Jonathon Ginn says he stumbled into the wedding industry. He took violin lessons growing up and busked in shopping centres in the Newcastle and Central Coast areas (NSW) and had several couples ask him to play for their weddings. After the Covid pandemic, as the world began moving away from cash, Jonathon struggled to make money busking and started searching for other options. He moved to the Gold Coast, set up a website and began advertising as a wedding violinist. Slowly, bookings started coming in. “There is something special about a stranger trusting you to play them down the aisle,” Jonathon said. “I really liked how the violin could set a romantic tone for wedding ceremonies and canapes.”
However, 60 per cent of weddings occur on Saturday. Jonathon believed in the importance of the Sabbath as a day of rest and a day to spend time with God, but very early on, he realised that by refusing Saturday weddings he was not only relinquishing jobs to his competitors but missing out on the highest paying wedding bookings. His record is turning down six Saturday wedding requests in a row, without getting another booking in between. However, Jonathon would have chosen to give up the wedding industry before giving up Sabbath. Declining so much work has caused him to search the Bible for a better understanding of the Sabbath and why he should keep it. His job becoming intertwined with his faith, Jonathon learned he had to rely on God for his business and began trying to view any booking received as a blessing. Jonathon remembers a time in 2023 when he turned to God after not having had a booking in about a month and wondering if it was worth it to work in an industry that seemed nearly impossible for him. He said, “I remember having to humble myself before God and remind myself that any work that I do get is a blessing from God.” Thirty minutes after his prayer, he opened his computer to see a request that had come through from an upper-class high budget weekday wedding, the highest paid booking he had had at that point. Within the next two days, he had another wedding booked.
Jonathon’s business continues to grow. Having just completed his studies in osteopathy, he plans on working part-time as an osteopath as well as playing for weddings. He has engaged with social media—something which has pushed him outside his comfort zone—and now has a following of 3000, with several videos receiving more than a million views. He is open on his social media about his faith and why he doesn’t play for Saturday weddings. Through this, he shares his beliefs with others, as well as connecting with other Adventist wedding vendors who have felt encouraged by his openness and struggles as a Sabbath-keeper within the wedding industry. Also, at each Saturday wedding request, Jonathon will explain why he is turning the booking down and why he doesn’t work Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.
In 2024, Jonathon played for 33 weddings and seven events, as well as having 28 already booked in 2025, a year that promises to be his biggest year yet. Recently, he won an award for best wedding instrumentalist for 2024 in Queensland, a considerable achievement within the wedding industry and something that will help further his career in this area.
Sometimes keeping the Sabbath can be difficult. For Jonathon, his challenges in the wedding industry showed him why the Sabbath was important, and how, with God’s help, his business could continue to grow. His story brings to mind Matthew 19:26, where Jesus says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Ashley Jankiewicz is an assistant editor for Adventist Record.
