Jayme Steighner of Butler, the children’s director at First United Methodist Church, 200 E. North St., since August has assumed another duty at the church, that of wedding coordinator.

“I’m also in charge of the marriage ministry so they thought it would be a good idea,” said Steighner, who has been a member of the church since 2006.

She said the church, with an average weekend attendance of 1,300, has been so popular as a wedding site for members and nonmembers alike that a wedding coordinator was needed.

She said the church averages three weddings a month during the busy wedding season of April through October.

“Most people like getting married here because the sanctuary is beautiful,” said Steighner

So much so, she added, the church makes one weekend a month unavailable for weddings to give its four pastors and the organist a break from nuptials.

Steighner stressed she is not a wedding planner and doesn’t work with the bride and groom on any wedding details outside the actual ceremony itself.

“We work just with the service itself. I make sure the flowers are on the altar and the boutonnieres are pinned on and choreograph with any of the musicians involved in the service,” she said. “If they want something special in the service, I go to the pastor who is performing the ceremony and work out the details.”

“We try to give them as much information as possible to alleviate the wedding day jitters,” she said.

She said other details that she deals with include whether or not the couple want to recite their own vows, requests for special music, the use of a unity candle or increasingly pouring sand into a jar to symbolize unity or bringing in a guest minister.

She said if the bride and groom want to use an outside minister, she arranges for the minister to meet with Senior Pastor Eric Park before he is allowed to perform the ceremony “just to make sure the theology lines up.”

Steighner sees her role as easing any difficulties for the bride and groom on their big day.

“Typically, they are so frazzled that day, I fill the gap, I watch the time. It’s a relief for many of them,” she said.

“You have to be outgoing and calm and just have a love of marriage based on the foundation of Christ,” she said.

“The church charges nonmembers, but we practice what we call radical hospitality,” she said, adding First Methodist sees such weddings as a way to introduce itself to the couple and perhaps make a lasting connection.

Her work doesn’t end with coordinating music and flowers and the wedding parties’ walk down the aisle.

Couples marrying at First Methodist, she said, also attend a mandatory marriage seminar.

“We want to give them a good foundation and hear how God fits in with the marriage,” she said.

Steighner said the position of wedding coordinator won’t be retired anytime soon.

“We have weddings lined up for 2015. People are booking the church a year to a year and a half out,” she said.

St. Ferdinand Roman Catholic Church, 2535 Rochester Road in Cranberry Township also has 18 weddings on its calendar for next year, but it doesn’t have a wedding coordinator.

Margie Beggy said she and the other church secretaries handle the duties.

“We do the actual scheduling of weddings. The couples get a wedding packet that outlines what they are allowed to use and what they are not allowed to use,” said Beggy.