Featured Vendor - Reverend Leslie Johnson of Positively Charmed

I have worked with Reverend Leslie Johnson of Positively Charmed several times and I thought she would be a great person to get my Featured Vendor post started up again.  Leslie exudes a serene and calm openness that made me want to start telling her my whole life story, she just makes you feel very comfortable and at ease and you know that everything is going to be okay.  I had to remind myself, however, that this was about her and not me. 

She is a writer and a storyteller.  Your very own personal storyteller that is!  She really has a knack for drawing out pieces of every couples intimate and unique story and weaves it into a beautiful ceremony.  I have seen her in action and it is always a very sweet and special moment.  She is able to speak about each couple so well and in such great detail that guests of the ceremony often approach her and ask her how she knows the couple.

Leslie also has a background in theater, film and photography.  I love how she draws out the joyful similarities between weddings and theater.  She obviously understands that weddings are a very serious event, as she quotes English novelist Rose Tremain, “Life is not a dress rehearsal”, but she also sees the connections between theatrical staging and the orchestration of weddings.  There’s a carefully planned celebration, special attire, and symbolic traditions, there are vows and toasts to be spoken ( scripted lines to be rehearsed) and there is a space created for the event that is celebrated with decor.  And so the scene is set!  As the bard says; “All the world’s a stage” and a wedding day is one pinnacle moment in life.

Her best advice for the couple on their wedding day:  Find ways to incorporate moments to be truly present.  The day goes by so quickly!

Favorite movie: Avatar

Leslie has won awards for her writing, graduated with honors and even though she had a strong background in spirituality, she went a step further to get her Masters degree in Religion at a progressive seminary.  She officiated her first wedding in 1997 and started her business officially in 2004.  She creates language and ceremony for weddings; and assists people in need of services for non-denominational memorials and baby blessings as well.