Weddings/HandFastings
Hoping for a wedding that will reflect your best selves, incorporate your individual religious/spiritual leanings, and feel "real" to your older relatives, all at the same time? Let's get together to celebrate your love and commitment!
I will joyfully and reverently craft a wedding service with you that reflects the divine within each of you and respects the holy promises you will make. Also, we will laugh a lot.
I bring experience with earth centered ceremonies and wedding traditions from diverse heritages (Jewish, Celtic, Slovak, Muslim, etc.)
Thinking about a wedding can be overwhelming. Having a minister there can take the pressure off, provide you with the wisdom of experience, and create a space that can bring the sacred to this blessed event. Each wedding is unique to the people creating it and the larger family that the ceremony acknowledges. We can create a ceremony from scratch or use a template or a combination of the two. In keeping with Unitarian Universalist tradition, I will aid in the creation of ceremonies that reflect the personal beliefs of the participants, and my own spiritual commitment to inclusivity and acceptance.
I have experience with, and especially love, co-creating interfaith, “spiritual but not religious”, same-sex, and Earth-based ceremonies. I prefer gender neutral language. I can use many names for the sacred, including “Spirit of life” and "God".
Typically we will talk together 1-3 times in the weeks before the service. You will create the order of service based on the elements we choose and create. You may select or write your own vows. We will meet together 15 minutes before the service to become centered and have some private time. I will operate as a "master of ceremonies" throughout the service so that you do not need to think about logistics. I will check in with you after the service and leave while you and your family and friends experience the reception. A typical wedding runs 20 to 40 minutes.
If you would like to work with me on a wedding I'll need some information from you. I will interview you to discover what is important to you regarding family traditions, religious traditions, value, and intent. We will create a service that reflects love, delight, commitment, family, and solemnity.
Please fill out the linked questionnaire and the linked contract and bring with you to your first appointment, or send to me before we meet.
- Flat fee: based on UUMA Scale; OR
- Percentage: 10% of total wedding budget plus current IRS mileage allowance and lodging if out of area
A rehearsal is STRONGLY recommended!
A 50% deposit is expected at the time of signing the letter of agreement. The remaining 50% is due at the rehearsal.
Includes your get-acquainted session, 2 other meetings for counseling or planning, email and telephone correspondence, all ceremony planning and creation, wedding day officiating (including legal paperwork if desired), ceremony planning resources, and a keepsake copy of your ceremony.
Additional pre-marital counseling available.
Inquire about lower fees for 'generic' ceremonies, or special discounts.