#293
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 293, recorded on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. My name is Clint Hufft. And with me is the one and only JP Reynolds.
JP Reynolds 0:18
It's good to be with you, Clint.
Clint 0:22
And it is good to be with you as well. JP, do you think you really are the one and only JP Reynolds?
JP Reynolds 0:30
Oh, you know, that is so funny that you should ask that question. Because, number one, I had a JP Reynolds on LinkedIn look me up. Okay. And it turns out, he's like a musician. And number two, I'm doing a wedding this weekend. And the groom's name is JP.
Clint
Oh, no kidding.
JP
So I know, I'm not the only JP Reynolds,
Clint 0:56
It probably stands for other names than what yours does? I'm guessing.
JP Reynolds 1:02
Um, yes. And I forget what his names are. But when you are JP, you don't deal with names. The JP’S just deal with the initials.
Clint 1:16
You know how you the guy on LinkedIn reached out to you because he is also JP Reynolds, right? Yeah. So, many years ago. I mean, a long time ago, when I was more involved in the entertainment industry, I had a stage name. It was my middle name. So my stage name was Clint Richards. And I had that for a long time. One day, here's what I did. I looked up in the phonebook, this tells you how long ago it was, I looked up in the phonebook just to see if there were any other Clint Richards because my legal name is obviously Clint Hufft.
JP Reynolds 1:51
Right. Allegedly, allegedly.
Clint 1:54
Yeah. Go with that under the pretense of the podcast. So as long as I'm in my bunker, I think I'm safe. I found one nearby, and I called the number and a woman answered the phone. And I said, Hi, is Clint Richards there? And she says, he doesn't live here! And she hung up the phone. And so I thought, Okay, wait a minute, something is not right. And so I called her back. And I said, before you hang up, my name is also Clint Richards. And she says, Oh, my gosh, it is? I said, Yeah, that's my stage name. And I'm in the nightclub business. And I do all these other things. And I just wanted to say if anybody is calling looking for me, it's because they only know me by that name. And here's my my number if you want forward it. And she almost started crying. She said, Oh, my gosh, thank you so much. We've been getting these calls from these women, and it's just breaking my heart. Why do they want to talk to my boyfriend? I don't understand.
JP 2:54
Haha.
Clint 2:58
And so I made the world a little happier that day.
JP Reynolds 3:04
Oh, Clint. I know. But as a New Yorker, I think you alleviated her pain, but I still think the guy was cheating on her.
Clint 3:17
Oh, well, I had to, what do you call it? I kick the dust off my shoes. And I washed my hands of the situation and went on with my life. I've done what I was supposed to do.
JP Reynolds 3:29
Clint Richards. Yes.
Clint 3:31
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it kind of had a nice little roll to it, because it was my middle name. And it was easy to for me to remember.
JP Reynolds 3:38
I am just sitting here like rocking back and forth because there's so much I want to say and I'm not gonna say any of it. I'm just gonna be a polite podcast host.
Clint 3:56
I can see in the future when we are not recording and perhaps a beverage is shared. That we will have that conversation.
JP Reynolds 4:04
You know it. I will not forget this Clint.
Clint 4:09
What have I done?
JP 4:10
Mm hmm.
Clint 4:13
I should acknowledge that today is election day here in the United States of America. And so by the time I post this something will have happened. And hopefully something will have happened and then maybe if it's relevant in a future episode, we'll give everybody an update but I have a feeling it's such a big deal, The entire world is paying attention to this. The calendar also tells me that this last weekend was Halloween and it was one of those rare times where Halloween was on a Saturday. I did not have a wedding. And you told me before we started recording that you also did not have a wedding on Halloween.
JP Reynolds 4:56
I have only in all of the years of officiating weddings. I only had one wedding on Halloween.
Clint 5:06
Did they dress up like in costume and stuff?
JP Reynolds 5:09
They did.
Clint 5:10
Oh, did you have fun?
JP Reynolds 5:13
It was in a nice venue. It was here in LA and it was at a kind of a happening hotel. And the two things that I remember about the wedding was one sweet couple. The groom. His family was Italian American. I will respectfully say in the most stereotypical of ways. His mother was a widow. And he was the only son. And he had three or four sisters. And he was the youngest. So he was treated as the prince, the Crown Prince of the family. Yes. And the phrase, mama's boy was invented to describe the relationship this young man had with his mother. I am not sure that I have ever seen a mother look more unhappy at a wedding than this woman.
Clint 6:30
Oh, no.
JP Reynolds 6:32
Because this hussy was taking her boy away from her.
Clint
Oh my gosh, it's a real thing. You saw?
JP
Oh, yes. Oh, yes. And they did share with me that there was a lot of tension. Because the mother did not want him to ever get married. Except to her. And it was a costume and all the guests were asked to wear costume. And they did and they really, like people invested time and money in their costumes. This was a real costume affair. And the mother dressed like Mary Todd Lincoln, because she was all dressed in black like the widow's weeds. You know, you heard that. And I could not look at her in the ceremony. I could not look at her in the ceremony. It was just like, Okay, ma'am. This is a wedding. This is not a funeral. But that was a very unhappy mother. And she would have been unhappy no matter what female was standing next to her, bro.
Clint 7:45
Yeah, that's the feeling I'm getting based on what you've said, Oh my gosh.
JP Reynolds 7:49
Now the bride and groom dressed in costume as a bride and groom.
Clint 7:59
Excuse me, that's cheating. That's not fair.
JP Reynolds 8:03
But the other thing why this wedding is actually near and dear to my heart is because this is the wedding where the rings were presented by the bride's cousin. So I would now ask for the presentation of the rings and music started and the bride's cousin appeared in the back of the room. It was held indoors at a ballroom. She appeared at the back of the ballroom and proceeded down the aisle doing a belly dance with a sword balanced on her head.
Clint 8:47
Oh, yes. That was the Halloween wedding. Oh, my gracious.
JP Reynolds 8:53
Yes, yes.
Clint 8:54
Yes. With a sword balanced on her head. A belly dance. Oh, my gracious.
JP Reynolds 9:01
So every Halloween this couple they do pop into my head. I have no idea what happened to them or to the mother or to the belly dancer. But ever since that wedding, whenever I meet with a couple is always a little part of my heart to thinks maybe today I'm speaking with a couple who will top the belly dancer. But it's never happened. No one has ever topped a belly dancer.
Clint 9:36
The bar is too high. It's too high. JP what can they do? So on Saturday night, Halloween night. Things were a little subdued around the house. And it's about well, I want to say nine o'clock at night and I get a call from my sister. This does not happen on a regular basis. She is an officiant up in Reno, Nevada. And she has a very different type of business in that she doesn't do a lot of them. But what she does is very eclectic. She also has been participatory in Burning Man for many years, and has married a lot of people at Burning Man. And a number of years ago, we had her on the on the podcast. And I asked her about some of those weddings. And that was entertaining. So she calls me and I said, Hello, and the first thing she says to me is, what would you do If the only light you had to read the ceremony was a tiki torch? What would you do? And, the full moon. Because not only was it Halloween, there was a full moon out. It was a blue moon. And I'm sorry, for those of you not familiar with that term. It was the second full moon of the month. And so she said the only thing I had in terms of light was the full moon and a tiki torch. I said, How did it go? She said, Well, we got through it. But it was rough. And in fact, they didn't tell her This is the only light we're going to have. And people were dressed up in costume and that kind of stuff. But then they spring it on her at the last second. And this is the the deal. And so she had to reposition the torch and just that kind of stuff. That seems to happen to her a lot where she shows up And then they'll say Oh, and by the way we’ve added that. And it's something that doesn't seem to work fluidly with the ceremony. But, she saw her way through it. And then by coincidence, I talked to an event planner that I know, and she worked last Saturday for a wedding, a Halloween wedding and they went all out. They dressed in costume. The backdrop was lots of spiderwebs. But the backdrop also said “till death”.
JP Reynolds 12:18
In the age of COVID.
Clint 12:20
Yes. Oh, that's Yeah. And that cake was a bloody cake. I haven't seen an image of it. That's just the way she described it. It was a bloody cake. The coasters for the drinks were skulls. And they had a dessert bar setup. And all of the desert was in containers that were also skulls. And the wedding was outdoors. But it was it was all in in terms of the Halloween thing. And you know what? I applaud that couple. If they say we want to get married on Halloween, and oh my gosh, look at this. It's gonna be on a Saturday. Oh, my gosh. And then they went all in. I think that's awesome.
JP Reynolds 13:08
Right. I think that is I think there should be a law that says if you're getting married on Halloween, it has to be costume.
Clint 13:20
There should be a law?
JP Reynolds 13:22
Yeah, that says, if you want to get married on Halloween, you have to wear a costume. And it's like, you're doing it on Halloween. You got to go all in.
Clint 13:31
Okay, yeah, but your couple with the belly dancer, they decided to dress as a bride and a groom. I still think that that's just cheating. If they made everybody else get a costume.
JP Reynolds 13:41
Oh, what do you know, somebody is a stickler. Technicality there. They were in costume.
Clint 13:53
I just imagine the people that say it's a costume party. Oh my gosh, I don't have a costume. What are we going to do? And then they have to go and try to figure out a costume and maybe they spent money to buy a costume or whatever it is.
JP Reynolds 14:06
These people did. These were really good looking costumes. Yeah, I mean, people spent a lot. It was clear that people spend a lot of time and money and thought on how they were going to show up for this.
Clint 14:25
Was the couple just regular bride and groom or were they some themed bride and groom?
JP Reynolds 14:30
No, they um they were just sweet. Regular bride and groom. I mean, I don't think they were in the entertainment industry. It was not a reality show wedding. It was just a couple who liked halloween, they they got married at like I called In a four star venue, so it was it was all elegant surroundings. Okay?
Clint 15:10
I guess. You know what it could be that they were thinking to themselves we're going to be looking at these pictures for the rest of our lives and we want to look at them as where we got married and not as a costume party. Now the reason this is interesting to me is because the very first wedding I ever officiated, the very first one, the couple dressed up as if it was the Victorian age. So she had ringlets in her hair and she had the big like, fluffy dress thingy. And then he wore the old kind of tuxedo with an ascot and they asked me if I would wear a robe and a barristers wig. You know, the white wig? And I said, Sure. And, that's what we did.
JP Reynolds 16:00
We still have that. Wait, I think. I mean, I've seen you at networking events where in that wig?
Clint 16:07
Well, sure. I want to get my money's worth.
JP Reynolds 16:14
You know what, okay, for those listening, it’s just dopey JP here. I've not seen this man in a wig. I could use a wig, not Clint.
Clint 16:21
I was gonna say, people give me a little bit more respect. With that. Let me tell you. I was trying to think of if there was something else that in that wedding, no, I think that was it, I think, and they didn't expect anybody else to dress up. That was just their gig. And then the wedding party and that kind of stuff. That was a long, long time ago. And I never talked to them, and asked them why, where did this come from? However, there was something that was really cool. And I'm so glad that happened to my very first wedding. Where I said to them, is there anything you want to do, and I will not surprise you. So there's not going to be any surprises. We're going to have it all figured out before we start. And they liked that approach. And then, as we're about to walk out, the music plays for the groomsmen entrance. I said, here we go. And then groom said, wait. And he remembered something at the last second and he wrote it down. And then that was going to be something that he was going to do for her. So we get to that part of the ceremony. And I looked at her and I said, he has a surprise for you. Or no, we have a surprise for you. And she looked at me with that panic look in her face, I guess she was one of those people that really didn't like surprises. But then I turned the mic, I just pointed the mic towards him. And he read this thing that they had both discovered in some fantasy novel, you know, like Lord of the Rings, or one of those type of deals that the both of them really loved. And they shared it with each other. And it was this thing where two people fall in love and one of them professes his love to the other character. And he remembered it. And he wrote it down by memory. And at that moment, he said that to her. And it was awesome and hit her like a ton of bricks and tears and it was fantastic. And I thought okay, everybody gets an opportunity to do that if they want to from now on. It was so cool.
JP Reynolds 18:24
Oh, that's lovely. Yeah, that's lovely.
Clint 18:27
Well, oh, and I guess I should mention the one time that I dressed up like Elvis.
Now, I know there are some officiants where dressing up as like their gig. But that was the only time.
JP Reynolds 18:47
Were you in Vegas. Where were you for that wedding?
Clint 18:50
No, no, I was in Southern California. And coincidentally enough, the groom from my very first wedding, owned an entertainment company, a DJ, and he called me and said my couple is looking for an officiant who will do it like Elvis, who will dress up like Elvis. And he said the first person I thought of was you. So obviously this is like, really early in my career as an officiant. And I said, Sure, I'll do it. And I said they have to pay for everything but I'll do it. Absolutely. And here's what I discovered. We're almost out of time but let me share this. What I discovered is another thing that has influenced me ever since I did it sounding like Elvis and I think I may have said maybe an Elvis joke or something that Elvis would say. And then when we got to the vows, the ring exchange and the vows, then I noticed there was a complete shift in the energy in the room, because it was light hearted and it was fun and all that kind of stuff. But then when we got to that actual moment, Now we're actually getting married, everything changed. And it got serious and it got romantic and it got intense. And I thought this is really important. Because people can want to have fun and perhaps do something quirky for their wedding. But because we're human beings when we get to the nitty gritty, it's for real and honest. Right? Does that make sense?
JP Reynolds 20:27
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
Clint 20:31
Yeah, I never forgot that. And I tell people if they're thinking about doing something quirky or out of the ordinary, just be aware that when you get to that moment, it's going to get real. So just don't be surprised. You can have all the fun you want. But when it gets down to, will you and I do and I take you, that changes the whole gig. So, just be prepared for that.
JP Reynolds 20:57
Well, I think once again, words of wisdom from Clint Richards.
Clint 21:05
Look me up.
JP Reynolds 21:09
Now listen, folks may have tuned in today hoping or expecting us to be talking to a special guest. Our special guest had a last minute hiccup and wasn't able to join us. And so hopefully, next week, or very soon, thereafter, we will have our special guest.
Clint 21:36
Yes, absolutely. And yeah. I'm just really excited. I really am. And I you know, hiccups happen. So, it was good that in a way that we got to talk about Halloween, in Halloween.
JP Reynolds 21:51
No, no, no Clint. I think it was good that it worked out so that we could learn. Clint Hufft is related to Clint Richards.
Clint 22:03
Yeah.
JP Reynolds 22:04
Yeah, Halloween stories were just a nice little bonus. The heart of this episode Is the Clint Richards reveal.
Clint 22:18
Oh, I’m a little nervous about that. That good drink We're gonna share. I'm a little nervous about that.
JP Reynolds 22:24
Yes. You know what? He had been with me for 300 episodes. And he thought, Oh, why not? Why not as we approach 300? Come clean. My criminal background.
Clint 22:50
Oh, man. Oh, man. Well, it'll be interesting to see what comments we get on this episode. Oh, my goodness.
All right, then everybody. Normally, I say that's the way this works. But it doesn't always work like this. But if you want to reach out to us, you absolutely can go to our website, weddingceremonypodcast.com and click on “email us”. I check it every day. And you can tell us a story. You can make a comment or bring up something that you want us to talk about whatever you want to do. It's all good there. You can also listen to our episodes there because they're right there on the landing page. Archived chronologically and the most recent one is at the top. If you want to make it even simpler, then go to the Apple podcast store and subscribe. Look up wedding ceremony podcast and click the subscribe button. And then every time we post a new episode, it'll automatically come into your podcast world. You can also leave us a review if you want to. That's totally cool. That's how people find us. Remember, the JP’S books are in the Amazon store and in the Kindle store in Amazon. For communications coaching His website is thebusinessofconfidence.com. His wedding website is Jprweddings.com. Mine is ReverendClint.com or ClintHufft.com for all the things that I do. I do not own Clint richards.com so don't even try. We want to thank the incredible musicians that play our theme music dacapoplayers.com. That's it for this episode of the wedding ceremony podcast. This is Clint and on behalf a JP, We'll 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 293, recorded on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. My name is Clint Hufft. And with me is the one and only JP Reynolds.
JP Reynolds 0:18
It's good to be with you, Clint.
Clint 0:22
And it is good to be with you as well. JP, do you think you really are the one and only JP Reynolds?
JP Reynolds 0:30
Oh, you know, that is so funny that you should ask that question. Because, number one, I had a JP Reynolds on LinkedIn look me up. Okay. And it turns out, he's like a musician. And number two, I'm doing a wedding this weekend. And the groom's name is JP.
Clint
Oh, no kidding.
JP
So I know, I'm not the only JP Reynolds,
Clint 0:56
It probably stands for other names than what yours does? I'm guessing.
JP Reynolds 1:02
Um, yes. And I forget what his names are. But when you are JP, you don't deal with names. The JP’S just deal with the initials.
Clint 1:16
You know how you the guy on LinkedIn reached out to you because he is also JP Reynolds, right? Yeah. So, many years ago. I mean, a long time ago, when I was more involved in the entertainment industry, I had a stage name. It was my middle name. So my stage name was Clint Richards. And I had that for a long time. One day, here's what I did. I looked up in the phonebook, this tells you how long ago it was, I looked up in the phonebook just to see if there were any other Clint Richards because my legal name is obviously Clint Hufft.
JP Reynolds 1:51
Right. Allegedly, allegedly.
Clint 1:54
Yeah. Go with that under the pretense of the podcast. So as long as I'm in my bunker, I think I'm safe. I found one nearby, and I called the number and a woman answered the phone. And I said, Hi, is Clint Richards there? And she says, he doesn't live here! And she hung up the phone. And so I thought, Okay, wait a minute, something is not right. And so I called her back. And I said, before you hang up, my name is also Clint Richards. And she says, Oh, my gosh, it is? I said, Yeah, that's my stage name. And I'm in the nightclub business. And I do all these other things. And I just wanted to say if anybody is calling looking for me, it's because they only know me by that name. And here's my my number if you want forward it. And she almost started crying. She said, Oh, my gosh, thank you so much. We've been getting these calls from these women, and it's just breaking my heart. Why do they want to talk to my boyfriend? I don't understand.
JP 2:54
Haha.
Clint 2:58
And so I made the world a little happier that day.
JP Reynolds 3:04
Oh, Clint. I know. But as a New Yorker, I think you alleviated her pain, but I still think the guy was cheating on her.
Clint 3:17
Oh, well, I had to, what do you call it? I kick the dust off my shoes. And I washed my hands of the situation and went on with my life. I've done what I was supposed to do.
JP Reynolds 3:29
Clint Richards. Yes.
Clint 3:31
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it kind of had a nice little roll to it, because it was my middle name. And it was easy to for me to remember.
JP Reynolds 3:38
I am just sitting here like rocking back and forth because there's so much I want to say and I'm not gonna say any of it. I'm just gonna be a polite podcast host.
Clint 3:56
I can see in the future when we are not recording and perhaps a beverage is shared. That we will have that conversation.
JP Reynolds 4:04
You know it. I will not forget this Clint.
Clint 4:09
What have I done?
JP 4:10
Mm hmm.
Clint 4:13
I should acknowledge that today is election day here in the United States of America. And so by the time I post this something will have happened. And hopefully something will have happened and then maybe if it's relevant in a future episode, we'll give everybody an update but I have a feeling it's such a big deal, The entire world is paying attention to this. The calendar also tells me that this last weekend was Halloween and it was one of those rare times where Halloween was on a Saturday. I did not have a wedding. And you told me before we started recording that you also did not have a wedding on Halloween.
JP Reynolds 4:56
I have only in all of the years of officiating weddings. I only had one wedding on Halloween.
Clint 5:06
Did they dress up like in costume and stuff?
JP Reynolds 5:09
They did.
Clint 5:10
Oh, did you have fun?
JP Reynolds 5:13
It was in a nice venue. It was here in LA and it was at a kind of a happening hotel. And the two things that I remember about the wedding was one sweet couple. The groom. His family was Italian American. I will respectfully say in the most stereotypical of ways. His mother was a widow. And he was the only son. And he had three or four sisters. And he was the youngest. So he was treated as the prince, the Crown Prince of the family. Yes. And the phrase, mama's boy was invented to describe the relationship this young man had with his mother. I am not sure that I have ever seen a mother look more unhappy at a wedding than this woman.
Clint 6:30
Oh, no.
JP Reynolds 6:32
Because this hussy was taking her boy away from her.
Clint
Oh my gosh, it's a real thing. You saw?
JP
Oh, yes. Oh, yes. And they did share with me that there was a lot of tension. Because the mother did not want him to ever get married. Except to her. And it was a costume and all the guests were asked to wear costume. And they did and they really, like people invested time and money in their costumes. This was a real costume affair. And the mother dressed like Mary Todd Lincoln, because she was all dressed in black like the widow's weeds. You know, you heard that. And I could not look at her in the ceremony. I could not look at her in the ceremony. It was just like, Okay, ma'am. This is a wedding. This is not a funeral. But that was a very unhappy mother. And she would have been unhappy no matter what female was standing next to her, bro.
Clint 7:45
Yeah, that's the feeling I'm getting based on what you've said, Oh my gosh.
JP Reynolds 7:49
Now the bride and groom dressed in costume as a bride and groom.
Clint 7:59
Excuse me, that's cheating. That's not fair.
JP Reynolds 8:03
But the other thing why this wedding is actually near and dear to my heart is because this is the wedding where the rings were presented by the bride's cousin. So I would now ask for the presentation of the rings and music started and the bride's cousin appeared in the back of the room. It was held indoors at a ballroom. She appeared at the back of the ballroom and proceeded down the aisle doing a belly dance with a sword balanced on her head.
Clint 8:47
Oh, yes. That was the Halloween wedding. Oh, my gracious.
JP Reynolds 8:53
Yes, yes.
Clint 8:54
Yes. With a sword balanced on her head. A belly dance. Oh, my gracious.
JP Reynolds 9:01
So every Halloween this couple they do pop into my head. I have no idea what happened to them or to the mother or to the belly dancer. But ever since that wedding, whenever I meet with a couple is always a little part of my heart to thinks maybe today I'm speaking with a couple who will top the belly dancer. But it's never happened. No one has ever topped a belly dancer.
Clint 9:36
The bar is too high. It's too high. JP what can they do? So on Saturday night, Halloween night. Things were a little subdued around the house. And it's about well, I want to say nine o'clock at night and I get a call from my sister. This does not happen on a regular basis. She is an officiant up in Reno, Nevada. And she has a very different type of business in that she doesn't do a lot of them. But what she does is very eclectic. She also has been participatory in Burning Man for many years, and has married a lot of people at Burning Man. And a number of years ago, we had her on the on the podcast. And I asked her about some of those weddings. And that was entertaining. So she calls me and I said, Hello, and the first thing she says to me is, what would you do If the only light you had to read the ceremony was a tiki torch? What would you do? And, the full moon. Because not only was it Halloween, there was a full moon out. It was a blue moon. And I'm sorry, for those of you not familiar with that term. It was the second full moon of the month. And so she said the only thing I had in terms of light was the full moon and a tiki torch. I said, How did it go? She said, Well, we got through it. But it was rough. And in fact, they didn't tell her This is the only light we're going to have. And people were dressed up in costume and that kind of stuff. But then they spring it on her at the last second. And this is the the deal. And so she had to reposition the torch and just that kind of stuff. That seems to happen to her a lot where she shows up And then they'll say Oh, and by the way we’ve added that. And it's something that doesn't seem to work fluidly with the ceremony. But, she saw her way through it. And then by coincidence, I talked to an event planner that I know, and she worked last Saturday for a wedding, a Halloween wedding and they went all out. They dressed in costume. The backdrop was lots of spiderwebs. But the backdrop also said “till death”.
JP Reynolds 12:18
In the age of COVID.
Clint 12:20
Yes. Oh, that's Yeah. And that cake was a bloody cake. I haven't seen an image of it. That's just the way she described it. It was a bloody cake. The coasters for the drinks were skulls. And they had a dessert bar setup. And all of the desert was in containers that were also skulls. And the wedding was outdoors. But it was it was all in in terms of the Halloween thing. And you know what? I applaud that couple. If they say we want to get married on Halloween, and oh my gosh, look at this. It's gonna be on a Saturday. Oh, my gosh. And then they went all in. I think that's awesome.
JP Reynolds 13:08
Right. I think that is I think there should be a law that says if you're getting married on Halloween, it has to be costume.
Clint 13:20
There should be a law?
JP Reynolds 13:22
Yeah, that says, if you want to get married on Halloween, you have to wear a costume. And it's like, you're doing it on Halloween. You got to go all in.
Clint 13:31
Okay, yeah, but your couple with the belly dancer, they decided to dress as a bride and a groom. I still think that that's just cheating. If they made everybody else get a costume.
JP Reynolds 13:41
Oh, what do you know, somebody is a stickler. Technicality there. They were in costume.
Clint 13:53
I just imagine the people that say it's a costume party. Oh my gosh, I don't have a costume. What are we going to do? And then they have to go and try to figure out a costume and maybe they spent money to buy a costume or whatever it is.
JP Reynolds 14:06
These people did. These were really good looking costumes. Yeah, I mean, people spent a lot. It was clear that people spend a lot of time and money and thought on how they were going to show up for this.
Clint 14:25
Was the couple just regular bride and groom or were they some themed bride and groom?
JP Reynolds 14:30
No, they um they were just sweet. Regular bride and groom. I mean, I don't think they were in the entertainment industry. It was not a reality show wedding. It was just a couple who liked halloween, they they got married at like I called In a four star venue, so it was it was all elegant surroundings. Okay?
Clint 15:10
I guess. You know what it could be that they were thinking to themselves we're going to be looking at these pictures for the rest of our lives and we want to look at them as where we got married and not as a costume party. Now the reason this is interesting to me is because the very first wedding I ever officiated, the very first one, the couple dressed up as if it was the Victorian age. So she had ringlets in her hair and she had the big like, fluffy dress thingy. And then he wore the old kind of tuxedo with an ascot and they asked me if I would wear a robe and a barristers wig. You know, the white wig? And I said, Sure. And, that's what we did.
JP Reynolds 16:00
We still have that. Wait, I think. I mean, I've seen you at networking events where in that wig?
Clint 16:07
Well, sure. I want to get my money's worth.
JP Reynolds 16:14
You know what, okay, for those listening, it’s just dopey JP here. I've not seen this man in a wig. I could use a wig, not Clint.
Clint 16:21
I was gonna say, people give me a little bit more respect. With that. Let me tell you. I was trying to think of if there was something else that in that wedding, no, I think that was it, I think, and they didn't expect anybody else to dress up. That was just their gig. And then the wedding party and that kind of stuff. That was a long, long time ago. And I never talked to them, and asked them why, where did this come from? However, there was something that was really cool. And I'm so glad that happened to my very first wedding. Where I said to them, is there anything you want to do, and I will not surprise you. So there's not going to be any surprises. We're going to have it all figured out before we start. And they liked that approach. And then, as we're about to walk out, the music plays for the groomsmen entrance. I said, here we go. And then groom said, wait. And he remembered something at the last second and he wrote it down. And then that was going to be something that he was going to do for her. So we get to that part of the ceremony. And I looked at her and I said, he has a surprise for you. Or no, we have a surprise for you. And she looked at me with that panic look in her face, I guess she was one of those people that really didn't like surprises. But then I turned the mic, I just pointed the mic towards him. And he read this thing that they had both discovered in some fantasy novel, you know, like Lord of the Rings, or one of those type of deals that the both of them really loved. And they shared it with each other. And it was this thing where two people fall in love and one of them professes his love to the other character. And he remembered it. And he wrote it down by memory. And at that moment, he said that to her. And it was awesome and hit her like a ton of bricks and tears and it was fantastic. And I thought okay, everybody gets an opportunity to do that if they want to from now on. It was so cool.
JP Reynolds 18:24
Oh, that's lovely. Yeah, that's lovely.
Clint 18:27
Well, oh, and I guess I should mention the one time that I dressed up like Elvis.
Now, I know there are some officiants where dressing up as like their gig. But that was the only time.
JP Reynolds 18:47
Were you in Vegas. Where were you for that wedding?
Clint 18:50
No, no, I was in Southern California. And coincidentally enough, the groom from my very first wedding, owned an entertainment company, a DJ, and he called me and said my couple is looking for an officiant who will do it like Elvis, who will dress up like Elvis. And he said the first person I thought of was you. So obviously this is like, really early in my career as an officiant. And I said, Sure, I'll do it. And I said they have to pay for everything but I'll do it. Absolutely. And here's what I discovered. We're almost out of time but let me share this. What I discovered is another thing that has influenced me ever since I did it sounding like Elvis and I think I may have said maybe an Elvis joke or something that Elvis would say. And then when we got to the vows, the ring exchange and the vows, then I noticed there was a complete shift in the energy in the room, because it was light hearted and it was fun and all that kind of stuff. But then when we got to that actual moment, Now we're actually getting married, everything changed. And it got serious and it got romantic and it got intense. And I thought this is really important. Because people can want to have fun and perhaps do something quirky for their wedding. But because we're human beings when we get to the nitty gritty, it's for real and honest. Right? Does that make sense?
JP Reynolds 20:27
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
Clint 20:31
Yeah, I never forgot that. And I tell people if they're thinking about doing something quirky or out of the ordinary, just be aware that when you get to that moment, it's going to get real. So just don't be surprised. You can have all the fun you want. But when it gets down to, will you and I do and I take you, that changes the whole gig. So, just be prepared for that.
JP Reynolds 20:57
Well, I think once again, words of wisdom from Clint Richards.
Clint 21:05
Look me up.
JP Reynolds 21:09
Now listen, folks may have tuned in today hoping or expecting us to be talking to a special guest. Our special guest had a last minute hiccup and wasn't able to join us. And so hopefully, next week, or very soon, thereafter, we will have our special guest.
Clint 21:36
Yes, absolutely. And yeah. I'm just really excited. I really am. And I you know, hiccups happen. So, it was good that in a way that we got to talk about Halloween, in Halloween.
JP Reynolds 21:51
No, no, no Clint. I think it was good that it worked out so that we could learn. Clint Hufft is related to Clint Richards.
Clint 22:03
Yeah.
JP Reynolds 22:04
Yeah, Halloween stories were just a nice little bonus. The heart of this episode Is the Clint Richards reveal.
Clint 22:18
Oh, I’m a little nervous about that. That good drink We're gonna share. I'm a little nervous about that.
JP Reynolds 22:24
Yes. You know what? He had been with me for 300 episodes. And he thought, Oh, why not? Why not as we approach 300? Come clean. My criminal background.
Clint 22:50
Oh, man. Oh, man. Well, it'll be interesting to see what comments we get on this episode. Oh, my goodness.
All right, then everybody. Normally, I say that's the way this works. But it doesn't always work like this. But if you want to reach out to us, you absolutely can go to our website, weddingceremonypodcast.com and click on “email us”. I check it every day. And you can tell us a story. You can make a comment or bring up something that you want us to talk about whatever you want to do. It's all good there. You can also listen to our episodes there because they're right there on the landing page. Archived chronologically and the most recent one is at the top. If you want to make it even simpler, then go to the Apple podcast store and subscribe. Look up wedding ceremony podcast and click the subscribe button. And then every time we post a new episode, it'll automatically come into your podcast world. You can also leave us a review if you want to. That's totally cool. That's how people find us. Remember, the JP’S books are in the Amazon store and in the Kindle store in Amazon. For communications coaching His website is thebusinessofconfidence.com. His wedding website is Jprweddings.com. Mine is ReverendClint.com or ClintHufft.com for all the things that I do. I do not own Clint richards.com so don't even try. We want to thank the incredible musicians that play our theme music dacapoplayers.com. That's it for this episode of the wedding ceremony podcast. This is Clint and on behalf a JP, We'll see you next time.