About this vendor
Mindful Ministry officiants help couples design heartfelt wedding ceremonies that reflect the couple's relationship, backgrounds, and personalities. They believe intimate ceremonies that reflect the love between two people can be a magical moment for everyone involved and they would love to work with you to create your special ceremony. They provide personalized officiant services in MD, DC, VA, WVA, DE, and PA.
Services Offered
Mindful Ministry officiants meet with couples several times to prepare for the ceremony and for married life. They use this time to understand your relationship, background, and personalities. From there they help you customize your ceremony structure, readings, and rituals. They work with couples from Christian and other religious backgrounds as well as with couples from different religions and those who do not practice any type of formal religion. These ceremonies reflect the couple's wishes and include:
-- religious wedding ceremonies
-- ecumenical, secular, and non-religious wedding ceremonies
-- vow renewals/recommitment ceremonies
-- welcoming ceremonies and christenings
-- co-officiating with other officiants, upon request
-- mindful communication and stress reduction
Officiants
Rev. William (Bill) Mies founded Mindful Ministry in 2009 where he enjoys working with couples in an atmosphere of presence, awareness, and compassion. Bill has a B.A. degree in philosophy and five years of graduate work in Theology, equivalent to a Masters of Divinity, which culminated in ordination as a Catholic Priest. Today, as a married priest, he is affiliated with the International Council of Community Churches and CITI Ministries.
After working with Bill in his wedding ministry for 5 years, Rev. Joanne Marshall-Mies joined Mindful Ministry as an officiant in 2014. She is affiliated with the Universal Life Church and shares Bill's passion for working with couples to help them create unique, meaningful wedding ceremonies and to be present before, during, and after the wedding. Joanne is also a Research Psychologist with a special interest in couple's relationships.
Details
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
- Second Wedding
Religious Affiliations
- Baha'i Faith
- Buddhist
- Christian
- Catholic
- Orthodox
- Protestant
Wedding Activities
- After The Wedding
- Newlywed Life
- Getting Engaged
- Premarital Counseling
- Wedding
- Ceremony
Awards and Affiliations
2-Time 'Best of Weddings'
2024.2023.
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
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5
out of 5.050 reviews
Review photos
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It's an absolute privilege to recommend Bill and Joanne to other couples. Working with them both was one of the best experiences I have ever had with a vendor, and they created a b...
eautiful and meaningful ceremony for our family. Many of our guests told us it was the best ceremony they've attended, and we couldn't agree more. As a same sex couple who wanted a ceremony that was spiritual and reflective of our religious upbringing, while also respectful to our identities, working with Bill and Joanne was one of the best decisions we could have made. From the first call, they met us with open minds and hearts, and built a ceremony that was rooted in love, respect and reflective of our family's hopes and dreams. They incorporated our three children into the ceremony in a way that engaged them and made it fun and meaningful. I would happily serve as a reference for anyone considering working with them and recommend that you reach out. They brought a tremendous amount of dignity, care and consideration to every interaction and have our utmost gratitude.
We cannot recommend Bill and his wife Joanne enough! They were absolutely amazing throughout the entire process. Bill has a unique way of helping you take a step back from the chao...
s and stress of wedding planning to focus on what truly matters: the love you and your partner share. His words were heartfelt and genuine, and he brought such a calm, grounding presence to our big day.
Joanne was equally wonderful, providing thoughtful support and kindness every step of the way. Together, they created a ceremony that was not only meaningful and intimate but also perfectly reflective of our relationship.
If you're looking for an officiant who truly understands the significance of the moment and makes it all about your love story, Bill and Joanne are the perfect choice. We are so grateful for the role they played in making our wedding day unforgettable!
When we got engaged, we knew we wanted a meaningful ceremony that reflected us as a couple, included some aspects of God/religion, and would be performed by someone who married ALL...
couples. Bill and Joanne were the perfect officiants for this! They were a pleasure to work with. The first meeting, which was free, we could immediately see their attention to detail and how they truly care about each couple and making the best wedding ceremony possible. We loved how we could pick and choose exactly what would be said in the ceremony, and what Bill would say of us. Bill and Joanne were super responsive and their input based off their vast experience was very insightful while respecting what we wanted. Working with them was the most enjoyable and least stressful part of the wedding planning process. On our wedding day, we felt very comfortable in front of everyone because of the preparation Bill and Joanne put into our ceremony.
Bill was such a pleasure to work with. We really enjoyed getting to know him and we appreciated how he was so genuinely interested in getting to know us before the wedding. On the ...
wedding day itself, we felt like we knew him well. We had a co-officiant as we wanted 2 faiths represented, and Bill worked with the other officiant well and helped to put together an interfaith ceremony. We would definitely recommend Bill!
My husband and I cannot say enough great things about Reverend Bill and his wife, Joanne. We wanted to find an officiant that would be willing to co-officiate our interfaith ceremo...
ny (Christianity and Judaism). We met with Bill and immediately felt that he would be the perfect person to conduct our ceremony with a rabbi. He is very thorough and thoughtful and worked with us (along with his wife, Joanne) through each draft of the wedding ceremony script to ensure we were comfortable with every inclusion. He is very kind and warm and put both of us at ease during a stressful wedding planning process. His wife, Joanne, kept us all on track and kept a master copy of our wedding ceremony script, providing edits almost immediately after our meetings. As someone who is detail oriented, this was a gift! They are wonderful and we would recommend them to anyone!
Bill was a fantastic officiant for our wedding, bringing not only professionalism but also a comforting presence throughout our ceremony. His sonorous voice and thoughtful demeano...
r, paired with the attentive support of his wife, Joanne, enhanced our experience, making our special day even more memorable. Their careful preparation and compassion were obvious from our detailed planning meetings to the final execution. Everything went amazing. Thank you Bill and Joanne!
Bill did a wonderful job officiating our wedding! We got lots of compliments on our ceremony. When we met Bill for the initial consultation, he truly took the time to get to know u...
s. For our second meeting, he and Joanne worked with us extensively and made many suggestions to help us get the ceremony to be exactly want we wanted.
Our wedding ceremony was made truly unforgettable, thanks to the incredible guidance and expertise of Bill, our officiant. From the moment we met him, it was clear that Bill was de...
dicated to making our ceremony as meaningful and personalized as possible.
Bill took the time to get to know us on a personal level, ensuring that our ceremony reflected our love story and values. His thoroughness and attention to detail were evident as he worked with us to craft a ceremony that was perfect for us. He offered valuable guidance and suggestions while also giving us the confidence to make decisions that felt true to who we are as a couple.
During the ceremony itself, Bill's warmth and kindness shone through, creating a truly heartfelt and memorable experience for us and our guests. His words were beautifully crafted, and he delivered them with sincerity and grace.
One of the most special touches that Bill provided was a memory book of our wedding ceremony, allowing us to treasure and relive every moment for years to come. It was a thoughtful gesture that we will always cherish.
Overall, we cannot recommend Bill highly enough. His professionalism, kindness, and dedication to his craft made our wedding ceremony more meaningful than we could have ever imagined. If you're looking for an officiant who will go above and beyond to create a ceremony that reflects your love and values, look no further than Bill. 10/10 recommend!
Bill and Joanne were an absolute pleasure to work with while preparing for our wedding ceremony on 10/21/23. We really wanted our ceremony to be the most important part of our wedd...
ing day and have a very heartfelt and meaningful ceremony. Our meetings and the resources Bill and Joanne provided helped guide us to craft our perfect ceremony. We loved working together and reflecting not only on the wedding but on our entire relationship and our plans for the future. Bill and Joanne really took the time to get to know us and worked to make our ceremony uniquely ours.
We were absolutely thrilled with the outcome on the wedding day. Our guests are still gushing about the ceremony's meaning to them. This is magnified 10-fold to my new husband and I. We truly cherish our wedding day memories with the ceremony being our favorite part.
We absolutely recommend working with Bill and Joanne with Mindful Ministries for your wedding or any life event.
I cannot overstate how many compliments we received from guests who were blown away by the beauty and intentionality of the ceremony my husband and I crafted with the help of Bill ...
and Joanne. The ceremony was truly a highlight of the wedding, and it impressed both religious and non-religious guests alike with its depth, and how well it reflected us as a couple. The ceremony was one of the wedding planning pieces that was a little bit stressful for me at first, and I am so glad that we landed on a ceremony that was so meaningful to both of us.
Bill took his time getting to know us to really make sure that the ceremony was unique and reflected our values, and Joanne was fantastic and flexible with our numerous revisions even in the final days leading up to the wedding. 10/10!
I knew from our first zoom call that we connected with Bill. He took a lot of time to get to know us as people and as a couple, which then led to a very personalized ceremony. I ...
had several attendees tell me that they really enjoyed the personalization we put in our ceremony. We also really liked the booklet of our ceremony that Bill and Joanne created for us to keep. I would recommend them to anyone and cannot thank them enough for what they did for us.
Working with both Bill and Joanne was the best decision we made for our wedding day! We had a few meetings with them where they truly take the time to get to know you as a couple a...
nd help create the perfect ceremony!
From the very first meeting with Rev. Bill and Joanne, I knew we didn't need to look any further for our wedding officiant. Bill and Joanne were extremely kind, responsive, and det...
ailed throughout our entire wedding planning process. In fact, with all the wedding planning frenzy, our meetings with Bill and Joanne were a space of peace that helped my partner and I reflect on our love which was at the center of this happy occasion. Our meetings were extremely therapeutic and during them, Bill got to know us extremely well as individuals and as a couple. He helped us build our ceremony script while Joanne handled many of the logistics of the ceremony. Our families come from different religious backgrounds and Bill helped us create a ceremony that honored that and unified our families under one message. I never thought our wedding ceremony could truly capture the love between my husband and me but Bill showed us otherwise. It ended up being the most beautiful ceremony that brought almost all of our guests to tears. We are over the moon that we chose Mindful Ministry for our wedding. Thanks to them we had our dream ceremony that we will remember forever and on top of it met two of the most kind souls we have come across. I would highly recommend them to every couple!
It was a pleasure working with Bill and Joanne as they helped us to create our own personal wedding ceremony. During our first call it did not take long for us to both agree that B...
ill was the right person for us. Bill was very thorough as to the steps involved that would eventually become our wedding ceremony. There were many questions asked by Bill as to what we are looking for and what we expected from the service. Bill was very focused, soft spoken and informative about every aspect that would be needed from us to pull this together. Books were provided and an outline that made it much easier during this process. We also had a great experience working will Bill's wife Joanne on several occasions on the phone and the rehearsal before the wedding.
Bill and Joanne made our wedding complete and we are so very happy to have worked with them both. it made our ceremony perfect. We are very satisfied that we made the right decision and that we had the opportunity to work with both Bill and Joanne and would highly recommend them for your wedding ceremony.
We had a great time getting to know Bill and his wife Joanne before our wedding. They were very accommodating to our needs and listened to what we wanted. The ceremony was fantasti...
c and it was a dream come true!
We can’t recommend Bill and Joanne enough! They really helped make our dream ceremony a reality! All of our guest complimented us on how personal and heartfelt our ceremony felt! W...
e had a great experience every meeting leading up to the wedding and couldn’t have asked for a better team to get us to our wedding day!
We wanted our ceremony to be the most memorable part of our wedding. We yearned to share the spirituality that had grown in our relationship and was culminating in our union with o...
ur friends and family members. Bill and Joanne guided us through expressing ourselves honestly to one another, as well as with our most cherished ones. We appreciated the time we spent with Bill and Joanne to ensure that our ceremony was a priority, and uniquely ours. They shared resources and support, and helped us stay focused on what was most important to us. We hope to have Bill and Joanne join us for any future vow renewals. Plus, Bill has such a calming and beautiful voice, which was much appreciated because we had an opening mediation rather than an opening prayer, which was a bit different for many of our guests.
Rev. Bill Mies and his wife Joanne did an amazing job helping us create and carry out our wedding ceremony. They met with us on 3 separate occasions and really got to know us as in...
dividuals and as a couple (we strongly believe this is what sets them apart from other officiants). When it came time to develop a ceremony script, Bill wrote a very thoughtful marriage reflection, which highlighted special details about our lives and our relationship. Several guests actually stopped us during the reception to tell us how much they loved this part of the ceremony. Bill and Joanne were very helpful throughout the planning process and were available to answer any questions we had. We are thankful for their positive attitudes and words of encouragement leading up to the big day. Thank you Bill and Joanne!
We really enjoyed our time with Joanne and Bill. They were very thorough and patient. Our ceremony was beautiful and we were very happy with everything!
Working with Bill & Joanne was a very educational and rewarding process. They take the time to truly understand each individual separately before connecting you both together and u...
nwinding the real reasons why you'll soon be married. We put in the work, (albeit begrudgingly at times) to end up with a ceremony that was not only personal to the two of us but provided our attendees & guests with a glimpse into our love and our future story, presently unwritten. If you want a truly personal ceremony from a dedicated and professional officiant, do not hesitate for one second to hire the best - Mindful Ministry.
We had a great experience creating our wedding ceremony script with Bill and Joanne. From beginning to end they were kind, professional, and helpful. It was really special to be ...
so involved in what our vows/ceremony would consist of, and they were there to guide us along the way. Bill's calm presence and soothing voice were a comfort to us on what could have been a stressful day. Highly recommend!
We had a wonderful experience with Rev. Bill and Joanne. We loved our ceremony. It was beautiful, thoughtful and personalized. My fiancé and I had a very enjoyable time working wit...
h them and I would highly recommend!
Bill Mies was a wonderful officiant and his wife, Joanne, was a great ceremony script writer. Our meetings were very thorough and we spent time getting to know one another, which h...
elped us to craft our perfect wedding ceremony as a team. My husband and I would highly recommend using Mindful Ministry!
Bill and Joanne were absolutely wonderful to work with for our wedding! They take time to make sure the ceremony is everything you want and personalized. I loved how communicative ...
they were throughout the process, this helped put us at ease. Thank you so much Bill & Joanne!
Bill and Joanne got to know us as we planned our wedding and helped us craft a ceremony. that was personalized and meaningful. They were always easy to communicate with, and so man...
y of our guests told us how much they loved the ceremony. So grateful for their guidance!
We were in search of a person to marry us.....one that would support our our Catholic roots as well as the fact that this was a 2nd marriage for us both. After speaking to several...
options we knew Bill was the RIGHT choice for sure! He really took time to get to know us and he presented ideas and options to help us craft the EXACT type of wedding ceremony we had in mind (even in a pandemc!!!). He also offered a range of packages to fit our budget. Bill is the best to work with to give you the perfect ceremony!
Bill and Joanne were a joy to work with for crafting our wedding ceremony. They walked us through the daunting process of crafting our ceremony. I highly recommend them both.
Working with Bill to create the perfect ceremony was very special for us. He provided us with great advice and suggestions for our ceremony and vows. Bill and his wife Joanne were ...
dedicated to getting to know us and creating a personal and timely ceremony.
Bill and Joanne were so lovely to partner with. They truly care about each and every couple they work with. Bill spent so many hours via skype and zoom talking to my husband and ...
I, helping us to craft our perfect ceremony. Our ceremony could not have gone any better and really highlighted our love. Thank you Bill and Joanne!
Bill and his wife Joanne from mindful ministry were amazing! They walked us through writing our script for our ceremony. It made for a very intimate personal experience. They reall...
y helped us capture “us” in every detail. He took the time to get to know us and our story in the most genuine and humanly personal way, that lead to the authentic writing of our vows and planning of our ceremony. Bill’s friendly and professional demeanor made him a joy to work with. He is welcoming and open to all ideas of faith and beliefs. At the ceremony, Bill arrived in the same professional friendly and positive way that we have come to know him over the multiple meetings we had. He brought a calming and serene influence upon his arrival that carried through the entire ceremony. We couldn’t be happier and he was perfect fit!
William and Joanne were simply amazing to work with. From the meetings and activities to the fun we had planning the ceremony, I can't imagine having any other officiant. Our cermo...
ny was so personal and meaningful to us and we have received so many compliments from our guests on it. If you are looking for a calm, personal officiant, look no further!
While searching for an officiant for our wedding last June, we came upon Bill and Joanne's profile on WeddingWire. We decided to contact them based upon previous reviews of their s...
ervices, and all of them were very accurate! Bill and Joanne went above and beyond to get to know us on a personal level, walked us through every aspect of creating our own version of our wedding ceremony in addition to helping us coordinate the ceremony (seating arrangements for the first two rows, lineup of bridesmaid and groomsmen, etc.) They added the personal touches to our ceremony that we wanted and delivered it in such an exceptional manner - we still receive compliments on how lovely Bill's ceremony was! We highly recommend Bill and Joanne's services to everyone and are very thankful for all they did to make our wedding ceremony such a success.
Bill and Joanne helped us create a beautiful and personalized wedding ceremony that reflected us and our relationship. We loved the ceremony planning process, which included meetin...
g with Bill and Joanne four times before our wedding day. This allowed us to get to know each other better and discuss exactly what we wanted in our ceremony. My husband is in medical school and lived out of state during the wedding planning process. Bill was so flexible with our crazy schedules and allowed us Skype for one of the meetings. His flexibility saved us from a tremendous amount of stress and we couldn't be more thankful. Our wedding guests complemented us multiple times on the uniqueness of our vows and reflection letters. Bill and Joanne are an amazing team and we are so thankful to have met them!
Reverend Mies and his lovely wife, Joann were so accommodating, friendly and professional. Rev Mies officiated our March 26, 2016 wedding. We found him less than two months prior...
to our wedding and he were able to accommodate us into his busy schedule and worked with us to make our wedding ceremony nothing short of unforgettable! Rev. Mies and Joann meet with us several times and took the time to get to really know who we are as individuals and as a couple. They helped us plan out our wedding ceremony in a way that only experienced professionals could. Until now, my guests are still talking about how beautiful the ceremony was. I appreciate everything Rev. Mies and Joann did for us and I would recommend them for anyone looking for a ceremony they will remember for a lifetime!
Rev. Bill Mies and his wife, Joanne, helped us create a beautiful, meaningful, and personalized wedding ceremony. Due to unexpected circumstances, we needed to find a new officiant...
just three weeks before our wedding. We were in panic mode. After the first telephone conversation, Rev. Bill put us at complete ease. He and his wife, Rev. Joanne Mies of Swan Ministries, worked as a team, with us. We met a few times before the wedding. In our first meeting, we shared personal stories and got to know each other. They asked questions that helped us learn about ourselves and each other. They were genuinely caring and professional. Each meeting had a purpose and left us feeling even better about our relationship and the ceremony we were planning. They thought of everything as they guided us through the process of creating the ceremony we envisioned. They helped us remain focused on each other and enjoy the present moment. They alleviated our stress. The result was a beautiful, meaningful, memorable ceremony. Our wedding was amazing thanks to these two. We really cannot thank them enough!
My Wife and I found Mindful Ministries / Bill and Joanne Mies after extensive research online. I was pleasantly surprised upon meeting Bill and his Wife at their home for our first...
meeting. Yes, meeting. Bill and Joanne have a very personable approach to working with you on your wedding. The initial meeting lasted several hours where we all collectively introduced ourselves and got to know eachother. Bill has an amazing way with words and does a great job of making you feel comfortable sharing this most important event with him.
From the initial meeting forward; he made himself readily available for any questions we had on crafting the content of our wedding. Ceremony details, the songs we chose, the order our guests were seated, every last detail was important to Bill. He made it a point to encourage us to share our feelings with eachother to help strengthen our own bond leading up to the wedding. The activities he had us do reminded us of things we were thankful for and valued in one another.
By the time the wedding day came, Bill and Joanne had become inseparable from our Big Day. We genuinely wanted to have them stay for the entirety of the wedding, thru the reception, which they gladly accepted. It meant a lot to us to share the experience with them by including them in our pictures, and watching them have fun on the dance floor.
I can assure you that if you work with Bill and Joanne that you will feel a personable, genuine connection with them. Their attention to detail and the amount of time they spend helping you personalize your ceremony and vows was definitely worth the cost; which was fair and reasonable.
I hope that this review will boost your confidence in choosing Mindful Ministries for your wedding and that your experience will be as positive as ours was.
It was such a pleasure to work with Bill and Joanne to create our wedding ceremony! Bill truly takes the time to get to know both the bride and groom individually and our story to...
gether to help make a special and intimate ceremony! I was just so pleasantly surprised with his whole process he uses to create an unforgettable experience that my husband and I will be forever grateful for. We are so glad that we chose him to work with during this most special time in our lives!
My wife and I have been to several weddings since Bill Mies officiated our own marriage back in May, and it's become increasingly clear to us how unique and meaningful his role was...
in our celebration. An excellent listener, Bill walks you through the process of developing your marriage ceremony in a way that identifies the truth and values underlying your relationship. This both adds meaning to your wedding ceremony, and psychologically prepares the couple for the fact of marriage. Our wedding ceremony, in both content and voice, reflected who we are as a couple and why. We couldn't be more satisfied with our choice of Bill as an officiant, or with how our wedding proceeded. Choose Bill Mies as your officiant: you will know your future spouse better, and your wedding day will be more meaningful for it.
My husband and I really wanted a ceremony that reflected our individuality as well as our journey as a couple. After meeting with Bill and his wife, we knew we had found exactly w...
hat we were looking for. Not only did we take part in creating our ceremony, Bill directed us along the way creating a ceremony that was absolutely perfect.
Reverend Mies and his wife Joanne are absolutely wonderful people.
My husband and I come from different faith traditions (He is strongly Catholic; I am loosely Protestant). We had...
talked in length about blending our mutual backgrounds throughout the wedding and our future together. However, we were not quite prepared for the incredible resistance we received from some of his family members in regards to not holding our ceremony in a Catholic Church.
Therefore, choosing a wedding officiant was one of the hardest task we faced. I must say that I don't think we would have kept our wits if it hadn't been for Bill and Joanne. Over the course of four meetings, they helped us craft a ceremony that truly reflected our relationship together. Bill also walked us through several mindfulness techniques that helped us manage our stress levels. (This is optional. You don't have to participate in these exercises if you are not interested, but I highly recommend them.)
By the time the wedding came, it felt as though we had known Bill and Joanne for several years. We had so many compliments from guests and even other vendors regarding the ceremony. Even the overtly religious family members seemed happy. If you're looking for a unique, meaningful ceremony, and a personal relationship with your officiant, this is the place.
After working with Bill and his wife Joanne for our wedding this past August my wife and I really could not imagine having anyone else as part of such a special day. Our main conc...
ern was finding someone that we would truly feel comfortable with and that could really understand our vision and who we were as couple. Bill and Joanne went absolutely above and beyond our expectations. We met with them at their home several times in the months leading up to our wedding and were able to really get to know them just as much as they were getting to know us. They gave us so much more than just guidance throughout our meetings, with activities that really allowed both parties to get to know each other on a much deeper level. We could really tell that Bill and Joanne truly cared about us and wanted our experience to be as wonderful as it could possibly be. The time and detail that they took with personalizing and fine tuning details of our ceremony was exceptional. On the day of our wedding our minds were at ease and the ceremony went seamlessly, it was absolutely amazing. It felt like Bill and Joanne were part of our family throughout the whole process and still today. Bill and Joanne are truly beautiful people and without them our wedding could not have been as special as it was. We are so happy that we had Bill and Joanne as part of our wedding.
From start to finish, Reverend Bill was a delight to work with. His process is wonderful: my husband and I met with him about 4-5 times before the wedding, and each meeting he got ...
to know us a little better. Our first meeting was entirely about getting to know one another, and his life story is fascinating. He completely understood our religious and spiritual background, and we were able to work together to make a beautiful ceremony. With his guidance, my husband and I picked out each section of the wedding to make it unique and special. Perhaps most importantly, Rev. Bill places an emphasis on mindfulness, for both the ceremony and throughout our marriage. This was immensely helpful, as we were both a bit anxious about having a large ceremony. His lessons on mindfulness helped keep us in the moment on our wedding day, and we appreciated each moment of our ceremony.
Working with Rev Bill was a wonderful experience. We hand picked our ceremony and with Rev Bill's process we were able to really absorb the whole experience so that when the weddi...
ng day came, we remember every moment of the ceremony and the love that we felt all around us. Great experience and I highly recommend. I didn't want to do a Church wedding but this gave me all the traditional pieces I needed with the flexibility to make it our own.
Bill served as the officiant for my recent wedding. In all ways, he was accommodating and incredibly helpful. His performance was from the heart and well paced. He spoke with gr...
avitas and love. He did this because he had truly gotten to know my wife and I over the course of our wedding preparation. Bill's services require some serious commitment. That would be my only "caution" about hiring him. Be prepared to spend at least 4 fairly long sessions with him, getting to know him and planning the details of your ceremony. If you're looking for a simpler experience, perhaps Bill's not for you. But, if you're looking for someone who is willing and able to tailor a service perfectly to you, care about your happiness, and truly give you your money's worth (he charged more than most officiants we talked to, but he was definitely worth it), Bill's your man. We were looking for a spiritual yet not too religious service, a fairly quick yet momentous/meaningful ceremony. Bill helped us articulate exactly what it was we wanted, and then he delivered. So, big take-aways: Bill's services are fairly expensive, and they require a pretty big time commitment on your part (to include some homework, writing about your spouse-to-be and your relationship...but fear not, this process will help you write your vows too). But, his service was second to none from the minute we hired him through the ceremony and beyond. Definitely recommend.
When we had our first meeting with Bill to meet him and see what we thought of him to officiate our wedding we knew almost immediately that he was the one. He was very genuine, car...
ing and thorough, and that's exactly what we wanted in the person to marry us. Throughout our meetings/sessions he taught us a great deal and we prepared our wedding ceremony exactly the way we wanted so that it fit our personalities perfectly. One of our favorite techniques that he taught us was to be "present in the moment", which helped a lot for our wedding day. We were both able to enjoy every minute and not have the day fly by and forget everything thanks to Bill. His wife Joann participated in the ceremony making process too and helped critique and perfect it for our day. All in all, his services were great and we would recommend him to any and everyone getting married who is looking for a unique and enjoyable stress-free ceremony. Thank you again Bill!!
Bill and his wife Joanne are amazing people. They spent a great deal of time and energy getting to know us as a couple. We also got to learn more about our relationship through our...
meetings with them. Overall our time with Bill and Joanne was really special. We looked forward to our meetings and building the ceremony into something meaningful and personal. The ceremony turned out as a beautiful representation of our love thanks to them! We can't thank them enough, what an amazing day!
Rev. Bill was a great choice and helped to make our wedding a truly special, and personal experience. We met with Bill on a few occasions so he could get to know us better and make...
sure we were all on the same page for what we wanted with the ceremony. This was a great way to get comfortable and familiar with him and felt like we had a real friend up there during our service. He also helped to walk us through the traditional elements that make up a ceremony and we were able to pick and choose the different parts that we wanted and take out ones that we didn't. Bill and his wife helped us with a few run-throughs of the ceremony so we could try out the length and feel of the whole thing. The end result was a highly personalized ceremony that was just what we wanted and the length that we preferred. On our big day, Bill was punctual and very professional, he was a very calming presence to walk up to. He carried out our nuptials without any problems and the ceremony was a huge success. In the end, it was a great process working with Bill and we would highly recommend his services to anyone looking to get married and wanting a personal and special wedding ceremony.
Rev. Bill was the perfect fit for our wedding! He was reverent, inviting, and offered stoic presence for our ceremony. We enjoyed our wedding preparatory meetings with Bill. We liv...
e in Richmond, VA and so planning our ceremony as well as preparing as a couple was more challenging due to the distance, but Bill was so helpful and flexible and aided in a seamless "big day". He made our ceremony unique and let us customize our ceremony to fit our relationship. He tailored our ceremony to our style and crafted a beautiful message prior to our vows that was perfect for our personalities and our setting. We look forward to celebrating many years of happy marriage thanks to Rev. Bill's coaching, guidance, and nuptials.
Mindful Ministries was such a meaningful and memorable experience for my husband and I. We really learned such much about ourselves and each other. I would recommend and urge every...
engaged couple to use Rev.Mies as he just makes the process of engagement through marriage so special.
You will get a unique experience here. You learn how to stop, pause and breathe. You are reminded to appreciate who you are, how you add to your partner's life and how you work together as a couple. You honestly get even new ways to appreciate your partner for just who they are, no matter how long you've been together. It is just a totally simple yet imperative view of you, your fiance and life in general.
My husband grew up Catholic and wanted a priest to officiate at our wedding. I did not grow up Catholic and did not want a priest to officiate. We were so lucky to find Revered Mie...
s who was a Catholic priest at one time but left the priesthood many years ago. He now focuses on spirituality and mindfulness.
We contacted many people about officiating at our wedding but he is the only one we really wanted to meet. We knew at the end of our meeting (without even needing to discuss it) that we wanted to work with him.
Reverend Mies is open to incorporating any and all feelings, thoughts and beliefs into the ceremony as he believes each ceremony is personal to the couple and should be entirely theirs. He really came through with that - the first thing most of our guests said to us after the wedding was that the ceremony was amazing - very personal and touching. We thought so too.
If you are looking for someone to work with you on a personal ceremony who will take a genuine interest in who you are as individuals and a couple then get in touch with Reverend Mies!!
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MD, DC, VA, WV, PA, DE
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