Need Officiant Help

SuzArtie69 Posted: Dec 28, 2006 01:17 PM

Need Officiant Help

Hello Ladies,

I'm reposting this from the '07 board.

I haven't found my officiant yet, but I'm a little clueless when it comes to this vendor. What exactly do you ask/look for other than their price? We want a simple service, nothing over the top.

How many did you meet with? We're getting married at the reception hall so I know a priest will be hard to find, but would love one.

I've heard of Fr. Bernard in Floral Park, but wanted to know if there are any other recommendations.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Suz

kittythestray Posted: Dec 28, 2006 01:36 PM

Re: Need Officiant Help

I LOOOVED my officiant. I wanted a very personalized ceremony. My aunt recommended him. I called him and just loved his voice & that he had a great sense of humor. We just chatted a little, I told him about my wedding and that we didn’t want a very religious ceremony and that I wanted to have a lot of input on writing the ceremony. He faxed me a ‘standard’ ceremony and we went over what I wanted to change over the phone. I liked that he didn’t judge me for NOT wanting any ‘god’ references in the ceremony. I didn't really ask him questions, but more just told him what I was looking for. I didn’t actually meet him until my rehearsal – I chose not to meet him, I didn’t think it was necessary after talking to him over the phone and I had a lot going on. His name is Dr. Mike McNamara, he’s a reverend, FM me if you want his phone number - good luck!!

sr081906 Posted: Dec 28, 2006 01:41 PM

Re: Need Officiant Help

Posted by kittythestray

I LOOOVED my officiant. I wanted a very personalized ceremony. My aunt recommended him. I called him and just loved his voice & that he had a great sense of humor. We just chatted a little, I told him about my wedding and that we didn’t want a very religious ceremony and that I wanted to have a lot of input on writing the ceremony. He faxed me a ‘standard’ ceremony and we went over what I wanted to change over the phone. I liked that he didn’t judge me for NOT wanting any ‘god’ references in the ceremony. I didn't really ask him questions, but more just told him what I was looking for. I didn’t actually meet him until my rehearsal – I chose not to meet him, I didn’t think it was necessary after talking to him over the phone and I had a lot going on. His name is Dr. Mike McNamara, he’s a reverend, FM me if you want his phone number - good luck!!

I had a different reverend but we made sure we felt confortable with him (how we interacted with him on our initial meeting). We wanted a non religious ceremony (we have 2 different faith and decided to go the safe neutral way). We asked him if he was OK with it and he said it would do what we wanted.

He sent us some readings. We customized them to our taste and beliefs.

I had Rev. Michael Callahan. He is an LIW vendor here.

vintagegirl Posted: Dec 28, 2006 02:34 PM

Re: Need Officiant Help

Reverend Heil..
I am using her for mine.. and I have seen her in action .. really nice woman..

cjb88 Posted: Dec 28, 2006 03:02 PM

Re: Need Officiant Help

I saved the officiant to the last minute because I had no idea what to look for in one... we ended up meeting with Rev Deb (who is a vendor on here) and after meeting with her we just knew she would do a great job!

aimes1313 Posted: Dec 28, 2006 03:15 PM

Re: Need Officiant Help

We're using Pastor April. She came highly recommended on this site and when we met with her she was amazing. I wanted a very non-traditional ceremony (for my family at least) and she put something great together for us in 2 days! I'm so excited for my ceremony now. Look into her, she has samples of her writing on her website.

Church of Ancient Ways

scappy123 Posted: Dec 28, 2006 04:58 PM

Re: Need Officiant Help

We used Pastor Mike. Our ceremony was amazing, it was everything I hoped it would be. We met with another officiant before him, but he didnt really suit what we wanted. Good Luck

SusanAdam Posted: Dec 28, 2006 05:15 PM

Re: Need Officiant Help

We are using Rev. Deb Viola as well. I had read so many wonderful things about her on here. We were clueless about the ceremony and what goes into it. We met with her and she explained everything to us and what we could do and got to know who we were. I think it is important to feel comfortable with the officiant and for them to really listen to what you want in a ceremony. We had no doubts that she would help put together a wonderful ceremony for us and she was such a kind person that we booked her immediately.

shellibean Posted: Dec 28, 2006 05:54 PM

Re: Need Officiant Help

We used Fr. Tom McCormick, and he was absolutely wonderful. I got so many compliments about him. You can find his info on this website. Good luck!

jencee73 Posted: Dec 28, 2006 06:33 PM

Re: Need Officiant Help

We had an interfaith ceremony and we had Rabbi May & Rev. Sica.

Rev. Sica is great. He made me feel so comfortable and was a tremendous help when I needed a Rabbi when my original Rabbi bailed out on us. Rev. Sica has a great personality and everyone raved about our ceremony. He's a real sweetheart. Everytime I spoke to him, he always had me laughing. He's just a lovely person.