Windsor wedding officiant reflects on almost 1,500 ceremonies

Windsor resident Joe McParland has officiated more than 1,500 marriage ceremonies since 2006.

Over the course of his career, McParland has performed all mannerofceremonies, including a weddingon the back of a boatin Lake St. Clair, as well as Lord of the Rings and Star Wars themedweddings.

"I've done some unusual weddings," he said. "It is well known I've married zombies in the middle of Devonwood Conservation Area. I did a Halloween afternoon wedding in Windsor Grove Cemetery that's on YouTube as well."

McParland's career as a wedding officiant technically began in the 1980s, when he first took the cloth as a Catholic priest.

A few years later, McParland decided to embark on a different career path, working with the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) for 27 years until his retirement.

It wasn't until 2006, McParland said, that he learned about the All Seasons Church of Canada, based out of Ottawa, and regained his licence to perform wedding ceremonies in Ontario.

"It was established by a former United Church minister who, like myself but much later in his life, retired, but he still wanted to do some of the things he'd done for 40, 50 years," McParland said. "So he started up his own church, primarily to do ceremonies for people who are not necessarily attached to a denominational church."

Part of the appeal, McParland said, is that he's now able to marry couples how and where they want.

"As a Catholic priest, I was very limited where I could marry people that was in the church. And how I did there was a ritual book," he said.

"[Now], I don't have set ceremonies. I sit down with a couple, give them resource material and meet with them closer to the wedding day and say, 'What are we doing? Let's build our own.'"

And it's not just Canadian couples who have had their weddings officiated by McParland.

He's also married almost 200 couples from the U.S. many of whom were same-sex couples looking to formalize their relationship at a time when U.S. law didn't recognize their marriages.

Over the past few years, McParland said he's tried to cut back on the number of weddings he officiates.

"Where I was doing close to 100a year, last year I reduced it down to the low 70s," he said. "This year, I'm already up to 50 so it looks like it's going to come in between 70 to 80."

Though he's slowed down in recent years, McParland shows little sign of stopping.

"I think I've been blessed with a certain gift to be able to be engaging with people," he said.

"And I've maintained a lot of friendships with the couples. I'm turning close to 5,000 friends on Facebook right now, and a lot of those are couples that have married."