About This Vendor
Your Wedding Officiant and Premarital Counselor
Congratulations! You’ve made a life-changing decision to join your lives in marriage. You want to celebrate the beginning of this new journey together as a couple. What brought you here? How do you want to remember this most sacred and special moment? This isn't just any moment--this is a Defining Moment. I'm Reverend Don Anderson, a licensed and church ordained minister. I may be new to The Knot, but I have been a student of life and a student of marriage for many years. I will work with you to provide a personalized wedding ceremony that is both memorable and meaningful. Whether you choose a more traditional service, or design your own unique ceremony, I will assist you in every way possible to create the wedding of your dreams. See what others thought on my personal website.
Details
Ceremony Types
Commitment Ceremony, Elopement, Interfaith Ceremony, Non-Religious Ceremony, Religious Ceremony, Second Wedding , Vow Renewal Ceremony
Religious Affiliations
Christian, Interfaith
Wedding Activities
After The Wedding, Newlywed Life, Getting Engaged, Premarital Counseling, Wedding, Ceremony
Awards and Affiliations
DEFINING MOMENTS MINISTRIES Reviews
Share your thoughts with other couples
If you are reading these reviews and need a sign, this is it! He is so highly rated on WeddingWire and The Knot, I didn't even interview anyone else. After my initial call with Don, I knew he was exactly what we needed. Don did an absolutely wo...
nderful job officiating our ceremony! I was blown away by how much he picked up through our premarital sessions and I am so thrilled that through this journey we have found a new friend!
We could not have had a more perfect ceremony on our day. Don took the time to get to know us and make our journey, values, and relationship part of the ceremony. We would recommend him to anyone!
Don did a wonderful job officiating our ceremony. He got to know us in the months before our wedding through several conversations. We felt very comfortable with him and that he really got to know us.
We could not recommend Don with Defining Moments Ministries more!!!! We talked to a few options on the phone when trying to find someone to marry us, and none of them felt right until Don. He is personable, helpful, relatable and just SO genuin...
ely supportive. He made it clear that he’s not just here for us up to our wedding day, but for life & we truly feel like we’ve gained another resource for building a strong marriage in him!
We were very happy with Reverend Don. He is a very kind man and it's obvious he cares about the success of his couples. Although we are an older couple marrying for a second time, Don's pre-marital "homework" was still very valuable as it provi...
ded thought provoking questions to discuss. Even though we've been together for over over 16 years, we still learned something from the assignment. He also respected our privacy when we chose to keep some of the answer to ourselves.
Don was always very professional, and his energy during the ceremony was very soothing. He was loud enough for the guests to hear yet not overbearing at all. I would definitely recommend him!
Reverend Don was absolutely wonderful to work with from day 1. You can tell he is passionate about what he does and getting to know the couples he works with. He took time to get to know my husband and I and our families before the ceremony and...
created a beautiful ceremony that was exactly what we wanted. It was personalized and he included all of our requests. We never actually met him in person until the day before the wedding (we are from out of state) but when we did meet him, he was so caring and easy to talk to. It felt like we knew him for years. So many guests complimented the ceremony and how great it was. Also, he responded extremely quickly to all my questions. I highly, highly, highly recommend Reverend Don Anderson for your wedding!
Reverend Don was absolutely amazing! Throughout the premarital counseling, he had us ask questions about each other and our ideas for the future that we had never asked each other before. We learned things about one another that might have take...
n years if he wasn't there guiding us to them. He was very accommodating to our busy schedules, as we lived in separate cities at the time and could not be together much for his meetings. We even had a group call between the three of us for one of the sessions. As for the ceremony, it was incredible. Reverend Don took all the information from our counseling sessions and personalized it to be everything we had hoped for. He included details of our lives such as when we first met and the things that brought us together. He worked in some comic relief to calm our nerves as well. Overall, Reverend Don is very polite and will do everything he can to give you the wedding ceremony you have always wanted!
What a terrific experience we had with Don! Very professional and responsive - my wife and I truly feel like we have made a lifelong friend through this process. The ceremony was beautiful and custom to the experiences we disclosed to Don throu...
ghout our premarital counseling. All the filing of the paperwork went seamlessly- cannot recommend Don enough!
Defining Moments Ministry helped make our wedding day so much more than we could've imagined. Don got to know us as a couple and made our ceremony truly one of a kind. We will forever be grateful for the way we grew as a couple.
When we first started looking for officiants for our wedding we were nervous we wouldn’t find someone. The first time we spoke with Rev. Don, my now husband and I hung up the phone and said, “he’s the one”. He was kind, caring, genuine, and mad...
e us feel like we were a priority for him. He continued to make contact with us via email and phone and offered premarital counseling in the form of Q&A w/ discussions afterward. He then used this information to create a personalized wedding ceremony for us, which couldn’t have been better! We enjoyed getting to know him and would recommend him to anyone in the area. Thank you, Rev. Don!
Don is the best. He listened to what we wanted and made our day so special. He was a perfect fit and we felt like we had known him our entire lives.
So happy we went with Don to lead our wedding. The marriage counseling was great and spent a great amount of time helping us prepare for marriage and commitment. Don did an incredible job for our ceremony, could not thank him enough for his sup...
port.
I can truly say that I couldn’t imagine anyone else officiating our wedding. The premarital counseling helped to bring us closer together as a couple even though we had already been together 8+ years. I was running late to my own wedding but Do...
n remained so calm and professional throughout it all. Our ceremony was truly beautiful and personal. I am so thankful for Don Anderson for making our wedding so special!
Let me first start with I searched for a wedding officiant on a myriad of wedding apps and websites, looking for the best fit for our wedding while also taking into consideration we got married out of state during the pandemic.
We also looked...
at how the different officiants attitudes showed in videos and pictures. We ran across Don and he met all of the requirements, each picture and video he was in you could see and feel the joy he brought to the ceremony.
My husband has a lot of anxiety and the reviews that we read stated that he was so calming and amazing at making our wedding magical and maintaining a great positive vibe even when we were nervous.
We got to know Don several months before our wedding, he recommended premarital therapy. We took his advice and I must say it was amazing, we had several break throughs, not to mention he learned about us and our relationship and intuitively picked up things we hadn’t even fully explained. Every phone call with Don was hours, we had no idea until we hung up. Don wrote our “love story”. He took every detail and everything we talked about and added it into a beautiful love story about “us”. The day I read out loud the ceremony vows to my future husband, we couldn’t get past the first few sentences without balling. It was perfect, so perfect. He articulated what we wanted to express. He added the little details of combining children, family and friends in a special venue to make our day the most memorable and perfect possible.
I must say, he is phenomenal and he has tons and tons of experience. He has great knowledge of amazing writers and life lessons.
Don has not only become a great friend but a life long mentor. He not only did our wedding day, he will continue to speak on behalf of our family at life changing events. Everyone at our wedding had so much to say about how beautifully composed our ceremony was and how special our day was.
Look no further, this is the person you want at your ceremony.
Don was very professional from start to finish. He was very helpful in guiding us in the right directions as far as applying for a marriage license and any questions we had regarding the legal side of things. Don wrote us an amazing and very pe...
rsonal ceremony that we will always be able to cherish. We completed premarital counseling with Don and he asked us questions that neither of us had thought of before but we are glad we got the opportunity to get think about them. Not only did it help us learn even more about each other but it helped Don write us the perfect ceremony. He arrived early for the ceremony and was patient with us as we got everything and everyone together. He was a pleasure to work with and we highly recommend him for your special day!
I cannot thank Don enough for making our day that much more special! While we did most of our contact via phone, it didn’t hinder anything at all. He was such a pleasure to work with and made sure to make our wedding just what we wanted!
One of the biggest things on our destination wedding checklist was finding an officiant. After some searching, we found Don Anderson and I am so happy that we did. Don took the time to get to know Ethan and I over the phone, asking us about our...
story and our upcoming future. He also had us fill out separate questionnaires that he used in our vows that made our wedding party feel like he had known us. Don made sure to communicate with us frequently throughout the entire wedding process which helped eliminate a lot of pre-wedding stress. We highly recommend Don and are thankful for his presence and words that we will remember for a lifetime.
Mr. Anderson was More than accommodating for us, agreeing to do video calls so we could get more personally acquainted, To meeting us in person before our wedding to council us on arising issues. The Vows and Ceremony were very personalized, pr...
oving that Don was listening to us and understanding the relationship we had. 10/10
Don was absolutely amazing and wonderful to work with. He met with us several times before the wedding to discuss details and get to know us so that he could make the ceremony as personal as possible. He truly listened to us and what we were bo...
th looking for and he made our day so special. We are so thankful that Don was able to help us celebrate our special day and highly recommend him!!
We had a wonderful vow renewal service with Don! He really got to know us and was able to weave parts of our original service into our vow renewal. Easy to communicate with and very flexible. Thanks so much for being part of our day
I knew from the moment I first found his page that Don would be the perfect match for our destination wedding in the Smoky Mountains but he truly went even further above and beyond than I had already hoped. He was so sweet and caring about the ...
both of us throughout the whole process and made sure we were 100% confident not only regarding his services, but with each other. Don had a lovely conversation with us and even assigned us "homework" to get to know us better. He walked us through everything and tailored the service completely to reflect who we were individually and as a couple. On top of that, he even provides follow-ups after one year. By the end, he truly felt like a family friend and we will definitely be seeking him again whenever we need any of his wide variety of services. Thank you so much, Don. We are blessed to have found you!
Don performed a Beautiful service for our wedding on September 19th 2020. He got to know us some personally before the ceremony and included our love story in the ceremony which is just what we wanted! He was always professional, prompt, accomm...
odating and very nice. We are SO very happy that we found him to officiate our wedding ceremony! We highly recommend him.
My husband and I are so thankful we chose Don to marry us! Getting married during a pandemic and having to alter our wedding plans was no easy task, but Don made the whole process seem effortless. He took the time to get to know both of us befo...
rehand and it translated into the most beautiful, heartfelt ceremony. We highly recommend Don!
We completed premarital counseling with Don, who also conducted our ceremony on June 20, 2020. Don helped us see new perspectives and solidify a foundation to start our marriage. Our ceremony was beautiful! Don was so thoughtful in writing ever...
ything to be personal for us. So many guests came to us to say how unique, individualized, and meaningful our ceremony was! We really couldn't have asked for more from Don. We highly recommend him!
During our wedding in November we had the pleasure of working with Mr. Don Anderson. He was truly wonderful before, during and after the wedding. He took time to learn about both my husband and I, and had genuine conversations with interest in...
our relationship and it's future. We really appreciated his open line of communication during our experience. We would highly recommend him for anyone searching for an officiant in the area.
I was skeptical about finding someone online at first. My concern was that our ceremony would be rushed and feel generic. However, Don took the time to get to know us through several phone conversations and personal exercises he had us both do...
. The ceremony was flawless! We did our own vows, kept a few traditions, and added in some quirkiness that is unique to our relationship. I never felt rushed, it certainly wasn't a generic scripted ceremony at all. It was very personalized. We were truly blessed to have found him! Use Don....I promise you wont be disappointed! Thank you Don for all that you did and continue to do for your clients!
I’m not typically one to leave reviews but for Don it’s a no brainer. Don was amazing. From the very beginning, he was so attentive to everything. We had many phone calls about Eric and I’s relationship, what we wanted to work on, and what we w...
anted in a marriage. The worksheet he has you fill out is so helpful. The ceremony was beautiful. Not too long or short. I didn’t have anything specific that I wanted him to say, but it was like he took the words right out of my mouth. He incorporated our story so well into our wedding ceremony. He was so helpful throughout the day as well!! He really helped alleviate some of Eric’s anxiety waiting for me to walk down the aisle. We can’t say enough great things about him. Meeting him and getting to know him was one of our favorite parts about our wedding. DO NOT choose anyone else if Don is available for your day. I promise you won’t regret it!!
Don was amazing!! I have 0 complaints. The ceremony went so smooth and he made it feel very personal and romantic. He was professional and so kind. He also did pre marital counseling with us and it was great as well. All around 5 stars. We will...
stay in touch with him as we now consider him a great friend.
Going into the process of finding someone to officiate our wedding we knew that we wanted the ceremony to be be special. We wanted it to sound like us.
Don went above and beyond all expectation.
He spent so much time getting to know us individ...
ually and as a couple and that really showed.
There was laughter, tears, and a whole lot of love.
He put all of our fears to rest and made our special day so magical.
Our experience with Don was more than we could have dreamed of. He has an incredible way of making you feel like the only people that he has to marry, although I know he is busy with many couples! His counseling was so beneficial and since we l...
ived far away, we would end up spending 1+ hour talking with him on the phone. He never made us feel judged or criticized. We felt warm in his company and he really helped us grow from our past experiences so we could focus on the future.
The day of our wedding was amazing. He was timely, despite traffic, and calm throughout. The ceremony was so incredibly special and our guests couldn't stop talking about how lovely it was and how much it focused on our love and marriage. He incorporated so many things we had spoken about in our counseling in the best way possible. The words were so encouraging and meaningful.
Since the wedding day, Don continues to make us feel valued and it feels as though he is our biggest fan.
Stop looking now if you are trying to find the perfect person for your wedding. You have found him here!
Choosing the officiant of our wedding was one of the most important elements of our ceremony as we were blending our lives and faith. Though there were an overwhelming number of options online and we had only 10 short weeks for planning, we fou...
nd the right one for us in Rev. Don Anderson. He spent significant time with us on premarital counseling and in trying to really get to know us as a couple. His gentle demeanor and ability to truly listen and observe allowed him to bring a special touch to our ceremony. He wove "our story" into our wedding by sharing genuine moments he had gleaned through his previous communications with us. No wedding is perfectly executed, but our wish was that the ceremony be sweet, intimate, family-focused and God-honoring. By thinking through the details with us, working hand-in-hand with our ideas, and delivering with sweet sincerity the story of us, he was a major part of that dream becoming a reality. He truly understands how sacred the wedding ceremony is and how meaningful and personal we wanted ours to be. We are thankful we found Defining Moments Ministries, and we are grateful that Don was willing to be such an important part of our journey.
Don was a dream to work with! Communicative and took time to get to know both of us to incorporate some fun facts about us during the ceremony. He was also super flexible when we had some unexpected hiccups before the ceremony started. Our gues...
ts raved about the beautiful words he spoke at our wedding for weeks to come (and are still raving!). A few months before my ceremony my younger sister unexpectedly passed away and he included some heartfelt and truly touching words to honor her spirit and our guests were moved to tears. Thank you so much Don! Truly the perfect ceremony!
Contact Info for DEFINING MOMENTS MINISTRIES
PO Box 1740, Dandridge, TN | Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and beyond
Meet the Team
Rev. Don Anderson, M. Div., Defining Moments Ministries
Owner
Don officiates wedding ceremonies incorporating many faith backgrounds. Vow renewals, rehearsals, and other services may be included. He offers premarital counseling to help couples build a strong foundation and creates personalized ceremonies, which may include a couple's own customized vows that will allow them to share the heart of their relationship with others in attendance. With an extensive background in family studies, along with transition and loss counseling, he is skilled at including kids as a part of the ceremony and can address difficult family matters in meaningful ways.
