Say I Do Your Way

him first. Bill absolutely shines when it comes to organization and planning. As many weddings as we've been to, neither myself or my now wife had any clue where to begin when actually creating a ceremony. The idea was frankly terrifying to us. From our very first conversation, Bill set out an outline for how to do the ceremony, and even assured us that he knew and would take care of the technical details such as getting the certificate of marriage turned in (something we hadn't even thought about). Not only that, prior to the wedding, Bill gave us 40+ pages of potential readings, wordings for each part of the ceremony, different alternative rituals that could be added, and so on. We'd have been lost without that little booklet. That said, he's able to work in personal readings, rituals, etc. as desired -- we added in a prayer that he hadn't suggested, and made alterations to some of the wording he gave us, and he had no problem with any of those changes. Bill also personalizes the wedding by sending the couple questions to answer about one another. He asks good questions, and we had quite a lot to say. That element of his service really made him a hit with the guests. We had a largely secular interfaith wedding (Catholic + Jewish) and while Bill has a strong Christian background, he was able to pull off just the balance we wanted between secular and religious (aided by great planning discussed above -- both religious and secular readings, rituals etc. come included with his materials). He is prepared for the glass breaking, chuppah, circling and all that if needed (we only incorporated the former), he knows all the ins and outs of the Christian ceremony as well, and is quite comfortable with more secular traditions as well. We did pay extra to have Bill out to the rehearsal, and I understand he does counseling as well -- he makes a point not to be pushy about these additional services, even going so far as offering his notes to the venue staff to do rehearsal without him if we wanted. He does as much or as little as you need him to. I had no clue where to begin on an officiant -- neither of us had regular clergy in our life that would be able to pull off the kind of ceremony we wanted for various reasons -- but Bill stepped in to show us the way and did an absolutely outstanding job. Would recommend him to anyone!

t us new strategies to work on together. I absolutely 100% recommend Bill if you are looking for a prompt, efficient, calming, and caring officiant! Now that our wedding is over, we view him more as a friend than anything as we worked so closely with him. He made us both feel at ease during the rehearsal and during our real ceremony. He has such a calming voice and presence that immediately took all of our nerves away. Thank you for everything you did for us Bill, we SO loved working with you. Highly recommend!

we had a rehearsal to practice them a day before the wedding. It was very rude for us and all guest in such a formal day. He should have practiced and said correct names because it is only one chance for us in our lives. Why did he not practice the names a lot more by then?

at was reflective of our vision. We were able to incorporate some religious aspects into our wedding ceremony, and some of our personal values to achieve a heartfelt and genuine ceremony. Bill did a great job incorporating our story into the wedding ceremony, and helped us both get through the emotional part of sharing our own wedding vows. I would strongly recommend Bill for your wedding!

a personalized ceremony, and asked the right questions during our meetings and over email to get all of the information he needed. Several people commented to us what a wonderful job he did and how much they enjoyed the ceremony

our story were beautifully done and exactly how we had envisioned. Bill is flexible when it comes to his officiating and cater's towards the wants and needs of the couple. Would recommend a thousand times over to all brides searching for a great officiant!

re-wedding counseling, which we found to be really helpful! I highly recommend Bill!

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minational wedding ceremony would be well perceived and delivered by the person who would marry us. From the beginning, Bill was warm, friendly, passionate about his job, and most importantly, passed NO judgment on us for not wanting religion to be a part of our ceremony. Not only did he take the time to get to know us personally, but also made sure that he explained and guided us through what was the biggest day of our lives. He ran everything past us first for approval, and made sure that we both felt comfortable with his delivery. Everything was easy - from the first conversations to the digital book of readings for our ceremony to the wedding rehearsal. Bill truly is a gem and delivered an incredibly personal, funny, and memorable ceremony for us. To this day, our friends and family still talk about him, and we hope to be in touch for many years to come! You can tell that Bill loves what he does, and will continue delivering the BEST for his couples.

be less flexibility/customization) and we ultimately decided to have Bill marry us. After we were announced as husband and wife and walked back down the aisle, the very first thing I remember is my grandma running up to me and saying "I LOVED YOUR OFFICIANT!" Clearly he did a great job. ;) Bill was exceptionally responsive, professional, very kind and helpful to work with! Overall he provided a stress-free experience and I absolutely loved our ceremony. He gives you a workbook beforehand where you can go through and select different rituals, readings, vows, etc. It was fun to figure out what would be special to us as a couple and what would speak to us on our wedding day. His ceremony was also very personalized, he went into the story of us as a couple which was sentimental and hilarious at the same time. He's the best! Thank you Bill!

He made us feel very confident the day would go as planned, with multiple Skype sessions through the time before the wedding. The amount of reference material Bill gave us really helped us out, since we didn't really know where to start. Very easy to work with, and a wonderful, down to earth person.

ur relationship and decide what we really wanted out of our ceremony. In fact, deciding what we wanted out of our ceremony and personalizing the ceremony just for us is something Bill specialized in. Although Bill is a reverend, he was completely willing to officiate a secular ceremony for us. The ceremony also included so many personal touches—from Bill discussing how my husband and I met to where we got engaged and mentioning the wooden box that my dad built for our wine box ritual during the ceremony—that some guests seemed to think he had known us for much longer than he had. Bill was also extremely responsive—even when we were sending last-minute changes to his drafts just weeks or days before the ceremony. Responsiveness is something we valued very highly during the stressful wedding planning process, so this is a definitely a plus. Although Bill is not based in Southern Maryland, he was willing to make the roughly 2-hour drive to our wedding each way without even charging additional for travel—a gesture that we greatly appreciated. Finally, Bill took care of all of the legal work for us in terms of submitting the license and making sure our papers got to the proper people right on time. All in all, Bill was great to work with and wrote a wonderful ceremony that left people laughing and crying at turns throughout. We’d recommend him to anyone in the area looking for any type of ceremony.

ized it felt and that he shared the story of how we met and the different events that lead us to get married. Most people (extended family, family friends, etc.) at weddings don’t know a lot of the specifics behind the couple or only know bits and pieces and people loved how that was shared that with them. Reverend Cochran was responsive and helpful throughout the process, gave us freedom to customize our ceremony but also guided us with awesome suggestions when we needed it. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

along, not judge or try and steer our views in any particular direction. He is well spoken, well prepared, timely, friendly, and caring.

uide us in creating a ceremony that was truly personalized to us. Before the wedding, he asked each of us to answer different questions about our relationship and how we felt about each other and getting married. He did such a great job taking our answers and incorporating them into the ceremony. We got so many compliments from guests about how nice it was that he told our story and it seemed like he had known us for years! It really made us feel better to have a professional, and I am so glad we decided on Bill as our officiant!

remony. His questions allowed my husband and I to ask each other great questions and have helpful discussions. Bill was also very flexible with what we wanted/didn't want in the ceremony. He was super open and easy to work with!

the correct blend of attributes to add to our ceremony. Additionally, we opted to take pre-marital counseling with Bill as well. This was a series of counseling sessions that was facilitated by Bill and helped me and my wife become closer prior to our wedding. I would Recommend this option to anyone using Bill. Overall, Bill was a pleasure to work with and I would recommend him to anyone getting married in the DC area!

s house for a first contact and he seemed very professional and also super friendly. We could tell he had a lot of experience with weddings so we were confident to sign the contract very quickly. Bill provided us an e-book which was our homework, it was very easy to start creating the ceremony piece by piece with this material. One other thing to do is select readings and answer separately some questions about our couple story. Bill was very flexible: because we didn't have any time, we met again only two weeks before the wedding but he promptly drafted the ceremony with what we provided and and discussed that day, and we still had time to make minor adjustments the week before. We didn't have a rehearsal but everything went super smoothly! It was very beautiful especially the part about our story that Bill created from our answers. Everyone was very touched and complimented us on the ceremony. It was a very strong and amazing moment for us and very meaningful. I recommend Bill to every busy bride that wants a personalized ceremony but needs help and guidance.

he US. We actually got our marriage certificate earlier due to our situation and we were thinking of having a friend do our ceremony so we could do it how we wanted. We finally decided to look for someone more official and came across Bill. We actually spoke to 3 officiants and we immediately felt most comfortable with Bill and felt that he could do what we truly wanted. Bill walked us through the entire process to design a ceremony tailored to us. We wanted a mix between traditional vows and saying our own and he intertwined everything perfectly. The ceremony was even more about us and our love story, which we believe to be best way to get married. Our friends and families even came up to us the rest of the night saying it was one of the best ceremonies they had been to due to how unique it was. If you want something more than just the traditional church ceremony, Bill is the way to go! You will have the most special ceremony for your wedding day!

Tracy handled our pre-marital counseling and then Tracy was our officiant. The counseling was a good confirmation for my husband and I that we had discussed and were on the same page for the important things that really make a marriage and to help ensure we had a good foundation going into our marriage. During the counseling you are discussing such important topics as financials, the way you both communicate, ideas you each have around family, etc. With respect to our ceremony, they give you an excellent outline with which to put together the perfect ceremony for you. We weren’t sure where to begin or what we even wanted from our ceremony. This outline was exceptional in steering us to what guests continually tell us was one of the best ceremonies they had ever heard. Above and beyond that, Tracy wowed our family and friends during our ceremony by composing and telling our story. You would have thought that Tracy had known my husband and I for years, rather than a couple of months the way she told our story-she really captured us in telling it. I would recommend Say I Do Your Way time and time again to family and friends.

desire, and if you have any questions he can provide advice or guidance through his decades of experience conducting weddings. Our friends and families really liked the ceremony and thought he had a great sense of humor. Definitely visit his website and research more if you are planning a wedding. http://www.sayidoyourway.com/

to the end, even after the wedding! He followed up with us after to see how we were and if we had any questions about the documents etc. We had so many compliments on the ceremony from all of our friends and families. Everyone thought it was so different and fun with the perfect amount of comedic relief and sentimental emotions. Most people dread wedding ceremonies and are guests were glued to it all the whole time! I am the bride and the ceremony was my favorite part of my entire day thanks to Bill!

t us up with FaceTime meetings to accommodate our crazy schedules), fun to work with, and just a great human being. We elected to have premarital counseling in addition to performing our service, and I would recommend it to everyone. You each take a detailed assessment, and Bill gently guides you through possible areas of improvement in your relationship, as well as encourages you where you are doing well. The best part, was the CEREMONY! Bill pulled together exactly what we wanted with little guidance from us. He knew what we wanted from the hours of conversations we had with him over our time working with him, and we could not have asked for a more perfect wedding. All we kept hearing was how beautiful our ceremony was, and what an amazing job Bill did!

ked specific questions and really wanted to make sure our ceremony reflected our personalities. He did an amazing job at really making our ceremony special and incorporating our story from both of our points of views, even quoting us! I would hire Bill again in a heartbeat! I HIGHLY recommend him for your ceremony!

signing the ceremony. We met with him a few times before our big day and he was well prepared and offered great suggestions. Bill delivered our ceremony with humor and compassion. We had so many people reach out to us after the wedding to tell us what an amazing ceremony we had. We would highly recommend Bill to anyone planning a wedding.

and then your wedding, come together seamlessly. Not only is he a great officiant, but he's an eloquent public speaker (which was important for us). We couldn't have been happier!

. I highly recommend this company.

htful questions, and took careful notes about our wishes, but most importantly he handed over an outline of all the things we needed to consider in creating our ceremony. It was just what we needed! We wanted a ceremony that was positive (focused on love, not sticking out the hard times) and non-religious. We also wanted it to reflect *us.* Bill made that easy. He gave us a huge packet of potential rituals and blessings, but we weren't forced to pick from a menu: we pulled bits and pieces of things we liked and created something that was truly unique. And he did a wonderful job telling our story during the ceremony. We were fortunate to work with a lot of great vendors for our wedding, but none of them were as attentive and helpful as Bill. The result was everything we could have hoped for: we had a beautiful outdoor location, perfect weather, and a great band for our reception, but the thing all our guests talked about was the *ceremony* itself -- many of them saying that they'd never seen a better wedding ceremony. Thanks, Bill! -- Jason & Robyn (5/23/15)

as meaningful and didn't sound too cheesy, and that's exactly what we got. Bill provided us with material to look through that had a lot of options for poems, readings, vows, etc., and he helped us step-by-step with each facet of choosing our final ceremony program. He was professional and kind, and it was clear as soon as we met him that he really loves what he does. I believe that the officiant is in large part responsible for setting the tone for the wedding day, and Bill does a great job of that. I would highly recommend him to anyone wanting to add a personal touch to their ceremony.

also a complete professional---each step of the process was organized, comprehensive, and well planned. Before the wedding, she took the time to get to know us as a couple and find out exactly what we were looking for in a ceremony. She made thoughtful suggestions and went out of her way to help us incorporate all the elements we felt were important (to the point where she actually offered to drive our dog the 2 hours to our venue when I mentioned how sad I was that the pup couldn't join us because the hotel we were staying at didn't accept pets). But where Joyce truly shines is the ceremony itself---her remarks were perfect. She used her time getting to know us to make them deeply personal and meaningful, and she struck the exact tone and balance we were hoping to have in our ceremony. She brought a warmth and familiarity to the her remarks that I never would have thought possible from someone who had met us only a few times. We received countless comments on what a fantastic job she did, and more than one person at the wedding assumed she was a friend or relative. Hiring Joyce was easily one of the best wedding-planning decisions we made, and I feel so lucky to have found her.

gave us many different ideas for how to tailor the ceremony to our preferences. His story of how we met was wonderfully funny and heartfelt. The length of the ceremony was perfect, and Bill did a great job at being stealthily speedy while still fitting in every bit at the end of the ceremony to help dodge an imminent thunderstorm! We are so happy that we chose him to be our officiant and would recommend him to anyone.

l is very quick to answer all your questions and none of them are off limits ( I know this because I had a lot of questions going into the ceremony). Our ceremony was Non-Denominational and Bill was very understanding of that. The ceremony was incredibly memorable because of the personal touch Bill added when he learned about us. I'd highly highly recommend him. Thank you!

(which surprisingly not all vendors do these days), making this easy and comfortable for us. The actual ceremony came out perfectly and so many of our guests asked how we knew Bill/how Bill knew us -- his remarks were so personal and touching. He also pronounced my foreign name perfectly, I was so impressed! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Bill to anyone looking for a personal, custom, and smooth wedding ceremony.

est ceremony ever! Bill did more than officiate our wedding. He took the time to write and share our love story. His words were true, pure and filled with so much emotion. He truly captured the way we feel about each other and presented it to our guests in a way that was unforgettable and quite moving. Please use Rev. Bill Cochran for your wedding. He will not let you down. He will help make your special day, one of the best memories of your life. We are so blessed that he was a part of our day! Thanks again Bill! We think you are wonderful!! Cindi & Mike L.

the end of the ceremony. He tailored the ceremony to exactly what we had in mind—he told the story of how we met, kept it to the length we wanted, and had good ideas about ceremonial rituals (i.e., lighting candles, reading a poem, breaking of glass, etc) but only included exactly what we wanted. Bill was very receptive to our requests and made the ceremony a reflection of my relationship with my husband. The ceremony was perfect! Bill was an excellent speaker and knew how to engage and communicate with our guests.

t would capture us as a couple and emphasize our love for each other. Rev Bill really worked with us to make sure that was exactly what we got. Our ceremony, by far, was my favorite thing about our wedding. I have had more compliments and have been told that is was one of the most touching, loving and emotional ceremonies our guest have ever experienced. The reception was great, but the ceremony is what the wedding is really all about. Rev Bill did everything in his power to make out perfect and it was just that, PERFECT!

oblem we were going through and was a key factor in working through it all. The ceremony was very well presented, Bill interacted with the wedding party like part of the family. I strongly recommend Bill for anyone thinking of getting married or counseling.

Say I Do Your Way". He really gets to know you as a couple and is able to personalize the ceremony to fit what you want.

to begin. Bill Cochran came to our rescue. He listened to us and our story and guided us through the planning of each aspect of the ceremony. Bill was responsive, open to our preferences, and made the entire process easy and fun. My now husband and I went from feeling anxious about where to begin to feeling calm and in control with Bill at the helm. There ceremony wasn't even on the list of things we were worried about, and our guests loved his presentation of us as a couple. In the end, we had a completely personal ceremony that truly fit "us," and we couldn't have been happier! Thank you, Bill!

l to officiate our wedding. Because my husband and I come from different faiths, we wanted a non-denominational officiant that would work with us to craft a personal ceremony that reflected both of our families' traditions and our individual touches. From our very first meeting, Bill helped us create our own personalized ceremony that incorporated our heritage and reflected who we are as individuals and as a couple. Based on his 30 years of experience, Bill provided great advice and insight into the various elements and style of the ceremony, helping us achieve the tone and length we had in mind. A few weeks before the wedding, Bill helped us pick our readings and worked with us to incorporate several special and unique elements into our ceremony, including having our fathers each read a short blessing and having Bill tell the story of my engagement ring, which is a family heirloom. Bill also provided us with guidance on how to craft our own vows, which ended up being my favorite part of our ceremony. Finally, Bill also asked us to fill out a questionnaire before the wedding, from which he developed his homily about our story, how we met, and our vision for our marriage. Every aspect of our ceremony was personalized and custom-made for us! After the ceremony, I had several friends and family members compliment us on the ceremony and ask how long we'd known Bill, because his words had made it seem like he'd known us for years. We are truly grateful for the beautiful ceremony Bill created for us, and we are so glad to have been able to work with him! I would absolutely recommend Bill and Say I Do Your Way to anyone looking for a unique, special, and highly personal wedding ceremony.

t have been happier or more fortunate to have had him.

at was the reason why we decided to contact him during our planning. He was super professional, courteous, attentive, and more than willing to help. He has a lot of experience so you best be sure you will be in great hands. He did a fantastic job at our wedding and our wedding truly couldn't have been any better. My family and friends had great comments about him and I have to say that I recommend him to anybody out there who would need an officiant for the wedding. Hands down!

and tradition for our family and friends and was truly the best ceremony ever - and I waited to be married until 45 so I have been to a lot of weddings! We are so thankful for the personal time and attention Bill gave us to get to know us as a couple and to make our ceremony fit us perfectly!

e very religious. Rev. Bill took the time to understand what specific we wanted, gave us a ton of options for readings, prayers, etc., and was extremely flexible when we had ideas of our own. We also really appreciated the fact that he truly got to know us in the time leading up to our wedding, so that he could integrate these stories into the ceremony itself. The ceremony Bill officiated was fantastic. He was eloquent, and really made it feel like he'd known us for a long time. The ceremony felt personal and relaxed. Just as we wanted! Rev. Bill was fantastic, and we would definitely recommend him to any bride and grooms in the DC area.

ilored to exactly what my husband and I wanted and everyone commented on how perfect it was. He has a way about him that is very calming and my husband and I just knew that the ceremony would be perfect with him there. We are so very grateful to have found him and recommend him very highly.