Ceremonies By Design

Ceremonies by Design was the right choice for us, and we knew that immediately upon meeting with Joan and her colleague, Karen. Both ladies are experienced, professional, and organized, but also very kind, and they clearly do this because this is their passion. My only negative comment was that, on our wedding day, Karen seemed a little frazzled, and she struggled to read her notes for the ceremony clearly. It was as if she hadn't practiced reciting any of it beforehand. It would have been nice for her to have "performed" a bit better, but overall, the ceremony was lovely. I would definitely recommend Ceremonies by Design.

I cannot say enough great things about Joan. She offered a customized ceremony and promised us we would continue to edit until we loved our ceremony. That is exactly what she delivered. She provided the template, offered suggestions, edits and helped us shape a beautiful and unique ceremony. Words cannot express our appreciation and gratitude for the way she impacted our day. Guests commented repeatedly about how unique and personal the ceremony was. We would highly recommend Joan to any bride or groom. You will not be disappointed!

Rev. Joan did an amazing job with our ceremony. It was personalized, touching, and perfect for us. We got to know Joan over the phone, as we live out of state, and she managed to highlight our lives and relationship perfectly. It was as if she'd known us our whole lives. Highly recommend!

We had a truly wonderful experience working with Joan! While she did not perform our actual ceremony, she did all of the work putting together our draft and creating a beautiful flow that fit all of our needs. She referred us to Gayla Ruby, who performed our ceremony, and did a truly, truly wonderful job. We could not have asked for more, and the compliments we received following our wedding were the most heartfelt and loving. Joan and Gay captured what makes my husband and I “us”, and helped us to incorporate our story and our own vows into our personalized ceremony. We were looking for a non-religious ceremony that would speak to both our religious and non-religious guests, and Joan worked with us until we were completely satisfied with the final draft. On the day of the wedding, Gay was there early and was on top of making sure everything was perfect and ready to go. And it really was! I would highly recommend either Joan or Gay to anyone looking for an officiant.

Joan created a very personalized and heartfelt ceremony that had our entire family talking about how it was the best ceremony they had ever been to. On top of making our ceremony so special, she was responsive, professional, helped us understand the steps of the license/certificate/etc., and had a lot of fantastic ideas to add into the ceremony to make it that much more meaningful. We couldn't imagine our ceremony being any more perfect than it was. We were so happy to have Joan as our officiant!

Joan gave us the ability to customize our wedding ceremony from the ground up. She helped us perform a traditional Celtic handfasting, and allowed us to be outside of the "typical Wisconsin wedding" stereotypes. She holds no judgements regarding who you are, or what type of church/religion you attend. She's there to make your day the best day you want it to be.

The moment we met Joan, we knew she would be the perfect fit for us. We met her at Panera for our first meeting and she provided a detailed menu of all her available services and we discussed what options would be best suited for our wedding ceremony. She made sure she got to know my husband and I and sent us detailed questionnaires so she could write a personal ceremony script. When she sent the first proof, she truly captured exactly what my husband and I were after for our personalized ceremony. Her words were so accurate and true that they made us cry when reading them. Throughout the entire process, she communicated and responded quickly and efficiently and made sure we loved our ceremony experience. For the rehearsal ceremony and wedding day, Joan was consistently available for us and answered any and all questions we had. She was organized, calm, and made me feel very comfortable with the whole process. I would definitely recommend Joan Pape to anyone looking for a ceremony that is personal, unique, and custom. It definitely is evident that this is her passion and I am honored to have had her as our officiant on our wedding day! Thank you, Joan! -Jarrod & Ashley Mayes

Ceremonies by Design made creating a personalized and faith based ceremony a breeze. With a variety of options and expert guidance, we were able to add personal touches and use wording that best suited our taste. We worked with Rev. Joan Pape and she was so organized and professional to work with. Her presentation style is beautiful and we received so many compliments throughout the evening about how beautiful our ceremony was. She was great at giving us guidance for how to make sure things run smoothly before, during, and after the ceremony. It was perfect! 😍

Joan is a fantastic officiant! She offers a wide variety of wedding styles and takes the time to get to know you and your partner, in order to ensure everything is personalized. She was super helpful with all our questions, helping us meet deadlines along the wedding process. She took care of so much and we were so grateful for all her hard work!

After much research I came upon Reverend Joan M Pape. I wanted to find an officiant that we felt comfortable with and someone who would make our ceremony unique and personal. She replied fairly quickly to all of our emails and was very accommodating to scheduling a skype meeting since we live in a different state. Once we had our skype meeting we knew that she was the one whom we wanted to marry us and we just had to book her. She shortly sent us a questionnaire for us to fill out to help make the ceremony more personal, which I loved. She gave us samples of readings and a guide ceremony draft for some guidance. we were able to go through a couple of drafts perfecting it until it was the ceremony we wanted and she helped us through it all. On the day of the wedding she was beyond nice and professional. She did a great job and truly helped make our ceremony special. Thank you Reverend Joan M Pape!

We are so happy we hired reverend Joan for our ceremony. Even though we were planning our wedding from across the country she still took the time to give us a phone call to get to know us and was very easy to communicate with through email. Also, Joan was very helpful when my husband and I were writing our vows giving wonderful suggestions and edits. We received so many compliments on our ceremony and how beautiful it was and that is because of her. Any bride would be lucky to have Reverend Joan.

Joan was an amazing officiant. She was always very timely in her responses and provided several selections (both traditional and contemporary) for us to choose from. She provided guidance and advice that was much appreciated as we put together our ceremony. She was willing to meet with us several times to get to know us and to answer any and all questions. I would highly recommend Joan as a wedding ceremony officiant!! -Carly & David Mendelsohn

Rev. Joan was amazing!! She was extremely kind, caring, and warm-hearted and made the process stress free. She created the perfect ceremony for us! She was extremely easy to work with, detailed oriented, and thoughtful. Not only did we think we had an amazing ceremony, we received many compliments from the guests saying it was the BEST ceremony they had attended! If you are looking for a stress free, personalized ceremony, Ceremonies by Design is the way to go! Highly Recommended!!

Joan was referred to me by a co-worker. After our first meeting at Panera Bread in Feburary of 2016 it was love at first sight! She has an amazing energy about her, wonderful sense of humor and much appreciated experience that will help you feel confident and secure in knowing your wedding ceremony is going to be everything you ever wanted it to be. Through scheduled phone chats Joan helped me piece together our beautiful ceremony and provided a much needed counsel for this stressed bride-to-be :) No matter what style of ceremony you desire Joan will accommodate you and your vision while providing top notch guidance. Look no further for professional, prompt, kind hearted service! Joan is your top choice for a wedding officiant!

Rev Joan was absolutely amazing. She was so helpful in the planning process and always answered our questions so promptly. She made our ceremony absolutely perfect.

Joan was awesome to work with. She helped us create just the ceremony we had envisioned and was accommodating and flexible in meeting with us to make sure we got it just right. We got to know her during the process and felt she took a personal interest in making sure we had the ceremony we wanted. She's so easy to work with and has so much experience we found here invaluable to our wedding day.

Joan and Karen were amazing throughout our entire wedding process. They both took a very personal interest in the vision we had for our personalized ceremony. Living in a different state, communication through e-mail and phone was essential to ensure everything was on track. I never had to worry that things were not being done, and that itself was a gift. Karen also made sure that things ran efficiently and smoothly for the rehearsal and actual wedding. We received so many compliments on our ceremony and would recommend them highly to anyone!

Rev Joan was very easy to work with and helped us create the perfect ceremony. We received several compliments on our ceremony. She walked us through each step and even allowed us to make last minute changes. We would highly recommend her!

Look no further for the perfect ceremony! Rev. Joan has made our wedding absolutely perfect! She helped us customize the most beautiful ceremony. We have received so many compliments from guests on how personal and unique our ceremony was. She has so much wedding knowledge, and was such a calming presence for me. Talking to Rev. Joan made me feel at ease, and trust that everything would turn out right. She was always easy to reach and responded quickly. We loved designing our ceremony together. Before meeting Rev. Joan I was not excited about the ceremony. I felt like it was something I had to get through to get to the party. Talking to her immediately changed that. Now it is truly the best part of the whole day. I was more excited for our ceremony than anything else on the day, and it was perfect. She helped incorporate so much sentiment and personality. I recommend Ceremonies by Design to every couple!

I cannot say enough good things about both Joan and Karen. They both did everything to make our wedding day PERFECT! would highly, highly recommend!

Joan helped us to create the perfect ceremony that was uniquely ours, and that drew many compliments- and tears- from guests. She was so responsive to all of our concerns, and I am so glad we had her marry us!!

Rev. Joan was phenomenal! My husband and I chose the personalized ceremony Joan offers and wouldn't have had it any other way. Our guests commented and continue to tell us how original and inspiring our ceremony was. We loved it and so did everyone else. The process was easy and relaxed. I would highly recommend Rev. Joan to anyone who is looking for a unique and personalized ceremony. She also provided us with a very nice booklet of our ceremony, which I absolutely love because I didn't remember to have anyone record our ceremony. So at least we still have the words :)

Joan is the absolute best. We were so lucky to have found her! My husband and I live in Chicago, and we planned our Mt Horeb, WI wedding through emails and phone calls. Joan was so easy to talk to and was always responsive and available. She knew exactly what we were looking for in our ceremony and even gave us sample readings and prayers to select for our customized ceremony. We finally met Joan in person a couple of weeks before our wedding, and it felt like we had known her for forever. On the day of the wedding, Joan helped guide everything and everyone along - including our wedding party and vendors. She was so helpful and organized. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful, and we really felt the love in the air that day. After the ceremony, she gave us a bound copy of our ceremony and a little gift. She is such a kind and wonderful person! We absolutely loved working with Joan and would highly recommend her!

Joan was wonderful to us every step of the way! At first we thought she was a little expensive but she was extremely experienced and made everything so easy on us- which is definitely worth the little extra! Her assistant was also wonderful and very prepared.

Reverend Joan was WONDERFUL! She was willing to meet us 1/2 way between our place and hers for our first meeting and was completely prepared and very knowledgeable from the start. She provided us with drafts of "traditional" and "contemporary" wedding ceremonies; each of which had multiple examples for each section of the ceremony. From there she let us completely customize our ceremony so that it was exactly what we wanted. We picked our favorite pieces from the examples she provided and added in some of our own ideas. In the end, we had our dream ceremony. We got so many compliments from our guests on the ceremony. They loved how personal and unique it was. We couldn't be happier!

Rev Joan created the perfect personalized ceremony for my wife and I. Only speaking with her over the phone prior to the ceremony, she put us at ease immediately with her knowledge, and ability to give us a unique ceremony to our day. After we chose to have her marry us, she took the time to get to know us through questionnaires, and phone calls, so that she could provide us a day that would truly fit our style and relationship. She was very open to working through multiple drafts and revisions of our day until it was exactly what we wanted. I would highly recommend Ceremonies by Design to anyone who wants an incredibly moving and personal ceremony.

Joan did an amazing job with our ceremony up in Green Lake! She was professional and always got back to us quickly. She created a beautiful ceremony for us that also included our daughter. We had many compliments from our guests stating how great our officiant was! I highly reccomend Joan as an officiant!

We knew right away when meeting Joan for the first time that we wanted her as an Officiant. She took the time to get to know us in a comfortable setting and walked us through the entire process of creating a ceremony to fit our personalities and wishes. We were able to combine contemporary and traditional elements into our ceremony and include our own personal touches. We also really appreciated that Joan took the time to create and give us a beautiful copy of the written ceremony. We would love to recommend her to anyone!

Joan was amazing. We were beyond happy with the services she provided for us before, on and after our wedding. She was a little more than we budgeted for but I think that knowing that your officiant is experienced, going to do a great job, and not having to stress about the MOST important part about getting married (the actual ceremony) it was worth it. She was also extremely personable and genuinely cared about the small details and helping make the process easier for us. My husband and I were extremely satisfied with the services provided to us by Joan.

My husband and I are so pleased we worked with Joan. We wanted our ceremony to be meaningful, personal, and thoughtful. We definitely got that and more. Joan was professional, made lots of really great suggestions on things we could add to our ceremony, but most of all she was easy to work with and very kind and calm — the exact sort of energy you want when planning a wedding. Working with her felt effortless because she was so professional, responded to all our questions within a reasonable period of time, and helped guide us through the entire process of working with her to create a personalized ceremony that spoke to the relationship my husband and I have built, and what we wanted to communicate to each other and our families on our wedding day. I will suggest Joan to all my closest friends and family for her great service, kindness, and professionalism!

My husband and I spent lots of time searching for officiants through our respected congregations. After having a few awful experiences, we decided to take a more non-traditional route and we found Ceremonies by Design. Reverend Joan was warm, compassionate, open-minded, and reassuring. We were able to combine traditional Christian language with contemporary themes and our ceremony was everything we hoped it would be. Reverend Joan was personable, and many of our guests believed that we had known her for years! Hiring Reverend Joan as our officiant was the best decision we made throughout the whole wedding process.

Joan was our officiant for our April 25th, 2015 wedding at The Wilderness in the Wisconsin Dells, and it was an absolutely beautiful ceremony! Joan, thank you so much for helping us make our dream of getting married come true, and making the process so easy and fun. Joan helped us put together a beautiful custom ceremony, we got so many compliments on our vows! We really appreciate you being there to celebrate with us. :) Thank you also for the wonderful book and the very nice copy of our ceremony outline!

Joan is a wonderful person who is very talented! As soon as we met with her we knew that she could create the ceremony we always dreamed of. The ceremony actually turned out even more beautiful than I ever imagined! We received sooooo many compliments on our service! Even some family members that were upset that it wasn't going to be very religious, really loved it! My maid of honor, who really dislikes weddings, cried when she read the ceremony draft ahead of time! Joan had great suggestions and ideas throughout the planning process and kept tweaking the draft until we had it exactly how we wanted it. I was really dreading creating a ceremony, but she made it a very simple process! She emailed us tons of readings and vows for ideas and options, which was great so that we didn't have to spend time researching them online. I just can't even express how happy we are that we chose Joan to create our ceremony! We really wanted a personalized service that told our love story, and that's exactly what we got! We couldn't be happier and would HIGHLY recommend Ceremonies By Design!

Our experience with Rev Joan Pape couldn't have gone any smoother. We were looking for a non-denomination experience, one that afforded us a high degree of flexibility as we incorporated the baptism of three of our children into our wedding ceremony. It came across fluid and seamless. It was great. Rev Joan Pape had helpful suggestions along the way that added nice touches to our day.

Rev Joan Pape did an amazing job. We would recommend her to anyone who asks. She wrote our personal story for our ceremony and did it so perfectly. Everyone thought it was a beautiful ceremony including us, bride and groom.

We were recently married with the help of Ceremonies by Design and we couldn't be happier with the services provided to us. Reverend Joan is incredibly professional and knowledgeable in creating a perfectly custom ceremony. We were given plenty of ceremony plans and readings to choose from, my husband and I were able to choose everything down to the smallest details. Reverend Joan did not personally perform our ceremony as she was already committed to another event, we were married by Rev. Karen Schultz who did a wonderful job. We received many compliments in the days after about how simple, personal and unique our ceremony was from our friends and family. Thank you Joan and Karen!

We are so thankful to have found and worked with Rev. Joan for our wedding ceremony. We found her after our original pastor moved too far away to do our ceremony. We had most of our ceremony written, and Joan came in to add the perfect compliments to the ceremony we had worked so hard on. The additions and changes she suggested were absolutely fantastic. Joan was very responsive which helped us get our ceremony planned and squared a few months before our actual wedding. Rev. Joan, has an incredibly kind heart and is very professional. She added a level of peacefulness to our ceremony that we really appreciated. She isn't pushy at all when it comes to designing a wedding ceremony. She gently guides you to help create a ceremony that's perfect for you. We had several guests comment that they thought you did a wonderful job. Thank you so much for presiding over our ceremony, you were a pleasure to work with.

We used Joan for our ceremony and she was wonderful! Very easy to work with, she gave us a ton of options to choose from, and was always willing to let us add in anything we thought was missing. As a couple that strays away from a more traditional ceremony, we were a little worried about who would be performing our ceremony, but I cannot say enough about Joan's great work. I never once felt pressured to add in elements that we were uncomfortable with, and our ceremony was exactly what we were looking for.

Joan was great! She is sensitive to all backgrounds and is extremely professional. She cares about making the ceremony a perfect fit for the couple and their families. I would hire her again in a heartbeat!

We used Joan for our wedding and she was perfect. We met with her and did the custom ceremony. She also made it easy. We worked back and forth over email to help us get the ceremony exactly the way we wanted it. On the day of, people commented how personal and special it was. She also was a calming force the day of. She helped get everyone into place and helped us get down the aisle even without a rehearsal the night before. She had a calming influence on everyone.

Joan was fabulous. You can tell she does this a lot and made the process very simple for us. While planning a wedding has a lot involved, the logistics of the ceremony should be left to the professionals. Joan was great at making our ceremony personal and always quick with replies. We had the perfect ceremony we wanted and she made the documenting easy. I would recommend her to anyone looking for an outside officiate.

We are truly grateful that we found Joan! We are so pleased with how smoothly the planning process went and how professional and kind Joan was. From the first time we contacted her and initial meeting through the planning process, ceremony revisions, and all the way through to the wedding day! She even made a last minute revision right before the ceremony began! The ceremony itself was perfect (and not at all cheesy) and it was exactly what we wanted! We received so many compliments on how lovely and personal the ceremony was and I couldn’t agree more. Joan captured the spirit of our relationship and both of us as individuals and created a ceremony that was a perfect reflection of us. I could not be more pleased with how wonderful it all was! We would recommend Joan to anyone!

I would like to preface this review by noting that I am borderline OCD and a perfectionist. Words can't even describe how amazing Reverend Joan was. She is the COMPLETE package! From the moment we sat down and met with her, we knew she was the perfect fit for our wedding. She is so personable and immediately understood exactly what we were looking for in our ceremony. She gave us a comprehensive sample ceremony with a la carte options. We were able to pick and choose from a wide variety of vows, readings, prayers and additional personalized ceremony options. She was so patient with us deciding on our vows. She would email and call to follow up to see if there was anything she could do for us. Attentive is an understatement. This was all leading up to the actual rehearsal and wedding day. When those days came, she was brilliant. She guided us through the rehearsal with much patience (as our bridal party was a bit rowdy and unruly). The day of the wedding was EVEN BETTER. While everyone around me was asking me questions and adding to my stress, she was the one person who put me at ease. She was so helpful, caring and kind. On top of that, she knows her stuff. She helped guide us through getting our marriage license and even picked it up for us (there was a 5 day waiting period). I loved the packet she gave us after the wedding. There was a beautiful bound copy of our ceremony, our marriage license, a marriage certificate and a wedding gift. I cannot emphasize enough how amazing she was. I would HIGHLY recommend her to anyone that asks.

My husband and I live in Missouri, but our wedding took place on his family farm in Wisconsin. Planning a wedding through mostly emails and phone calls can be stressful. The quick responses and consistent phone calls and emails with Rev. Joan Pape whenever I needed to speak with her was so easygoing and more importantly she was always available for us. She was such a pleasure to work with during the planning process, the rehearsal, and especially the wedding day. She took lead in some of the most important parts of our day, was incredibly on top of it all, and well organized. It was such a relief to have her. She exceeded our expectations and we had several guests praising her for a job well done. We absolutely loved our ceremony! It was unique...it was us! We were so comfortable working back and forth with her to make it just right! She wont settle for anything, but perfect! Joan is so kind and a pleasure to work with; we couldn't be happier how everything came together so easily. We highly recommend Rev. Joan for your wedding ceremony!

We picked the civil ceremony package from Joan. She sent us readings and ceremony options to choose from. We got to design the ceremony how we wanted it with Joan's advice along the way. She was very warm and friendly, even when we waited until the last minute to choose our readings and vows. She married us in a state park and met us an hour before the ceremony to make sure everyone felt comfortable with the process. Everyone commented on what a beautiful and unique ceremony we had and wanted to know how we found such a great reverend to marry us out in the woods! Joan has been extremely helpful with everything and I would highly recommend her.

Joan did a completely customized ceremony for my wedding day. She used information she gathered from our initial meeting and from our wedding questionnaire. My husband and I wanted to keep our questionnaire and vows a secret from one another and she helped us do that. Throughout the process of finalizing details for our ceremony Joan sent us several drafts and was open to changing any part we wanted to make sure we were happy. The ceremony was amazing. Joan helped us incorporate my husbands daughter in a very special way into the ceremony. The ceremony itself did not leave many dry eyes from our guests. The comments we received after the ceremony was that it was beautiful and the best ceremony that anyone had seen. My husband and I could not have asked for a better ceremony. I would recommend Joan to other brides in a heartbeat. She is organized, pleasant, open, calm, and extremely helpful during the process.

Joan made planning our ceremony stress free and fun! She provided structure to planning our ceremony but also let us personalize it as much as we wanted. She also helped us obtain a marriage license and change my name. I would highly recommend Joan!

My husband and I are from Illinois, but we were planning our wedding in Lake Geneva, WI. We searched online for the perfect officiant for our wedding, and Joan was our VERY CLEAR choice. We wanted a "love" ceremony. A ceremony about us coming together and who we are as a couple. She knew exactly what we wanted and also helped lead us in the right direction as far as creative our very special wedding ceremony. Hands down, Joan loves what she does and it just shows in her work. She really cared about what we wanted even before we signed our contract. She took time to help us make our ceremony just perfect. A few weeks before the wedding Joan contacted us and made us feel so secure in our choice of officiant. The rehearsal was wonderful, Joan made sure everyone felt comfortable with their roles in our ceremony. She offered to go over the rehearsal again and again until we all felt good to go! The day of the ceremony Joan did such a wonderful job. She made all of our efforts come to life and really touched everyone who was attending our wedding. We are still getting raves about how wonderful our ceremony was, and many people requesting Joan's contact information for their upcoming weddings. Joan is a sure choice for your special day. I can't say enough about how wonderful she is as a person and as an officiant/reverend. I can 100% say that if you decide to go with Joan for your BIG day, you will NOT be disappointed. She was one of the BEST choices for our wedding.

Wow!! Where do I begin... Joan is an amazing person to work with! We did a fully customized ceremony, which went off without a hitch! Although we didn't work with Joan directly we worked with Karen. Cannot begin to explain how amazing these two women are! Everyone loved our ceremony and had nothing but good things to say!! THANKS SO MUCH!!

We would like to thank Joan so much for giving us the perfect wedding ceremony. We had complete control over the content and loved the personal inputs Joan put in. She was also so great on the day helping with flowers and buttoniares, etc. as well as being quite a calming influence on everyone. The ceremony was the most special part of our day - thank you!

She had a multitude of options to create the exact ceremony that I wanted and worked with me every step of the way. I couldn't recommend her enough. She gave me the perfect ceremony.

Joan was wonderful! She helped make our ceremony unique with all the customizable options and helped us get exactly the ceremony we wanted. Always punctual and understanding, she helped keep the wedding planning enjoyable and relaxing.

We couldn't be happier with Joan. Our ceremony was absolutely perfect! We would recommend Joan to anyone!

Rev. Joan and Rev. Karen both did an amazing job for us. The ceremony brought tears to my eyes, it was so perfect. They really take the time to create the perfect words that portray your story.

Joan was absoultely wonderful kind caring nonjudgemental helpful..I could not say enough positive things about her!! She was amazing. She made our ceremony so unique and personalized. She really exceeded our expectations. Our guests had nothing but wonderful comments about her all night too.