Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
Bringing together local businesses and neighbor of the Tri-Cities region. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Skip Mauney helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around The Tri-Cities.
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Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
EP# 183: From Corporate Life to 120 Weddings a Year: Bill Harrison's Journey
What makes a truly memorable wedding ceremony? Bill Harrison, owner of Harrison Wedding Officiant, reveals it's all about personalization and attention to detail. After performing over 120 weddings annually across the Tri-Cities region and beyond, Bill has mastered the art of creating ceremonies that authentically reflect each couple's unique journey.
During his conversation with Skip Mauney on the Good Neighbor Podcast, Bill shares how his officiating career began seven years ago with a friend's request that turned into a thriving retirement business. Now based in Kingsport, his reputation has spread throughout Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina, making him a sought-after officiant who frequently finds himself booked solid during popular wedding seasons.
Bill dispels the common misconception that officiants simply recycle the same script for every ceremony. Instead, he takes time to learn about each couple's relationship history, hobbies, and interests, weaving these personal elements into a customized ceremony that resonates with both the couple and their guests. This dedication to personalization is what sets professional officiants apart and creates those unforgettable wedding moments that couples treasure forever.
The wedding industry involves countless details and decisions, but Bill reminds listeners that the ceremony itself—the actual moment when two people commit their lives to each other—deserves thoughtful consideration. While couples often focus on venues, flowers, and photography, selecting the right officiant can transform a generic ceremony into a deeply personal experience that sets the tone for the entire celebration.
Looking for a wedding officiant who goes beyond the basics? Visit harrisonweddingofficient.us to read over 50 five-star reviews and learn how Bill can help make your special day truly extraordinary. Whether you're planning an elaborate venue wedding or an intimate ceremony, Bill's experience and dedication to personalization ensure your wedding ceremony will be as unique as your love story.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Skip Monning.
Speaker 2:Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast of the Tri-Cities. So I am really excited about today's episode because we've got a very special guest that I'm sure you'll be just as excited as I am to learn all about them and their business, because today I have the distinct pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, mr Bill Harrison, who is the owner operator of Harrison Wedding Efficient Bill. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Thanks, Skip. It's a great opportunity and pleasure to be here with you.
Speaker 2:Great opportunity and pleasure to be here with you and everybody. Awesome, awesome. Well, we are, like I said, very excited to learn all about you and what you do. So if you don't mind, why don't you kick us off by telling us about your business?
Speaker 3:Well, thanks a lot, and the goal is any business owner is, of course, get their name out there as far and wide as possible. You know, and uh, as the owner of harrison wedding officiant, I appreciate the opportunity, but, uh, I'm a full service officiating service and as an ordained minister and wedding officiant, I customize wedding scripts and pricing wedding scripts and pricing to meet couples' needs and budgets.
Speaker 2:So whenever their budget is, I work with them. Very good, very good. So how did you get started in this business?
Speaker 3:My officiating journey began about seven years ago. While I was living in Atlanta, a friend of mine's son's mom asked me to officiate her daughter's wedding. I was so nervous because it would have been my first one at the time, but I managed to write apparently the perfect ceremony script and the wedding went off. Someone I was getting ready to retire from the corporate world and though officiating what thought weddings would be an easy way to earn extra money while retired, and my wife and I moved to Kingsport three and a half years ago and, with the help of a website and word of mouth, I now officiate about 120 weddings a year, so it's a real fun journey.
Speaker 2:You said 120 a year.
Speaker 3:Yeah, wow, that's a lot. I have to turn down many because of. You know customers who wait till the last minute and I usually have dates already filled up. October is always the busiest month out of the year, I guess, because of the colors and all the venues, and a lot of people wait till the last minute and sometimes there isn't anything I can do for them because I'm already booked for certain dates.
Speaker 2:Wow, well tell me, bill, what are some myths or misconceptions in the wedding industry.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I believe the biggest misconception about professional officiants is people think we all use the same ceremony script over and over. And that may be the truth, for you know some people just starting out you know they put together a script and they'll use it and wear it out. Put together a script and they'll use it and wear it out, and that's you know. For the lower budget officiants who are just starting and hardly charging anything, it works great. But not the case for most officiants. Like me, I gather info for the couple. You know, like their hobbies, their interests, how long they've been together, anything they want to throw into ceremony to make it more personal. That way I can customize each wedding. So the big misconception is you know they all say the same thing at every single wedding. It's just not true.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:No, it's not true.
Speaker 2:Actually, I've been to a lot of weddings.
Speaker 3:Hopefully not your own.
Speaker 2:No, no, no. Well, a couple, a couple, but we won't get into that. So well we know marketing is key to any business's success. How do you market and reach your target audience?
Speaker 3:Well, right now you know my website's working real well for me and the Google reviews. If somebody goes on Google and looks for an officiant in Kingsport or the Tri-Cities area officiant in Kingsport or the Tri-Cities area my name and business generally come up first. In the three and a half years I've been officiating here I developed a pretty good reputation as an officiant, so website and word of mouth work the best for me.
Speaker 2:Very good, very good Word of mouth, best advertising you can get. Yeah, yeah. So let's switch gears for just a second Bill. Can you describe a hardship or a life challenge, whether personal or professional, that you've overcome and how it made you stronger in the end?
Speaker 3:Oh, challenge or hardship, let's see how much time do we have? Well, I'm going to be 67 in May and I've lived a full life probably too full at an earlier age. You know, as a young man, the single party life as a guy in the 20s was, you know, the biggest obstacle to. You know, give up and walk away from. So I'll keep this story short and just say thank you. Jesus for knowing what I was capable of and bringing me out of that dreadful lifestyle.
Speaker 2:And here you are.
Speaker 3:You said 67.
Speaker 2:Yeah there we go, there we go. That is definitely a positive story. Well, if if, bill, if you could think of one thing that you'd like our listeners to remember about, about your wedding business, what would that be?
Speaker 3:Well, I realize, when planning a wedding, most couples have a budget that they want to stick to. In my opinion, based on experience, couples seem to think all good, the only thing good officials do is jump in the car and head to the wedding and say a few lines without prepaying is jump in the car and head to the wedding and say a few lines without prepaying. So they're surprised when they find out what. You know. Officiants typically charge. Couples don't take into consideration all the preplanning, driving and officiating. So you know. That's why we have to charge what we charge, and it's probably the lowest part of the wedding as far as finances. But you know we have to be compensated properly for the time that we put into it, the time and work.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Now do you travel Apparently?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I travel a lot. Word has gotten out pretty good and my website reaches out pretty good. I do a lot of weddings, it seems like, in north carolina more than any place.
Speaker 3:I live in kingsport and out of the 120 weddings I did last year, I probably did about five in kingsport, so uh, oh, wow uh, down around the Asheville area, all around that area do quite a few, um Pigeon Forge, um, you know, all around that area, gatlinburg, and a lot in the Bristol Virginia area. There's a lot of nice venues. So I am called on quite a bit for those areas and I do weddings here at our home too. Oh wow, yeah, called on quite a bit for those areas, very good.
Speaker 2:I do weddings here at our home too, oh wow. Yeah, you ever have anybody just show up in the middle of the night knocking on the door saying hey.
Speaker 3:Not in the middle of the night. But I'll get phone calls pretty easy with some folks who say they've just been to the clerk's office, got their marriage license. Can they swing by just to get it signed. And I'm usually up for that, no matter what time.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, wow, Very flexible.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they have to be, you know.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Well, bill. If any of our listeners are thinking about getting hitched or know somebody that wants to get hitched and they want to get more information, how can they do that?
Speaker 3:Well, the best way is first go on my website, harrisonweddingefficientus. Read all the reviews. I've got well over 50 five-star reviews. Good comments from folks? My number's there. I answer my phone you know, whenever I can, so that's the best way. They're just calling for just any information. Glad to chat with anybody. Sometimes I can't do the wedding and I am in a pretty good group of officiants and I'll refer other officiants that are friends of mine if I can't do it.
Speaker 2:Wow, so I can imagine you have a lot of Saturdays booked up and Sundays.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I do mostly Saturday, Friday nights, saturdays. I try to keep away from Sundays, but you know, go where and when I'm needed.
Speaker 2:There you go. There you go. Well, bill, I can't tell you how much I really appreciate you being on the show and telling us all about your your wedding officiant business, and we wish you and your family and the Harrison wedding officiant business all the best moving forward.
Speaker 3:Thanks, skip. I really appreciate it. It was a great opportunity to be here chatting with you.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and maybe sometime in the future we can have you back. It'd be my pleasure, all right, well, thanks so much. I appreciate your time today, good day.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnptry-citiescom. That's gnptry-citiescom, or call 423-719-5873. 3.