Today we’d like to introduce you to Olga Wilhelmine Munding.
Hi Olga, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
One night I had a dream that I officiated a wedding in a hot-air balloon and then jumped out of it with the couple. That’s right, we skydived out of it after the pronouncement of marriage.
Full disclosure, I had recenlty taken up skydiving and completed my license, which perhaps was the basis of the dream and also the lack of fear. I woke up the next day and decided I would become ordained. That was in 2014 and I never looked back. It was serendipitous that shortly thereafter, I received a phone call to officiate my first wedding, a small elopement at the Tree of Life in Audubon Park in New Orleans and I still have this photo framed on my wall.
I had already been playing violin for small weddings at the French Quarter Wedding Chapel in New Orleans for almost a year, though it never occurred to me that I would want to or feel the urge to officiate weddings myself. After ordainment, the chapel asked if I would be willing to step in for the lead Reverend when he was unable to and the rest took off from there. I worked at the chapel for 5 years with over 940 plus weddings as a violinist and Reverend.
The interesting part is while I usually only do one or the other, these days I am receiving requests to play violin AND officiate, as I build my business as a mobile Reverend in the mid-south. At present, I have serviced well over 1000 weddings and elopements of all kinds in the states of Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and even Texas. Never in a million years did I think I would do this, but it has brought me immense joy, and somehow the calls keep coming!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
What road is smooth? Please give me directions to it if you know… Perhaps the most daunting part was starting my own business which I never thought I would do; I didn’t have a plan and I didn’t search for it, I fell into it and it keeps calling me. With all the chaos in the world, people still want to get married, they still want and need spiritual guidance and life coaching, and this will never change. It is something I naturally have done all along and can do as an empath and as a genuine soul. We need more love in the world; this is my small way of contributing and it is an honor to take with me throughout my life.
A few years ago, I had finished officiating a large wedding when the father of the groom thanked me and complimented my sermon. He asked if I ever officiate funerals to which I said I did not, as I didn’t think I could handle the sorrow and being able to provide comfort without crying myself. Sure enough, about 30 minutes later at the reception, I received a telephone call out of the blue from someone else I had married a year prior. They asked if I would be able to officiate a memorial for a friend of theirs.
If that is not God calling me onto a path, I don’t know what is! Needless to say, I did officiate the memorial and it was very moving; I felt the spirit come over me with all the right words and care. So, now I can say that I can do those too!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
It would be hard to say that I am known for any one specific thing as I have had quite an interesting path in various areas of performing arts, including as a recording artist (Olga), stunt performer/actor, radio DJ, and soon-to-be published author. However, it would seem that in the last decade, and especially the last 5 years, I have continually been called to do spiritual work. That being, officiating weddings and funerals.
As a reverend, I’d say what sets me apart from others is my open-mindedness to an individual’s spiritual preference and that while I have officiated hundreds of weddings, I still am moved at every single one. It has come to a place now where people seek me out to officiate for them as they have heard about me and my work. It truly is a labor of love and I see myself performing this spiritual work whilst on this journey for the rest of my life. God has a plan and it sure has been interesting!
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The best place to find my music and albums work and social media is through this platform which has everything listed, including my Pandora Olga radio channel, Spotify, Apple Artist, and social platforms here:
My songbook, Blues & Musings, will be published at the end of 2023 and will be on all online retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes, as well as in brick-and-mortar book stores. You can preorder and find out more through my publisher here: http://www.about.me/laolga.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.about.me/laolga
- Instagram: @olgabluesbabe
- Facebook: @olgabluesbabe
- Twitter: @olgabluesbabe
- Youtube: @219records
- SoundCloud: www.soundlcoud.com/laolga
Image Credits
Cook Allender, Josiah Roberts Olga, and Minyard Tyler Austin
