This Dallas Officiant is Giving Wedding Guests the Tea & Putting Couples at Ease

AMM interviews Texas wedding officiant Latrice Roman about her new wedding venue, giving wedding guests the tea, and how to create a really amazing wedding for not a lot of money.

 

 

Getting married and looking for a calming presence? Then wedding officiant Latrice Roman might be your new best friend… After just a few minutes talking with her, we bet you'll feel like you’ve known her for years. And what’s better than getting married by an old friend?

 

Latrice owns and operates Put a Ring On It Dallas!, a delightfully quirky and LGBTQ+ inclusive wedding business located in (you guessed it!) Dallas, Texas. 

 

She specializes in telling a couple’s love story like she’s giving their wedding guests “the tea”... Spilling sweet details, funny moments, and inside jokes that remind the couple’s friends and family exactly how they ended up in front of the altar. (She calls it her 'Ultimate Love Story' package, and it's one of her most popular services.)

 

It’s this easy-going style that helped Latrice find her niche in the competitive Dallas wedding scene. Her friendly demeanor puts couples at ease, and she says she's gossipy, but not too gossipy. She’s quick to remind her clients that she’s always on their side; she’ll never spill something they don’t want her to share. (Unlike a few of your other old friends… you know the ones, right?)

 

Related: How to Tell a Compelling Story During Your Wedding Ceremony

 

Latrice knows it’s natural for couples to be nervous on their wedding day, and she knows the secret to helping everyone stay calm and settle in – just get them talking! Once the ceremony starts, she says, “it’s like three old friends having a conversation and at the end, you’re married.”

 

 

Once the ceremony starts, “it’s like three old friends having a conversation, and at the end, you’re married.”

 

 

Smiles all around! via @putaringonitdallas

 

 

Latrice was fascinated with the magic of weddings for years before joining the industry, in part because her own marriage began without much of one. She and her husband were both serving in the military at the time, and trying to coordinate time off for a big event was nearly impossible. So they’d headed down to the courthouse on a shared day off together instead, and were married in a simple civil ceremony while wearing jeans and a tee shirt. Definitely sweet, but not the over-the-top wedding experience so many people dream of. 

 

Over the years, she fell in love with J. Lo’s glamorous portrayal of a wedding planner (in The Wedding Planner, duh!), and laughed along with the misadventures of Kevin Hart’s Jimmy Callahan and the rest of the best men in The Wedding Ringer. She considered several different roles in the wedding world at first – planner, then photographer – before finally recognizing that her calling was to officiate. 

 

She got ordained online, launched a website, and waited. Within a year, someone found her site, knew right away she was a perfect fit, and asked her to perform their wedding ceremony. She spent the next 90 days learning everything she possibly could about officiating, revising the ceremony script, and practicing her delivery with a friend. When the big day finally arrived, she was ready.

 

“It was a fabulous wedding,” she says, and by the end of it she was hooked on officiating. 

 

 

Related: How to Start a Website for Your Wedding Officiant Business

 

These two said "we do!" via @putaringonitdallas

 

 

Latrice expanded her business last year to open a small chapel called (appropriately) The Photobooth Elopement Place. The venue is eclectic and welcoming, with different decor up on every wall: One wall features vibrant green leaves and floral arrangements, another holds a classic gold wedding arch woven with flowers, and another reads, “All of me loves all of you,” quoting the quintessential love song by John Legend. 

These fun backdrops give couples something to choose from when it’s time for wedding photos, and paired with all the cute props Latrice provides (there’s even a fake wedding cake!), they guarantee the newlyweds leave with a sweet memory of the day.

 

The small space makes it possible for Latrice and her clients to “create a really amazing wedding for not a lot of money, and walk away with pictures that last a lifetime.”

 

 

The small space makes it possible to “create a really amazing wedding for not a lot of money, and walk away with pictures that last a lifetime.”

 

 

 

Fun OR formal at The Photobooth Elopement Place! via @putaringonitdallas

 

 

Latrice also performs formal ceremonies in larger venues throughout the Dallas Fort Worth area (DFW), to get a dose of the deluxe weddings she’s always daydreamed about. The New York Times recently published a ceremony performed by Latrice back in December, for police officers Ingrid Nickol Retzer and Amelia Grace Ragsdale. 

 

The stunning ceremony was one of many same-sex ceremonies she’s had the opportunity to perform over the years, and this one felt extra special. It was held at the beloved La Cour Venue just outside McKinney, Texas. "A lot of people came from a lot of places to support that union,” Latrice says, and she left feeling as if she’d helped to craft a little “piece of history.” 

 

Now, staying true to her roots as the charming, slightly gossipy best friend who shows up at your wedding to get things done, Latrice has even started offering tips (and tea) to other officiants online. She emphasizes that a lot of new officiants have no idea what they’re doing, and she doesn’t mind saying so. In an industry where one bad review can keep you from finding more work, she says, it’s important to get it right from the start.

 

With dozens of weddings, five-star reviews, and happy couples behind her, Latrice is definitely getting things right. In addition to officiating, she offers premarital counseling as a certified SYMBIS Marriage Counseling Facilitator, officiant business coaching with the Officiant Business Academy at Your Favorite Wedding Officiant, and served as a US Army Non-Commissioned Officer. 

 

And she’s finally getting her wedding day wish, too: “I’ve had so many weddings now, just not as the bride,” she says with a laugh.
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Check out Latrice’s Officiant Pro Tips on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

 

And visit Put a Ring on it Dallas! to see all of the ceremony packages and services she provides.

 

Who knows, you might just end up with a new best friend! 
 

Officiant Latrice, via @putaringonitdallas

 

 

 

Take a tour of The Photobooth Elopement Place! 

 

Check out the highlights below. 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Put a Ring on It Dallas! (@putaringonitdallas)

 

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Learn about the new online marriage license application process in Dallas County, Texas, including the option to schedule a virtual appointment with the County Clerk Office. Read the full article here. 

 

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