About this vendor
Ken is an Ordained Minister with over 10 years of performing Ceremonies. Ken has officiated over 500 Weddings in the West Michigan Area. He is one of the most recommended Officiants at venues such as: Grand Volute Ballrooms, Amway Grand, Pinnacle Center, and more. Every ceremony is personalized.
Details
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
Religious Affiliations
- Christian
- Catholic
- Interfaith
Wedding Activities
- Wedding
- Ceremony
Awards and Affiliations
Reviews
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4.6
out of 5.044 reviews
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Ken did such an amazing job with our wedding and worked with our last minute changes due to COVID-19. With all the added stress around the wedding he made our lives easier by being so efficient and responsive with all the little details. He really helped to keep us on track during the rehearsal as well as the day of. Ken truly knows what he is doing and was professional throughout the entire process. He even told us about a wine box ceremony which was something we never heard of but loved the idea so much that we ended up incorporating it into our wedding ceremony. Overall, he did a wonderful job and we would highly recommend him for your wedding!
Nancy took the time to get to know us as a couple and did a terrific job at the ceremony, even when she had to think on her feet.
We truly enjoyed working with them! They helped us figure things out and end up with a Wedding service that was perfect for us!
Ken did such an amazing job at our ceremony. He made sure everything was exactly how we wanted it before the rehearsal and was there on time and always responded to every one of my (many) emails. Haha. Our ceremony was absolutely perfect and Ken made sure of that! I HIGHLY recommend him and I don't think our day would have been the same without him.
My husband and I could not be happier with I Now Pronounce You Wedding Officiant Services. Our officiant, Ken, helped us to thoroughly plan our ceremony down to every last detail. He created a personal, heartfelt, and meaningful script that perfect captured the relationship between my husband and I. Our ceremony could not have been more beautiful or perfect. We cannot thank Ken enough! We would highly recommend Now Pronounce You Wedding Officiant Services to every happy couple planning their wedding :)
Best day ever! Ken did a wonderful job at our ceremony. My husband and I have different views on religion and what we felt was important to include in our ceremony. Ken was easy to work with and let us choose what to add/take away from the ceremony script. I enjoyed meeting with Ken prior to the ceremony as he helped outline different items we should think about. It made the planning process much easier. At our rehearsal Ken was so helpful. We were in and out quickly as he knew what he was doing and how to direct our wedding party. On the day of the wedding he did a wonderful job, and I am so happy with how the ceremony turned out. Thanks Ken!
Ken was absolutely amazing. He was our officiant for our ceremony and he did such an awesome job. He has a great voice that can carry. No microphone was needed. He was so quick to get back with me about any questions we had. He also incorporated everything we wanted into our ceremony. Ken went over everything very thoroughly with us. He is a great guy who is very personable and professional. I would highly recommend him to anyone. Thank you Ken for making our day run smoothly and doing such a great job to make our day special!
Kenneth played such an important role in making my wedding a perfect day. It started during my rehearsal, when I had no idea what was supposed to be happening and he just took charge of everything. He kindly and professionally walked the entire wedding party through every detail until I felt comfortable. He wrote a beautiful personalized ceremony for us, and made changes when I requested them. He projected loudly and clearly, and during the reception I actually had a few people comment to me "Wow, your officiant was on it." He injected the perfect amount of seriousness and lightheartedness into the ceremony. It is obvious that he cares so much about helping people live out their special day. He's great at what he does! Highly recommended!
Ken was our DJ as well as our officiant and people kept commenting on how beautiful the ceremony was! I HIGHLY recommend I Now Pronounce You Wedding Services!!
Ken was an awesome guy to work with. Super laid back and easy to get along with. I actually misplaced my marriage certificate for about 24 hours and he didn't make a big deal out of it. We completed the ceremony and he said he lived in the area to just give him a buzz and we would get it signed! He stayed true to his word and it made such a stressful moment during my wedding day so easy! I would recommend him to anyone looking to get married or renew their vows! Great choice and a lot of fun to work with! He brought life to our ceremony and people would have never guessed we had only met one other time! Two thumbs up for Ken and I now pronounce you!!
I am sure that those of you who are reading this are finding out how stressful planning a wedding can be. There is so much to do and time seems to be running out. When it came to finding the right person to conduct the ceremony I received a list from our venue. After looking over those listed I decided on Ken, and I was not disappointed. He laid everything out for me and even scheduled time to do a walk through with us beforehand. When I say everything I mean everything. Where my dad would kiss me and pass me to my husband, and how he would slip me the ring while my mom took my bouquet. Important since I had no pockets. We also chose to utilize his DJ service. I was surprised to find out it he was the DJ but he did a great job at that to. Overall he was great to work with and alleviated a lot of my concerns. He offered suggestions but made sure It turned out the way I wanted it.
The preferred wedding for my hubby and me was to get married in nature. We wanted to get married ASAP so we went with the courthouse plan. Well, while getting my nails done the man doing them said 10 min. which would have put me on time to get to the courthouse on time, but that turned into 30 min! This pushed back ALL of my other app. (hair, makeup, food, ect.). This blunder turned out to be a blessing. I did miss the courthouse app and the magistrate had left. My hubby did well and thought on his feet and got a hold of Ken. We met at a place we had visited before out in nature at a park. Ken was dressed professionally and wrote up our documents and service. He HIKED with us up to the top of a beautiful ridge overlooking sand dunes and Lake Michigan and gave us a service that was beautiful and let us have traditional vows and let us speak our own vows. I really appreciated him coming in such short notice and was so friendly and professional. I also appreciated that he was a minister and not affiliated with any one branch of Christianity (I am Catholic hubby is Baptist). Thank you Ken for the wedding my husband and I will never forget!
Ken was wonderful. I wasn't sure what I should do and when and suggested what he thought would work best and it did! I was glad to have his experience. He made my evening less stressful and totally enjoyable! He was very busy with requests but managed to play most all of them! A great was had by
Ken also officiated the ceremony. He sent us a full script of the ceremony ahead of time and gave us plenty of time to review and make any needed changes. My husband and I both have children from previous marriages and we wanted to incorporate our kids in the ceremony and he adjusted the script to accommodate everything that I wanted. I didn't know what to do or what should be said but he took care of it all
The price includes the ceremony and the DJ service
Ken did an amazing job with our ceremony (Sept 6, 2014, Windmill Island).
He gave us the wedding script/vows ahead of time so that we can review. He helped us with our questions and requests.
The ceremony went smoothly and beautifully.
I would recommend him to other couples.
Ken did an amazing job with our ceremony (on July 26th 2014). The wedding guests were unanimous in their statements that the ceremony was heartfelt and beautifully performed. Not only was Ken friendly and prompt in his responses to my emails, Ken was very flexible and understanding of our particular circumstances and wishes. He created a beautiful and very personalized wedding service for our ceremony.
I would strongly recommend Ken's services to anyone!
Ken was our officiant and DJ...and he's super nice, but not what you would want for your wedding. Since he provided 2 different roles on our day, I will divide my review.
Officiant: we went over which songs to play and when for the ceremony several times (including an hour before the start). There were only 3 songs. One when people were taking their seats, one for the processional and one for the recessional. He screwed that up, realized he did, stopped the music abruptly, then started to play the same incorrect song right where he left off. At the exact moment that I was supposed to walk down the aisle with my dad (he could've asked me this ALL DAY, but waited until I was about to WALK DOWN THE AISLE, "your new last name will be pronounced -------, right?" No. Not even close. He pronounced it correctly in past conversations, but must have totally forgotten when it mattered most. (Hornor rhymes with corner...its not pronounced honor because there is an 'R' in the middle) When my dad and i made it down the aisle, he was fiddling with something in the back...nowhere to be found, so we stood and waited. Finally he came up and the speech began. He's a spitter. There's lot of spit that flies out of that mans mouth. But the best part of all is that his speeches are all copied and pasted from other wedding speeches online (mostly from Angelfire and about.com). Not one word is original. I looked it up when he gave me the script a couple weeks before the wedding and it was repetitive and choppy. Much like his reading abilities. Very choppy. One sentence at a time.
DJ: we gave pretty specific instructions throughout the course of the night. NO CHEESY ENTRANCE MUSIC. He did it anyway. We gave him a playlist for cocktail hour, a playlist for dinner and another for dancing. We specifically told him to play those songs. He played SOME of our songs, because he wanted to add his own music in...but once he was asked to follow directions again...he was back on track. He was also asked via email and phone call a week beforehand to play 'happy birthday' for a few family members. He forgot. But he did one thing right! We asked him to play a specific song to finish out the night, and he did that perfectly!
Other than what's mentioned above, our wedding was perfect. We laughed everything off and had a fantastic time, but he was the butt of a lot of jokes that night. I wouldn't recommend him for either job.
Ken was recommended to me and after reading the reviews, I thought he would be a good choice. We met with him at his home and went over everything we wanted for our ceremony. We also decided we would use him as our DJ.
I have to say that while he did a great job at the actual ceremony, I was extremely disappointed by how many times we had to remind him of things. We made it very clear that we did not want the typical 1 Corinthians verse in our ceremony and when he sent our ceremony to us for review, it was on there. He took it out after we reminded him, but I felt that we should not have had to remind him when it was in our notes. I was very worried and disappointed when he didn't show up to our ceremony until 14 minutes before.
As far as the DJ portion of the service, I wasn't super thrilled. I stated several times that I wanted no country music yet the first song he played was country. During our entrance to our reception, he screwed up the names of our bridal party even though we gave him a list of everyone and listed who was walking with who. Then prior to the wedding he asked for a list of songs for our special dances and that we would like to hear. He didn't play the song I requested for the anniversary dance and I didn't hear any of the songs we requested he play. I didn't understand the point of giving a list if it wasn't going to be followed.
Overall, I was disappointed but appreciated that the ceremony went well.
We had Ken do our ceremony and could not have picked anyone better. He made it so easy and relaxed, everything went so smoothly we could not have been happier!
Our wedding ceremony was phenomenal! We got to choose the elements we wanted in our ceremony and reviewed everything beforehand. We loved that the ceremony reflected us and they were more than happy to accommodate our special requests. I think we were more relaxed on our wedding day since we knew what to expect and we could just enjoy the day. Everything went off perfectly! Ken looked fantastic and has a loud clear voice. We received a lot of compliments on the beautiful message and relaxed atmosphere.
Ken was also the dj for our reception immediately after the ceremony. The whole evening ran smoothly and we were able to enjoy the whole day without worrying about anything. He played everything that we wanted. When multiple people requested the chicken dance and hokey pokey,(they are on a lot of bride's "do not play list" and we had not made the distinction either way), he checked with us before playing them. Those two songs ended up being some of our favorite songs at our reception! He made everything so much fun. He is extremely charismatic and had everybody out on the dance floor all night!
We couldn't be happier! It was one of the best days of our lives. Thank you Ken and team!
I was most nervous about finding an officiant for our ceremony. Not having a church or a pastor, and wanting our ceremony to be non-denominational, I was worried about having a stranger play such an important role in our wedding day.
Our first meeting with Ken was great. He made us feel at ease and we immediately felt comfortable that he and his team would be a good fit for us. About a week before the ceremony, I contact Chris Dingman, our assigned officiant. We spoke briefly on the phone but he was so cordial I felt like I knew him right away.
We met in person for the first time at the ceremony. I gave him a swatch of my bridesmaids dress color and he color coordinated his day-of shirt to the girls! It was a great touch! He offered his suggestions on flow and other details during the rehearsal but always made sure that it was what my and my (now) husband envisioned. He was very respectful of our opinions.
The team of I Now Pronounce U were professional and personal. They were exactly what we were looking for!
My fiance' and I had been living together for a few years before we tied the knot and when it came time to find a preacher who would marry us considering the circumstances, it was not easy. My best friend who married in April raved about her officiant and suggested I contact Ken. Ten minutes after I textd him ( haha yes, i'm very professional ) I received A response back saying he'd love to be a part of our day and to call him later than evening. The call was short and sweet. We discussed a time and place to meet and a few small wedding details. I was immediately put to ease. My fiance and I met at his office the next week and 45 minutes later we had our ceremony planned. He emailed us the script and allowed us to make any changes we desired and after my changes were requested he sent a final version within days. It was breath taking. Our rehearsal went smoothly thanks to Ken, he ran the show with his boisterous voice creating order in a serious yet fun fashion. Even my dad liked him! On the day of our wedding Ken looking very sharp. I was impressed. When it was time for the ceremony I could her his voice thru the speakers and it gave me the chills. such force and meaning in his words. Half way thru the reading the speakers were giving out so he removed his headset, it was amazing, his voice was even louder w/o the mic and he didn't miss a beat. My fiance' and I chose to release doves for our unity and boy was that the best decision ever! Ken brought the doves in such secrecy that everyone was shocked when he made the announcement :) he handed us each our dove so carefully, and on the count of 3 they were released. Everyone went crazy, we were pronounced Husband and Wife and into the barn we went for paperwork. Ken did an amazing job. I would recommend him to anyone who wants their big day to be the best day of their life. ** our wedding wss on 7-27-13 outside on a farm, he was not concerned about weather, said I was the bride and if I didn't mind getting rained on- he'd carry on. It didn't rain but still... good to know. ** Thank you Kenneth Kibby for making our day so special!
My now husband and I are practicing Catholics and it was difficult for us not to be married by a priest because one of our annulments was not completed yet; however - Ken and Chris made it easier. The service was sweet, simple, and to the point. The reading was fitting as was the sweet message to us and guests. Although Catholicism was not as much of the wedding as I had hoped, it was due to other circumstances. Chris did a great job and we received many compliments on the service as a whole. Ken and Chris were very well organized and I had the pleasure of speaking with Chris personally for some time before even committing to the date. He was very personable and easy to talk to which made the decision to use them easier. Thanks for everything!
Three weeks before my wedding I was notified that our officiant (aka my cousin) had to go out of town for work and could not perform our wedding ceremony. After contacting several churches and not getting much response I came across I now pronounce you on The Knot's website. I immediately contacted them and they were able to fit us in even though it would double book them that day. They did an excellent job on working with me to prepare a script that incorporated everything I wanted including prayer, scripture readings and having my two children play a big part in the ceremony. Chris Dingman officiated and was awesome! I couldn't have hoped for more!!
We weren't going for a super traditional ceremony, but we do believe in God, so we were looking for someone who could offer us just the right balance. "I Now Pronounce You" was perfect for us! Ken Kibby was organized and relaxed, which made it more fun for us. I truly loved the ceremony he put together for us (we did traditional vows)...the beginning prayer was so special, for us and our guests. Not too much, not too little. PERFECT! The Wine Box ceremony was so unique that our guests were commenting on how cool and sweet it was throughout the night.
Ken, we couldn't have found a better officiant...and one that rides a Harley! You have been a pleasure to work with. Thank you! And...we will send you a pic of us on your bike! ~ E & D, wedding at Grand Haven Golf Club
I found I Now Pronounce You through theknot.com. There were so many great reviews that I thought I should give it a try. I know a couple of people said they didn't want a mention of God and he did that or something like that during the ceremony, but I thought that it had to be impossible for that to happen after going through the process with them before putting down my deposit. Basically you tell them your date and needs/wants and they send you an outline. You can make any changes you want, send it back to them, and they'll work with you - sounds great right? How could they accidentally read a prayer that wasn't in your vows that they would be reading off a sheet? Well....
Here was my experience:
Initial Contact: E-Mailed them that I was interested - was asked to fill out the planner and email back with $50 deposit following in the mail. I emailed back the planner (which included both my name and my fiance's name) and told them the $50 check was on the way from my fiance asking if they could please confirm when they received it. Two weeks went by with no email or phone call back from them and so I asked if they received the check citing that I was a little nervous I hadn't heard from them. No response. Another week goes by (3 weeks since I sent the check) and I email them again asking for someone to respond to me to (1) be sure I don't need to do a stop payment on a lost check and more importantly (2) that we did indeed reserve someone to marry us on our wedding day! I received an email back from Ken Kibby asking me to call him - so I do. Turns out they had the money but were confused that it was from my fiance (who's name was listed in all my emails and documents) and they didn't know who the check was for? Fine... but, why not respond to me when I emailed you the first time? He basically blamed his assistant and seemed quite nice on the phone until he said "Don't worry - someone will be there to marry you........what day are you getting married again??" (this is 1.5 months before my wedding). Was a little unsettling, but I figured it would be fine - my fiance and I are pretty laid back and we just needed to get married, so whatever!
Day Before Wedding: I receive a phone call from Ken Kibby telling me that he is "calling it" and that due to the forecast of rain I would have to have my wedding inside. Excuse me?? This is your call? I calmly explained that I would prefer to look at the radar the day of my wedding to be sure since my outdoor venue cost me quite a bit of money and I loved it and I couldn't make the call yet. It was in my original planning documents that I would let them know the day of. His response was simply "fine." followed by *click*. Real professional.
Day of wedding: We make the call 5 hours before our ceremony (plenty of time) to have our wedding indoors and let him know. We show up - he pronounces my name wrong at first during the ceremony (I made a joke and he played along and everyone laughed ... it was fine, but unprofessional. My last name isn't hard!! Whatever - its still fine). Ok, so we stated no mention of God (my fiance is not religious) and no mention of children. HE READ A PRAYER FOR US TO BE BLESSED WITH CHILDREN. I am confused as he was reading OUR VOWS that we approved and then in the middle of them he just reads this blessing - THESE WERE NOT IN ANYTHING THAT WE EVER SAW OR APPROVED - WHERE DID THIS COME FROM???
I work with brides for a living and I can say this would ruin most peopl
I had Ken do my DJ and Chris do my officiating.
Chris was so great. I am always nervous in front of crowds and he made me so comfortable. I couldn't have asked for a better officiant. I Now Pronounce You does non-religious ceremonies as well as religious and that was initially why I chose them, but I'm SOO glad I did :-)
Ken brought props for dancing and everyone had a great time. He kept things going on schedule and when I felt like changing the schedule he was fine with that too :-) he had everyone do the hustle too!
Our officiant, Scott, was awesome. He was funny, he incorporated our ideas and let us know what the best way to handle our ceremony was. He coordinated with our musician to make sure everything was as we wanted it. Ken, the owner, sat down and talked with us and was also very nice, friendly, and calming. Overall, an amazing experience.
Ken was great to have as an officiant for our August wedding. He and Jill were a pleasure to work with from planning, reviewing, and executing the service. Ken was professional and well-organized both for the rehearsal and wedding ceremony. Although a bit pricey for our taste, I would choose this service if I had to do it all over again (let's hope not!).
Ken Kibby is the officiant that we used. We met up with him and decided on our wedding ceremony details. He made it very easy to decide and plan out. I really like that this company e-mailed us the entire ceremony wording a week ahead of time and he could change things if necessary. We had a ceremony rehearsal and that went very well. The day of Ken wore a shirt in our wedding colors and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. I would recommend him to my family and friends!
Ken Kibby was our officiant and he did a wonderful job! The ceremony was beautiful and to the point. It was everything we could have asked for. He made changes that we asked him to make and was very helpful with the rehearsal.
My wife and I were married by Ken on April 7, 2012. From start to finish, he was amazing. At first, we didn’t completely know what we were looking for in our ceremony, but we did know what we didn’t want. After meeting with Ken once, we knew he could provide us with the ceremony that would suit our needs and personalities. His basic questions allowed both him and us to better understand what type of ceremony we wanted. Prior to the ceremony, he sent us two options for the ceremony, we were able to add or remove portions. However, we didn’t find much that we wanted to change.
Ken took charge at the rehearsal. His experience was noticeable and appreciated. With parents, groomsmen, bridesmaids, a young flower girl and ring bearer, and, of course, a bride and groom with many things on our mind, Ken was able to provide us all with clear directions to organize us. This made the rehearsal and, more importantly, the wedding go off so smoothly. We truly could not have had a better ceremony, the style and sentiment was exactly what we wanted. And Ken was prepared with Kleenex when it was needed.
Finding an officiant online was scary for me, but Ken did a wonderful job. My first conversation with Ken was a little unorganized and left me feeling slightly uneasy about working with him and I am not sure that he knew which wedding he was doing on the night of the rehearsal, but he pulled through on the wedding day for sure and everything was beautiful. He speaks very well in front of people and helped personalize our ceremony to us and all of our guests were raving about how much they enjoyed the ceremony. He even called the morning of to ask our wedding colors so he could match to them, which I thought was very sweet!
I just met with Ken to do our wedding. I went to a wedding he officiated at the Amway Grand, and another at the Grand Volute. He was a great Minister--very experienced at wedding ceremonies! ( I think ceremonies is all he really does-and he is wonderful at it)
When I got engaged, he was one of my first calls because I know other friends of mine couldn't get on his schedule because he is booked. (good thing he has other ministers that could fill their date!)
Ken had a planner that we filled out and my fiance thought he was so down to earth--really liked him. The planner was detailed as to what we want for our wedding. We are 2 months away and we already got our script and it was beautiful!! They emailed it to us to look over and we did not change a thing--they wrote it perfect for us! Looking forward to our own wedding --I know based on the care he has given us thus far, we'll be very pleased! Recommend him, and his services to all! (Even our wedding planner was so happy we got him because she loves the professionalism they give to her clients)
I was emailing with Kenneth Kibby from "I Now Pronounce You" when he told me to call him to set up an appointment. When I did so he seemed confused as if he didn't remember me. But I booked an appointment anyway thinking what was the harm!
3 Hours before our appointment he called me to cancel due to work reasons and I was understanding, he said he would call me back at 8:30pm to reschedule our appointment and 2 days later I have still not heard from him.
EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING!
We got married on October 8, 2011. We had a "destination" wedding in Saugatuck, MI and while searching for someone to officiate the ceremony; I came across I Now Pronounce You thanks to great recommendations online and their website. I contacted Ken Kibby - we arranged a meeting and booked right away. Both my husband and I knew he was a perfect fit. With our idea/outline of the ceremony in mind, he worked with us to make sure our ceremony was unique, entertaining, and a good representation of the love we shared. He showed up promptly for both the rehearsal and ceremony. At the rehearsal, we followed his lead and were so grateful for his experience to pull the whole show together. At the ceremony, he was dressed to impress while coordinating his attire to match the wedding party (so it looked great for all the photos!). He had a strong, loud voice, that was entertaining and never boring. We felt so comfortable with him, throughout the whole preparation process and ceremony. He made us laugh and realize the uniqueness of the big day and the love we shared. Everyone complemented us immediately after the ceremony – saying how great Ken was, how wonderful the flow of the ceremony was, and that it was truly special. He was very easy to work with - from the first meeting, the proofing of the ceremony via email, a phone call a few days before just to touch base, the rehearsal and the ceremony. At the end, we felt he was a friend, and we were so happy / blessed that he could be there for us on our special day and make it perfect. We would recommend him to anyone, he has been in this business for a long time and has such a true passion – you couldn’t find anyone more dedicated to making your day as special as our day was.
We found Ken from his website online and immediately knew he was one we wanted to talk with to do our ceremony. Plus, he had a lot of great reviews about him on Google. We arranged a meeting and booked right away. My fiance and I both felt wonderful about his personality, organization and how he presented himself. Plus, he made my fiance laugh at the meeting which was a huge plus because my fiance hated to help with the planning! -He is still taking credit for hiring Ken!
At the rehearsal, we followed his lead and were so grateful he has experience in sound for our music, big weddings and making people want to pay attention. It was a breeze!
At the ceremony, he showed up in our watermelon color for his shirt and tie to match with his suit--So impressive! His voice was loud and clear--He is a great speaker and we felt so comfortable! We had a ton of compliments and our friend called him right away to book their 2012 wedding because they had to be sure to get him.
From the meeting, to proofing the emailed ceremony, to the rehearsal and final wedding day--Ken and his team did an amazing job. He is busy and in demand--we understand that--We hired the best and that comes with the territory, but he blew our expectations out of the water and he also keeps in touch after.
My husband and I will recommend him to anyone. He,along with his team ,are the best--and believe us, we've been to a lot of weddings these days.
If I could give the officiant that performed the service his own review, Scott at "I Now Pronounce You" would get 6 stars--he was perfect! Funny and good at getting this excitable bride to CALM DOWN (and he even talked me through a last-minute panic over giving up my last name). He was awesome at wrangling up the groomsmen and getting them to understand what they were supposed to do, and he was always open to changing things. We added the Wedding Wine Box ceremony and a ring warming into our ceremony, and Scott was great at incorporating them into our service. I would highly recommend Scott.
There are a few things that happened before the ceremony, on the administration side of things, that kept me from giving these guys 5 stars. We had booked them after seeing them officiate at two of our friend's weddings. We scheduled a booking appointment 6 months before the wedding, but the officiant we wanted to meet with got stranded in a rain storm after a rehearsal and could not meet with us--no problem, we were adaptable. We met with his girlfriend instead, and gave her our deposit and signed a contract reserving the dates (our rehearsal and ceremony). One month later, I paid the balance and sent in our wedding planning sheet.
Months went by, and I had not heard from anyone regarding ceremony choices, rehearsal time, nothing. I called and always got a voicemail, emailed and never got a response. Two weeks before our wedding, I basically STALKED them until I got a response...they claimed they did not have us "in the books". At all. One mini-heart attack and a strongly worded email later, they miraculously "found a way to fit us in". I was relieved, but NOT pleased.
All of that aside, as I said, Scott was amazing and I would recommend him (on his own) to anyone.
We offer weddings at a local Grand Rapids facility and I will say, we have many officiants who come in, but Ken Kibby is by far the best! He has a great rapport with his couples, always keeps them relaxed. His ceremony is always flawless -even those with ritual content, lots of attendants , etc because he does a great job on the rehearsal. At the wedding , he matches the colors with his suit so he appears like he belongs in the wedding. We love working with him and hope couples know what a gem he is.
I was married on 09.10.11. Needless to say this was a VERY popular date. I was nervous about finding someone of quality that wasn't already booked. I found Ken and my then fiance and I met with him at his house. He was amazing, his humor matched ours, and it was a perfect fit. He had a survey that really helped me design my perfect ceremony. During planning I had several questions that I had to email him about. He got back to me within a day EVERY TIME I emailed him. GREAT PERSONAL and PROFESSIONAL SKILLS! The thing that really touched me was that my cousin didn't show up to run the music, I thought it was a crisis, but he stepped up and ran the music from behind him without it affecting my ceremony in the least!!!!! AMAZING! He even helped reassure my husband who got very excited and said "I do" too early. (My husband is very easily embarrassed but Ken had him laughing along with us...HARD TO DO!)
I have to say he is a must used if you are getting married.
Ken is a very nice person. He will provide you with a wedding ceremony and go over it with you. However, we decided to write our own ceremony, which he was totally cool with. But come the night of the rehearsal, he came with his own ceremony and not ours even though I emailed it to him several weeks before. He got the email, just brought the wrong ceremony. Luckily, I had printed off several copies of it and gave him one. On the day of the wedding, he didn’t seem like he rehearsed it very well and he flubbed up a few times. Also, he just stood there and read it. He didn’t look up very much and his voice was very monotone. I’m not sure if he would have done a better job with his own ceremony but I assume so. As far as the rehearsal, he was very knowledgeable about how the ceremony should go and who should be where and who should enter and when. He’s easy to get along with. However, a lot of my guests said the ceremony was lovely except they didn’t care for how he delivered the ceremony. This is probably the only part of my wedding that I would have changed.
Ken was great to work with and fit our style perfectly...very relaxed and go-with-the-flow. He helped us work out all details for our ceremony and made us feel comfortable that everything would run smoothly and just as we envisioned.
We had Scott perform our ceremony. He had a great outline for how it usually goes, but made sure everything was how we wanted it to be also. He is very professional, and I would recommend him!
I really wanted to just have one of my friends go online and get ordained by the church of spiritual humanism so I didn't have to spend a ton of money on having someone come and say "I now pronounce you" and call it good. But alas, we didn't go that route. Since my mother-in-law offered to cover the cost of an officiant, we found Ken's fees to be the most reasonable. He met with us at Arnies in Wyoming and asked tons of questions and had us fill out a questionaire that asked more of me than I had even considered. His plans pretty much organize your whole ceremony for you and you can add or subtract whatever you want. It can be completely non-religious or very religious, whatever you want. He emailed me two different scripts for the ceremony that he would read from and I could pick one or write my own even. I chose the one that my fiance and I liked better and added a few things that made my ceremony unique to me and it was great. He made sure on the day of the wedding that all the changes I made and order of things that I set up were right. We didn't have a rehearsal because that was an extra charge, but we really didn't need one. I had a small, simple wedding and he knew what he was doing, so it was good and done.
The only thing that I was concerned with was after the wedding when we signed the marriage license, he didn't have the best answers to my questions. He did say that every county is different, so he might have been more accustomed to Kent County and we were licensed in Ottawa County, so that might have been why we got our lines crossed, but because of what he told me I ended up waiting 5 extra days to get my name change started, when I could have gone the day after the wedding. But that's not a really big deal, I just spent 5 days being confused about which name to use and when I could get my identity crises sorted out. But that wasn't really his fault, really.
Ken was really great! He helped us with setting up the flow of our ceremony. He also walked through the ceremony with us at the rehearsal and let us know in full detail what to do at what time. Really took the nerves away. He also patiently waited for us on both days (we were late to the rehearsal and had family members that were 45 minutes late to the wedding) and he waited. I am so thankful that we had him for an officiant. I highly highly recommend him.
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6465 Kingtree SW, Byron Center, MI
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I Now Pronounce You Ceremony & DJ Services's photos