On an afternoon in late July, Tierra and Rumar Turner said “I do” in a nondescript building in northeast Akron.
The bride and groom have been together for eight years.
The couple stood in a small, softly lit room, under a gold arch decorated with twinkling lights, green vines and white flowers. Nearby sat an audience of four, which included the bride’s mother and the groom’s father. The bride wore a dark red lace dress and a black veil. The groom wore a black shirt and slacks and a tie that matched her dress.
In her vows, Tierra Turner recounted how they met as students at Garfield High School. They had study hall together. He was a freshman. She was a senior and too shy to talk to him.
“I’m just glad to be Mrs. Turner now, finally, officially,” Tierra Turner said after the ceremony. “I’m glad I just get to spend my life with my best friend. He makes me happy, like, he’s just goofy. He always makes me laugh, so I love that I get to laugh for the rest of my life.”
As the ceremony ended and the newlyweds danced to “Nothing In This World” by Keke Wyatt, wedding officiant Stephanie Singleton smiled from the doorway.
It was a brief moment of respite for Singleton. Besides officiating the wedding, she planned the afternoon festivities, making sure everything went smoothly. It’s a role she’s a natural in, with her energetic, positive attitude, her attention to detail and her knack for public speaking.
“Everything I do is about the couple,” she said.
A bit of Las Vegas in Northeast Ohio
Singleton is the owner of Drive-Thru Weddings & Notary. She started the business in 2020 when she moved back to Akron after working as an officiant in Las Vegas. Inspired by the small, casual wedding ceremonies many couples go to Las Vegas for, Singleton decided to bring the concept to her hometown.
“I remember the good feeling, the amazing feeling that couples felt when they would have these small weddings, because it wasn’t a lot of chaos,” she said. “It wasn’t a lot of financial stress, emotional stress. They only focusing on them and having a great time.”
Originally, Singleton performed micro-ceremonies in a storefront in Tallmadge. When the pandemic hit, she switched to drive-thru weddings, marrying people from the comfort of their vehicle.
Singleton still offers drive-thru weddings, but now couples have the option to get out of their vehicles and participate in the ceremony at a local park.
In July, she opened The Love Vault, a tiny elopement venue for couples who still want the ease of a quick wedding with a bit more elegance and pomp. (The locations for The Love Vault and the drive-thru weddings are kept confidential until couples reserve a spot.)
The Turners were the first couple to be married at The Love Vault. When they went to the courthouse to get their marriage license, they were given information about Singleton’s services. The couple attended the July 12 open house for The Love Vault and they ended up winning a complimentary elopement ceremony through a raffle.
“Once we got a chance to talk to her, she seemed like she was pretty professional in what she was doing,” said Rumar Turner. “We liked her, so we decided to give it a try.”
‘Love brings a great energy’
Singleton made the jump to wedding officiant after working as a hairdresser in Los Angeles for years.
“It came from being a hairstylist, having those relationship conversations in a salon behind a chair,” she said of her decision to switch careers.
She continued, “My passion just started to change because I saw a need, and it was something needed within the community of ladies and myself. So that was a turning point for me, because the relationships [were] the key point, and I just wanted to contribute to love again in a different way.”
As she officiated ceremonies across Las Vegas, the positive feedback she received from couples inspired her to continue down this new path.
“As I am having opportunities to perform ceremonies for various couples of all walks of life, all nationalities, ethnic backgrounds, income brackets and such, they’re saying, ‘Oh my God, that was beautiful!’” she said. “It’s a different energy. Love brings a great energy. You know when you feel people connecting.”
