4.9 out of 5 stars and 29 reviews
4.9
(29)Lake County and Northern Cook County, IL
About this vendor
When you tell your love story it should bring a smile to your face. It should make you laugh. Expressing your love and exchanging vows with your fiance(e) should maybe even bring a tear to your eye. This is exactly what you and your guests will experience during your wedding ceremony.
We will work together as I craft and narrate your personalized service reflecting your unique journey for only $300. This includes observances, choice of readings, your unique love story, personalized vows, ring exchange and choice of unity ceremony. English, Spanish and bilingual ceremonies are available. I will also sign and file your Lake County marriage license with the County Clerk's office. This all-inclusive offer is available to any bride and groom whose ceremony will be held in Lake County, IL.
Elopements starting at $80 based on location.
I am a non-denominational Ordained Minister and a member of the American Association of Wedding Officiants. I will help customize a wedding script, perform your ceremony, then sign and file your marriage license with the county clerk's office.
You are invited to my social media accounts for a look at my most recent services.
I look forward to serving you on your big day. - Rev. Michael
Details
Ceremony Types
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
- Second Wedding
Planning
- Se Habla Español
Religious Affiliations
- Christian
- Catholic
- Jewish
- Secular
- Spiritual
Wedding Activities
- Wedding
- Ceremony
Awards and Affiliations
2023 'Best of Weddings'
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help
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4.9
out of 5.029 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 3
Rev Michael is the most professional and thoughtful officiant I could have hoped for on my wedding day. He took charge and helped make our ceremony meaningful. He spent time to ma...
ke sure our wedding parties knew where they needed to be and the do's & don'ts to have a smooth ceremony. I so much appreciated that I could trust him to guide the ceremony and my wedding day was absolutely perfect. Thank you, Rev Michael. I would highly recommend him to anyone.
Michael helped us plan and execute the wedding of our dreams. We worked together to create a ceremony that combined two different backgrounds seamlessly into one story. He also kep...
t our large bridal party on task. Everyone felt comfortable and prepared for the big day, and we were able to enjoy each moment. Mike is a great person overall, as he is very kind with a good sense of humor, as well as reliable. We are thrilled we got to work with him and can't recommend him enough.
Rev. Michael was a pleasure to work with. He made our ceremony everything we could have hoped for and more! He is a true pro and we cannot recommend him enough.
Planning a wedding is a stressful but joyful job. We couldn't decide at first if we wanted to ask someone close to us or hire an officiant. Once we made the decision to look outsid...
e for someone it was like Rev Michael appeared magically. He innocently commented on a post asking who my planner was - not even looking to see if his services were needed. But right from our first interactions I knew he was the right choice. He is caring and kind and witty! He ensured he got to know details about us and tailored the ceremony to exactly how we wanted it to go. We added in a ring warming ceremony which Rev. Michael made sure was intimate and special. Having him at our rehearsal was SO important. He took charge and made sure everyone knew the plan for the ceremony so things would go without a hitch (pun intended). If you are getting married and he is available, I promise you this will be one of the best and easiest decisions you will make!
Michael was an absolute pleasure to work with! His professionalism and flexibility are just two of the attributes I admire the most when working alongside him. He had a draft of th...
e ceremony within 2 weeks of booking! He is involved and active among the vendor community and stays up to date on trends while remaining incredibly flexible and accommodating. As wedding planners, we could not ask for anything more in an officiant! - Laura, founder of Marryment
We were thrilled to have Michael officiate our wedding, and we can’t recommend him highly enough! From our first meeting, he took the time to get to know us and understand our visi...
on for the ceremony.
Michael crafted a beautiful, personalized script that truly captured our love story. The ceremony was heartfelt and meaningful, making it the perfect start to our special day. His calm presence and warm demeanor helped ease any nerves we had, and he guided us through the process with grace and professionalism.
Additionally, Michael coordinated a fantastic rehearsal that ensured everyone knew their roles, making us feel confident for the big day. Our wedding party commented multiple times on how professional and experienced he was, and how he “really knows his stuff.”
Thank you, Michael, for making our wedding day so memorable! We wholeheartedly recommend him to any couple looking for an officiant.
Rev. Michael officiated our wedding over the weekend, and we have nothing but positive things to say. He was kind, professional, and respectful. He let us add personal touches to o...
ur ceremony script to make it extra special. He even brought us Starbucks! We completely recommend Hitched by MV!
Rev. Michael was Very professional yet had character. Spent the time with us to go over many questions.
Definitely would recommend him
DB LUCAS
We hired Rev. Michael for our May 2023 wedding and we couldn't have been happier with working with him! He made the whole process very smooth, romantic, and even fun. The first dra...
ft of the script was almost perfect as it was as a draft. He was calm and very prepared day of ceremony and helped us be calm. The entire wedding party was singing his praises. I HIGHLY recommend him! You won't be sorry!
Very professional and friendly. Also, loved that he was bilingual. Highly recommend!
Stop scrolling and hire Rev. Michael!! He was absolutely wonderful to work with and made our ceremony completely stress free. We received so many compliments on our ceremony due to...
having him as our officiant. It was everything we could have hoped for. He was so easy to work with and professional throughout the planning process, and having him run the rehearsal made our lives 100x easier. We are so grateful Rev. Michael was our officiant, he was an essential part of our day!
I cannot stress enough how wonderful Reverend Michael was during the whole process of our wedding. He was easy to work with and very thorough, taking all the guess work out of the ...
license and ceremony. He even helped us craft a fantastic script for the ceremony, which was an enormous help. During the rehearsal, he was invaluable at helping us work out some of the kinks (where to stand, how to stand, handing off the ring, how to walk during the processional and recessional, etc.) so our ceremony would run smoothly. And during the ceremony he was fantastic - just an absolute joy to have as our officiant. My wife and I are very grateful to the care Reverend Michael took at helping us craft a wonderful ceremony. We urge you to consider him for your officiant - he made our special day even better!
Rev. Michael was great! We had several conversations with him leading up to the ceremony, and he allowed us the opportunity to customize the ceremony to fit what we wanted and what...
we were comfortable with. He led our rehearsal the day before the ceremony, and provided helpful advice and guidance when practicing. We would highly recommend Rev. Michael.
Reverend Michael was great and easy to work with! He kept it simple for us, providing options of verbiage to choose from, and also let us have creative reigns to add or combine wha...
t we wanted! He also turned my "bullet points" of a love story into a great, appropriately humorous story which we greatly appreciated. Additionally, we didn't have a rehearsal given the small nature of our wedding, but he was there early on the big day and made sure everyone was prepped with what to do. Thank you so much Reverend Michael!!
Michael was amazing!! He was very responsive and helped us with the outline for our ceremony. He also did our rehearsal the day before and gave great advice! I am so happy with the...
ceremony and highly recommend him to officiate your wedding as well!
Michael was great. Responsive, organized,nice, flexible. Helped my daughter & SIL design a lovely ceremony that incorporated not only their getting married, but that my SIL had a ...
6 year old daughter as well. Michael speaks Spanish as well as english which was a great since there were Spanish speakers in my SIL's family. Michael did a great job with the rehearsal, explaining in detail how everyone was to present themselves. We all highly recommend Hitched by M.V.
Reverend Michael officiated our wedding and we’re so happy he did! From the moment we met to the day he married us, he was very nice, professional, and reliable. Our wedding day w...
as perfect and we’re so glad we chose him to be a part of it. Please choose him for your officiant, you won’t regret it!
Michael was the absolute best in delivering our bilingual ceremony we wanted something that flowed naturally and he beyond exceeded our expectations he truly customized our ceremon...
y to include all our guests we received so so many compliments on how beautiful our ceremony was
Rev. Michael was so easy to work with. My husband and I just wanted something super simple and quick and in our own backyard. Rev. Michael made an exception to come to our home whi...
ch is not in the county he normally works in. He was very flexible with dates and times, which was also super helpful with a 5 month old! The ceremony could not have been more perfect for us. We would absolutely recommend him to anyone!
We had the Best experience! It was easy to schedule, MV was accommodating about the location and super kind. His words brought tears to our eyes. I highly recommend using Hitched b...
y MV!
We had our wedding recently and booked the officiant well over a year in advance. We received our ceremony script 8/2020 and it was returned to them before 2020 was over. (Remember...
those two sentences). We booked the ceremony to start at 5:15 and the officiant came about 45 minutes early. This was around the time when my ceremony dress was ruined by the chair in the get ready suite of the venue. Michael made the dress fiasco even more stressful. He came to the get ready suite well over 5 times to see if I was ready to start. I felt that we were being rushed because he arrived early. But as he could clearly see me and my planner were distraught and trying to get the stain out. I didn't understand why he would keep coming back almost harassing me to start early. Even went as far as getting people to go and take their seats early. This didn't help ease me at all and my coordinator had to leave me and my dress issues to address that problem downstairs. I feel that Michael should have came up twice and no more than that. once to say hey i've arrived and one more time close to 5:15 to let me know its showtime. We did start right on time however, but all that stress put on me was not worth it. During the ceremony Michael leaned over to me a few times to make sure the script is all correct. This could have been avoided with a phone call prior so that we can re-read the script together. Instead of showing others that they were not fully prepared. It is definitely a learning experience for the Officiant, always read the room and if you see a bride in distress, leave her alone.
We had a few road blocks while planning our wedding but Mr Vargas was calm and encouraging throughout the whole process. That’s very nice considering the weekly closing and risks d...
uring this time. Our small “Covid wedding” went smoother than expected and he was one of the reasons why.
From the time we contacted Rev. Michael regarding our special day he was professional, understanding, and made us feel at ease. He helped us find a location that best fit our need...
s helping make our day so memorable. Thank you Rev. Michael!
Rev. Michael was very professional, courteous and kind! We have been very stressed and emotionally challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. When we needed an opportunity to elope, priv...
ately, for personal reasons, he made it happen very quickly. We put everything together in about a week and a half. I couldn't be more recommending of his services.
Rev. Michael was amazing! He was so helpful when it came to customizing our wedding script. It can be overwhelming, but he was great with starting us off with a template and custom...
izing from there.
He really connected with us and made our ceremony very personable.
We loved working with Rev. Michael and highly recommend him.
Reverend Michael was professional and worked with us to personalize the ceremony. Everything was very easy, which we appreciated. He was great to work with, we would definitely rec...
ommend him to friends and family.
Tim & Madeline D.
We were looking for an intimate private wedding ceremony to have outside somewhere in Lake County, IL. My husband found Reverend Michael doing an internet searc...
h and saw that all the reviews were positive. We spoke over the phone , described what we wanted, he gave us suggestions of locations and we decided upon the gazebo outside Byron Colby Barn in Grayslake. The setting was perfect.. exactly what we envisioned/wanted...and because we had no other witnesses... Reverend Michael took some great photos of us afterwards that captured the beautiful landscape at our wedding site. Definitely would recommend him to others!
I cannot express how lovely it was working with Rev Michael. He made my groom and I feel comfortable and so excited for our wedding from the moment of our initial consultation.
H...
e worked closely with us to really personalize our wedding, and was so prompt in answering any questions I had. He ran our rehearsal perfectly, and was just an amazing officiant during our ceremony. My groom and I somehow managed to mess up about 5 times during our ceremony, and Rev Michael was great at just letting everyone laugh and then moved things alone so smoothly.
He was truly a joy to work with and I'm so glad he was there on our big day!
Michael officiated our wedding ceremony and he was absolutely wonderful to work with. He was professional, organized, and accommodating. We felt 100% comfortable working with him...
from day 1, and now that the wedding is over, we are so happy with our decision. The ceremony was romantic, he paid attention to detail, and he was extremely calm (and early) the day-of. He offered suggestions and choices for our ceremony, but gave us total creative freedom of the ceremony script. Michael also ran our rehearsal, which was a success. We are very happy with Michael and would highly recommend him!
Contact
Lake County and Northern Cook County, IL
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