I will follow all local, state, and federal recommendations, guidelines, and restrictions. So check with your venue on what the legal requirements are and that’s what we’ll do!
Once you secure your venue, you should secure your day with me. Seriously.
Before the pandemic, I was booking up to 18 months out. Now, I’m booking up to 2 years out and I already have bookings out that far. I started 2021 year already 50% booked for the year and 10% booked for 2o22. I’m now about to sell out 2021, 2022 is 25% booked and I already have a wedding scheduled for mid-2023.
The best time to book my services is as soon as you have confirmed your wedding date with the venue and the second-best time is now!
Such a good question! I explain in THIS VIDEO.
I list all my pricing right here on the website. My listed price already includes associated mileage/travel, so the price you see is the price you pay! You can see my pricing HERE. Just scroll to the bottom of the page to click on where your ceremony will be to find that location’s pricing. Don’t see your location? Contact me for a quote!
There are only three situations in which I attend wedding rehearsals.
- You don’t have a professional (like a wedding planner or venue coordinator) to run it for you. In this case, I will run the entire rehearsal for you!
- Your ceremony is complex. We have an abbreviated tea ceremony as well as the lasso, aras, and veil, not to mention your two readers and a grandparents’ blessing… This is obviously a more extreme version, but you get the idea! A complex ceremony means I need to be at the rehearsal to help you sort out everything so everyone involved feels comfortable with what is supposed to happen on wedding day.
- It is really just going to make you feel better that I’m there. Yes, it can be that simple!
Please note that a rehearsal is a $175 USD add-on to cover my time and travel.
I know some officiants charge based on the number of guests but that’s just not how I roll. Seriously, have no one but us or 1,000 of your nearest and dearest – it’s your call!
No. I assume that you two are grown adults and can decide for yourselves what you want to do with your lives. Crazy of me, right?
Since I only do custom ceremonies, the answer is “it depends”. I’ve done ceremonies as short as 8 minutes and as long as an hour. I’d say they average somewhere between 15-25 minutes.
Ultimately, the length of the ceremony is up to you! We’ll talk about what you want and don’t want in your wedding and we’ll collaborate to make it awesome.
Usually, just twice. The first time is for a consultation, which you can schedule HERE. The second time is for our ceremony planning session, which happens 2-3 months before your wedding.
Please know that I don’t limit our meetings, but in the over 1,000 marriage ceremonies I’ve done, we’ve only had to meet more than usual only twice.
I require 50% of the total price as your reservation fee. The remaining balance is due 2 weeks before the wedding.
All of my contracts and payments are done online, so if you want to pay $75 each month leading up to your wedding until it’s paid off, you can do that! Or if you want to pay off your balance 6 months ahead of time at 1 AM because you’re on a roll Dave Ramsey-ing your finances, you can do that too!
I will guide you through the process of how to obtain your marriage license. I always sign your marriage license after the ceremony (to do it before is legally fraud) and file it as required by law. I’ll also reach out when it’s time to get your Marriage Certificate and send you helpful tips on how to change your name, should anyone be electing to do that.
For local Southern California weddings, I do not stay beyond cocktail hour, which is usually when you’re taking photos and I’m trying to sneak in a few with you. But honestly, I would never see my family on the weekends if I stayed for every wedding reception (especially when I do 100 or so weddings a year!). So I tend to raise a glass with you at cocktail hour (if requested) and then leave you to celebrate with your loved ones while I can go home to see mine. 💖
For destination weddings, please don’t feel obligated to invite me to the reception; that is your time to celebrate with your loved ones. But if you really truly must absolutely have me there, I might be able to stay – just ask!