About this vendor
With Love & Hope Co. is a team of professional wedding officiants located in the greater South Bend, Indiana, area. We help couples celebrate their marital commitment in meaningful ways. We aim to create a memorable ceremony that reflects the lovebirds' style and preferences by working together.
Services Offered
The team at With Love & Hope Co. strives to make you feel at ease. We aim for you to be comfortable throughout the process while we curate a ceremony that reflects the character of your relationship. We offer options at all price points and levels of "frill." We can officiate religious and secular ceremonies—including small weddings, elopements, last-minute nuptials, and themed vow exchanges. We are available to assist couples in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois, but we are always open to traveling for destination weddings, having recently officiated in Florida and Hawaii.
We offer three price points...
A) "Make it Legal": $150
License signing only service with very basic confirmation of intent
B) "Simple and Sweet" Elopement or Mini-Ceremony: $250
Couples choose from either a pre-written religious or a civil ceremony, not customized to the couple.
The standard ceremony format is as follows:
Welcome
declaration of intent to marry ("I do")
exchange of vows (can be your vows or a repeat after me )
exchange of rings
pronouncement of marriage
This is a perfect solution for an intimate service with the couple and just a few guests, but it is also available to all! Simple service does not mean boring! On the contrary, it will be a beautiful and memorable service.
C) "Our Love Story" Custom ceremony: $350
We will collaborate to create the perfect ceremony for your special day. A consultation will gather details about your relationship and vision. The fully customized ceremony, including unlimited script revisions, will reflect your love story. Unity elements can be added at this level.
Serving: Niles, Elkhart, Goshen, South Bend, Kalamazoo, St Joe, and more
Details
Business Attributes
- LGBTQ+-owned Business
- Woman-owned Business
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
Religious Affiliations
- Christian
- Interfaith
- Secular
- Spiritual
- Unitarian
Wedding Activities
- Wedding
- Ceremony
Awards and Affiliations
4-Time 'Best of Weddings'
2026.2025.2024.2023.
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.
Hall of Fame
Earned by winning 'Best of Weddings' four or more times.
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help
you make those big decisions with ease.
4.9
out of 5.030 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 3
Very professional affordable and was able to arrange our marriage in less than a week. Officiant was very kind and even took some great photos for us! Thank you!
Cassandra was AMAZING! She is personable and willing to do what it takes to make your ceremony feel special. We were so delighted to have her officiate our day!
With Love & Hope Co. was wonderful to work with! Carol officiated our ceremony and did a fantastic job! We were very impressed by the quick responsiveness, clear communication, fai...
r pricing, and assistance with planning the ceremony. We truly couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful ceremony! We just want to thank Carol again for her part in making our wedding day the intimate and special experience we had hoped it would be.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Truly Exceptional Officiant — Carol Made Our Day Unforgettable
My wife and I had the absolute honor of having Carol Kraus officiate our wedding on the campus of the U...
niversity of Notre Dame — and we could not have imagined anyone better suited for such a meaningful occasion.
From the very beginning, Carol brought a perfect blend of warmth, professionalism, and genuine care. She guided us every step of the way, offering thoughtful insight and reassurance that made the entire process effortless and deeply personal. Her calm demeanor and natural grace helped us feel completely at ease, allowing us to focus on the meaning of the moment.
What made it even more special was Carol’s own connection to Notre Dame as both a graduate and a member of the University’s Engineering Department. That shared bond added a sense of authenticity and heart that made our ceremony feel truly “home.”
Carol is a remarkable officiant — flexible, attentive, and kind — and we’ll always be grateful for the role she played in one of the most memorable days of our lives. We wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone seeking an officiant who combines professionalism with true compassion and spirit.
— David & Deb Gallitto
From the planning all the way to the big day Carol kept in touch and made sure we were ready , even if it was just a simple hello from her to let us know she was thinking of us whi...
le our big day approached , we couldn’t have asked for anyone better🙂 thank you for everything you helped us with rehearsal, letting us use your steamer 😄 to making sure everyone was in place and ready . You truly made our day less stressful then what I thought it was going to be 😊Thank you for making our ceremony beautiful ! So yes I would definitely recommend With Love And Hope❤️
I cannot say enough good thinks about both Carol and Kathy. Carol emailed and called me throughout the planning process and was a delight to work with. Kathy was phenomenal, both w...
ith the rehearsal and the ceremony the day of. She was a perfect fit for not only us but our entire family. She answered everyone’s questions and provided us with a beautiful ceremony. It couldn’t have been better! Thank you so much Kathy, we really appreciate you!
Working with, With Love and Hope Co. was one of the easiest decisions of the wedding planning process. Our officiant Cassandra was very professional. The ceremony was heartfelt and...
went seemlessly.
I recommend With Love and Hope Co to any couple looking for an officiant that makes the ceremony truly about you and your soon to be.
Carol is the absolute best! We did not have to worry about a thing! She handled everything and delivered an unforgettable ceremony.
Thank you Carol
I found Carol and her team on The Knot. After my initial email communication with her, I knew for sure she would be the perfect fit for our wedding. Her organization and communic...
ation was stellar.
She sent us a questionnaire to help her understand my groom and me better and then sent a ceremony script that we could change if needed.
I felt like I already had met her when we actually met her at our wedding!!
You won't be disappointed!
When our original officiant was in a terrible car accident just two weeks before our wedding, we were panicking trying to find someone new.
But then we found Carol. As soon as we...
booked with her, she started working on our ceremony and we were quickly put at ease knowing that she would take care of us and give us a beautiful and personal ceremony even with our time crunch.
When we built our ceremony script there were so many lovely options to choose from, and she wrote a beautiful segment for the "our story" portion that felt deeply personal and touching.
Her portal was easy to use, and she always responded to us quickly and thoughtfully. We were never treated like a rush job. She always wanted to make sure things were perfect and always listened to our requests.
On the day of the wedding, she made our ceremony feel magical. The way that she delivered the script made it feel like she'd known us for years instead of a couple of weeks.
She was also a great advocate for us. When our DJ almost didn't play the correct music, which was necessary for the bride's cue for the processional, she stepped in, made sure he played the right music (even when he was trying to argue with her) and the processional happened without a problem. I might still be waiting for my music to start if it wasn't for her!
Carol and Cass were absolutely delightful to work with. Leading up to the wedding they contacted us about any requests. Our wedding ceremony was incredibly scrappy and we were wing...
ing it but Cass didn’t mind and rolled with the punches. 10/10 would recommend!
Carol is efficient, showed up on time, and truly listened to what we wanted in terms of the ceremony. She reads the room well and swiftly diffused a few of our more awkward moments...
during the ceremony.
Carol was very helpful in creating a ceremony that fit our needs. We wanted it to be easy yet elegant. We were pleased with the service Carol and her business offered.
We are so grateful to have had Carol as our wedding officiant! She helped us craft a ceremony that felt uniquely personal and special to us. On the night of our wedding, she conduc...
ted the ceremony with grace and warmth, making us feel completely at ease. We couldn't have asked for a better officiant for our special day. Thank you, Carol!
Professional, personal and expedited our marriage ceremony. Definitely recommend for a quick and impromptu service.
Carol was very friendly and professional. Her comments prior to our vows seemed to match perfectly with our thoughts and interests, and I was not sure how she came up with such acc...
urate statements relating to us.
We had With Love and hope officiate our wedding. We decided to go with the love story package. Carol did a great job with the script for our ceremony. It was beautiful and I loved ...
that we got to pick what we wanted in it and we could adjust anything we didn’t like. However, Carol gave us a notice less than 24 hours before our ceremony that her sister Kathy was going to sub in for her. After being understanding I asked why she couldn’t attend, and Carol informed us that she had doubled booked ceremonies. Since there was a Notre Dame game that weekend and she is closer to South bend and her sister is closer to Elkhart, Carol did the South bend wedding and Kathy did our Elkhart wedding. I understand the traffic would make it harder for her to travel but we were disappointed that we didn’t get to work with Carol and frustrated to get the notice so short. Kathy did good at officiating our wedding, however we did have some problems. We didn’t have her come to our rehearsal because we had a plan of what we wanted to do. When Kathy met with my husband she kept telling him that traditionally there were a few things that we weren’t doing right. We had the men standing on the opposite side then what you traditionally do and Kathy kept persisting to the guys that you don’t do it that way traditionally. She even asked our photographer to agree with her but our photographer said “traditionally yes that’s how you do it but it’s their wedding and they can do it however they want”. After that she came over to me and my bridesmaids and explained all the things we had wrong and not traditional. We felt as though that she was expecting us to just change our mind 20 minutes before the ceremony, after we had planned all of this with the bridal party the night before. Like I said, the script was beautiful and Kathy did well in presenting it, but I am disappointed with the late notice from Carol and how Kathy was pushing us to change so many things.
If you are looking for an officiant or coordinator, this is the one!! Carol and her team are some of the hardest working and detail oriented professionals I've ever encountered. Th...
e ceremony presentation was tailored wonderfully to us, timing was spot on with what we asked for, and you could really tell she has experience in this field (like stepping out of the way for our kiss during ceremony so we could have an unobstructed picture, etc). We brought several decorations to our reception boxed up and needing deployed while we were getting ready in the morning- walking out from the dressing rooms and seeing everything all set up beautifully and perfect was just.. a feeling that is indescribable. The team at With Love & Hope Co. went above and beyond anything we could've asked for and made us feel absolutely special on our special day! Thank you Carol and your team!
They were amazing! Literally right before the ceremony the wedding dress and matron of honor dress broke. While our photographer was fixing our dresses Carol was taking care of get...
ting everything and everyone else ready. Such a blessing!
Carol was great to work with. She got to know us, wrote the whole script and gave us options on what we like. She was courteous, professional, and light hearted while making sure w...
e were on track through the rehearsal and ceremony.
Carol was absolutely amazing! She worked with us and communicated really well and was open to us adding to/changing things. She was patient and flexible. Definitely would recommend...
!
Carol was amazing and made our day absolutely beautiful! She more then went above and beyond! Thank you so much Carol!
Much Love,
Karen & John
OMG, I cannot say enough good about Carol and Kathy. Kathy was very professional and thorough during our rehearsal and ceremony. She showed up on time and included all the elements...
we wanted in our ceremony. I the script was amazing and heartfelt, and I love that we got to make it our own. Carol was our main point of contact throughout. She was always on time and made sure everything was how we wanted it. She was very responsive to all our inquiries. She was also our coordinator for the day of the wedding. I cannot say how thankful I am for all her help. I literally could not have done it without her. She was constantly checking in and making sure I was okay. She worked with all our vendors and made sure everything was perfect. When it was all over, even my mom commented on how amazing she was. I was very stressed getting ready, but she was like the calm in the storm that I really needed. Thank you so much Kathy and Carol! Our wedding was amazing because of you.
If I could put more stars I would! Carol went above and beyond with my wedding. She was easy to get ahold of and quick to respond. She cared about my and husbands wants when it cam...
e to how we wanted the ceremony ran. Not only was she our officiant; she was also our day of coordinator, bartender, and played seamstress when our flower girl’s dress wasn’t fitting properly. Highly recommend!
We were very pleased with Carol Klaus as our Wedding Officiate. She was warm and welcoming. Our officiate cancelled at the last minute and we contacted her, and it was a very conve...
nient process in securing her services. We would both very highly recommend the With Love & Hope Co. Her message on Our Wedding Day was just perfect for us as a couple!
Very professional and nice. Definitely recommend.
We were so impressed with Carol and Kris. From the very beginning it felt like I had known them for years and was talking with one of my friends. They both made us feel so comforta...
ble talking about how we met and why we were so in love. It was so easy. We highly recommend their services to anyone looking to make their love story memorable and special. Thank you both from the bottom of our hearts.
Highly recommend With Love & Hope! We received so many compliments on our ceremony with many people asking who it was that we used! Carol called us leading up to the ceremony to ge...
t to know us so she could craft our script. It was perfect! She made it feel exactly like "us". It wasn't just a generic wedding script which made it so special. It was engaging, romantic, funny and perfect. Kathy officiated on our day and she did an amazing job. People thought we had known her for years because of how personable she was! Can't recommend and thank them enough!
If I could give more stars I would! Overall such a sweet person and made our somewhat complicated request into such a smooth and beautiful ceremony! Highly recommend!! <3
Carol was so wonderful and helpful for us to do the right ceremony we wanted!
Contact
Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, All USA
With Love & Hope Co.'s photos