In Virginia, you can get your marriage license from any courthouse within the 60 day period before your wedding. You can even get it the day of, if you're getting married on a weekday when the courts are open.

Both people need to be present, and show your IDs. Some courthouses (like Alexandria) will issue marriage licenses remotely for couples who live out of state.

After the wedding ceremony, I'll complete your marriage license and send it back to the courthouse within 5 days. You then can request a certified copy of your finalized marriage license to facilitate name changes, insurance updates, etc.

Once a couple decides to work with me, I send a packet of ceremony planning materials including a general outline of options, sample vows and readings, and a questionnaire for each of you to complete individually. Once you've completed your questionnaires, you make a date with each other to share and discuss your answers together before you send them back to me.

Then we'll make a date to meet in person or by phone/video for a detailed ceremony design process. We can use the resources I provide as a starting point, and you’re also encouraged to bring your own vision and ideas (even vague inklings that you're not sure what to do with!).

After that meeting, I send you a ceremony outline including everything we discussed, including any possibilities you're still developing or considering. The ceremony design is open to your unlimited edits and additional thoughts as the process unfolds.

Weddings offer a variety of opportunities to include children, well beyond the traditional flower girl/ring bearer roles, depending on a child’s age and comfort level.  These can include:

• Family unity ceremonies: creating a family puzzle, sand art, bouquet, or family painting

• Family vows (from parents to children, and/or vows that the whole family takes together)

• Gift from parents to children, and/or from children to parents

• Children can offer readings or music

• Children can support in various aspects of the ceremony, like holding the broom for the couple to jump over, or tying a handfasting ribbon

The Commonwealth of Virginia has strict regulations about who can sign a marriage license (keep in mind that they don’t recognize online ordination).  I’m happy to work with your friend or family member to co-officiate the ceremony, if desired.  I’m also willing to make arrangements to conduct a brief legal wedding before or after your public ceremony.

Even if your friend or family member is a good public speaker, it doesn't always mean they have the experience to create and lead a ceremonial experience. I can serve as a consultant to you and your friend/family member, providing support with ceremony design and other resources.

Yes!  My job is to celebrate, support, and honor love in all forms, and I enthusiastically work with LGBTQ+ couples.

Yes, joyfully!  I'm familiar with many of the summits in Shenandoah National Park and along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and I love exploring new places too! 

I will, with pleasure, and a headlamp.

Having your wedding ceremony in a hot air balloon is a unique and adventurous way to elope.  We all gather at the pre-arranged meeting spot, and then ride to the launch location.  Once we’re up in the air, we can do a 5-10 minute ceremony in between blasts of heat.  That’s enough time for you to say your vows and put rings on each others’ fingers, and for me to do the legal part.  The whole trip is generally about an hour, and I’m happy to take some candid photos while you enjoy the ride.  You leave the ground unmarried, and step back to Earth as a married couple!  More info at Blue Ridge Ballooning

All of my weddings are unique, because they are custom-designed for each couple.  A few extraordinary ceremonies especially stand out:

• A wedding at a skydive center, and the couple went skydiving (for the first time ever) immediately after the ceremony

• The couple that gave each other tattoos during the ceremony

• A sunrise elopement in a hot air balloon

• An anarchist wedding, including specially-written vows and a ritual of maintaining independence

• A week-long wedding festival with an enormous bonfire after the ceremony, inspired by Burning Man

An interfaith minister provides support by honoring each individual’s path, rather than proclaiming the truth of any one path. At One Spirit Interfaith Seminary, we studied each of the major world religions, cultivating respect and appreciation while examining our inherent cultural biases and assumptions.

As an interfaith minister, my main goal is to help all of us get deeply present to the beauty, truth, and awe of the moment.  My job as your officiant is to understand what will invite you and your guests into that experience, whether it’s prayer, music, gratitude, laughter, or something else entirely. If desired, I’m happy to include your choice of wisdom teachings, from sacred scriptures to song lyrics!

When a couple wants to honor two (or more) different religious or cultural backgrounds, I’m happy to help research readings, rituals, and customs to create a respectful and harmonious blending of traditions.

I especially enjoy working with couples who consider themselves “spiritual but not religious”.  Together, we create a ceremony that feels deeply meaningful and sacred, without religious specifics.  If desired, I can also help integrate a few traditional aspects, to honor family members who may be coming from a more religious background.