GREENVILLE – In a landmark moment for one of Darke County’s most familiar Officiant voices, I officiated my 1,000th wedding ceremony Saturday July 18th at the beloved Chapel of the Winds, a historic local site nestled just outside Greenville.
The milestone event was a vow-renewal ceremony for Paola and Tim Rice, a couple whose story is woven with family, faith, and community. Their sons joined them in a unity sand ceremony symbolizing the blending of lives, legacies, and love.
For me, the moment carried an even deeper resonance. As the voluntary caretaker of the Chapel of the Winds, I have spent years helping with tending to the grounds, preserving its beauty, and ensuring it remains a sanctuary for couples seeking a sacred place to begin their journey.
“It’s near and dear to my heart”. “To reach this milestone here, in a place I care for, with a Brother I admire it’s something I’ll never forget.”
The day held yet another layer of meaning: Tim Rice is a Brother Mason of Greenville Masonic Lodge No. 143, adding fraternal significance to an already heartfelt celebration. In Freemasonry, marriage is honored as one of life’s great callings a covenant built on fidelity, duty, and the shared labor of building a home grounded in Light.
My connection to the Lodge made the ceremony feel “even more special.”
Forever Love Weddings is a Ministry spanning states, seasons and extraordinary moments. Since my ordination in 2012 and my first wedding on August 3, 2013, I have become one of the region’s most sought‑after officiants. My work has taken me from Cleveland to Lexington, Kentucky, from the West Virginia border to just west of Indianapolis, Indiana and everywhere in between.
I have officiated weddings at 6:30 a.m., and once pronounced a couple husband and wife at 11:59 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
“There is very little I haven’t done to make a couple’s wedding exactly what they want.”
My stories reflect that promise:
A wedding on an airport runway where while the Bride and Groom exchanged vows, 24 couple spontaneously renewed their vows during the ceremony.
A wedding in the Demolition Derby pit at the Darke County Fair complete with vows exchanged atop the derby cars.
Ceremonies conducted knee deep in snow, and others performed in thunderstorms so fierce tree branches were crashing to the ground amidst the thunder and lightning, the rain left permanent wrinkles in my Bible.
These moments are not inconveniences they are privileges.
“It is one of my greatest pleasures in life”.
It is a wedding ministry rooted in faith and reflected in Freemasonry.
My work resonates across faith traditions. Whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or otherwise, the act of marriage is universally sacred a covenant of unity, responsibility, and shared purpose. Freemasonry, though not a religion, mirrors these values. It teaches that building a marriage is like building a Temple; stone by stone, choice by choice and act by act, guided by love, duty, and the Great Architect of the Universe.
My dual identity as a Christian Pastor and a Masonic Leader allows me to bridge these worlds with grace. My ceremonies often reflect the universal truths shared by all great faiths: commitment, compassion, and the courage to build a life together.
This is both a Milestone and a new chapter. Even after officiating my 1,000th wedding, I I have no plans of slowing down.
“I have another wedding later this afternoon.”
For me, each ceremony, whether simple or spectacular, is a chance to honor love, serve the community, and help couples begin their journey with dignity and joy.
And now, with a thousand weddings behind me, I will continue forward with the same devotion that brought me to the Chapel of the Winds in the first place: a heart for service, a calling to bless others, and a commitment to build one couple at a time a world touched by Light.
