March 27, 2017

Meet Alan Katz of Great Officiants in Long Beach

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alan Katz.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Alan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My friend was getting married and he asked me to perform his wedding ceremony.

Being the entertainer in our group of friends I was the perfect choice. After the ceremony so many guests came up to me and said it was the best wedding ceremony they had ever seen.

So I decided to put a website and see what happened. I was in instant success. I started booking ceremonies right and left as people liked my style of doing wedding ceremonies differently.

Soon I was booked up and needed others to refer weddings to so I added to my team and got bigger.

It got busier and busier and added more Officiants and staff.

We got approved by the county to act as marriage license issuers so couples could avoid standing in line the clerk’s office.

I opened a 24-hour wedding chapel and a beach wedding division and booked even more weddings.

Today I have 37 different Officiants working for me, 4 staff members and do over 1200 weddings a year.

I have won many of the top wedding industry awards and am now a requested speaker across the country on wedding business success.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the biggest struggle was selecting the correct people to represent me out there.

Finding people you can trust is not easy. I have had people steal money and business from me. I responded appropriately and removed them from the team. Growing at a fast pace meant investment in infrastructure and the slow months made it a challenge but I got by.

I decided to rebrand and was really nervous about it but to my delight the new brand caught fire and has exceeded expectorations.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Great Officiants – what should we know?
My Company is Great Officiants.

We provide Wedding Officiants to couples who want to get married outside of a church setting.

Our ceremonies are called Fun and Romantic because they are not the same bla bla bla you hear at every wedding. We take a more light hearted approach to the ceremony.

We issue marriage licenses so couples can avoid the long lines at the county clerk’s office.

Our boutique wedding chapel seats 30 and is open 24/7 by appointment.

We started a beach wedding design company where we set up the chairs and arches on the beach.

We have more online reviews that any other wedding industry company in our service area.

I am most proud of the fact that in Southern California, one of the most competitive wedding markets in the country, I have created the biggest and best company of its type in the area.

I have built up a reputation second to none and everybody knows about us.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Drive is the most important feature as without that you go nowhere.

Faith in your abilities to be the best you can be.

Compassion to help others along the way.

No Fear/Courage. Going forward not knowing what will happen.

Understanding your market and what drives your consumer to choose you.

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