#299
Clint 0:00
Hey everybody, welcome to the wedding ceremony podcast. We talk about anything and everything that has to do with wedding ceremonies. This is episode number 299, recorded on Tuesday, January the 26th 2021. My name is Clint Hufft. And with me is a gentleman that well, I told him it was going to be a surprise, but we're just glad to have him back the one and only JP Reynolds.
JP Reynolds 0:23
Well, Clint, Happy New Year. Happy New Year to you. Happy New Year to everyone who is gathered around the fireplace. And I am stunned to hear you say the number 299.
Clint 0:44
I know. And with that in mind. Oh wait before I tell you, before I do the big reveal, I would like to acknowledge that JP is an accomplished author. His books are in the Amazon store and in the Kindle store in Amazon. He is a communications expert. thebusinessofconfidence.com is that website. His wedding website is Jprweddings.com. Mine is ReverendClint.com. Or ClintHufft.com For all of the things that I do. It is Episode 299 JP. And I don't know if you remember way back when we approached Episode 100.
I said okay, let's pretend that you do. And we got a great gift from one of our wonderful listeners. Ron in Australia. Yeah. And he gave us the mug with the famous JP quote, I think I'm gonna mess this up. Do you remember what the quote was?
JP Reynolds 1:48
Do you mean, “no happy occasion is happy unless someone is miserable”?
Clint 1:52
That is the one in quotation marks with your beautiful picture right on there. And I couldn't believe it when they arrived. And that was just a great gift. Well, along those lines, while you were gallivanting around with the woodland forest creatures, in December, we had a guest, it was Wendy Dahl.
JP 2:13
Oh, sure.
Clint 2:15
I haven't talked to Wendy and in a while on the podcast. But she told a great story.
She did a wedding. She's kind of specialized as an event planner. She does a lot of South Asian weddings. And so this one was a part Hindu culture. And so that's a big deal. They takes like a whole week to do everything that they have on their docket. But it had been raining that week. And the wedding was in Huntington Beach, it had been raining and raining and raining and raining. And then the morning of the actual wedding ceremony, the mother of the Hindu family came to Wendy and said, Here is a coconut. I need you to go to the highest point in the resort and offer a prayer with this coconut as an offering. Because and here's the quote that everybody resonated with, “your God and my god are the same God”. I know, right? So many people resonated with that. And so she went up there, somebody from the hotel went with her and she went up there and set the coconut down and the hotel person said, Okay, let's go. And Wendy said no, no, no, I gotta pray. What? Oh, I gotta pray. And the mom even told her exactly what to say. Please grace us with clear skies, blue skies. And, everything else that would be appropriate with no mention at all about rain. None. Just, we hope for blue skies and that kind of thing. Well, wouldn't you know it? About a half hour before the ceremony supposed to begin the clouds parted and the rain stopped. And it was just a beautiful, beautiful sky for their ceremony. And then when a ceremony was concluded, and they were done with photos, they went back for the reception and, the clouds opened up and it started pouring again. But that story really resonated with a bunch of our listeners. And so Ron, who wanted to commemorate two things number one, the beauty of that story, but also the fact that our next episode, number 300. He sent us coconuts.
JP 4:36
Oh, Ron.
Clint 4:37
I kid you not I didn't know what to expect. He asked for my mailing address.I gave it to him and then I didn't know what's gonna happen. I got a box, a box with coconuts. Now these are not the brown coconuts that we see sometimes. These are what they call young Thai coconuts. Yeah, so they're white on the outside and then the coconut is on the inside and he sent three of them. One for you. One for me and one for Wendy.
JP Reynolds 5:05
Oh, Ron,
Clint 5:07
I know. I know. It's amazing.
JP Reynolds 5:11
Because you know I lived in in the South Pacific and every day I'd have the students climb a coconut tree with their machetes and just lop off coconuts. And we'd sit and sip coconuts and talk about class. So, it drives me nuts here in the States, when you see coconut water in boxes. You know, in the super? Oh, Ron, Ron, you have outdone yourself.
Clint 5:50
I agree. Wow. Fascinating. And for those who have never tried to open this type of a coconut, you gotta go to YouTube. And because there's a whole process.
JP Reynolds 6:03
Well, I have my machete, I can show you.
Clint 6:08
Why am I happy and scared all at the same time? Why?
JP Reynolds 6:12
Feeling I like to generate weekly for 300 weeks.
Clint 6:20
Well, more and more weddings are being moved away from the spring of 2021. And into the fall of 2021. And same thing that happened to you the last time you and I spoke. I had a wedding that just moved to 2022. And, so it goes but yet, I had a couple more inquiries for elopements. In fact, I have a zoom call today with a couple that's going to get married in a few weeks. And thank goodness, you know what I mean?
JP Reynolds 6:51
Right. It's very interesting. So the early part of this year, everybody has migrated in one fashion or another either later in the year to next year. May is a month that is very much in flux. There are some couples who are decided to remain in May, some of them have hightailed it out of May. I just met with a couple who just adamantly are set on getting married in May. And they said to me, we may have 115 people, or we may have five people. But we are getting married on this date.
Clint 7:46
Right. Right. And there you go. That's the lay of the land right there. Yeah, we don't know how many people. It is very encouraging that the vaccines are starting to roll out. And it's my understanding, there's two companies that have vaccines, and another one is going to come on board at the end of this month, which is just like in a week. Right. So it just seems like that's going to be the key component, that's going to be the one that will provide us with a tipping point of how many people are going to be allowed to gather.
JP Reynolds 8:20
But right. And here yesterday, Apparently the rules have changed here in California. A lot of the stay at home restriction has been lifted, as far as I know, here in LA. So again, that changes part of the landscape in terms of what is and is not possible.
Clint 8:50
Oh, there's something else that we need to acknowledge. We got notification. Wait, you're the one who sent it to me, right, about the how we got a positive review in wedding wire. When they were somebody was looking for relationship advice.
JP Reynolds 9:07
I don't know if it was wedding wire. No, but somebody somewhere listed us in the top 10 podcasts that do relationship advice, right. And we were listed in that top 10 list. Because even though we are ceremony focused, so often we talk about family relationships and dynamics within the context of ceremony.
Clint 9:51
Right and I just want to be right upfront with everybody that the person who recommended our podcast was very specific and rightfully so on saying that JP Reynolds is a communications expert. And the advice on the podcast is wonderful. And I'm paraphrasing. But definitely, definitely, I chose the right partner for my podcast. Because, credit where credit is due, as far as I'm concerned, in regards to you being acknowledged for the wisdom that you've imparted. And that was funny, because when you sent me that email saying, hey, people really do listen. I thought that was.
JP Reynolds 10:39
Thank you, Clint. So I think we mutually chose each other.
Clint 10:45
You were the one that actually said to me, I'd been thinking about doing a podcast just because I have a background in radio, and I'm thinking, this should be right up my alley. And then about once a year, you and I would get together at a Starbucks and shoot the breeze. And I remember clear as day exactly where we were, the Starbucks that we were sitting in when you said, we should do a podcast. And I thought, there you go, that was the sign from the heavens that I needed. And there you go. At that point, what was your idea of the podcast? I mean, what what did you think this what we're doing, but we've been doing? This is what you had in mind?
JP Reynolds 11:24
I was drunk that day. And I didn't really know. It was like noon, is just started getting a head start on the networking event. No, I? Well, I suppose we're jumpstarting our little 300th trip down memory lane. However, as with so many good ideas, there's usually no way to predict what will be the manifestation of that idea what what it will actually look like and feel like and sound like as it as it continues to morph. So I don't think either of us really had a clear sense of what what was going to be. What I do find interesting is, since we first started the podcast,
how there's been a proliferation of podcasting. And now there are podcasters podcasting about how to do a podcast. And as a matter of fact, I think for anybody who belongs to the wedding organization, WIPA, I think they're next speaker is going to be talking on how to start a podcast and how if you are in the wedding industry, in any capacity, you should be podcasting.
Clint 13:15
When I speak at the wedding MBA, which is a big wedding business conference, normally held in Las Vegas, in October or November, and this year, it was scheduled for November. But of course, we couldn't meet. And so credit to the wedding MBA people, they pivoted really well to have all the content online. And the thing that was great about it is that all of it all of the sessions and all the presenters had to do. I don't know, what would you call it anyway, it was all digitally available on demand. All the sessions, a lot of us did zoom things, and slideshows and that sort of stuff. But it was all there. And it was all available on demand all the way through the end of the year through the end of December. And they give me the assignment of what they'd like me to speak on, depending upon what they think I'm best suited and this year it was how to how to start a podcast. And yeah, so that presentation was about 20 minutes. And the first thing I tell people is that because I agree with you, podcasting is a lot of fun. There's a learning curve, that's kind of annoying. But but once you get past that and you understand kind of how to get it up into the podcast world. Then it's just great. It's so much fun. I've enjoyed every single episode that you and I have done and I now am affiliated with, I produce six podcasts. And I just love every single second of it. But the first thing that I said when in my course was don't do this to make money from the podcast. You can use it as a marketing tool. As a way to kind of further your brand. But don't get in thinking that you're going to sell ads and make a ton of money. And once you've gotten that into your mindset, then yeah, absolutely. And if anybody out there is thinking of doing a podcast, and they just would like to, if they run up against any confusion or whatever, they're more than willing to reach out to us, and we'll give you all the contact information at the end of this episode. And I'll help you any way I can. Because I love it. I think it's great.
JP Reynolds 15:28
That's wonderful.
Clint 15:33
So with the new year, have you set any goals in regards to officiating and things like that? Is there anything that I don't know? How do you approach a new year? Do you set resolutions or goals? Or what do you do?
JP Reynolds 15:49
Oh, what a great question. What a great question. The simple answer is no. I have never been a resolution kind of person. And if for reasons that I just don’t have the energy to explain right now. It's interesting, because for my communications consulting work, I have a monthly newsletter. And I'm always torn as to what to write about in the January issue of the newsletter, because so many folks who have newsletters talk about about resolution. And rather than looking forward in terms of the resolution, I like to use the beginning of a new year to look back and reflect on what surprised me. What did I learn? And what am I grateful for?
Clint 17:10
Did you learn that from somebody else? Because I just heard somebody, Tim Ferriss, who's a prolific writer and has a huge podcast, he says almost exactly the same thing, that it's an assessment of the previous year, and then of course, you plan for the coming year, but it's that assessment that he says is the most productive for him. So did you learn that from something?
JP Reynolds 17:36
I can assure you, very little is original on the face of the earth today, everything is a reinvention of what what has been. I don't have a one source. I had no doubt that I came to that over time from the influence of different individuals. One of them may have been Tim Ferriss, because he's one of my gurus.
Clint 18:10
Oh, that's so good to hear that. I've been following him for a long time. Yeah. We never talked about that.
JP Reynolds 18:25
I certainly, in that notion of gratitude, that notion of reflecting on what you've learned, what surprised you, that also has its roots in my seminary, Jesuit background.
So, it's certainly rooted in spiritual practices and applies very neatly to the realm of the non spiritual.
Clint 19:05
Right.
JP Reynolds 19:07
Yeah. So for me I will say when I look back on last year, I will say what I said before, what most surprised me, and therefore, what I am grateful for, was the surprise of the power of micro weddings. And I for the longest time, I had a hard time understanding the concept of an elopement. It just didn't make sense to me for a couple to elope unless there was family political reasons, and I was apprehensive that these micro weddings were going to be a diminished version of what I had become used to in officiating weddings. And I have fallen in love with micro weddings. I am moved by the power of the intimacy. And ironically, I think I'm gonna have a hard time going back to the larger type of wedding.
Clint 20:37
Well, it's just gonna be a different vibe, I guess.
JP Reynolds 20:40
Yeah. Oh, that's what is very interesting, is different, each has its own energy each has, in some respects, its own purpose, its own experience. And that's why I think for those couples who have opted to go with either the elopement or with the micro wedding, and have decided that later in the year, next year, they're going to have the originally envisioned large celebration. I've emphasized within that it's not real wedding versus fake wedding. It's your celebration begins with the intimacy of this gathering, and culminates, however many months later in that larger celebration, right.
Clint 21:38
Right. I think, we're almost out of time, But what I've discovered is that if a couple has already had a wedding ceremony of some type, when they finally do get in front of large gathering of people, large being subjective, but that there's a gravity to it, because they actually have been married for a while, and to renew their vows, so to speak, in that context. I just keep re emphasizing to couples that want to take that route, that it's gonna have more power, believe it or not, right, then because, you understand exactly what you're committing to at least up to that point.
JP 22:15
Right.
Clint 22:16
Yeah, I hope so. I've been wanting to generate that with my couples for as long as I've been doing this. I told you the story, that you can't stand, the couple that they’re real estate agents, and they wanted to just have a wedding to show off the house. But the underlying vibe is very much what we're talking about right now, the underlying vibe was if you were just the two of you, what would you say? And that's what we want to bring to the to the ceremony, because what I've been aware of with some of the work that I'm doing now, that will be released to the world at a future date, is the idea that even if you're goofing around, even if you have a celebrity officiant or if you want to do a bunch of fun things during the ceremony, when it gets to that moment where you actually are saying I do or you do look at each other and say, I want to marry you, then the gravity of that can’t help But take hold. And I think that's the beauty of what the micro weddings have brought to us is being able to kind of have that gravity through the entire experience. And I've always said that my favorite weddings are the ones where it's just me and the couple. That beauty is so remarkable. That's when I really feel blessed. I like all the weddings that I do, most of them, I would say 99% of them. But those really intimate ones. Yeah, we've been very blessed. It's a huge silver lining to the cloud That is the pandemic. I mean, as far as I'm concerned.
JP Reynolds 23:43
Yeah. Yeah, right. I'm gonna get my machete.
Clint 23:52
You don't even have any coconuts, Do you?
JP Reynolds 23:53
Get those coconuts ready. Daddy's coming.
Clint 24:00
Do you have a name for your machete? Have you given your machete a name?
JP Reynolds 24:04
You know what, we’ve run out of time.
Clint 24:08
Okay, there you go. All right, everybody. That's the way this works. Remember, if you have a desire to reach out to us and tell us a story or ask us a question, you can go to our website, it's weddingceremonypodcast.com, and click on the Email button and and then we'll just we'll set up a dialogue. And we love that we love that a lot. That also is where you can listen to all of our episodes. They're archived. chronologically, the most recent one is at the top, or do yourself a big favor. Just go to the Apple podcast or any of the apps that are in your mobile devices that access that store and look us up wedding ceremony podcast and click on the subscribe button and then every time we post a new episode, it'll automatically come into your world. Easy peasy. Remember, the JP’S books are in the Amazon store and in the Kindle store in Amazon for communications coaching that website is thebusinessofconfidence.com. His wedding website is JPRweddings.com. Mine Is ReverendClint.com or ClintHufft.com for all of the things that I do, thank you very much to the incredible musicians that are still playing our theme music that a capo players da ca p o players.com. That's it for this episode of the wedding ceremony podcast. This is Clint and on behalf of JP We will see you next time.
Clint 0:00
Hey everybody, welcome to the wedding ceremony podcast. We talk about anything and everything that has to do with wedding ceremonies. This is episode number 299, recorded on Tuesday, January the 26th 2021. My name is Clint Hufft. And with me is a gentleman that well, I told him it was going to be a surprise, but we're just glad to have him back the one and only JP Reynolds.
JP Reynolds 0:23
Well, Clint, Happy New Year. Happy New Year to you. Happy New Year to everyone who is gathered around the fireplace. And I am stunned to hear you say the number 299.
Clint 0:44
I know. And with that in mind. Oh wait before I tell you, before I do the big reveal, I would like to acknowledge that JP is an accomplished author. His books are in the Amazon store and in the Kindle store in Amazon. He is a communications expert. thebusinessofconfidence.com is that website. His wedding website is Jprweddings.com. Mine is ReverendClint.com. Or ClintHufft.com For all of the things that I do. It is Episode 299 JP. And I don't know if you remember way back when we approached Episode 100.
I said okay, let's pretend that you do. And we got a great gift from one of our wonderful listeners. Ron in Australia. Yeah. And he gave us the mug with the famous JP quote, I think I'm gonna mess this up. Do you remember what the quote was?
JP Reynolds 1:48
Do you mean, “no happy occasion is happy unless someone is miserable”?
Clint 1:52
That is the one in quotation marks with your beautiful picture right on there. And I couldn't believe it when they arrived. And that was just a great gift. Well, along those lines, while you were gallivanting around with the woodland forest creatures, in December, we had a guest, it was Wendy Dahl.
JP 2:13
Oh, sure.
Clint 2:15
I haven't talked to Wendy and in a while on the podcast. But she told a great story.
She did a wedding. She's kind of specialized as an event planner. She does a lot of South Asian weddings. And so this one was a part Hindu culture. And so that's a big deal. They takes like a whole week to do everything that they have on their docket. But it had been raining that week. And the wedding was in Huntington Beach, it had been raining and raining and raining and raining. And then the morning of the actual wedding ceremony, the mother of the Hindu family came to Wendy and said, Here is a coconut. I need you to go to the highest point in the resort and offer a prayer with this coconut as an offering. Because and here's the quote that everybody resonated with, “your God and my god are the same God”. I know, right? So many people resonated with that. And so she went up there, somebody from the hotel went with her and she went up there and set the coconut down and the hotel person said, Okay, let's go. And Wendy said no, no, no, I gotta pray. What? Oh, I gotta pray. And the mom even told her exactly what to say. Please grace us with clear skies, blue skies. And, everything else that would be appropriate with no mention at all about rain. None. Just, we hope for blue skies and that kind of thing. Well, wouldn't you know it? About a half hour before the ceremony supposed to begin the clouds parted and the rain stopped. And it was just a beautiful, beautiful sky for their ceremony. And then when a ceremony was concluded, and they were done with photos, they went back for the reception and, the clouds opened up and it started pouring again. But that story really resonated with a bunch of our listeners. And so Ron, who wanted to commemorate two things number one, the beauty of that story, but also the fact that our next episode, number 300. He sent us coconuts.
JP 4:36
Oh, Ron.
Clint 4:37
I kid you not I didn't know what to expect. He asked for my mailing address.I gave it to him and then I didn't know what's gonna happen. I got a box, a box with coconuts. Now these are not the brown coconuts that we see sometimes. These are what they call young Thai coconuts. Yeah, so they're white on the outside and then the coconut is on the inside and he sent three of them. One for you. One for me and one for Wendy.
JP Reynolds 5:05
Oh, Ron,
Clint 5:07
I know. I know. It's amazing.
JP Reynolds 5:11
Because you know I lived in in the South Pacific and every day I'd have the students climb a coconut tree with their machetes and just lop off coconuts. And we'd sit and sip coconuts and talk about class. So, it drives me nuts here in the States, when you see coconut water in boxes. You know, in the super? Oh, Ron, Ron, you have outdone yourself.
Clint 5:50
I agree. Wow. Fascinating. And for those who have never tried to open this type of a coconut, you gotta go to YouTube. And because there's a whole process.
JP Reynolds 6:03
Well, I have my machete, I can show you.
Clint 6:08
Why am I happy and scared all at the same time? Why?
JP Reynolds 6:12
Feeling I like to generate weekly for 300 weeks.
Clint 6:20
Well, more and more weddings are being moved away from the spring of 2021. And into the fall of 2021. And same thing that happened to you the last time you and I spoke. I had a wedding that just moved to 2022. And, so it goes but yet, I had a couple more inquiries for elopements. In fact, I have a zoom call today with a couple that's going to get married in a few weeks. And thank goodness, you know what I mean?
JP Reynolds 6:51
Right. It's very interesting. So the early part of this year, everybody has migrated in one fashion or another either later in the year to next year. May is a month that is very much in flux. There are some couples who are decided to remain in May, some of them have hightailed it out of May. I just met with a couple who just adamantly are set on getting married in May. And they said to me, we may have 115 people, or we may have five people. But we are getting married on this date.
Clint 7:46
Right. Right. And there you go. That's the lay of the land right there. Yeah, we don't know how many people. It is very encouraging that the vaccines are starting to roll out. And it's my understanding, there's two companies that have vaccines, and another one is going to come on board at the end of this month, which is just like in a week. Right. So it just seems like that's going to be the key component, that's going to be the one that will provide us with a tipping point of how many people are going to be allowed to gather.
JP Reynolds 8:20
But right. And here yesterday, Apparently the rules have changed here in California. A lot of the stay at home restriction has been lifted, as far as I know, here in LA. So again, that changes part of the landscape in terms of what is and is not possible.
Clint 8:50
Oh, there's something else that we need to acknowledge. We got notification. Wait, you're the one who sent it to me, right, about the how we got a positive review in wedding wire. When they were somebody was looking for relationship advice.
JP Reynolds 9:07
I don't know if it was wedding wire. No, but somebody somewhere listed us in the top 10 podcasts that do relationship advice, right. And we were listed in that top 10 list. Because even though we are ceremony focused, so often we talk about family relationships and dynamics within the context of ceremony.
Clint 9:51
Right and I just want to be right upfront with everybody that the person who recommended our podcast was very specific and rightfully so on saying that JP Reynolds is a communications expert. And the advice on the podcast is wonderful. And I'm paraphrasing. But definitely, definitely, I chose the right partner for my podcast. Because, credit where credit is due, as far as I'm concerned, in regards to you being acknowledged for the wisdom that you've imparted. And that was funny, because when you sent me that email saying, hey, people really do listen. I thought that was.
JP Reynolds 10:39
Thank you, Clint. So I think we mutually chose each other.
Clint 10:45
You were the one that actually said to me, I'd been thinking about doing a podcast just because I have a background in radio, and I'm thinking, this should be right up my alley. And then about once a year, you and I would get together at a Starbucks and shoot the breeze. And I remember clear as day exactly where we were, the Starbucks that we were sitting in when you said, we should do a podcast. And I thought, there you go, that was the sign from the heavens that I needed. And there you go. At that point, what was your idea of the podcast? I mean, what what did you think this what we're doing, but we've been doing? This is what you had in mind?
JP Reynolds 11:24
I was drunk that day. And I didn't really know. It was like noon, is just started getting a head start on the networking event. No, I? Well, I suppose we're jumpstarting our little 300th trip down memory lane. However, as with so many good ideas, there's usually no way to predict what will be the manifestation of that idea what what it will actually look like and feel like and sound like as it as it continues to morph. So I don't think either of us really had a clear sense of what what was going to be. What I do find interesting is, since we first started the podcast,
how there's been a proliferation of podcasting. And now there are podcasters podcasting about how to do a podcast. And as a matter of fact, I think for anybody who belongs to the wedding organization, WIPA, I think they're next speaker is going to be talking on how to start a podcast and how if you are in the wedding industry, in any capacity, you should be podcasting.
Clint 13:15
When I speak at the wedding MBA, which is a big wedding business conference, normally held in Las Vegas, in October or November, and this year, it was scheduled for November. But of course, we couldn't meet. And so credit to the wedding MBA people, they pivoted really well to have all the content online. And the thing that was great about it is that all of it all of the sessions and all the presenters had to do. I don't know, what would you call it anyway, it was all digitally available on demand. All the sessions, a lot of us did zoom things, and slideshows and that sort of stuff. But it was all there. And it was all available on demand all the way through the end of the year through the end of December. And they give me the assignment of what they'd like me to speak on, depending upon what they think I'm best suited and this year it was how to how to start a podcast. And yeah, so that presentation was about 20 minutes. And the first thing I tell people is that because I agree with you, podcasting is a lot of fun. There's a learning curve, that's kind of annoying. But but once you get past that and you understand kind of how to get it up into the podcast world. Then it's just great. It's so much fun. I've enjoyed every single episode that you and I have done and I now am affiliated with, I produce six podcasts. And I just love every single second of it. But the first thing that I said when in my course was don't do this to make money from the podcast. You can use it as a marketing tool. As a way to kind of further your brand. But don't get in thinking that you're going to sell ads and make a ton of money. And once you've gotten that into your mindset, then yeah, absolutely. And if anybody out there is thinking of doing a podcast, and they just would like to, if they run up against any confusion or whatever, they're more than willing to reach out to us, and we'll give you all the contact information at the end of this episode. And I'll help you any way I can. Because I love it. I think it's great.
JP Reynolds 15:28
That's wonderful.
Clint 15:33
So with the new year, have you set any goals in regards to officiating and things like that? Is there anything that I don't know? How do you approach a new year? Do you set resolutions or goals? Or what do you do?
JP Reynolds 15:49
Oh, what a great question. What a great question. The simple answer is no. I have never been a resolution kind of person. And if for reasons that I just don’t have the energy to explain right now. It's interesting, because for my communications consulting work, I have a monthly newsletter. And I'm always torn as to what to write about in the January issue of the newsletter, because so many folks who have newsletters talk about about resolution. And rather than looking forward in terms of the resolution, I like to use the beginning of a new year to look back and reflect on what surprised me. What did I learn? And what am I grateful for?
Clint 17:10
Did you learn that from somebody else? Because I just heard somebody, Tim Ferriss, who's a prolific writer and has a huge podcast, he says almost exactly the same thing, that it's an assessment of the previous year, and then of course, you plan for the coming year, but it's that assessment that he says is the most productive for him. So did you learn that from something?
JP Reynolds 17:36
I can assure you, very little is original on the face of the earth today, everything is a reinvention of what what has been. I don't have a one source. I had no doubt that I came to that over time from the influence of different individuals. One of them may have been Tim Ferriss, because he's one of my gurus.
Clint 18:10
Oh, that's so good to hear that. I've been following him for a long time. Yeah. We never talked about that.
JP Reynolds 18:25
I certainly, in that notion of gratitude, that notion of reflecting on what you've learned, what surprised you, that also has its roots in my seminary, Jesuit background.
So, it's certainly rooted in spiritual practices and applies very neatly to the realm of the non spiritual.
Clint 19:05
Right.
JP Reynolds 19:07
Yeah. So for me I will say when I look back on last year, I will say what I said before, what most surprised me, and therefore, what I am grateful for, was the surprise of the power of micro weddings. And I for the longest time, I had a hard time understanding the concept of an elopement. It just didn't make sense to me for a couple to elope unless there was family political reasons, and I was apprehensive that these micro weddings were going to be a diminished version of what I had become used to in officiating weddings. And I have fallen in love with micro weddings. I am moved by the power of the intimacy. And ironically, I think I'm gonna have a hard time going back to the larger type of wedding.
Clint 20:37
Well, it's just gonna be a different vibe, I guess.
JP Reynolds 20:40
Yeah. Oh, that's what is very interesting, is different, each has its own energy each has, in some respects, its own purpose, its own experience. And that's why I think for those couples who have opted to go with either the elopement or with the micro wedding, and have decided that later in the year, next year, they're going to have the originally envisioned large celebration. I've emphasized within that it's not real wedding versus fake wedding. It's your celebration begins with the intimacy of this gathering, and culminates, however many months later in that larger celebration, right.
Clint 21:38
Right. I think, we're almost out of time, But what I've discovered is that if a couple has already had a wedding ceremony of some type, when they finally do get in front of large gathering of people, large being subjective, but that there's a gravity to it, because they actually have been married for a while, and to renew their vows, so to speak, in that context. I just keep re emphasizing to couples that want to take that route, that it's gonna have more power, believe it or not, right, then because, you understand exactly what you're committing to at least up to that point.
JP 22:15
Right.
Clint 22:16
Yeah, I hope so. I've been wanting to generate that with my couples for as long as I've been doing this. I told you the story, that you can't stand, the couple that they’re real estate agents, and they wanted to just have a wedding to show off the house. But the underlying vibe is very much what we're talking about right now, the underlying vibe was if you were just the two of you, what would you say? And that's what we want to bring to the to the ceremony, because what I've been aware of with some of the work that I'm doing now, that will be released to the world at a future date, is the idea that even if you're goofing around, even if you have a celebrity officiant or if you want to do a bunch of fun things during the ceremony, when it gets to that moment where you actually are saying I do or you do look at each other and say, I want to marry you, then the gravity of that can’t help But take hold. And I think that's the beauty of what the micro weddings have brought to us is being able to kind of have that gravity through the entire experience. And I've always said that my favorite weddings are the ones where it's just me and the couple. That beauty is so remarkable. That's when I really feel blessed. I like all the weddings that I do, most of them, I would say 99% of them. But those really intimate ones. Yeah, we've been very blessed. It's a huge silver lining to the cloud That is the pandemic. I mean, as far as I'm concerned.
JP Reynolds 23:43
Yeah. Yeah, right. I'm gonna get my machete.
Clint 23:52
You don't even have any coconuts, Do you?
JP Reynolds 23:53
Get those coconuts ready. Daddy's coming.
Clint 24:00
Do you have a name for your machete? Have you given your machete a name?
JP Reynolds 24:04
You know what, we’ve run out of time.
Clint 24:08
Okay, there you go. All right, everybody. That's the way this works. Remember, if you have a desire to reach out to us and tell us a story or ask us a question, you can go to our website, it's weddingceremonypodcast.com, and click on the Email button and and then we'll just we'll set up a dialogue. And we love that we love that a lot. That also is where you can listen to all of our episodes. They're archived. chronologically, the most recent one is at the top, or do yourself a big favor. Just go to the Apple podcast or any of the apps that are in your mobile devices that access that store and look us up wedding ceremony podcast and click on the subscribe button and then every time we post a new episode, it'll automatically come into your world. Easy peasy. Remember, the JP’S books are in the Amazon store and in the Kindle store in Amazon for communications coaching that website is thebusinessofconfidence.com. His wedding website is JPRweddings.com. Mine Is ReverendClint.com or ClintHufft.com for all of the things that I do, thank you very much to the incredible musicians that are still playing our theme music that a capo players da ca p o players.com. That's it for this episode of the wedding ceremony podcast. This is Clint and on behalf of JP We will see you next time.