SERVICES OFFERED

Marry Us Rev is a premarital counseling and marrying service. It is especially for those couples who desire a religious atmosphere at their wedding, even if and when it is not conducted in a church. These weddings are usually traditional ceremonies with some flexibility.

Premarital Counseling
Included in the services we offer is a premarital counseling course. The State of Florida recommends that couples intending to marry take a "Premarital Preparation Course." So much so, the State provides some incentives.

If couples take the course the cost of the license is reduced from $93.50 to $61.00, a discount of $32.50. Also, for Florida residents who take the course a three-day waiting period to use the license is waived. Reverend Forbes, among others, has been approved by the Marriage License Department as a course instructor.

Rev. Dr. Forbes offers this course in a counseling format. Couples are given a 10-page Premarital Counseling Guide which deals with eight areas of relationship important to going aboard the marital ship: (1) The physical. (2) The Emotional. (3) The Intellectual. (4) The Social. (5) The Religious or Ideological. (6) The Sexual. (7) The Domestic. (8) The Financial. These areas of relationship are talked about from two viewpoints: Compatibility and Responsibility.

Those couples who sit through the counseling sessions not only have the three-day waiting period waived and receive a discount of $32.50 in the purchase of their license; they also increase their chances for a more harmonious union.

Ceremony-Related Planning

Every wedding ceremony, large or small, needs to be well planned if it is to be that memorable and significant occasion wedding ceremonies are meant to be. The ceremony, of course, is only a part of the wider sphere of the overall plan; but it is a very, very special part for the couple--especially for the bride.

Because Rev. Forbes recognizes the importance of the ceremony, he sets up a ceremony-related planning session with the bride and groom. If there is a wedding planner besides the bride and groom, he requests that he or she be included in the session.

What is the purpose of the ceremony-related planning session? It is to lay the foundation for confidence, to banish fear of embarrassing moments and to lessen stress, particularly on the part of the bridal party. It also makes for a shorter and smoother rehearsal. Rev. Forbes has a Marriage Ceremony Planning Data sheet on which he gathers information to achieve this very purpose.

The rehearsal is where and when we put the show on stage in preparation for the big event. It is a recital of what and how the performance is going to be.

The rehearsal is for the particpants in the bridal party: bride, groom, matron of honor, maid of honor, bridesmaids; best man, groomsmen, ring bearer, flower girl; bride-giver, ushers and parents of the bride and groom (especially when there is the lighting of the Unity Candles).

Of course, it is obvious that the rehearsal is necessary only for the larger, more elaborate and elegant ceremony in which order is highly important. Often, order equates with beauty, and elegant order is elegantly beautiful. At the rehearsal, Rev. Forbes will stage the order of the ceremony in such a way that the wedding day will be one to remember.

In the performance of the ceremony, the solemnization of the marriage is the principal event. Rev. Forbes seeks to bring to this event the presence of the Divine which is generally felt by the audience, regardless of its size.

The reverend also involves the audience in an uncommon way. Guests comment that they were not mere spectators, but that they felt they were participants in the ceremony.

Sometimes, in the exchange of vows, couples choose to recite their own original words of endearment, commitment and love. Whenever they express a need for guidance, Dr. Forbes readily gives that guidance.

The entire ceremony, even with more then one rendition, takes no more then twenty to twenty-five minutes.

Rev. Forbes performs these weddings not only in church worship centers, but also in chapels, gardens, banquet halls, restaurants, court yards, clubhouses, offices, homes and on beaches. The couples choose and arrange where the ceremony is performed.

Additional services offered include the asking of the blessing at the rehearsal and reception luncheons and dinners where applicable, as well as the processing and certified mailing of the marriage license to the marriage license office.