Susan: A celebrant is a professionally trained ceremony specialist who does not have an affiliation with a particular church or religious doctrine. Since I view my world as all-inclusive and approach my work without cultural biases and gender-based restrictions, I perform all types of ceremonies—non-denominational, interfaith, spiritual and secular—to suit your beliefs, not mine. Plus, I enjoy working with people and am game for anything. Well…that's only partially true. I'm not into performing ceremonies while skydiving or standing on a mountaintop in the nude. But you can do that. I just might need to communicate via radio and microphone to actually conduct your ceremony!

Susan: Celebrant ceremonies are not scripted events where the personalization just consists of filling in the blanks. What I do is create a commissioned ceremony that is uniquely yours, working one-on-one with you to develop the exact tone and spirit that you envision. I wanted to become a celebrant because I think our society has lost its ability to celebrate all that we could honor in our lives. I want to help people rediscover that. If you are thinking about planning a one-of-a-kind celebration that has real meaning and emotionally touches your heart, then you should consider hiring a celebrant.

Susan: Right now, you may only know that your ceremony should include the story of how you came to name your baby, or that you want to write your own wedding vows, or that your legacy story will be a component, or that you want to integrate your old high school memories or your cultural heritage…so that is where we will begin. During our initial interview, I will get a better understanding of what you want in your ceremony, drawing out more ideas from you and making suggestions along the way. We will toss ideas back and forth, identifying which ones will work, what rituals, poems, stories and traditions you may want to include, if any, and who you want to involve and how. After the interview, I will create an outline of your ceremony, as well as flesh out a first draft for your review. Working together we will discuss every element of the event, and your ceremony will take shape until it is exactly what you want.

Susan: My fees, which start at $300, vary for each customized ceremony. My services include an initial interview; researching, writing and editing your ceremony to your complete satisfaction; providing helpful resources, hints and cue sheets for your music; a rehearsal, if necessary; a brief meeting with you right before your ceremony; performing your ceremony; filing paperwork for marriages; and a keepsake copy of your ceremony. I not only aim to meet my clients' expectations, I want to exceed them. Every client will feel that they definitely got their money's worth…and much more!

Susan: My personal philosophy about being a celebrant is pretty simple: I want to have fun doing what I do, and I want to deliver the best ceremonies to my clients. When it comes to ceremonies, we have become trapped in trappings—believing the dress or the cake is more important than the message. I want to bring the importance of the message back to the forefront so that we understand our place in the greater dance of life. My work helps clients to recognize and honor all of the experiences that we can celebrate. These personalized ceremonies will pass on the lessons we have learned.