Maria Makes It Official

a ceremony that’s personalized to you as a couple, without the stress of you writing your own vows. My husband wanted me to write our vows, I did not want to (so many other things to do!), and in the end we were both happy that we chose to let Maria handle that instead. We also had her run our rehearsal and were very happy with that choice as well, it made us feel much more confident on our wedding day. I had always thought of the ceremony as more of a formality to get over before the party, and dreaded standing up in front of so many people. But largely because of Maria, I really enjoyed the ceremony, as did my husband- it felt personal and emotional, not formal and stiff. Our guests truly enjoyed it too, as Maria kept it short and made them laugh, just like we wanted. She really made a special day even more special. Thank you Maria, for making it official!

partner. I cried the second I read it, and all of our guests loved how they got know us a little more by experiencing it. On top of that, both reached out several times (wedding day included) to see if we needed anything or just to help me laugh off the stress. I couldn’t recommend Maria Makes it Official enough. Cathleen, you are such a gem!

she was sincere and very bummed about it (as was I). But she had a backup plan and sent a friend, Candy, to officiant our wedding and she nailed it.

t until a couple weeks ahead of time, but we didn't mind waiting to find out. During the waiting period, we answered a fun questionnaire so they could get to know us better and incorporate the answers into the script. While the first draft wasn't perfect, they took our feedback really well and we are very happy with the final. The reason for our low rating is because of the stress we experienced just days before our wedding. I had checked in with Maria three days ahead to make sure everything was all set for our rehearsal and got some bad news. Neither she nor her sister could make it to the rehearsal because of work and family conflicts, which was very disappointing because my husband and I haven't been to many weddings and really wanted the support. The options we were given were 1) that her sister could try to make it, but would assumingly bring her young son and have to leave within minutes, 2) she could come to our dinner later in the evening, which was at a different location and would take time away from our families and enjoyment 3) she could try to find a friend to run it, or 4) not attend the rehearsal. I wasn't satisfied with any of these options as my family and friends had taken the day off work to attend, and we specifically had this service added to our contract. It took a couple of days of not knowing, and at 8:30pm the night before my rehearsal it was decided that they would not attend. This left me anxious for days, knowing too much about their personal lives, worried they would resent me for wanting them to do the job I hired them to do, and ultimately not confident that they would perform the rest of the work (the ceremony). We went as far has having a back up officiant on call because we did not feel comfortable. Everything did end up going well though. Once on site, Cathleen was very professional and kind. It was a huge relief once I saw her in person. She took care of everything from there, and while there were some slip ups that were distracting during the ceremony, I was very pleased with how things went. She did a great job walking us through the signing, and was very sweet.

nd touching. Thank you for everything ☺️

dividuals. Maria did a great job writing our ceremony, personalizing it to us and our life together and making sure it was not the same old ceremony you hear at every wedding. We had decided to write our own vows and Maria was there to read over them to make sure we didn’t ramble on during our vows. Everything about Maria was amazing and we are glad that we came out of this with a new friend. We were disappointed that she was not the one to officiate our wedding due to a family commitment that arose about 2 months before the wedding. Luckily she did have a back up plan and had her friend Stephanie take her place. While Stephanie was great we wish Maria could have been there for our day.

party at our rehearsal and even was kind enough to stick around for the dinner party to get to know us and our friends and families even better. Working with her was fantastic and I wouldn't have chosen any other officiant! Thank you Maria!! Love, Amanda & Lucas

She was extremely helpful and answered so many questions. I can’t say enough great things about her. 10/10 recommend Maria!

he most of Maria's time to help us with announcing and introducing us. She orchestrated our reception announcements and kept us informed and prepared about the days timeline. I love all the pictures of our wedding where she shows up because she always looks like she is having a great time and feels truly happy for us. We worked together to create the most personal ceremony and she even gave us a few ideas for our own vows. I definitely recommend Maria as an officiant, as a guest at your wedding and as a friend.

family members come up to us and tell us how beautiful the ceremony was and actually wanted us to send them the actual script. The ceremony was absolutely perfect and everything we ever wanted!!

yone was booked, Maria called me right away, found our what was happening, and made it work. I needed her to travel across the state, and all she asked was that I pay for a place for her to sleep. Which was a no brainer! Working with her to create the perfect reading/vows/ ceremony for us was easy, because she is so good at what she does. When she traveled, we had to pay for her highest package, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise because she was soooooo incredibly helpful as a second "coordinator" (I had already hired a wedding planner). Not only was she helpful and sweet, but we could tell the moment we met her that she cares about making our day perfect and special. Any request we had, she obliged. She danced the night away with us, listened to me vent at one point, and fixed any problem we needed her too! If we lived near her, I would want to be her best friend!! We will never forget how special and fun she helped make our wedding day. We couldn't have imagined any one else officiating our wedding! Highly recommend Maria, anytime, anywhere!!

was. Maria is just that good at her job. She came up with an amazing ceremony, was so warm and personable, and was so helpful throughout the whole process. We truly enjoyed working with her and would wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone.

d flawlessly! They're very responsive, supportive, and knowledgeable, which took a lot of stress off of us. We had so much fun filling out the questionnaire, and when we saw our first draft of the ceremony I was in tears. The way it was crafted and inspired from our answers was beautiful and a perfect fit for us! We appreciated the amount of personalization and thought that went into our ceremony. All couples need a team of vendors who stand behind them and their decisions, and Maria and Cathleen were perfect for our team!

ver imagined! With the package we chose, Maria had us fill out a questionnaire about our relationship, and from there she created our ceremony. Filling out the questionnaire was so much fun and it allowed us to ensure we had specifics listed. We wanted to keep ours light, airy and fun and Maria delivered! Maria was always prompt with her responses, and was happy to add things in and take things out! We had people coming up to us ALL NIGHT raving about how awesome our ceremony was. We even had engaged couples asking her for her business cards! Maria was so much fun to work with and I am SO happy she was our officiant. I could not recommend her enough!

y template from our own answers! She is so friendly and really brought so much warmth and light to our wedding day. Thank you Maria!

soul. Fun to be around, and great at helping relieve planning stress and ay of stress. Some of our guests asked if she was a friend we asked to do our ceremony. It really does feel like she became our friend. Couldn't have asked for a better person to marry us.

ryone said it truly spoke to who my husband and I are as a couple!

personal and perfect to us. Maria was easy to get in touch with, very responsive to communication, and made the entire experience of getting married WAY less stressful. We are so grateful and happy that she was a part of this big moment!

ur guests about the ceremony and all were shocked to learn that she had not known us for years. We also had a lovely time celebrating with her and her sister during our reception. Can't thank Maria enough!! Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a thoughtful, creative, and personalized ceremony.

re on our honeymoon. The ceremony she wrote up for us was beautiful and we received so many compliments on her officiating. What a beautiful wedding! Thank you so much, Maria, for helping our special day run so smoothly/perfectly

asking how long we had known her because we seemed like old friends. Maria is easy to communicate with, honest, and very knowledgeable. We couldn't have asked for a better person to make us official!