Today we’d like to introduce you to Gilbert Ramirez Jr.
Hi Gilbert, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Aisle Marry You really started with a simple belief: weddings are supposed to feel like a celebration.
I’ve always loved storytelling, connecting with people, and making people laugh. And when I started thinking about wedding ceremonies, I realized there was an opportunity to bring all of those things together. So many couples put an incredible amount of thought into making their wedding feel like *them*, but the ceremony itself can sometimes feel like the one part that came from a template.
I wanted to do something different.
That became the idea behind Aisle Marry You. I wanted to create ceremonies that actually sound like the two people standing in front of me, their personalities, their story, the things they love about each other, the little moments that make their relationship theirs. There should absolutely be heart and meaning, but that doesn’t mean everyone has to suddenly become incredibly serious for 20 minutes. If there’s room for a laugh, we’re going to laugh.
My approach is probably best described as a little Robin Williams energy with a whole lot of heart. I take the responsibility of officiating a wedding very seriously; I just don’t believe that means the ceremony itself has to take itself too seriously.
That philosophy has shaped everything about Aisle Marry You. I spend time getting to know my couples rather than handing them a menu of cookie-cutter scripts. I want their guests to listen to the ceremony and think, “Yep. That is absolutely them.”
I’m based in Central Florida, so Orlando, Kissimmee, and the surrounding communities are my home turf, but I’m always open to wherever a great love story happens to take me.
I’m still building this story, which is honestly one of the most exciting parts. Aisle Marry You isn’t something I created because I simply wanted to perform weddings. I created it because I think couples deserve a ceremony that feels every bit as personal, joyful, and memorable as the rest of the day.
At the end of it all, I want couples to remember how they felt standing there together and hopefully remember that they laughed a few times, too.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’m not sure any road that involves starting your own business is completely smooth. If it is, I would very much like directions to that road.
One of the biggest challenges has simply been building something from the ground up. Being a wedding officiant is the fun part. Creating a ceremony, getting to know a couple, finding the right balance between laughter and those moments that hit you right in the heart. That part comes naturally to me.
Then you discover there’s this whole other job called “running a business.”
Suddenly I’m thinking about websites, SEO, Google rankings, social media, networking, marketing, and all of the other things that have absolutely nothing to do with asking someone to repeat after me. Getting Aisle Marry You in front of couples who are looking for exactly this kind of ceremony has probably been the biggest learning curve.
There’s also the challenge of standing out. Central Florida has an enormous wedding industry and plenty of talented officiants, so I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to simply become another option on a long list. I had to figure out what made me different and, more importantly, be comfortable leaning into it.
For me, that meant trusting my personality. I’m not the officiant who is going to stand there and deliver the same solemn script at every wedding. I want to know who you are. I want to know the story nobody else knows. I want to know what makes your partner laugh and what makes them roll their eyes at you. Then I want to take all of that and create something that feels genuine.
Building the business while staying true to that has been the challenge, but it’s also been the most rewarding part. I’m learning as I go, getting better with every couple and every ceremony, and slowly building Aisle Marry You into exactly what I envisioned: a place for couples who want their ceremony to have plenty of heart without forgetting that getting married is supposed to be fun.
As you know, we’re big fans of Aisle Marry You. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Aisle Marry You is a wedding officiant service built around one very simple idea: your ceremony should sound like *you*.
I specialize in personalized wedding ceremonies that balance humor, storytelling and heart. I like to describe my style as having a little Robin Williams energy. Playful, quick on my feet, and never afraid of a laugh, but always knowing when it’s time to let the moment breathe and allow the emotion to take over.
What I don’t do is cookie-cutter.
Before I write a ceremony, I want to actually get to know the couple. How did you meet? What made you fall for each other? What drives you absolutely crazy about one another? What are the stories your friends have heard 400 times? What does this person mean to you when nobody else is around?
Those details are where the ceremony lives.
My goal is for your guests to hear your ceremony and recognize you in it. There may be a moment that makes everyone laugh, followed five minutes later by something that has Mom reaching for a tissue. That’s exactly how I like it. A wedding ceremony doesn’t have to choose between being meaningful and being fun.
I also think one of the things that sets Aisle Marry You apart is that I don’t believe the ceremony belongs to the officiant. I’m there to tell *your* story, not make myself the star of it. Every couple has a different personality, different beliefs, and a different vision for their wedding, and my job is to meet them there. Whether they want something funny and energetic, romantic and heartfelt, short and sweet, or somewhere in between, we build it around them.
I’m based in Central Florida and primarily serve couples throughout Orlando, Kissimmee, and the surrounding areas, but I’m absolutely open to traveling throughout Florida and beyond. I welcome weddings of all kinds and couples from all walks of life.
Brand-wise, what I’m probably most proud of is that Aisle Marry You actually feels like me. Even the name tells you what you’re getting into. We take the marriage seriously. We take creating a great ceremony seriously. But ourselves? Maybe a little less so.
Because when the flowers are arranged, the music starts, everyone you love is gathered together and you’re standing across from your favorite person in the world, you shouldn’t feel like you’re enduring the formal part before you can get to the celebration.
The celebration already started.
That’s Aisle Marry You.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I’m probably still learning this one myself!
I haven’t had one specific mentor who handed me the roadmap for building Aisle Marry You. A lot of it has been learning as I go, asking questions, paying attention to people who do things well, and being willing to admit when I don’t know something.
What I have learned is that the best networking doesn’t really feel like networking.
I think sometimes we approach networking with this idea that we need to walk into a room, shake 47 hands, distribute business cards like we’re dealing blackjack, and somehow leave with a life-changing connection. I’ve found it’s much more valuable to simply be curious about people.
Talk to photographers. Talk to planners. Talk to venue coordinators. Talk to DJs. Ask about their businesses, learn what they’ve experienced, and actually listen. The wedding industry is incredibly interconnected, and I’d much rather build a genuine relationship with someone than immediately start thinking about what we can do for each other.
The same goes for finding a mentor. I wouldn’t necessarily start by asking someone, “Will you be my mentor?” Find people whose work, business, or approach you genuinely respect. Ask thoughtful questions. Learn from them. Support what they’re doing. Sometimes mentorship develops naturally from those relationships without anyone ever officially giving it a title.
And don’t limit yourself to people who do exactly what you do. I’ve learned things about storytelling, customer experience, marketing, and running a business from people who have nothing to do with officiating weddings.
I’m still building my own network and learning from the people around me, so I certainly don’t have networking completely figured out. But I think the best advice I can give is to lead with genuine curiosity instead of asking, “What can this person do for me?”
That tends to make for much better conversations and much better relationships.
Pricing:
- Officiant Services start at $250
Contact Info:
- Website: https://theaislemarryyou.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/aisle_marry_you
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/AisleMarryYou
