About this vendor
Hi, I’m Sarah-Pete Petersen, an award-winning, queer wedding officiant and humanist celebrant, and I believe your wedding ceremony should feel like home—authentic, meaningful, and uniquely YOU.
🏳️🌈 Love Without Limits
As a proudly LGBTQ+ and woman-owned business, I celebrate love in all its beautiful forms. Your ceremony should reflect your values, identity, and journey—without restrictions, assumptions, or outdated traditions. Whether you envision a romantic, lighthearted, modern, interfaith, multicultural, or completely nontraditional ceremony, I create inclusive, custom experiences that honor your story.
✨ A Humanist Approach to Marriage
As a humanist celebrant, I focus on what truly matters: your love, your story, and the life you’re building together. I believe in crafting ceremonies that are deeply personal, meaningful, and engaging—without obligation to religious traditions (unless you want them!). My goal is to create a moment that feels authentic and unforgettable, centered around your love, values, and the community you’ve built.
💍 Services Offered
I offer a range of personalized officiating services, including:
✔️ Custom Wedding Ceremonies – Every script is uniquely written to reflect your love story
✔️ Elopements & Intimate Weddings – Personalized, meaningful ceremonies for smaller gatherings
✔️ Vow Renewals – Celebrate your continued love with a heartfelt, custom ceremony
✔️ Ceremony Coaching – For couples who want a friend or family member to officiate but need professional writing and coaching support
📍 Serving Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Beyond
From intimate elopements to grand celebrations, I officiate weddings across Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, and beyond. I also offer virtual consultations to support couples worldwide.
📅 Let’s Create a Ceremony That Feels Like You!
Your love story deserves to be told your way—with joy, authenticity, and no limits. Let’s create a wedding ceremony that celebrates your journey your way.
Contact me to learn more and schedule a consultation.
Details
Business Attributes
- LGBTQ+-owned Business
- Woman-owned Business
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
Wedding Activities
- Wedding
- Ceremony
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Reviews
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4.8
out of 5.016 reviews
Review photos
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My husband found Sarah while looking for officiants and I am so glad he did! We had such a smooth and fun experience working with Sarah to make our wedding ceremony the best it cou...
ld be. She made the process of bringing together the ceremony so easy and it was clear she put so much thought into the ceremony script. After the ceremony, my mom came up to me and (unprompted) said if Sarah lived in the same town as her, my mom was certain they would be friends because Sarah brought so much warmth to our ceremony. People have been asking me what my favorite part about my wedding day was and hands down my answer has been the same every time. It's the ceremony. I am so thankful for Sarah for capturing my husband and I's relationship and creating such a beautiful ceremony! Definitely recommend!
We absolutely loved working with Sarah Pete! We knew we wanted our wedding ceremony to be something that was personal, that really conveyed the love we had for each other, that was...
unique, and that was inspiring - Sarah Pete delivered on all the above! She took the time to really get to know us prior to the wedding and worked with us to develop a script that conveyed exactly what we wanted to express to each other and our wedding guests. Even when we got specific about the changes we wanted made to the script, she made it happen. It resulted in a beautiful ceremony! Family and friends told us how intimate it felt and how the ceremony really conveyed the love we have for each other. We were excited to have a ring warming ceremony for our immediate family - this was something we suggested and Sarah Pete made it happen effortlessly! The ceremony was honestly our favorite part of the day. Sarah Pete’s attention to detail, creativity, flexibility, and dedication were so appreciated by us; it felt like she was truly excited to see us get married. We were thrilled to have a ceremony that felt so personal to us and highly recommend Sarah Pete to others!
My husband and I got married in Virginia in July 2024. Sarah, our wedding officiant, was absolutely extraordinary! From our initial meeting to the ceremony, she exuded warmth, prof...
essionalism, and a genuine passion for her role. She crafted a personalized, heartfelt ceremony that perfectly captured our love story and resonated with our guests. Her eloquence and thoughtful guidance made the entire process seamless and stress-free. On the day, she delivered a memorable ceremony with grace and charm, creating a meaningful experience for everyone. We couldn't have asked for a better officiant to make our wedding day so special. Highly recommend Sincerely Pete for anyone seeking an unforgettable and personalized ceremony!
Sarah was fabulous the second we talked to her! She was extremely helpful and provided so much information that it was a no brainer to work with her! The ceremony was smooth and ex...
actly what we were hoping for! Her questionnaires helped guide us in what elements we wanted in our ceremony and also provided nice moments for me and my fiancé (now husband) to reminisce on our relationship and connect! Also helped that she is a fellow JMU Alum (Go Dukes!)! Sarah is a wonderful officiant and can’t recommend her enough!
Sarah was absolutely amazing! She even gave us a notebook with our vows and ceremony printed out and it which we will cherish forever. She made our small elopement one of the best ...
days of our lives! We will definitely be recommending :-)
We hired Sincerely Pete to bring peace of mind and reduce wedding planning stress, unfortunately hiring Sarah ended up being our single largest source of stress.
Time sensitive e...
mails would go weeks without a response, we were stood up on a critical vendor meeting, and the day-of timeline that was promised a month out from our wedding was delivered only days before beforehand. With little more than three weeks to go before our wedding, Sarah wasn't getting back to emails and we were handling all vendor communicator. Sarah's support was so unreliable that we started looking into hiring a day of planner, but decided to email one last time. We offered to allow her to keep our deposit but as we had paid in-full in advance, we requested a partial refund so we could hire a day of planner. For the first time we got a response within an hour. Sarah was incredibly apologetic and cited personal reasons for her lack of communication, and connected us to an associate planner. While we appreciated the prompt reply, this meant that only weeks out from our wedding, we were doing a venue walk through with a new planner.
I'm relieved to say that the associate planner came through and for the first time we actually felt like we had someone in our corner, even going above and beyond by helping out with flowers and other last minute details. Unfortunately, this support came just around two weeks before our wedding and was far from the level of support we had paid for.
I do not fault Sincerely Pete for having personal maters that take precedence over work. It is, however, unprofessional to not proactively address how this will impact your existing clients, fail to follow through on the terms of your contract, and make it your client's responsibility to address your absence.
Working with Sincerely Pete is truly a great choice. Sarah will put you at ease, calm your fears, and make the entire wedding planning and execution process seem comparatively eff...
ortless. That's high praise coming from a couple with little wedding savvy, decision paralysis, and a tendency to research everything to death. Sarah took the time to understand us, helped us decide what traditions made sense, and suggested unique twists to make things personal. She told us where our wish list didn't make sense (one food truck for 80 guests) but came up with even better alternatives to maintain our look/feel (pop-up food stations throughout the evening). She helped us narrow our choices, kept us on track, and made spot-on vendor recommendations each time. The day of our wedding, we had nothing to do but fully experience the events and emotions. No stress, no last-minute details... Sarah had it all under control. She even helped button my dress. It was perfect!
When my husband and I first reached out to Sarah Pete, we were panicked: We had just parted ways with the original wedding planner that we hired and we weren’t sure we were going t...
o be able to find another one before our big day. From the first phone call with SP to the end of our wedding day, panic was never again an emotion that we felt.
We are very happy that we hired Sarah Pete to be our wedding planner. Not only is SP’s energy amazing, but she is extremely creative and is so fun to work with. Throughout the planning process, I felt more like I was planning with a friend than my wedding planner. This, combined with her business-first attitude to getting things done, made us feel very comfortable working with her on items both big and small.
We got married in my hometown of Sun Valley, Idaho which is pretty slow-paced. Despite the challenges of dealing with vendors from a small town, Sarah Pete navigated conversations and issues beautifully. My florist, for example, didn’t use email and barely texted. Sarah Pete somehow still figured out a way to work with him beautifully and produce an escort card board that was 100% what I envisioned. I am pretty sure they are still friends to do this day as well :).
On the wedding day itself, Sarah Pete also had all the big and small stuff handled as well. From being there to make sure my veil was perfect to making sure my husband didn’t step in deer poop (!) during sunset photos to helping me handle a dress emergency at the end of the night, Sarah Pete was there to make us feel calm, but more importantly make sure we had the time of our life. At this point it is such a cliche, but I can honestly say that my wedding day was the best day of my life and Sarah Pete truly helped make that a reality.
So to summarize, If you’re looking for a fun wedding planner that can truly get shit done, hire Sarah Pete!
I cannot say enough wonderful things about working with Sarah! We planned our wedding (140 guests, 10 person bridal party) in about a year. During our first meeting, she gave us a ...
general timeline of what to expect over the course of planning the wedding, and deadlines we should meet. My fiance and I had a baby 10 months before our wedding date, and even with all the craziness that comes with a new baby, I never felt stressed out or overwhelmed with planning the wedding. When the day arrived, everything was even better than I expected. She was even present at the hotel where the bridal party was getting ready before she headed to the venue to set up. At the end of the reception, she took our wedding gifts to the hotel for us so we could head right to the after party. I definitely recommend Sincerely Pete for planning your wedding!
Sarah Pete was remarkably helpful, and it would've been very hard to have a day like ours without such a capable planner and her team. We engaged her at her lower level of service,...
(much more than day-of planning, but not the full service package). If I had to do it over again, I might've just hired her at the higher level given how capable, friendly, and understanding she was. It probably would've made the planning even less time-intensive than it was. I would recommend her to anyone looking for a capable, no nonsense, like-able, accommodating and friendly planner to help with their day.
I am blown away by how amazing and wonderful and how much Sarah and her team were there for me, my now husband and our family with putting on our wedding. If you are on the fence a...
bout getting a wedding planner/coordinator, and I get it - I am a DIY kinda girl - it will be the BEST money you ever spent. Seriously. Sarah was there in so many ways I can't even count (or remember as it was a blur!). She was fixing my mom and bridesmaids' hair during the dinner after some pieces fell out, she was calmly guiding my nervous family members on when to give speeches, she had the last minute frames to put my father's memorial pictures in them (to name a few instances), she was flexible and in control, and never once did I feel pressured or stupid for asking questions about what to do in situations. Sarah made everything seem like a breeze, even though I know it wasn't in reality. I had a lot of family issues I was working out, and Sarah handled everything with grace and was such an amazing support. She helped keep us on the timeline in a flexible, reassuring and non-pushy way, and had all the vendors doing what they needed to do, the way they were supposed to do it. I am SO grateful for Sarah and her team for all they did. Planning a wedding as they say, truly is WAY more than you think it will be - so many little details to coordinate with so many different people - and she executed beautifully, and more! Just her calming reassuring "I got it handled" presence. She has such an awesome personality, is calm and gentle, but also assertive and demanding when she needs to be. I just felt so safe with her. She anticipated needs before I even knew I needed them. I am a big critic of customer service and going above and beyond, and Sarah surpassed far beyond even my anticipations for what I thought I expected. She is such a gem, and if you can book her - book her. She will be there for you in ways you didn't even know.
Sincerely Pete aka Sarah is probably the best vendor we hired for our wedding (and we hired some pretty amazing people!) Sarah was in constant contact with us and was available to ...
answer our questions no matter what. We chose the package where she helps us with the last 6 weeks and the day of, and I don't think my husband or I or our families could have been happier. The week of our wedding was filled with inclement weather and a threat of a hurricane, so much so that at the last minute we had some guests unable to attend and ended up needing to hire a videographer last minute. We contacted Sarah about this on Tuesday afternoon before our Saturday wedding, and had a videographer by noon on Wednesday. Plus, the video was amazing. If that doesn't convince you, the other thing I can add is that Sarah cares about her clients. She responds to you at 2AM and works so hard (most of it you never see because she wants you to RELAX which is such a weird word when talking about weddings). When I woke up the morning of my wedding, both my mother and I were extremely calm because we knew Sarah was going to take care of everything, implement the vision we had created, and she definitely didn't disappoint. Complete with some of her own decorations to outfit our sweethearts table and working out last minute transportation issues, I wasn't confronted with a single question the day of my wedding, and as a result, had an extremely magical day. So hire Sarah! I know you too will think this is the best money you spent for your wedding and truthfully, the best gift you can give yourself when planning your big day: a stress-free and fun wedding which is really what we all want!
If you are looking for a detail-oriented, full-service planner that fills in all of the gaps (within reason), even ones you didn't know you had! Both Lindsay and I lead very full l...
ives between running a business, full-time day jobs, and other ventures. After meeting with Sarah initially, we knew we wouldn't be able to plan a wedding the way we wanted it with all that we had going on. If we were to summarize in a single word our experience with Sincerely Pete Events, it is stress-free. With every situation we presented to Sarah, she never failed to lift weight off of our shoulders. In every afterthought that we thought we may have missed something, she already had it taken care of--hands down, one of the most accountable and communicative people we've had the pleasure to work with professionally and personally. We were walked through our wedding planning every step of the way from budget, how to handle uncomfortable situations, and even last-minute "emergency" situations. Let's be honest, there were rarely any problems or emergencies with Sarah, always solutions in progress! Ample time was taken to get to know us and the vision that we had for our special day. Her eye for detail and design is AMAZING, she was able to help us tailor our vision and created a ceremony and reception that was even more than what we could have dreamed! She handled all of the contract vendor negotiations and communication. She prepared us for what to expect from the beginning and executed above and beyond with everything first-class. She even helped us handle talking to family and gave us advice on handling tricky conversations. On the wedding day, we didn't have to worry about ANYTHING! From delivering our tips, spot checking hair and makeup, preparing our honeymoon suite, packing our car after the wedding to sending our marriage license, she did it ALL! If you want things taken care of with the least amount of stress and worry possible, you'll be glad you chose to work with Sincerely Pete Events.
Sarah is a planning goddess. She is the biggest reason that brides can take a deep breath and enjoy her wedding day. I have worked with Sarah on a number of projects and she really...
handles everything. I have even seen her step up and provide florals for a wedding in need! Now that's a planner you want on your team. She takes the headache out of wedding planning and makes it extremely fun. If you need a planner in Virginia (or abroad) Sarah should be your first call.
I am the Private Events Coordinator at River Creek Club and Sarah was the Coordinator for one of our weddings this fall. Working with Sarah is absolutely wonderful! She is very res...
ponsive, detailed and organized. Sarah made the entire planning process, rehearsal and wedding day stress free for everyone. She is very professional and experienced. I hope to work with her again soon!
All you need to know is that you really do NEED to hire Sincerely Pete.
I thought I was a fairly organized person and had a flexible schedule, so I could pull off wedding planning...
myself. I was wrong. About 2 months into the process, I was completely overwhelmed – the venue fell through, our budget was small, and I realized I had no idea how to ‘design’ the wedding I wanted. I was calling 4-5 vendors each for everything from hotels to caterers to bands and bus companies. It was a pain.
Then I met Sarah at a dress fitting and instantly knew I wanted her to help me. Her calm, cool, collected (at ALL times) personality was just what I needed to make this process more enjoyable and get the wedding day I had always dreamed of. The first time we met to officially talk about my wedding she brought a huge check list of things that needed to get done – more than half of which I hadn’t even thought about. She called and coordinated with ALL the vendors – found us the best possible price within our budget and made sure they were on task and theirs (and our) questions were answered. She took care of our budget and kept a good tracker of what we were spending and what each item typically costs so we didn’t go (too far) over.
Sarah is the model of a professional wedding planner. She is driven, motivated and an in incredibly hard worker. In the last 6 weeks before the wedding I really realized what good money I was spending on her and her team. I was calm and able to enjoy the details. She even put together ALL of the florals when a family member bailed on helping. And they were GORGEOUS! I got a sneak peek after the wedding of our reception site and broke into happy tears at the stunning sight.
It’s hard to put into words how grateful I am to Sarah – I continue to look back on my perfect day and know without a doubt that it wouldn’t have been half as wonderful if I didn’t have her expert eye and overly capable skills.
Contact
Virginia, Washington, D.C. and worldwide
Sincerely Pete Events