Neighbors: Jennifer Moore

Jennifer Moore’s office walls are filled with photos of herself alongside newlyweds and a bulletin board full of thank-you notes.

“I’ve always been a girly-girl,” she says. “I don’t remember growing up dreaming about my wedding, but I believe in romance.”

Time and time again, future brides and grooms have walked away from meeting with Moore with a sense of excitement, relief and a certainty that she’ll have just the right words to say on their wedding day.

“I want to be able to provide a great experience, deliver a ceremony that has feeling and is relatable and where everyone feels included,” said Moore.

Moore was born in West Palm Beach, but moved up and down the East Coast while growing up. She held jobs in hospitality and in the insurance industries for many years before moving 20 years ago to Sarasota; she’s been living on Siesta Key for the last four-and-a-half years.

Two decades ago, Moore took a job at Bay Marketing Concepts and began her new life in Sarasota. Her new job required her to become a notary. About the same time she attended a wedding, officiated by a notary, and she realized her notary status meant that she, too, could officiate weddings. The idea of officiating weddings sounded fun, and Moore began throwing the idea around with her friends and family while on a Fourth of July weekend vacation. The responses were positive.

Moore came back from her trip and decided to file the fictitious business name, “Notary To Go.” To get her name and new business out there, she joined a group called Weddings of Sarasota, as well as the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce. On May 19, 1996, Moore officiated her first wedding.

“It was so much fun!” recalls Moore with a smile. “I felt like I had stumbled onto something that was important to do and people would always need and I had no idea how it would grow.”

Since then, Moore’s ceremonies have become more involved, personal and a true labor of love. She does not repeat any of her ceremony speeches because of her disdain for anything “cookie-cutter” or “stock.” However, she does file away each speech, along with thank-you notes from each wedding.

Moore estimates that 70% of the weddings she officiates occur on the beach. A self-proclaimed “hippie,” Moore enjoys officiating beach weddings because she gets to put her toes in the sand and be part of a laid-back event.

In 2004, Moore was named the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce “Business Person of the Year.”

“It was awesome to be recognized like that,” she says. “I will be forever grateful for the relationships and referrals I have gained from them (the chamber).”

Moore is grateful she’s chosen a business that is filled with compassion and feelings.

“I want to be the little old lady hobbling on the beach performing ceremonies,” she says. “It is just what I am meant to do.”