Charlevoix Wedding Pastor - Rev. Jonathan & Kathy Mays

From the beginning, Jonathan was so helpful! He helped us craft a beautiful ceremony that was very special and unique to us. He was very professional but was also very light hearted about the whole situation at hand when we would get nervous. He was always available when ever i needed to ask a question. I couldn’t imagine a better person to be our officiant!

My husband and I were so happy that we went with Jonathan to officiate our wedding! His professionalism, laid back personality and great sense of humor made it very easy to work with him and put us at ease with our planning of our ceremony. We are definitely recommending Charlevoix Wedding Pastor to our friends and families. Thank you again! 😊

Jonathan has officiated so many wedding and really had it down to a science! His ceremony was beautiful and crafted exactly the way that we wanted! It was so comforting to have him there with us and sharing his wealth of knowledge. He always made sure to respond to emails and any questions that we had. We also filled out an online inventory and we were able to discuss the results with him where he gave us guidance on how to start a successful marriage. We cannot thank him enough for helping to make our day so special!!

I cannot thank Jonathan enough for being a part of our wedding!! He handles everything and anything that is thrown at him and he manages to do it with a smile on his face. He makes everyone feel at ease and is so easy to relate to! He made sure that our wedding day ran smoothly and rolled with all of the little issues that seem to pop up on your wedding day. I was able to plan the entire ceremony with his help so that it would be exactly what we wanted. The premarriage meeting he does with you and is totally worth it and is so beneficial. I highly recommend it! I couldn't be happier to have had Jonathan as our officiant!

My husband and I had Kathy officiate our wedding ceremony at the Castle Farms. Not only did she make us feel completely comfortable the day of the wedding, but both her and John did everything in their power to help us with every stage of planning as well. From the day we met with them at a tiny little cafe in Charlevoix, we knew that we wanted them for our wedding. They were even kind of enough to welcome us into their home prior to the wedding to review our ceremony timeline. I would highly recommend John or Kathy to any bride :)

Reverand Jonathan Mays did a fantastic job with my wedding ceremony. He met with me and my fiancée (at the time) to discuss our strengths and weaknesses and discussed how to keep a marriage strong. He gave us several resources to accomplish this (including himself). He worked with us diligently on each piece of our ceremony. He did a fantastic wedding rehearsal, helping the entire wedding party know exactly what to do at the ceremony, which really put everyone at ease. He was there on the wedding day to help facilitate and coordinate the ceremony, ensuring it went flawlessly. There were two things that stood out and very much impressed us. The first was that he said that his door was always open to discuss anything at anytime. He truly cares about the couple getting married, and it shows. It was great to feel that level of caring for us on a personal level. The second thing that impressed us is when he mentioned that on the wedding day, he wanted us to focus solely on us and our love for each other, and not on all the details that go into planning a wedding. He wanted everyone in the party to help make that special day happen for us. He said he wanted us to be present at our wedding and focusing on us and our relationship and commitment towards each other and not worrying about the details of the wedding. He was able to make this happen, which truly meant a lot to me and my wife.

Pastor Jonathan was one of the people who we will forever be grateful for. He not only united my husband and I but made us aware of the ebbs and flows of marriage. This was our second marriage and he was spot on with how love will survive all. He's always available, listens with a kind loving nonjudgemental heart. He's straight forward and shared his own experiences in his life. We were out of State and it felt like we lived right next to him. I cant say enough positive things and experiences we had with him. I would recommend anyone who is getting married to allow him to unite your new life. Thank you for everything We thank you wife and family for all the time you spend with us. Fondly, Scott & Lisa Barrett

I absolutely LOVE working with Rev. Jonathan! As a wedding planner, I have collaborated with Jonathan on multiple weddings and he is always easy to communicate with, very organized, fun-spirited with a perfect balance of seriousness. He sets couples and their families at ease and makes the planning and the ceremony experience memorable, personal, and meaningful. He is easily one of the best I've worked with in my ten years of working on the wedding scene.

We were married in July 2019. This was a second marriage for both of us so we wanted it to be simple AND meaningful. Jonathan "got" us and was very helpful in providing suggestions for venues and other vendors we needed to use. We had a "rehearsal" on the dock and reviewed the ceremony a few days before the big day. Jonathan, despite his out-patient surgery a few days prior to the service, was there for us. Jonathan even provided PERFECT weather for the ceremony! Not many officiants can attest to that!

Jonathan is absolutely spectacular! So amazing, that my sister actually booked him for her wedding as well. He takes the time to get to know you as a couple so that when he speaks at the wedding it feels so genuine. I am Catholic but did not want a very religious wedding (but still wanted some aspects of the traditional items). He tailored everything to exactly what we wanted. I had multiple people tell me that it was the best wedding they’d ever been to and highlighted how awesome Jonathan was! Can’t say enough great things!

Jonathan was very helpful and encouraging. He gave us great advice and supported us through the process of getting married and also gave us guidance for how we could strengthen our relationship. Highly recommended!

Rev. Jonathan was awesome!!! Both my fiancé and I were nervous about the wedding ceremony. Jonathan helped to ease our fears and customize a wedding ceremony that was perfect for us. Our friends and family raved about how beautiful the ceremony was. He also gave us some great tips before the wedding on how to have a successful marriage. We were very happy and highly recommend Rev. Jonathan for your wedding ceremony!!!

Jonathan was amazing to work with. From the questionnaires beforehand, to calming us down the weeks leading up to the wedding, and then being a calming presence the day of, he was top notch. Jonathan has a very warm and welcoming personality that makes him easy to work with, even though my husband and I are more reserved shy people, he was able to open us up and make us feel comfortable quickly. He walked us through the rehearsal quickly, but made sure we all knew what was going to happen. He worked well with the other event staff, and the ceremony went beautifully. He was even there with a tissue to dab away my tears when I was crying during the ceremony, without even missing a beat. Jonathan sent in our marriage license and paperwork for us quickly, and we recieved our copies in the mail the day we returned from our honey, which was perfect! I highly recommend using Jonathan, he will not steer you wrong, is kind, caring, and organized! Thank you Jonathan!

Jonathan was amazing. He helped my husband and I stay present in the moment and made sure we didn’t have to think about any small details on our day! He is such a kind and thoughtful man and performed an amazing ceremony for us. I would highly recommend him!

We absolutely loved Pastor Jonathon! Planning a wedding a few hours away from home was stressful especially so when trying to find the Pastor/ officiant to marry you who you do not know & are not from the area but we couldn’t be happier with our choice. Jonathon was punctual, friendly, compassionate, you know as soon as you meet him that he truly loves what he does and cares for his couples. We couldn’t be happier with our choice and what he brought to our special day.

Very satisfied with the officiant services we had with Jonathan! We were extremely impressed with fast responses, professional advice, all of it was beyond what we thought we would get! The Skype interview a month before our wedding helped him to really know us, and our guests told us after that it was like we had been married by an old friend of the family. We were given several options for ceremonies and the length/tones he has previously used with other couples, but we were given complete freedom to alter anything we chose to! Highly recommend!!

Jonathan was great and did everything we ask plus added some of his own wonderful touches. We would highly recommend him. He was very kind and followed up with us on our first year anniversary, which was the greatest thing ever.

Pastor Jonathan is the best of the best! If you want to have a beautiful, professional , designed to your needs ceremony look no further! Jonathan will put your mind at ease the moment you sit down together. I cannot say enough how much our family and friends loved our ceremony. So blessed to have had Johnathan take us thru the happiest day of our lives.

We would definitely recommended Jonathan & Kathy - They provide so much more than officiant services. From our first chat to the day of - we knew we were in good hands. If you are getting married in Northern, MI and are looking for an officiant - give them a call!

Jonathon did a very good job at our wedding. He took time to get to know us via skype beforw the wedding since it was a destination wedding. We received a lot of compliments from family on how nice of a ceremony it was. I liked how he gave you the option between religious, relaxed, or mixed ceremony.

Working with Jonathan was easy and flawless! He took time out of his night to Skype and get to know us before our big day! We loved chit-chatting with him and listening to his wisdom on a long happy marriage! He made my wife and I feel completely comfortable from start to finish. Jonathan also made it known he will forever be a resource/mentor to our marriage! We Highly recommend his services!

Jonathan and Kathy were very friendly and informative right from the first email. First we communicated with Jonathan through email then Kathy once we decided on having having her officiate. We would have been happy having either officiate our wedding. As we planned the ceremony, we were given several written options to start thinking about how the ceremony could go; the type of ceremony; the personalization etc. We did some research on our own and between the guidance Kathy gave us and what we thought, we came up with the perfect ceremony. We had a Facetime walkthrough since we were from the metro Detroit area and we were confident everything would run smooth, professional, fun and personalized. The ceremony went perfect because we had her professionalism, the walkthrough and she assured us that she would guide us through the ceremony and not to worry if we forgot what to say or do. We were very glad we chose Kathy for our cottage front wedding. Her personality was reassuring and kind. We definitely recommend them to anyone getting married in the Charlevoix area.

Everything I could have asked for! The ceremony was the most important part of the day to me, and it could not have been any better! Jonathan thought of every detail. He led us to create the perfect words to express our love, our life, and our hopes of what our future will look like. It was emotional, funny, and so perfectly fitting for my husband and I. Both of us were a little nervous about standing in front of that many people, but Jonathan made it feel like were we the only ones in the room. Even when a bug flew onto my face, he quickly wiped it away, and no one even knew! Everyone thought that he was catching one of my tears. Even an unexpected minor flaw was handled with ease. One of my favorite vendors to work with! I would highly recommend him!

My husband and I decided to elope and have a very intimate ceremony in the sand dunes of Lake Michigan. Jonathan and his wife Kathy were very thoughtful, down to earth, and helpful to our special day. In Michigan you have to accept you might get rain and we did, but that did not stop us from tying the knot. Jonathan and Kathy did not even hesitate to last minute changes so we could meet up earlier to beat the rain and we did. We will not forget this kindness!

We really enjoyed our experience with Jonathan! He was prompt, knew exactly what he was doing, and led our rehearsal with ease (very important!!!). The day of, he executed flawlessly and kept everyone on track throughout the ceremony. He is genuine and truly enjoys working with the couples he marries. His sentiment made our wedding day special and we really enjoyed having him as our pastor!

We are so happy that Kathy officiated our wedding. She was organized, thoughtful, and very personable. We enjoyed the counseling services leading up to the wedding day even thought we were nervous about how it would go. We were worried that someone was going to judge our relationship and pick on our faults, but that is not at all what happened. It was such an encouraging and relatable meeting. At our rehearsal, everyone got great tips on little details that we never would have thought about on our own. The most important thing we were told was to live in the moment and soak it all in during the ceremony. It sounds simple, but I was so grateful for that advice and for everything Kathy did for us!

We hired Pastor Jonathan based on Castle Farms' recommended vendor list and reading other reviews. We hired him to be at the rehearsal and ceremony. He provided us with several different ceremony options that we could mix and match. It took me a long time to finalize the words of the ceremony and I wasn't able to provide him the final draft until midnight the night before the rehearsal! I was a little nervous that he would not have enough time to prepare. I had nothing to be nervous about at all! He is a complete pro! At the rehearsal, he took over and made each parent and bridal party member feel comfortable and confident in their duties. He walked us through the entire process from start to finish and clearly laid out what we could expect from him on the wedding day. The ceremony went EXACTLY as he laid out. He delivered our ceremony perfectly! He had me, my husband, and our guests laughing and crying. He was prepared with tissues and back-up microphones and was able to ad-lib when my veil wouldn't stop blowing in the wind. Many of our guests commented on how prepared he was seeing that "he had clearly done this before"! The ceremony will forever be my fondest memory of the day in large part to Pastor Jonathan! I highly recommend hiring him to officiate your ceremony, you will not be disappointed!

We could not have asked for a better officiant! He is super familiar with Castle Farms and they know all of his preferences so he seamlessly works well with this venue. He is very genuine and sets up a consultation before the wedding to give some marriage tips and tricks. He also gives the most comprehensive rehearsal I have ever experienced going over exactly where to stand, where to face, and where to look so that you look as good as you dreamed you would, and you wedding party is on point. If you are doing a wedding at the Castle Jonathan should be your number one choice.

Jonathan was a complete professional. He was so kind and caring and helped ease my weather worries. He made our day even more special.

We had Jonathan as our officiant for our Castle Farms wedding. He did a fantastic job and we got so many compliments - our guests LOVED him! He allowed us to personalize our ceremony and he was so personable. Definitely have him as your officiant if you’re considering him.

Jonathan was so wonderful from start to finish-- he made the entire process of planning our ceremony so easy and so fun. When my husband and I met with him for the first time, it felt like we had been life-long friends. Our ceremony was at Castle Farms, and Jonathan knew exactly what he was doing; He was able to quickly and easily organize everyone and give us all a detailed overview of what to expect on the big day. On top of being incredibly professional and knowledgable, Jonathan was also one of the most genuine, sincere people we've ever met-- he offered us tips/advice on maintaining a happy, healthy marriage, and even offered himself as a third-party helper if we were ever to need him. Hands down, Jonathan is absolutely the best choice to officiate your special day!

Jonathan did a fantastic job not only on our wedding day, but leading up to it. Giving is guidance and information, and actually caring and having passion about couples, and the success of their happy marriage. He met with us and always responded quickly. Made our wedding day feel very personalized for only getting us once. Also heard many others compliment him leading up to our day, confirming out decision we had already made! Would recommend to anyone and everyone!!

Kathy was our officiant and we absolutely loved her! She put us at ease with her guidance and we knew we didn't have to worry about being caught up in the excitement and forgetting what to say or do, because she was giving us gentle reminders that the guests never noticed. My husband and I had a skype session with her and her husband, Jonathan, that was really insightful and we appreciated their advice. It also helped us get to know Kathy and feel more comfortable for our big day. We liked that Kathy sent us options for the ceremony so that we could customize it to fit us. We highly recommend Kathy to be your officiant!

Jonathan did a wonderful job for our ceremony! We received a lot of compliments about him from our guests. The ceremony was so easy to plan with his suggestions. We were traveling from Indianapolis to get married up north and did a skype premarital session with him and he had great advice about how to make a marriage successful. He was great at the rehearsal making it very easy for everyone to know where to go, where to put their feet, hands to make the photos look perfect. Our ceremony was short and sweet and still thoughtful and beautiful.

I just LOVE Jonathan. He was the best officiant we could have chosen hands down! The counseling session we had prior to the wedding was so insightful and honestly life changing for me. He's so wise and caring and really made us look deeper into our relationship. On the rehearsal day he could see I was stressed and he just took a moment to let me breath and help me calm down. He'll never know how much I appreciated that! Wedding day..amazing. Just amazing. The ceremony he put together for us was beyond beautiful. This was the most important part of the day for me. He made it filled with love and laughter. I'll forever be grateful!

If you are looking for an officiant for your wedding, look no further! Rev. Jonathan Mays was so easy to work with, from beginning to end. He really helps you through the entire process of composing your wedding ceremony. He was patient and answered my millions of questions throughout the wedding planning process. He is really experienced and nothing you throw his way will surprise him; he’s dealt with it all in the past! We had one Skype chat with him prior to the wedding, where he really helped us learn about ourselves as a couple. On the day of the rehearsal, he made sure everyone knew where they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing. We had SO many compliments towards him from our wedding guests; he was confident, eloquent, and extremely prepared (he had Kleenex in his pocket for my tears, haha!). I highly recommend Rev. Jonathan Mays, especially if you are having your wedding ceremony at Castle Farms.

Rev. Jonathan Mays might be my favorite part about my wedding. My husband and I live in California, and it was so taxing trying to find and arrange everything from so far away. I had read some reviews for Rev. Jonathan and Kathy Mays, so we decided to book him. I'm so happy that we did. Rev. Mays likes to meet with the Bride and Groom beforehand, but because we were in California we had to meet over the phone. Rev. Mays FaceTimed my husband and I, and although we'd never met before it was like we'd known him our entire lives. We both agreed we'd go to his church if we were in Michigan. What a fabulous human. He's so knowledgeable about marriage, relationships, life... He made us feel so much more confident in our own relationship. I'm just so pleased that he was the one to marry us. Everything felt so natural, and he was part of the reason our day was so perfect. So much love for Rev. Mays. I would highly recommend him to anyone.

Meeting Jonathan was such a blessing and our wedding would not have been complete without him. As a matter of fact, he made our relationship even stronger. From the moment we first asked him to work with us, we knew he would be a joy to work with. He is extremely responsive and works to create the most unique ceremony. My wife is Polish and he worked with us to include some Polish traditions into the ceremony. He always looks for ways to help make the wedding what you want it to be. We decided to also go thru the pre-martial counseling with Jonathan and it allowed us to become a stronger couple. Jonathan was so thoughtful with delivering our results. He made time to meet with us in person and answer any questions. On the day of the ceremony, he came to bridal suite to make sure my wife was feeling calm and collected. We so thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with him

Reverend Jonathan Mays was absolutely fantastic! Incredible person to work with! He made planning this part of the ceremony a breeze. He offered several styles of ceremonies to choose from, allowing us to customize wherever we needed. His reassurance that our day would be perfect and his overall professionalism made him a great choice. He took us through every step of the ceremony. Even my wedding guests had nothing but amazing things to say about him and how personalized our ceremony was. We're so happy he was part of our day and even more happy he will always be a part of our lives!

Jonathan was a flawless officiant. My wife and I went to Jonathan's home for our premarital counseling. Jonathan knew how much I liked coffee, so he brewed a pot of some of the best coffee I have ever had. My wife and I spent a couple hours chatting with Jonathan at his kitchen table, discussing our compatibility and mutual goals. On the day of the wedding, Jonathan had it down to a science: he knew exactly what to do/say, and when. There was even a point where he saw I was approaching my future mother-in-law too early during the ceremony, and he professionally touched my shoulder to let me know that I needed to wait. Jonathan made our day very special and I highly recommend his officiant services.

Jonathon and Kathy are so wonderful to work with! The marriage consultation was very helpful as it helped us learn more about each other and how to keep a great relationship! They gave us such great advice that we will be able to use the rest of our lives! They both are such great people and we are so glad we got to work with them! Kathy did an amazing job at our ceremony and we would definitely recommend them to everyone!

I can't say enough good things about Rev. Jonathan Mays. He was funny, personal, and very professional. He made our ceremony very special, and all our guests loved him!