Brenda Owen / Wedding Woman

Based in Anderson, Brenda Owen has written and presided over wedding ceremonies since 2006, working as both an ordained minister, through American Marriage Ministries and the Universal Life Church, and a South Carolina notary public commissioned to solemnize marriages, one of the few states where a notary can legally perform the role. Her site lists more than 2,000 ceremonies performed across the Upstate and northeast Georgia.

Packages range from a lakeside elopement on Lake Hartwell near Anderson to a full custom ceremony for unlimited guests, and every option beyond the paperwork-only signing includes unlimited email and phone support, a marriage certificate keepsake, name-change guidance for the DMV and Social Security Administration, and filing of the license with the probate court after the wedding so couples do not have to return to the courthouse themselves. Couples can choose from religious, secular, interfaith, humanist, and intercultural formats, plus a rose ceremony, hand-fasting, unity candle, or other symbolic traditions at no added cost, and Brenda Owen states on her site that she supports marriage equality.

A get-acquainted meeting in Anderson is included with the full-service option; thirty minutes of one-way travel is built into every ceremony fee, with additional mileage billed separately. Prices run from $150 for a weekday lakeside elopement, up to $175 on weekends, to $650 for a chapel ceremony on a historic 1790s farm and $375 for a full custom ceremony, with rehearsal attendance available for an added $175. She also lists Greenville, Spartanburg, Travelers Rest, and Clemson among the areas she serves.