Custom Wedding Ceremonies Of Central Virginia
About
You’ve found a Wedding Officiant who makes your ceremony a Celebration of Love. It’s the emotional centerpiece of your wedding by which the day will be remembered in years to come. Throughout the creative process, the three of us develop a level of trust that translates into an intimate, warm affair. My style is elegant and narrative driven, by listening to you and then employing poetry, literary passages, and the perfectly placed quote. I’m ultimately a story teller whose privilege it is to tell your love story in the language of your own heart.
I love hearing my couples' stories and then distilling said story into a compelling narrative that shows how they came together and why it had to be "me for you and you for me," told in their own words. I get at the essence of why this couple has chosen each other, to the excuslion of all others, for a lifetime. Besides, I get to be there on one of, if not the, happiest day of someone's life. What could be greater? I also adore meeting peoples' families. I thrill to being around the excitement before the wedding starts, and also seeing the lovingly thought-out details that go into hosting a most splendid wedding. It's just the best.
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Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
Typically after a brief telephone chat about the basics of your wedding, the next step is for the three of us to arrange a meeting for a no-obligation free consult over coffee.
(Due to distance, we may default to a video chat via FaceTime or Skype.)
That's when we get down to envisioning your ceremony, and start throwing around ideas.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I’ve elevated the tone, performance level and professionalism of ceremonies along the length and breadth of the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia. Ordained February 2, 2008, and certified as a Life-Cycle Celebrant by the Celebrant Foundation & Institute April 2014, I have in-depth training in hand-crafting an inclusive ceremony designed to make your more observant family members feel comfortable. But more importantly, I custom-craft a beautiful, meaningful, lightly humorous ceremony that reflects your views.
Most critical of all, I have the actual credentials from the Commonwealth of Virginia to officiate your marriage. So I happily travel to wineries, barns, vineyards, cabins, farms, from Woodstock to Lexington, Culpeper to Basye: Charlottesville, Albemarle, Keswick, Staunton, Nelson County, Orange, Bath County, Harrisonburg, Luray, Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive, George Washington National Park. So please ask my availability.
Do you have a standard pricing system for your services? If so, please share the details here.
Half my fee is due at time of Agreement signing, as a non-refundable deposit and retainer to save your wedding date. The other half is due at the Rehearsal. This is a flat-fee that includes everything from travel to rehearsal — unlimited revisions and use of my P.A. system if needed — and most notably, a custom ceremony written 100% from scratch that incorporates any tradition, symbolism, etc., that you wish.
What types of customers have you worked with?
I happily travel to perform marriage rites at weddings from the rustically elegant to Great-Gatsbyesque splashy at wineries, barns, vineyards, cabins, farms, from Woodstock to Lexington, Culpeper to Basye: Charlottesville, Albemarle, Keswick, Staunton, Nelson County, Orange, Bath County, Harrisonburg, Luray, Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive, George Washington National Park. So please ask my availability.
What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a pro in your area of expertise?
Of course you want to feel comfortable with the person who pronounces you married on your wedding day … but there is so much more to a ceremony than whether you’ve shared history, a few tears or beers. with your Wedding Officiant. Designing and performing a Wedding Ceremony demands gravitas, experience, professionalism, a spiritual center…someone to hold the space for you as well as your guests. That’s why I work with you closely, starting with coffee — laughing and touching upon the deeper questions of life — and then having you each fill out a Couple Questionnaire…so we get to know each other very well indeed.
After a ceremony, I often hear, “How do you know the couple?” Because it is assumed from our highly personalized ceremony that we have a long-long-standing relationship. And in fact, by then, it may not be long-standing, but it is close. The other compliment I often receive is when guests tell me, “I laughed. I cried.”
Now your Best Friend. your Dad or Brother, cousin, et al, will have a chance to deliver a funny toast at the Reception, recounting what they in fact think about your getting married and offering some marital advice. However, an extended toast is not what the ceremony is meant to be. What a non-stranger oftentimes overlooks is they don't tell your Love Story from your very own perspective, from your deeply felt beliefs, values, outlook … as woven together by me to create a ceremony that is humorous when it needs to be and solemn when it needs to be.
The ceremony I perform will prove to be the emotional heart of your wedding day that sets the town for the merriment that follows. Your hiring my services is a testament to how serious you take your wedding vows and your acknowledging the momentousness of the step you’re taking. It also shows respect to your guests who want to know why they are there…to have the love and joy you feel on this day expressed with professionalism and mirth.
Also, I will be certain to show up no matter what. No. Matter. What. (How many stories have I heard lately of the “comfortable” non-stranger person backing out the week before the wedding? Yikes.)
It takes me approximately 25-to-30 hours to custom craft your wedding ceremony, from the moment you first email me to my mailing your marriage license to the Courthouse and sending off your Keepsake copy via USPS Priority. And most every minute is a joy…and possibly the best bargain of your entire wedding.
What questions should customers think through before talking to pros about their needs?
As is often said, "If you think hiring a professional is expensive, you should try hiring an amateur."
We truly did not appreciate, until we went through this entire process, the incredibly important/invaluable role of a Celebrant [...]. — Wedding Wire Review of Anita Vaughn, Certified Life-Cycle® Celebrant, Chicago
It certainly changes everything with regard to wedding planning, totally and completely. Wedding planning too often had almost nothing to do with the act of actually becoming married. I just had no idea what it would mean to go through that ceremony and be married on the other side.
margiemive commenting on APW
I can credit a great deal of this to our officiant who at no time pressured us to accept anything into the ceremony that didn't feel organic and real to us. Nothing was forced or fake, and that truly shined through and made the day what it was. Chan commenting on APW
Can I add one more tip? Write/use a slightly longer ceremony than you think you want. [....] Once you have that foundation, I think we can all agree that the main thing is to find a great officiant. And “great officiant” can mean many things [...]. If writing is not your bag and you have no clue what to do, that’s when you need an experienced officiant to guide you.