Don & Janet (wedding couple from Marysville, WA)

Don & Janet are family friends of mine. They were married Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at a friend's home on Camano Island. It is an extra special experience for me to be able to bring two of my friends into marriage!
Don and Janet were looking to incorporate many different aspects of themselves into their celebration. They had decided to incorporate their Christian beliefs, their family heritages, and other personal touches. Don, who is of Scottish decent, and Janet, who is Native American, also dressed in traditional clothing as it pertained to their families' cultures.
We incorporated a smudging ceremony to celebrate Janet's heritage and a handfasting ceremony to celebrate Don's. Don & Janet met at our church and so they wanted their faith in God to be the foundation of their wedding. I incorporated favorite Scriptures and blessings as well. It was a very touching ceremony. They were beyond pleased with the results!
Congratulations, my friends! Many blessings to you both.

Yolanda & Jamaal (Everett, WA wedding couple)

Yolanda and Jamaal married on Saturday, May 9th, 2009 at the Daughters of the American Revolution, Rainier chapter in Seattle. Yolanda was a DIY bride and planned her celebration from beginning to end. Yolanda heard of me from a website that I advertise on and hired me as their officiant a year prior.
Because of the extensive planning Yolanda did in advance, she was able to meet many of the suggested deadlines early. After her ceremony and honeymoon were done, I touched base with Yolanda to ask of any words of wisdom that she could pass down to future bridal couples. Here's what she said:
"The only tips I can think of is don't freak out about the time schedule too much. At least one member of the bridal party will be late, pictures will run late, and so forth. The DJ will mess up at least one song you selected (our intro song and mother-groom song) and the cake might not be perfect (wrong color) but everything will be fine and nobody will notice except the bride!"
Thank you, Yolanda & Jamaal. May you have many years of happiness together!