Chicago Officiants + Premarital Counseling

Pastor Rich

Seriously Fun Weddings with Pastor Rich!

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Pastor Rich

OWNER

Typically responds within 24h

AWARD WINNER (14X)

Thanks to recommendations from couples on The Knot

Pastor Rich, based in Chicago, IL, is a friend and Pastor to countless couples on their wedding day. Whether your wedding is faith-based, spiritual, or non-religious, he will help you design a dream Wedding celebration that reflects your personality and values! His motto is, "It's your wedding!" so he wants to serve you in the ways that you need. He makes the ceremony about you and your style. He is fun, calm, and super-dependable. Pastor Rich is a bilingual wedding Officiant who serves the entire Midwest region, including Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and beyond. He is committed to serving all couples and families without discrimination. Pastor Rich is one of the original Officiants on The Knot and Weddingwire. His first wedding was 40 years ago, so God has given him a wonderful wealth of experience. He was appointed as a Liturgy and Worship Consultant in the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church. He also led assemblies and in-services in Catholic and public schools. He received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and later obtained his Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Divinity School. Services Offered Pastor Rich offers planning, rehearsals, and ceremonies, as well as email support during the entire planning process. As an Elder (like a tenured Priest), he is fully licensed and will create custom ceremony elements for each couple. He is thankful for a wide variety of friendships, including persons who are religious, non-religious, multi-cultural, LGBTQI, multi-generational, and various abilities, while collaborating on weddings with Rabbis, Pastors, Muslims, and Hindu Priests along the way. Pastor Rich believes in marriage equality and has a non-discrimination policy on all levels. Services: My Premium service includes a Planning Meeting and a Rehearsal to prepare for your wedding for $1,195. If you don't need a Planning Meeting or rehearsal, that's absolutely fine. I will give you the same attention to detail and care, no matter which services you request. A wedding with a Rehearsal, minus a Planning Meeting, is $1,095. Wedding with a Planning Meeting, no Rehearsal is $995. If you're a do-it-yourselfer on wedding prep and just like an informal ceremony, using some questionnaires to help me prepare, the rate is $895. What You'll Love About Pastor Rich Couples highlighted his professionalism, ability to connect with couples, and accommodating nature in incorporating diverse traditions and languages. They also appreciated his personalization, inclusivity, and heartfelt storytelling. Check out the review section for more information.

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Se Habla Español

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Meet the team

Pastor Rich

Owner

My favorite part of being a Pastor is getting to be with people at the most important moments in their lives, like when they are tying the knot! I'm a Worship Consultant visiting a different Parish every Sunday, but my weekends are also about helping Couples celebrate their love and the new family they are creating. I don't claim to have figured out this thing called "love," but I have felt it from my wife Jane for several decades and I have tried to return it. Together we have three wonderful children and we love to Hike, Canoe and may even take Dance Lessons this year :)

5.0

out of 5.0

366 reviews

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Review Summary

This AI-generated summary is a snapshot of this vendor's ratings and feedback.

Pastor Rich receives overwhelmingly positive reviews for officiating weddings. Reviewers praise his ability to personalize ceremonies, craft meaningful speeches, and seamlessly blend various traditions. He is commended for his professionalism, warmth, engaging storytelling, and bilingual skills. Multiple couples express gratitude for his calming presence, attention to detail, and ability to make ceremonies unique and memorable. Guests rave about his heartfelt messages and connect with his ability to make each ceremony personal and special. Overall, Pastor Rich comes highly recommended for his dedicated, personable, and exceptional officiating services.

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Kelsey B

11/24/2025

Pastor Rich is a wonderful pastor. He was very accommodating, listened to our requests, and is incredibly personable. He is a great orator and is gifted at crafting and excellent ceremony. He is excellent and highly recommend him. All the guests thought he was incredible and did a great job.

Jayapriya P

11/04/2025

Pastor Rich was incredible for our wedding day and ceremony! Would highly recommend!

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J. C

11/03/2025

Pastor Rich did a wonderful job officiating our wedding. He was warm, professional, and made the ceremony feel personal and meaningful. We’re so grateful for how smoothly everything went and would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a kind and thoughtful officiant.

Riley G

11/01/2025

Pastor Rich did an amazing job at our wedding. He is willing to work with you and gives you great ideas. I'd recommend Rich to anyone!

David O

11/01/2025

Pastor Rich was fantastic! He curtailed the ceremony to exactly what we wanted. He was compassionate and made us comfortable and raised any nervousness we had. I would highly recommend him.

Doug K

10/29/2025

We can’t imagine anyone other than Pastor Rich officiating our wedding. Our guests raved afterwards about his storytelling. Pastor Rich had a unique ability to weave heartfelt stories (as if he knew us for many many years!) throughout a beautiful Christian ceremony. We had one guest say “it was the most beautiful ceremony she has ever seen”. We recommend Pastor Rich whole-heartedly!

Joris E

1/07/2025

Pastor Rich is an amazing wedding officiant: professional, kind, tremendously curious, companionate and funny. He was a calming presence that helped us navigate the stress of the D-Day. We were really touched when we met with him, so he could learn about our love story and what motivated us to take the leap. This love story was so beautifully recounted to the audience during our wedding ceremony that we both cried. Chose Pastor Rich if you want a heartfelt homage to your love!

Jessica B

1/02/2025

Pastor Rich officiated our wedding in August 2024. We had a great experience with him from start to finish. He was so helpful with our rehearsal and helped make us comfortable for the big day. He took the time to get to know us and personalize our ceremony fittingly and even had great recommendations to make the ceremony unique! We had many compliments from our guests and would highly recommend him!

Kiley B

1/01/2025

Honestly, Pastor Rich was a huge part of why our wedding felt so perfect. He makes each ceremony so uniquely personal and memorable. We had guests asking if he was one of our childhood pastors that we flew in from out of state because of how deeply he seemed to know us and care. We also had an extremely diverse guest list with many different religions and cultures and he made sure to be respectful and honor all of our guests in a way that felt like it not only encompassed what we wanted to portray, but warmly encouraged others to feel included. It was everything I could have wanted from one of the sweetest and kindest people you could ever hope to meet.

Sophie G

12/31/2024

Pastor Rich officiated our wedding in September, 2024. He gave a wonderful, genuine speech that highlighted my spouse and I as individuals and how we fit together beautifully as a couple. I couldn't reccomend him more. Our guests were raving about the ceremony all evening.

Monica L

12/31/2024

Pastor Rich was such a pleasure to work with! It was important to us to have someone who is bilingual marry us and I was skeptical at first- but Pastor Rich really does speak Spanish! He was able to incorporate special elements to our ceremony. He was also very easy to communicate with although we didn’t meet in person until the day of our wedding.

Mariangely H

12/30/2024

My wedding was spectacular thanks to Pastor Rich. I speak Spanish and my husband speaks English, so the Pastor made sure that both families felt comfortable having a bilingual wedding. He personalized the wedding according to our lives. I am very happy and would recommend him a thousand times more.

Lucas F

12/06/2024

Pastor Rich was very friendly, kind, and accommodating. He even took on a special request without any hesitation, and it made me feel like he cared. He was very warm, and the words he shared at our ceremony had some people convinced that was a family member or that we've known him all our lives. We would recommend Pastor Rich to anyone, he really made our day more special.

Conor O

12/06/2024

Pastor Rich worked tremendously hard to make our ceremony absolutely flawless - we truly can't thank him enough for the time and effort he dedicated to craft such a beautifully heartfelt, entertaining, and deeply personal message for us and our loved ones. The anecdotes he shared and the way he described our love for each other wonderfully encapsulated our relationship, he seamlessly tied our bridal processional song into his sermon like we requested, and the message he shared about the different types of love was meaningful and inspiring to each and every person there. Guests were truly singing his praises all evening! We can't think of a better way to start a perfect day, in a perfect place, with all our favorite perfect people. Pastor Rich has our deepest gratitude for making our big day even more special!!

Marcel H

12/03/2024

We were thrilled with Pastor Rich as our wedding officiant. His professionalism and experience were clear from our first interaction, handling every aspect of our ceremony with grace and efficiency. Pastor Rich kept us informed and engaged, promptly answering all our questions, making us feel confident and secure. His genuineness shone through, as he took the time to get to know us, ensuring our ceremony reflected our love story. His attention to detail and heartfelt service made our day memorable, even with the challenge of having five generations of family and friends. We appreciated his smooth approach that enhanced our multi-ethnic wedding with his excellent bilingual skills, seamlessly incorporating both cultures and languages. In summary, Pastor Rich exceeded all our expectations, playing a significant role in making our wedding day perfect. We highly recommend his services to anyone looking for a professional, personable, and dedicated officiant. Viva la Marcel y Maria (M&M)

Lisset B

12/02/2024

Pastor Rich is absolutely amazing! He is not only kind and respectful, but he also ensures that every question you have is answered. He takes the time to really connect with you and your partner, guiding you to create the ceremony of your dreams. We wanted to include several Catholic traditions, and Pastor Rich incorporated them flawlessly. He was also able to do our ceremony in Spanish, which was fantastic. He genuinely cares about his couples and goes above and beyond to ensure everything runs smoothly. Thanks to him, our ceremony was truly unforgettable.

Matthew F

11/26/2024

Pastor Rich did a great job with our wedding. He was very receptive when we had questions leading up to the wedding. During the ceremony, he helped guide us and make us feel at ease. We highly recommend Pastor Rich if you want someone that looks to understand your needs.

Alex S

11/23/2024

Pastor Rich was wonderful! He was communicative during the whole process, and flexible with what we wanted for the ceremony. The ceremony he gave was heartfelt and he made us feel so comfortable. We would definitely recommend!

Chelsea F

7/17/2024

Pastor Rich officiated our wedding on June 22nd in Lake Geneva. He did an incredible job! Our ceremony was so beautiful, he incorporated lots of personal details and it really seemed like he had known us forever. Many guests complimented us on Pastor Rich, asking us if he was our "home pastor" because he had so many good stories. We will always love pastor Rich!! I hope you choose him to officiate your wedding too, you would be in capable and loving hands!

Rachel B

6/27/2024

Pastor Rich did an amazing job learning about us. He really took the time to make sure details were correct and incorporate them in our ceremony. We received many compliments on how wonderful our ceremony was. Thank you for an unforgettable moment!

Nancy P

12/08/2023

I am the owner of Panchi Events and had the pleasure to work with Pastor Richl! My clients appreciated that he was available is a very short notice. I appreciated that he took time to know my client’s love story and life. He was great at incorporating laughter and important spiritual lessons that have to do with a healthy marriage. He managed a very beautiful sermon that blended both traditional and personal vows which made the ceremony that more special.

Jeanette P

12/04/2023

Pastor Rich was wonderful to work with and extremely professional. One of the bigger deciding factors for choosing an officiant was finding someone that could help guide us along the process. We knew we wanted to write some parts of the ceremony, but we didn't have a good understanding of the structure, what's appropriate when, etc. Our guests told us after the ceremony they assumed Pastor Rich was someone that had known us for years. We loved how he went through our story and noted little things he noticed about us as a couple. He was also just genuinely fun to be with on the big day.

Rachel K

11/30/2023

Pastor Rich is incredibly kind, warm, and effective. After getting to know us he recommended a ceremony flow of events and provided many great ideas to enrich the ceremony both religiously and not. He ran the rehearsal and made us very prepared for the wedding day. The ceremony was perfect annd everyone loved the message. I especially appreciated the quick communication and turnaround. Thank you Pastor Rich!

Marissa G

11/27/2023

My now husband and I were looking for an officiant that could deliver an authentic, non-religious, and bilingual ceremony for our October wedding and we are so grateful and blessed to have found Pastor Rich! He is so kind-hearted and patient, and really works with you to craft a personalized ceremony that truly encapsulates your entire love story. When we met with him in-person, he took the time to ask questions about how we met, our relationship, and any other details pertinent to our story, and he incorporated all of these details into the ceremony - I could not have asked for a more perfect delivery of the ceremony. It was so authentic, romantic, light-hearted, and special. I loved his finishing touches of his advice for us, pulling from his own experience and relationship with his wife. Even 1 of my bridesmaids - who introduced me to my husband - got a shout out in the ceremony and I loved it! We received so many compliments from our friends and family about Pastor Rich and he truly knocked it out of the park with everything we asked for. Thank you Pastor Rich for delivering the most memorable ceremony for us.

Sydney F

11/11/2023

Pastor Rich told our story beautifully and brought a bit of humor to the ceremony which helped calm our nerves. He was patient with my husband and I as we made decisions about the ceremony flow and answered any questions we had. Highly recommend!

Shannon H

11/07/2023

Pastor Rich was FANTASTIC! He made our wedding ceremony so special. His wedding speech before marrying us was the perfect balance of humor & heartwarming. We received many compliments from our family & friends about him. Highly recommend!

Michelle W

11/04/2023

It was an absolute privilege to have Pastor Rich officiate our wedding. He has a deep, genuine love of people and their stories. His kind demeanor and thoughtful questions convinced me from the first Zoom meeting that he would be the one to help us craft a beautiful, meaningful ceremony. He delivered beyond our expectations. Our ceremony was heartfelt, entertaining, respectful and so true to us. I will always remember the wisdom that he imparted. It was perfect. Pastor Rich was flexible with our ceremony requests, timing, and music. He had wonderful ideas and offered them without expectation or pressure. He is one of a kind and will always have a special place in our hearts. Thank you for everything, Pastor Rich!

Jesse R

10/30/2023

Pastor Rich delivered a beautiful bilingual service for my wife and I - thank you Pastor Rich!!

Kristin A

10/29/2023

Pastor Rich and his services were a great part of our wedding day. From when we reached out, he was helpful, warm, and easy to work with. Many of our guests told us they thought we had known each other long before the wedding. He made the info we provided come to life during our ceremony. We definitely recommend pastor Rich to anyone looking for an officiant.

Brian E

10/29/2023

Pastor Rich was an excellent choice for our wedding officiant! He is very kind, attentive, and really cares about truly getting to know each individual he works with. He has such a special ability to connect with people within first few moments of meeting them. We actually had multiple guests come up and ask us if we had been long term friends with Pastor Rich because of how naturally friendly he was towards our friends and family! He has a sense of calmness about him, which really helps ease wedding day nerves as well. He does a wonderful job tethering his ceremonies to each couples' unique story and considers all the little details when planning your special day to make it as great as possible. Pastor Rich is a special person and everyone loved the wedding ceremony. We highly recommend him!

Grace M

10/28/2023

Pastor Rich was so kind and really took the time to get to know my husband & I before our ceremony. He listened to all our requests closely and was able to give us our ceremony exactly how we imagined it!

Christine C

10/26/2023

I am a wedding planner with Shannon Gail Weddings and Events and I worked with Pastor Rich recently on a wedding at The Langham Hotel! The experience was wonderful from the beginning. He took time with my clients to get to know their love story and details of their life almost as if he were their friend! We collaborated on the ceremony outline and he had some great insight on how to make the ceremony feel personal and flow in a way that felt natural for everyone involved. The day of the wedding he had guests in stitches and tears with his perfectly pieced together sermon that blended together traditional vows and personal vows the couple wrote. 10 out of 10! Thank you Pastor Rich!

Phillip D

10/26/2023

My wife Ann and I were absolutely thrilled with Pastor Rich as our officiant. He was personable, funny, had good knowledge of our venue and offered a number of different options for the ceremony. He was an active listener that took the time to get to know our story to ensure our ceremony had a custom feel. He also took great care to ensure we were comfortable with the more religious elements of the ceremony. Our guests found him relatable and funny. We received a good number of compliments on Pastor Rich afterwards. We could not have been happier with the way our special day turned out and highly recommend Pastor Rich to anyone in need of an officiant.

Alex k

10/24/2023

Pastor Rich is a fantastic officiant and person, and my wife and I couldn't have been happier to have chosen him for our wedding. From the beginning of our wedding planning process to the end, Pastor Rich was sincere, professional and attentive, answering all of our questions and helping us navigate the most important day of our lives. The planning process was made easy by Pastor Rich. He was constructive and helpful in planning our vows, incorporated the readings and traditions that we requested and even added great content that we did not think of. He continually followed up with us to make sure we were on track with our thoughts and deliverables, which was such a great help considering everything else we had to do. Where he really stood out though, was the ceremony. He did a great job navigating the ceremony, added a few funny stories about my wife and I, and was sincere and engaging throughout. He was thoughtful with his words, conveying the importance of marriage and love and really helped to make our ceremony amazing. After the wedding, Pastor Rich sent us a hand-written note expressing his gratitude for allowing him to be a part of our wedding and wishing us the best of luck, which meant so much to my wife and I. Overall, we couldn't be happier with Pastor Rich, and highly recommend his services. Thank you for making such a special day even better!

Todd W

9/10/2023

Pastor Rich is truly a unique and heart felt officiant for any wedding. He made our day special. Many of our wedding guests commented later on what a great job he did. Our wedding license was lost in the court system a month later. We needed to contact him to resolve the issue and he immediately responded.

Monica M

7/05/2023

Pastor Rich is an absolute gem! We can’t thank him enough. We gave him short notice for our wedding and he still was nothing but kind. He was a pleasure to work with and made our day very special. We would absolutely recommend him!!

Stephanie P

7/03/2023

Thank you for everything you do! I received compliments on how wonderful our ceremony was. You made everything be so seamless for us. Thanks Pastor Rich!

Darsee C

6/02/2023

Rich, Thank you so much for our special day!! It absolutely would not have been the same without you. Perfect mixture of catholic and modern 😉 There is no one else I would have do my ceremony. He made us feel comfortable the whole, during one of the most nerve wracking days of our lives. We were so worried we’d lose the church feel, deciding to do the ceremony at the venue, but we were beyond happy! Thank you! All because of you :) God Bless, Mr. & Mrs. Cison

Todd L

3/08/2023

Todd L. A perfect match for our wedding! Quick to respond. Informative. Laid back and easy going style. Many thanks to Pastor Rich Rubietta.

Anna and Mitch M

1/03/2023

Pastor Rich did an incredible job at our wedding. From the time we first met to rehearsal and finally to our wedding day, everything was perfect. He took the time in getting to know us and during our ceremony, it felt like we'd known him forever, It was such a sweet, intimate, and heartfelt ceremony that it was everything we had envisioned. We were beyond happy with our ceremony and just think Pastor Rich did a fantastic job!

Sandra N

1/02/2023

Pastor Rich delivered such a beautiful ceremony for our wedding! I have a lot of family that only speaks Spanish so it was really meaningful to have had Pastor Rich cover parts of the ceremony in Spanish and is a big reason why we hired him. We loved that he asked us to share our favorite stories as a couple with him so that he could incorporate it into the ceremony. It was especially nice when my now husband and I sent him stories that the other didn't know about because it was a pleasant surprise to be reminded of that story during the ceremony and know that that was the other person's favorite memory of you. If you're looking for a great ceremony that really showcases you as a couple, Pastor Rich is your guy!

Katie S

12/16/2022

Pastor Rich did such an amazing job with the ceremony! He made sure to get to know us and get to know our story. He really tailored the ceremony to us, and it made everything feel so special, and he did it all with no notes in his hands. He delivered it smoothly and without hesitation. I really could not recommend him enough. He is such a kind, caring man who truly cares about the couples he bonds together. Please do consider Pastor Rich for your wedding!

Mario G

12/16/2022

We had two short meetings with pastor Rich, and everyone at our reception assumed he knew us for a long time! He's incredibly genuine and it honestly did feel like he knew us really well after our meetings. Really grateful he was a part of our day! Total pro.

Brittany K

12/15/2022

My husband and I first reached out to Pastor Rich through the Knot and after our first encounter via video chat we knew we made the right choice. He made every encounter feel natural and fluid. He was friendly and open with our family and friends and we couldn’t have asked for a better officiant to marry us. Even with the last minute venue change, despite rehearsing at the other venue the day prior, Pastor Rich was able to handle any curve ball we threw at him.

Meg & Jason B

12/14/2022

Pastor Rich went above and beyond to make our wedding day perfect. From the first time we chatted with him, we had an instant connection and ironically a very similar story. It was fate that we found Pastor Rich. He had such a positive attitude throughout the whole process and took the time to get to know us on a personal level and it was reflected in our ceremony. He gave us great recommendations for our readings and our unity symbol we did. We would highly recommend Pastor Rich!

Alex L

12/12/2022

Pastor Rich made our wedding day so special, and he was a pleasure to work with. Leading up to the wedding, he took the time to get to know us, our relationship, and even our families. He brought his personal touch to our ceremony, recalled stories we’d previously mentioned, and he inspired everyone in attendance. If you want an officiant who can shower your wedding ceremony with love, Pastor Rich is your guy.

Nathaly R

12/04/2022

After an extensive officiant search, we decided to move forward with Pastor Rich and we are SO happy that we did. My husband and I are not very religious but did grow up in the church so we wanted more of a spiritual ceremony. As an ordained minister of the Methodist Church, Pastor Rich knew all the traditional aspects of a Christian wedding and invited us to leverage as much or as little of them as possible. The other important aspect that he brought to the table was that he was able to do the ceremony in English and Spanish. While most of our guests were bilingual, we wanted to make sure the most important parts of the wedding (vows and ring exchange) were in Spanish and he was able to not only make it happen but he gave my Spanish-speaking grandma a shout out from the front and thanked her for being there. Loved it. I must admit that not having a full script from him did make me a tad nervous but Pastor Rich DELIVERED on the day of the ceremony. All the prep he took us through--the questionnaire, the calls--led to him sharing a funny, thoughtful, and hopeful message. Our guests went out of the way to say that he did a great job and they could not believe how much he knew about us and our story. Overall, Pastor Rich is there for YOU. He is super flexible, willing to give ideas, calm your nerves and make sure that your day is what you want it to be. His soothing voice and humble presence led us through the most important part of the day and set the tone for what was and is to come. Highly recommend him!

Rita K

11/22/2022

I'm here to let the world know Pastor Rich is absolutely wonderful! He's kind, caring and easy to work with. He has a very calming demeanor and is there for you every step of the way. I highly recommend him, you will not be disappointed!

Aurora C

11/21/2022

We are so happy that Pastor Rich officiated our wedding. He is very kind and thoughtful, and he genuinely cares about getting to know the couple. He is very organized and has excellent communication throughout the planning process. We went into wedding planning without much of an idea of what we wanted our ceremony to look like, but he guided us seamlessly through that process. Several of our friends and family thought we had known Pastor Rich for several years based on the very touching and personal ceremony he delivered. The truth is we met him a few months before our wedding - and we are so glad we did! Thank you again, Pastor Rich! -Dan & Aurora C.

Taylor Z

11/17/2022

Pastor Rich was the BEST officiant for our wedding! Our ceremony needed to be in both Spanish and English as our two families that spoke different languages and he went above and beyond helping us put together a bilingual ceremony. Not only did he help us incorporate Mexican traditions into the ceremony but all our guests felt included as he took the time to explain everything going on in Spanish and English. He even went above and beyond by giving us advice he’s learned over time with his own marriage, making everything more personal. I cannot recommend Pastor Rich enough!

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(847) 363-5737

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Pastor Rich

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