couples without regard to ethnicity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or religious background.
My fees are for the low to moderate budget weddings and are based on distance and package they choose.
Packages:
>> Officiant + Phone Rehearsal
>> Officiant + Physical Rehearsal
>> Deluxe Elopement
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Good luck has mostly followed me in my business. As the wedding trends have moved more to my style of business, I have seen my profits grow and grow. Since I have been in business a long time, St Louis finds me everywhere on internet search engines, wedding websites like The Knot and Wedding Wire. I know that people use their mobile devices to find what they need.
The bad luck of the pandemic caused the County Courthouses to close and couples have to scramble to find someone to marry them in the same fashion for a reasonable price. I broke my own record in the number of marriages in 2020 and considered myself an essential worker in the past year.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@carolynburkestl.com
- Website: www.CarolynBurkeSTL.com AND www.ElopeInStLouis.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolynburkestl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weddingliaison
Image Credits
The first image is by Jason Winkeler. The second is Veronica Young.
