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Rev. Don Anderson, M. Div., Defining Moments Ministries
Rev. Don Anderson, M. Div., Defining Moments Ministries
Owner

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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 day?

Where do you see yourselves going in the years ahead?

What are your plans to get there?

This is where we begin, because this isn’t just any moment...this is a Defining Moment.

I'm Reverend Don Anderson, a licensed and church ordained minister for over 30 years. I am a student of life and a student of marriage. 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.

Services Offered

Defining Moments Ministries is privileged to officiate wedding ceremonies incorporating many faith backgrounds. Vow renewals, rehearsals, and other services may be included. Rev. Don offers premarital and relationship counseling to help couples build a strong foundation for a long and lasting relationship. He 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 can incorporate children as a part of the ceremony, as well as address difficult family matters in meaningful ways.

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FAQ

Which of the following are included in the price of your wedding officiant services?

Ceremony Rehearsal
Premarital Counseling

Does starting price include the ceremony rehearsal?

No

What is the starting price for ceremony rehearsals?

$150

What is the starting price for pre-marital counseling (per session)?

$50

What types of weddings and events do you provide services for?

Interfaith
Ceremony Rehearsal
Vow Renewal

What services do you provide?

Premarital Counseling

What religious affiliations do you serve?

Agnostic
Anglican
Baptist
Catholic
Earth-Based
Episcopalian
Evangelical
Jewish
Lutheran
Methodist
Mormon
No Denomination
Orthodox Christian
Pagan
Presbyterian
Quaker
Unitarian
Other

On average, how long are wedding ceremonies you officiate?

Less than 30 mins.

In which states are you licensed?

AL
AK
AZ
AR
CA
CO
CT
DE
DC
FL
GA
HI
ID
IL
IN
IA
KS
KY
LA
ME
MD
MA
MI
MN
MS
MO
MT
NE
NV
NH
NJ
NM
NY
NC
ND
OH
OK
OR
PA
RI
SC
SD
TN
TX
UT
VT
VA
WA
WV
WI
WY

What languages do you speak?

English

Still have questions?

Reach out about anything you didn't see answered here—no question is too small!

Wedding couple

Reviews of Defining Moments Ministries

This AI-generated summary gives you a snapshot of the overall ratings and feedback from the reviews this vendor has received.

Review summary

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Wedding Officiant Don Anderson garners high praise from numerous reviewers for his exceptional services and personalized approach to creating heartfelt and meaningful ceremonies. Many couples appreciated his dedication to getting to know them on a personal level and incorporating their stories into the ceremony, making it unique and special. Don's professionalism, warmth, and ability to craft ceremonies that truly reflect the couple's relationship were highlighted, earning him strong recommendations from those who worked with him. Overall, reviewers were grateful for Don's caring and thoughtful officiating, making their wedding days unforgettable and deeply meaningful.

Review summary

Powered by AI
This AI-generated summary gives you a snapshot of the overall ratings and feedback from the reviews this vendor has received.

Wedding Officiant Don Anderson garners high praise from numerous reviewers for his exceptional services and personalized approach to creating heartfelt and meaningful ceremonies. Many couples appreciated his dedication to getting to know them on a personal level and incorporating their stories into the ceremony, making it unique and special. Don's professionalism, warmth, and ability to craft ceremonies that truly reflect the couple's relationship were highlighted, earning him strong recommendations from those who worked with him. Overall, reviewers were grateful for Don's caring and thoughtful officiating, making their wedding days unforgettable and deeply meaningful.

H
Halie Sent on 11/22/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Exceptional Services

We had such a wonderful experience working with Rev. Don Anderson. He was incredibly kind, understanding, and supportive throughout the entire process. We completed pre-marital counseling with him, and he offered thoughtful guidance not just for our marriage, but also for shaping the ceremony itself. He helped us clarify what we wanted, recommended a unity ceremony that fit us perfectly, and really collaborated with us to make everything feel both personal and beautifully traditional.

Since we were coming from out of state, we had no idea how to navigate obtaining our marriage license, and Rev. Don walked us through the entire process. His clear instructions and reassurance made something confusing feel completely manageable.

In the days leading up to the wedding, his communication was excellent. He attended our rehearsal dinner, made sure we felt prepared, and even pivoted last minute with a few additions we wanted to include. During the ceremony, there were unexpected loud distractions near the venue, and he navigated them flawlessly so the focus stayed on us and the moment.

The ceremony he delivered was heartfelt, warm, and meaningful—exactly what we hoped for. Our guests absolutely loved him, and so many told us how beautiful the ceremony was and how much they enjoyed his presence.

We are so grateful we chose Rev. Don, and we would highly recommend him to any couple looking for an officiant who is genuine, professional, calming, and truly invested in making your ceremony a perfect reflection of your relationship. He was an incredible blessing while entering this new chapter and helped make our wedding ceremony so special.
J
James Sent on 12/30/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Great experience with Rev. Don!

We didn’t know what to expect when looking for a wedding officiant. Rev. Don was amazing, easy to talk to, and delivered much more of a service to us than we expected. The ceremony he wrote for our wedding was very personalized and special because he took the time to know us beforehand. We really appreciate everything he did and are glad he was a part of our day!
A
Amy Sent on 12/29/2025
5 out of 5 rating

10/10 Recommend

We couldn’t have asked for a better wedding officiant. Rev. Don married my husband and me back in July of this year and he was professional, responsive, and genuinely invested in making our ceremony meaningful and personal. He took the time to get to know us beforehand and created a heartfelt ceremony that truly reflected our story. We highly recommend Rev. Don and are so grateful he was part of our special day!
A
Avonlea Sent on 12/28/2025
5 out of 5 rating

The Best Officiant for your Tennessee Wedding

From the very beginning, Don was nothing short of a blessing. He took his time on the front end to truly get to know us — our story, our hearts, and our faith — and it showed in every single word he spoke on our wedding day. The calls leading up to the big day were filled with encouragement, peace, and prayer, reminding us not just what the day was about, but why it mattered.

On our wedding day, Don’s presence was calming, intentional, and full of God’s love. His words were deeply meaningful, personal, and perfectly captured who we are as a couple. It felt less like a ceremony and more like a sacred moment shared with someone who genuinely cared for us and our marriage.

We truly couldn’t have asked for anyone better to officiate our big day. Don went above and beyond in every way, and we will forever be grateful for the role he played in one of the most important moments of our lives. If you are looking for an officiant who is thoughtful, faith-filled, and wholeheartedly invested in your story, Don is the one.
Denise
Denise Sent on 12/28/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Professional Personal Touches

Mr. Anderson meet with us a couple times before our big day to get to know US. He helped and allowed us to personalize our vow ceremony. We are not spring chickens and wanted reflect and appreciate our own history in our set of vows to include children and passed loved ones. Mr. Anderson is inspirational and a delight to work with
Brittany
Brittany Sent on 12/27/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Highly Recommend

Rev. Don really took the time to get to know us and put together a ceremony that was authentic and truly captured who we are. One of the best decisions we made. Highly recommend!
A
Alysha Sent on 12/27/2025
5 out of 5 rating

100% Would Recommend!

Don married my husband and I in August of this year. He was an absolute joy to work with who really cared about what our marriage was founded on more than any other officiant we inquired with for our wedding. He spent months getting to know each of us individually and spend the time to discuss why we wanted to get married and what we wanted our marriage to look like. We both feel incredibly blessed to have had him at our wedding! He made a beautiful ceremony and even got rained on without a complaint. We HIGHLY recommend Don and any couple who gets to be married by him is truly the luckiest in the world!
Bree
Bree Sent on 11/29/2025
5 out of 5 rating

A Rainy 27th Day of October To Cherish Forever

Rev. Don with Defining Ministries worked with our complex story over several months. My opening line was please don't run away because this is a lot to work through. We are so thankful he stuck with us and genuinely cared to work with us. It felt like divine intervention that part of our story was something he was dealing with as well and we appreciated his guidance on the tough stuff. We were so thankful for his patience as our pre-marital counseling sessions were lengthy and ran way over some evenings. When we think of Rev. Don, we think of being embraced with warmth, Jesus-like love, and acceptance regardless of some difficult truths in our lives.

This outstanding human with a kind soul stood in the rain (it was light when we started) getting drenched during the wedding ceremony because the bride said, "We didn't come from Florida to Tennessee in the Fall to get married inside of a barn. We could have done that in Florida!" Our close friends commented that our officiant seemed to really know us. They had no idea how much time we spent with him, but definitely enough time for him to truly know our hearts and intentions very well. Hearing our wedding party say he knew us well, said and meant a lot to us because he had 5 more pages of words prepared uniquely for us when we decided to "cut the ceremony short." When we checked the video we were 37 minutes in (our vows were long). During the ceremony, he had everyone laughing and those closest to us in tears.

The time spent laughing, in tears, and changing approaches and behaviors at the recommendation of Rev. Don in order to choose each other everyday despite all of the noise and life circumstances was invaluable. He helped us realize that we are good for each other and to one another once we calm the "background noise" that life circumstances bring us at times. We give each other grace and make changes where they are needed because of Reverend Don's sessions and guidance.

We wrote this on Thanksgiving Day 11.27.25, exactly one month after our ceremony. We plan to keep in touch with Rev. Don as he offers life long support to those who put in the work to be in a good place to take a giant leap of faith with his support and blessing.

We will forever be thankful for Reverend Don and highly recommend his extremely professional officiant and premarital counseling services! He worked well with a plethora of our life challenges, one disabled individual (Cerebral Palsy and Guillain Barre Syndrome), and lots of fun personalities at our wedding. Don't hesitate to book if you are even thinking about it. Especially during peak season wedding months :)

Rob & Bree Smith
10.27.25
T
Trippe Sent on 11/18/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Defining Moments ministries

Don Anderson officiated our wedding in September of this year. He also provided marriage counseling prior to our marriage. He is incredibly nice, easy-going, and understanding, and was the easiest person to deal with when trying to plan the wedding. Don is a thoughtful and helpful minister, and we are so glad we found him (through this website, The Knot). I'd recommend Don Anderson to anyone looking for a minister.
F
Farrah Sent on 02/24/2025
5 out of 5 rating

Loved working with Don

We had a small elopement ceremony, and Don made it feel so special and meaningful. Prior to the event, we communicated with Don regularly, and he got to know us and took a genuine interest in tailoring our ceremony to what we wanted. For such a small ceremony, we wanted to keep it simple and brief, but Don made it so much better than we imagined- it was heartfelt, personalized and sweet, but it also made us laugh. All of our guests loved it and thought Don was great. We were so happy with the experience.
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Awards

122
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2026 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2025 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2024 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2023 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2022 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2021 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2020 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2018 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2017 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2016 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2014 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2013 Winner
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Rev. Don Anderson, M. Div., Defining Moments Ministries
Rev. Don Anderson, M. Div., Defining Moments Ministries
Owner

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