Every couple deserves to have a ceremony that reflects who they are and why they fell in love. As a wedding officiant, my personal mission is to show couples what’s possible and help them create the ceremony of their dreams.
Most couples who contact me are planning a wedding for the first time. They don’t know what they don’t know. They assume a wedding ceremony must be a generic arrangement of sermons, prayers, and readings, something to be endured before the party can begin. They don’t know that their ceremony can be unique and truly personal without being affiliated with any religion and without having a single boring moment.
Newlywed Lindsay gets an eager greeting from English Bulldog Gotti
They don’t know that the right officiant is an alchemist who can take their fondness for the beach, their love of nature, their passion for animal rights, their commitment to humanity, their fascination with the cosmos – anything that inspires a broader view of themselves and the world – and transform it into the elixir that makes a ceremony spiritual.
They don’t know that hearing their love story told during the ceremony creates the perfect prelude to their vows, that their love story affirms the hopes and dreams of their families, that their love story provides a blueprint for what love really looks like. That blueprint becomes a gift to every guest who would like to be in a loving, committed relationship.
Oathing stone inscribed with Celtic symbol “gra” meaning “love.”
Because couples don’t know how much power they have in creating their ceremony, they might not consider drawing elements from the cultural traditions of their ancestors, that by including a handfasting ritual, or by taking their vows on an oathing stone, or by filling a wedding wish jar, they can create a new family tradition . Couples don’t always realize that their simple “I do” will change family trees forever. The implications are enormous. Just ask anyone active on ancestry.com!
Newlyweds Lauren and Brian at the Lord Thompson Manor in CT
My role in the ceremony is not only to legally solemnize the marriage. My role is to illuminate the path the couple took to arrive at this moment and guide them through one of life’s most beautiful, most powerful rites of passage.
What I’ve seen all along the way affirms the truth I learned writing romance novels: that every couple’s love story is unique…and that telling it has the power to make this world a better place. Every time I sit down with a couple and they say, “We’ve never done this before,” I’m honored by their trust and delighted by the possibilities!
