About this vendor
Ordained marriage officiant for twenty years, Bill Duffy performs non-denominational weddings and vow renewals throughout the state of Maryland.
From secular to spiritual, traditional to contemporary, multi-cultural and interfaith, Bill strives to understand your unique needs and create a custom ceremony to reflect your values, beliefs and life together.
Bill is experienced with helping couples create touching custom ceremonies, guiding them through planning, rehearsals and the big day with humor and professionalism.
From consultations, creation and planning of a personalized ceremony, to overseeing rehearsals and providing a calm and supportive presence on the big day, Bill is available to assist every step of the way .
Details
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
Religious Affiliations
- Christian
- Catholic
Reviews
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4.9
out of 5.033 reviews
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I was in communication with Bill about our wedding Oct 17th and rehearsal on the 16th. I confirmed we were happy to sign a contract and pay a deposit. He agreed to this. He also requested we meet up to discuss vows etc. We have a young baby at home so this is difficult currently and it took me one week to get back to him. He replied, with little no to apologies, and dropped a bomb that his couple getting married on the 18th now wants a rehearsal on the 17th- so basically was kicking us off his schedule. We were very shocked and disappointed as we thought we clearly communicated our excitement to work together. Bill offered no kindness or apologies. When I asked for a recommendation to any other officiant as he has now left us scrambling to find one in time for our wedding- he was rather short and rude and suggested we „search the knot or wedding wire“. I feel I gave him plenty of grace and apologized if I was apart of the miscommunication and gave him chances but he didn’t apologize or offer any kindness. Had he then I wouldn’t be writing this review. Pretty disappointing way to run his business and as a religious man we at least expected him to be kinder. If this is how he deals with customers I would perhaps caution others. Your wedding date might not be locked in with him and he may cancel 2 months out. And do not expect a kind person to interact with if there’s any confusion he won’t take it well. In the end we’re grateful it worked out this way so we can find a much more respectful, professional, and nice officiant to be part of our special day.
Bill made the process of crafting a meaningful and personal ceremony so special to us as a couple and for all of our bridal party & guests! His experience is so evident in the different options he provided during the writing process and we appreciated how he set up a call first to really get to know us and make sure that he'd be a good fit as an officiant. He was willing to work with us as an out-of-state couple and drive to a more remote venue, arriving early for the rehearsal and ceremony itself to make sure that we were feeling comfortable and confident. Bill's clear and balanced delivery made the words we chose even more powerful for a Catholic-inspired ceremony that was both meaningful and welcoming to all who attended.
Bill did a very nice job officiating our wedding. He met with us before the wedding, drafted our ceremony, and worked in our edits. He showed up on time and did a great job, and his fee was reasonable. Our wedding was sort of lightly religious, and Bill was a good fit for that... he didn't bother us about pre-wedding counseling or "meet with me a few times and talk about god and marriage," like some priests or reverends do. Just showed up, said the words, did the job, and signed and filed our marriage license. Easy.
Bill is a really nice guy and a good officiant, and I would totally recommend him to anyone.
Bill was fantastic at our ceremony. Bill brought laughter, joy, and made sure everything was perfect for our wedding! Thank you so much from Doug and Anna!
We are so grateful that we hired Bill for our interfaith (Catholic/Jewish) wedding! He was so communicative, supportive, light-hearted, and kind, and we could not have asked for a better ceremony! He let us review the ceremony script in advance and make whatever edits we wanted to ensure that it reflected us and our values, and he was absolutely amazing at our rehearsal and on our wedding day! Thank you for everything, Bill!
Bill was such a pleasure to work with for our big day. He was very available to meet with us several times before the wedding including a walk through of our venue since we did not do a rehearsel. He was very flexible on our big day and very organized. Loved working with him!
Everyone has been raving about our ceremony thanks to Bill! Our guests have told us that they loved how personal the ceremony was and that it wasn't too long or at all boring. When we first met with him we knew he was perfect for our wedding. He made a stressful process so fun and easy. He listened to what we wanted and asked lots of questions to get to know us better. He sent us a script with different options to choose from, and it was fun picking everything out together. Bill created a ceremony for us that was a perfect blend of prayer, traditional, and modern touches (we did a mothers rose ceremony). The ceremony had a few breaks of laughter to lighten things up. He was so calming and easygoing throughout the whole process. It was exactly what we wanted!
Bill is the best. He is both professional and knowledgeable. He was very familiar with our venue. His service is just right. He says the right things and is never long winded and doesn't try to steal the show. He knows the event is about the bride and groom and he will tailor the ceremony to their tastes.
I hate to use cliches, but Bill created the perfect ceremony for my husband and I. We requested a non-religious ceremony, and after an hour and a half of conversation, he put together something deeply personal that invoked our parents, and spoke to the kind of marriage we aspire to maintain for years to come. We wrote our own vows and they fit seamlessly into the program. To top it off, he showed great patience when we arrived more than an hour late for our rehearsal (sorry!) and got us all up to speed in 20 minutes. Book, Bill. You won't regret it!
Bill did an amazing job! He was professional, timely, organized and had a great sense of humor. My husband and I decided to tweak the ceremony script and Bill was happy to adjust with whatever we wanted. I would highly recommend Bill to officiate your wedding, he is truly one of a kind!
Bill was absolutely phenomenal. We knew right away that he was the perfect person to marry us. After our initial discussion through e-mail, we set up an in-person meeting to get to know each other a little more. He had tons of great suggestions for us and looked out for our best interest. He even made arrangements to leave his vacation early to be home for our wedding weekend! We are still getting compliments about how lovely our ceremony was. Highly recommended!
Bill was AMAZING! We knew within 2 minutes of meeting him that he was the right person to marry us. He is such a wonderful person, and is extremely personable. He wanted to make our day everything we dreamed of. He gave us different options for our ceremony but really listened to what we wanted. He attended our rehearsal and walked us through the ceremony to make sure everyone knew their job. Our ceremony was beautiful and just what we wanted. I would HIGHLY recommend Bill!
Bill was professional and friendly. He provided a lovely ceremony that we were allowed to customize completely, though it was so sweet we didn't feel the need to alter it.
My now husband and I used Bill as our officiant and we could not be more happy about our choice! We were looking for someone who was very experienced, would let us customize our ceremony, and who was affordable. Bill’s prices were the BEST, and we booked him ASAP. Several months before our big day, he put together some ideas he had and emailed us the entire ceremony – word for word. We LOVED it. We didn’t change a thing, even though we would add or subtract whatever we wanted. Bill was hilarious and a delight to work with. Extremely punctual, and always got back to me right away whenever I reached out. 10 out of 10 for Bill. He was the best!
Angie & Jimi
Bill was the officiant of my wedding on 4/20/13 and he was brilliant. My husband and I are a bit goofy and chose to incorporate some humor into the ceremony and Bill rolled right along with it!! Humor aside, his sentiments were absolutely beautiful!! I've received multiple comments from guests that Bill's words were the most beautiful expressions of love and marriage that they've heard. And I agree. He was also extremely flexible. We asked him to incorporate a knot tying ceremony and he did so without flinching. Bill was wonderful. I would recommend him to everyone! I'm so glad that he was available for our wedding.
Bill was the only officiant my husband and I met with before making our decision. From the start he was exactly what we were looking for - laid-back yet serious about the significance of the occasion. He wrote a beautiful ceremony that incorporated wonderful sentiments and values that are important to me, my husband and our families and made sure to take into account our personal philosophies of love and life. We received nothing but compliments and praise from our guests after the ceremony.
Bill officiated our wedding in August at the Hunt Valley Inn. He was wonderful! So many of our guests commented on how funny and personable he was. We had a non-denominational ceremony, but I didn't have any idea of what to include other than vows. Bill walked us through every step and provided lots of ideas for the ceremony. He made the whole process very easy and was great to work with. I would recommend Bill to any couple!!
Bill was amazing! From the minute we met, he had such a great sense of humor and had a way about him to make you feel like you had known each other forever! Our ceremony was beautiful, our guests loved the ceremony and he made you feel comfortable. It was the best day of my life and my husband and I have him to thank! You are apart of our lives now! Thank you for making our day so special.
Your wedding day is one of the most important days in your life and you need high quality reliable people who will make your day go as smooth as possible and Bill did just that. From the first time that you meet bill you know that he is a professional and that this isn't his first rodeo. If you know my wife Jamie she has millions of questions and knows exactly what she wants and Bill had all the answers that she was looking for. Bill wrote the entire service for us and we loved it, it was exactly what we wanted. On the day of our wedding we were running behind schedule and he was patient and understanding. The ceremony went smooth and we couldn't have asked for anything more. Bill also made a donation in our name to the ASPCA. Thanks so much Bill!!!
Keith and Jamie Holland
Bill was the perfect officiant for our wedding ceremony! Out of all the weddings I've ever been to or participated in ours was the only one where the officiant actually seemed to be enjoying what he was doing! He was great through the whole planning process and answered all of our questions and emails and made the whole thing one of the easiest parts of our wedding planning. We have already referred him to a close friend who is also getting married this year!
Perfect addition to our ceremony, funny and serious.
My husband and I coudn't be happier for choosing Rev. Bill Duffy as our officiant. This was a process we thought would be easy compared to all the other wedding planning. Oh.. were we wrong. No joke we spoke with 13 officiants before speaking to Rev. Bill. Thankfully we found Rev. Bill!!! He is just awesome! His personality matched ours and our families perfectly. We had 100 guests at our wedding and I think EVERYONE complemented on how wonderful Rev. Bill was during our ceremony. He worked with us in writing a truly perfect & memorable ceremony. He even helped us with a surprise rose ceremony for our parents. He came to our rehearsal and walked us through everything. If your looking for an officiant...look no further.
Mr. Bill is a wonderful officiant. He was extremely kind, patient and personable to us, and delivered one of the most beautiful ceremonies we could have ever imagined.
He was extremely organized and went above and beyond to ensure that our ceremony was "us". I appreciated how he kept in touch with us throughout the process. I would recommend him to anyone seeking an officiant- I cannot say enough wonderful things about him!
We hired Bill for our wedding at the Gramercy Mansion in 2008, and we couldn't have been more pleased with his level of service. He was very kind and was happy to answer any and all questions and requests that we had. He was very propmt, and he was always quick to return calls and emails. We've even stayed in contact with him after the wedding and he has become a great friend to the family. This past week, we returned to the mansion for our 3 year anniversary, and Bill was there to greet us and he even went out of his way to make our day very special. We would highly reccomend Bill, and any couple would be lucky to have Bill officiate thier wedding.
Kevin and Jenn Shannon
Bill is the guy to trust for a perfect wedding ceremony. He was great from start to finish and so easy going. He asked us what we wanted (and listened) then wrote a perfect ceremony. The ceremony itself was fantastic! He was serious but knew when to add a little humor. All of the guests loved every minute of it. I would recommend Bill to anyone.
Bill recently married my husband and I at our wedding at my parent's house! He was great! He worked with us to include all the things we wanted including a rose ceremony, sand ceremony and jumping the broom. He was professional but also had a great sense of humor which was needed with our families and bridal party. I highly recommend him to any bride and groom!
We were very to fortunate to have Bill as our officiant for our wedding on June 12,2011! We live out West and had our wedding in Maryland yet Bill kept in contact,answered all of our questions and reassured me when the day was getting close! We had a significant amount of guest pull us aside and tell us what a unique and wonderful ceremony it was. Bill added special touches/suggestions such as the roses for our Mother's and the sand ceremony. Bill made our wedding very special while creating a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. We are very thankful and happy he was a part of our special day.
We were so blessed to have Bill perform our wedding ceremony at the Gramercy Carriage House on May 21,2011. We knew upon our initial meeting with Bill that he was the one. He truly listened to us, asked all the appropriate questions, and encouraged us to ask questions as well. The meeting was warm, comfortable, fun and assuring. We walked away feeling as if we had made a new friend who would make our wedding personal and enable our guests to feel like a true part of the ceremony. Bill did not let us down. Our ceremony had the perfect balance of tradition, solemnity, warmth and even laughter that is a true reflection of us as a couple. Bill will be remembered fondly as an integral part of our wedding day. Thank you Bill!
Bill did a fantastic job at our wedding on May 14, 2011. He met with Scott and me beforehand via telephone conference and face to face meeting. Bill went over some sample ceremonies, and really personalized the ceremony to reflect our wishes. Bill was very responsive via phone and email.
On our wedding day, Bill was on time, impeccably dressed, and executed on all the details we previously discussed.
I would recommend Bill Duffy to all brides and grooms!
Bonnie
My wife, Taryn and I were so pleased to have Bill as the officiant for our wedding. Bill was kind and funny and treated us like friends instead of customers. Bill was open-minded, accommodating, and thorough in giving us any help we required and we truly enjoyed him as an individual. He made our wedding fun and added to the beauty of our ceremony. Thank you so much, Bill!
We had Bill perform our wedding ceremony at the Gramcery Mansion last week. From the beginning, we liked Bill because he really listened to our ideas and offered up great suggestions to consider for our particular needs. Bill is a witty, easy-going, experienced officiant. His quick wit and humor made the days leading up to our ceremony stress free. We felt like we could leave it to Bill and not have to worry about anything.
Bill was our officiant for our wedding we got married on the beach. He was Great, he had great suggestions, and helped with the planning for our ceremony, we couldn't have asked for more, EVERYONE LOVED HIM!!!!
Bill was an amazing officiant! We, of course, had many questions and concerns for our big day, and Bill was patient and helped us with everything throughout the planning process. He took our calls, answered our questions, and wasn't afraid to share his opinion when we needed it. Our guests loved his style and he really made the ceremony everything we dreamed of.
Contact
Central Maryland and south central PA
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