Meet Carol Ann Ross | Wedding officiant and Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carol Ann Ross and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi carol ann, as a parent, what do you feel is the most meaningful thing you’ve done for them?
I am a parent to 4 grown up children and 3 grandchildren. One of my kids told me the other day that one of the greatest things I have done is try to keep the family together, encouraging relationships between each of them. I encouon family vacations and now that they all live in different cities, and are having their own children, I find that I am the one traveling to visit them.
I have given my children very good values. I always show up for the kids. If they need me, I am always available for them.
I have tried to create memories, whether individually or together. I suspect that each child will have a different aspect of me that he/she will treasure ( and maybe a few they dont admire).

I have definitely given them a sense of adventure, having traveled to exotic locations since they were little. For example, we went sea canoeing in Thailand through the Karsts and slept in tents with snakes and scorpions. We traveled to the Galapogos and swam with the sea lions, watched the burning bodies on the Ganges river in India, and were chased by lions while on a horseriding safari in Africa. As young people, they were asked to keep travel journals of their adventures.

I always cooked and had friends over to the house for dinner and now they have followed my lead, loving to entertain and cook for friends.
I taught them affection, with lots of loving hugs and reiterations of “I Love YOU”.

I hope I have given them the tools to be great human beings- we always did philanthropic volunteering for foundations. They seem to me to be upstanding, nice people.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I lived in Manhattan for 40 years, when I ran a successful catering and event planning company. I was fortunate to work on many incredible corporate events, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and nonprofit galas in several countries worldwide.

After I decided to leave the city, I moved to Miami and spent a couple of years volunteering at the Miami Rescue Mission, teaching in the educational department. I completed a course to become a Guardian Ad Litem, a program designed to advocate for children in the foster care system. Unfortunately, both of these programs were curtailed by Covid.

During the confinement, I hosted a friend in Miami who was a wedding officiant in New York and who felt I would be perfect for the role. After researching what was involved, I agreed that it was a perfect job for me and incorporated everything I loved to do. Meeting new people, Writing, and Public Speaking.

After just one or two conversations, I enlisted a girlfriend of mine to help me set up a website. I knew immediately what I wanted it to look like- it had to include offerings to every community, whether that be gay or straight, black or white, young or old.
She created something exceptionally beautiful.

I took an ad in both The Wedding Wire and The Knot and got a fair number of leads through them. I did pull my ad after a year as I was receiving a great number of scamming messages as well as people who were just interested in the lowest price and didn’t care about the quality of the ceremony.

I made lists of Wedding Planners around the US and sent each of them a blind email. I contacted caterers, florists, venues, and photographers and gave them my information on the off chance they might have occasion to recommend me.

I am proud to say that I immediately created a brand and a business and have done many weddings in both the US and more exotic locations like the Dominican Republic, Spain, and South Africa.

The name of the brand was taken from an African word meaning “peace”. It was a fortuitous choice, given what is happening in the world.

I don’t know exactly what other officiants do but I do know that my bespoke ceremonies are uncommon.

Firstly, I insist on having a FaceTime call with a prospective client. I feel it is important for both of us to see if our visions align, if they like the sound of my voice, and if they feel that I am the person they would like to have to perform a very important function.

I have devised a questionnaire which takes me about 3 hours to go over with the couple. The questions have been known to provoke laughter, some tears, some disagreements, and many wonderful memories as the couple work through them with me. I call this the “wedding workshop” and some of my clients have called it the best marriage counseling and therapy session.

One of my greatest skills is a journalistic ability to extract information from people and I can get many intimate insights into a couple that they are willing to share with their guests.

I like to include parents in the ceremony and will often ask permission from the couple to contact their parents to get anecdotal stories about the children. These are invariably adorable and added to my ceremony script.

Since I believe that engaging the guests is very important, I have several tricks that incorporate their participation in the ceremony, but which I will keep secret. Suffice it to say, I have a way to encourage a great energy in the setting.

Once I have written the initial script, I offer the couple the opportunity to hear it, and make necessary edits so we make sure all the details are correct.

I am always available for a rehearsal and do not charge extra for this. After the wedding, I always take the Marriage License to the post office to ensure that it is mailed correctly.

I am extremely punctual, almost always arriving 15 – 20 minutes ahead of my scheduled time. I ask the couple if they wish me to wear a particular color that would blend with the bridal party, and if they are ambivalent, I usually wear navy blue.

The process involves many hours of meetings, questions, getting to know the couple, writing and editing, and showing up. It is a true labor of love.

I love this job!

In addition, I am now a published author having ghostwritten a memoir with Jane Fischer. This project took me a year to complete, 8 months of interviews and collating information, and then transcribing it into a manuscript. And 4 months of editing, design, and maturation.

Writing with Jane allowed me to give her so much support in her journey and we have forged a lifelong friendship.

The book is now available on Amazon for a release date on September 3rd 2024.

I am so proud of this achievement. Although I have worked as an advisor to students writing college essays, a speech writer, and a travel blogger, I have never had the opportunity to write an actual published book. It is a dream come true, although I can already see that as a first-timer, there are things I might have done differently.

Much of the skill I employed for the ghostwriting was the same as for a wedding – journalistic, compassionate questioning.

I am hoping that with this experience, I will be enlisted to work on another one by a client, Or perhaps I will venture forth and write my own. I feel I am better at a memoir with emotional content than a completely fictional story.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Last winter, I created a WhatsApp group called Midcentury Moderns, designed to create a community of like-minded people interested in social activities. One of the group will post an activity they think might be of interest. It could be a classical concert, a speakeasy dinner, a movie screening, a museum picnic or some other fun outing.

So the first thing I would do is consult the Midcentury Moderns calendar to see what we might be doing that day or night.

I live very close to Wynwood and my favorite cafe in the city is the Novela Cafe in the Oasis. Breakfast there is a must, sitting outside in the tropical environment, meeting friends and hanging out. Another favorite for coffee is Aroma Cafe on 16th street in the Arts and Entertainment district. If I am in the mood for a croissant, the pecan one at Bachour bakery in either Coral Gables or the Design District is divine.

I love to stroll around the Design District where there is usually some street art to admire, lots of people watching and window shopping.
I always drive friends around the street art in Wynwood which is constantly changing and exceptional quality. It’s easier to see it from the passenger seat of a car as it encompasses so many streets.

I am a great fan of music and dance and often go to the Bandshell in Miami beach to hear great music. I am a frequent visitor to the Arsht center with its selection of concerts, plays, outdoor musical events, opera and dance.

I adore the Fairchild Botanical Gardens and if its not too hot love to take friends for a stroll in the beautiful gardens. When I am down south, I have lunch at the Fresh Florida Fisheries where you can choose your fish and they will make it for you to eat at the store.
Continuing further south, I love to visit Homestead where there is an incredible world-famous orchid farm- R F Orchids.
And if you want authentic Mexican food, visit one of the taco trucks or stop in at Taqueria Morelia for a delicious meal. End your adventure with a paleta from Michuocana.

No day is complete without a game of padel at Wynwood Padel club where you can do a beginner clinic or participate in an hour and a half match. If you want to add an ice bath after this, play at Padel X located in downtown or the Reserve club in the Design District. If its too hot and you want to play with air conditioning, opt for one of the indoor courts at Ultra Padel.

For the beach, I go to Soho House, where I am a member and can spend the day on the beach or at the pool. I can bring guests so that is our go to spot for these kind of lazy days.

One of my favorite restaurants is La Natural in Miami’s little River district. This is fast becoming a go to area for the hippest places to eat in the city. Here you can enjoy unusual pizzas and wonderful small plates serving unsual and unique dishes.
For a quick stop, 1800 Lucky is easy and delicious. For a more luxurious dining experience, I love Joel Robuchon Le Jardinier in the design district. Walrus Rodeo is tremendous too.

The best people are guests in my house and every Friday night I host between 12- 24 guests for dinner ! For this Friday night dinner, I order the best challah in town from Zak the Baker. My second choice would be from True Loaf in Sunset Harbor. I usually serve fish which I can find at Garcia or Casablanca on the River downtown. My salad and vegetables come from Trader Joe in Midtown or Whole foods downtown. I buy the paper thin apple slices from a French bakery in Midtown – Marie Blanchere.
The most interestingly dressed crowd can always be found at Art Basel.

I was recently invited to spend some time at the Balloon Museum in Wynwood. This is a new installation that I loved. It truly gives bang for the buck.

One of my favorite treats is to drive to Everglade city and then do a boat trip with a guide through the 10,000 islands. This is not an air boat which are touristy and bad for the environment. Instead, the boat trip is motorized and takes you on a glorious tour with colorful stories about the drugs that were dropped into this area. The small island community of Chokoloskee, which sits at the edge of Ten Thousand Islands has a museum and it is here you can book the boats.
After your tour, head back towards Everglade City and either stop at Havana Cafe for a delicious lunch or head into town where you will find many waterfront restaurants serving stone crab as this is where it comes from.

I still love the movie theatre’s big screen and will go to Silverspot downtown or to the Gables cinema where there are excellent foreign films. Occasionally i will venture over to the O cinema in South Beach.

A great walk starts at Fresh Market in Coconut Grove and heads out over the Key Biscayne Bridge. Beware the cyclists!

My favorite market is on Saturday in Coconut Grove and Ill often send word to the group that I am going to have lunch there in case someone wants to join me.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to thank Barbara Anne Michaels, Jester of the Peace, who gave me the idea to become a Wedding Officiant as we hunkered down together during COVID-19.
Having known me for some time, she felt that it was a perfect career move for me as I was setting up life in Miami.

I would like to thank Ellen Goldberg of G&D Media Publishing House for hiring me to ghostwrite a memoir for Jane Fisher, Having read and heard many of my speeches, and travel blogs, essays for students applying to college, she felt I was the right person to take on this challenge.
This is my first published book “If you knew Suzy” and it is available on Amazon.

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