Officiant recommendation

[Geauxn2Disney]

Could someone please recommend a Disney officiant for us? So far, we haven't been particularly wowed by anyone. It seems like there's been praise (and limited criticism) for every officiant on this board (not a complaint...I appreciate honest opinions!) Anyway, since everyone's criteria for a good officiant are different, I was hoping someone could give us a recommendation based on the following preferences:

1) We are looking for a non-religious ceremony. We are perfectly fine with having a reverend (as opposed to a notary) as long as that person will not make us feel uncomfortable about not having a religious ceremony.

2) We definitely want some say in the ceremony itself. While we're not looking to completely rewrite vows, etc., we'd like the option to cut and paste what we like and do not like from sample ceremonies. (This seems reasonable to me, but I've read that some people have had problems with this...)

3) We have a big aversion to fakeness. Some non-Disney wedding officiants are just so phony that it makes things awkward. We are looking for someone with a good sense of humor, who will make us feel comfortable and show a genuine interest in us as a couple, but not pretend that he/she? has been our buddy since we were tiny. Does that make sense?

Thank you for any recommendations!

 

[KellyJo18]

We really liked Ron Rosenzweig. He is the notary that is recommended by Disney. When we originally contacted him he sent us a ceremony with a bunch of different options we could add on. There were particular parts we liked but wanted reworded. He had no problem at all with us making changes. His only request about changes was for them to be summited to him before a particular date. He was very professional, yet, personable. After our ceremony all of our guests told us they liked how he focused on us as a couple and the topic of marriage rather than religion. Sorry I'm rushing this post because DH is waiting at the door for me to go run some errands but let me know if you have any questions about him. Good luck making your decision .

 

[BaBeeCee14]

I would like to know this myself. Geauxn2Disney, I have all the same preferences as you. Non religious, willing to accomodate what we would like for the ceremony, etc.

Kelly, thanks for the recommendation. I will look into Ron. Does he have a website or anything?

 

[myprincessgirlisa]

ok...i want to put in my vote for Rev jack day

He is just the cutest little thing!!

We used him in 1997 & hes still around so that must say something really good about him.

They are ALL great, but i was very fond of Rev Day

GL & congrats!!!

 

[Geauxn2Disney]

We really liked Ron Rosenzweig. He is the notary that is recommended by Disney. When we originally contacted him he sent us a ceremony with a bunch of different options we could add on. There were particular parts we liked but wanted reworded. He had no problem at all with us making changes. His only request about changes was for them to be summited to him before a particular date. He was very professional, yet, personable. After our ceremony all of our guests told us they liked how he focused on us as a couple and the topic of marriage rather than religion. Sorry I'm rushing this post because DH is waiting at the door for me to go run some errands but let me know if you have any questions about him. Good luck making your decision .

Thank you so much for the quick reply! We've actually contacted Ron, and he sent us back the email you mentioned. It looks workable and he seems very nice, but I hadn't heard much about him. I'm so glad to hear about your good experience! I especially like your guests' comments about him focusing on you two rather than religion - exactly what we are looking for. Thanks again!

I would like to know this myself. Geauxn2Disney, I have all the same preferences as you. Non religious, willing to accomodate what we would like for the ceremony, etc.

Kelly, thanks for the recommendation. I will look into Ron. Does he have a website or anything?

If I remember correctly, I just googled him and his site came up. I may be confusing him with another officiant, but I want to say there were a couple of officiants on one site together. I filled out the information request and he responded promptly (just a few days ago). Good luck!

ok...i want to put in my vote for Rev jack day

He is just the cutest little thing!!

We used him in 1997 & hes still around so that must say something really good about him.

They are ALL great, but i was very fond of Rev Day

GL & congrats!!!

Thank you for the recommendation and well wishes! Rev. Day's website was actually the first one I visited, and I liked him because he reminds me a lot of my grandpa. Unfortunately, my experiences trying to get information from him left me very disappointed. I'm glad you had a good experience, though! Your wedding picture and little girl are so cute!

 

[pepples22]

I want to vote for Rev. Kevin Knox. I know the website looks like it could be fake, but once we got talking to him on email, he was fantastic. We got a pack of religous and non-religous cermonies, we asked if we can chop and change and few bits and he was all for it.

Actually we totally re-worded most of the ceremony because we didn't want to agree to anything that was religous. We also got to pick our own poem that we wanted in the ceremony, and we added the unity candles at a very late date.

He was very good, and one thing that was nice, he disappeared at the end of the ceremony so we could have the attention in the photos.

Our only regret was that we didn't get to say thank you in person to him.

 

[sunsh1ne]

i also picked kevin knox. he was so nice and you get to customize your ceremony., i would look into him.

 

[DisneyB2B]

We really liked Ron Rosenzweig. He is the notary that is recommended by Disney. When we originally contacted him he sent us a ceremony with a bunch of different options we could add on. There were particular parts we liked but wanted reworded. He had no problem at all with us making changes. His only request about changes was for them to be summited to him before a particular date. He was very professional, yet, personable. After our ceremony all of our guests told us they liked how he focused on us as a couple and the topic of marriage rather than religion. Sorry I'm rushing this post because DH is waiting at the door for me to go run some errands but let me know if you have any questions about him. Good luck making your decision .

I second this Ron is great we felt totally relaxed around him and he let us re-write a lot of our vows we had snippets from here there and everywhere. Also everyone who came to the wedding commented on how well he conducted the ceremony.

If you would like a copy let me know and I will email you them.

Good luck with your choice!

Nicci

 

[Summer-Caitlin]

I'm adding Reverand Randall Miller to this list. He has to be the sweetest person He offers non religious ceremonies and is more than willing to adapt to suit, he has never came across as fake to me, he seems genuinely interested in us. I originally had my weddig booked for August 17th but several months ago I decided to move it to Aug 20th. I emailed him and asked if he would be available for the change of date. He wasn't available at first and I paniced. I explained my reasons for having to move it, I'm due to fly in on Aug 16th and I was worried about flight delays and missing my own wedding He emailed me shortly after saying, he would make himself available for any date I wanted I was ecstatic. This was above and beyond my expectations, and I felt truly understood by him. He has been consistently sweet and accommodating in all his communications, a big

 

[BaBeeCee14]

Does anyone know if Rev. Jack Day offers non religious ceremonies as well?

 

[DisneyB2B]

Hi

Yeah I think he does he sent us loads of info and version of different services as we where very interested in him too.

 

[hiwaygal]

I want to vote for Rev. Kevin Knox. I know the website looks like it could be fake, but once we got talking to him on email, he was fantastic. We got a pack of religous and non-religous cermonies, we asked if we can chop and change and few bits and he was all for it.

Actually we totally re-worded most of the ceremony because we didn't want to agree to anything that was religous. We also got to pick our own poem that we wanted in the ceremony, and we added the unity candles at a very late date.

He was very good, and one thing that was nice, he disappeared at the end of the ceremony so we could have the attention in the photos.

Our only regret was that we didn't get to say thank you in person to him.

I'm going to second this almost entirely!!!

Rev. Kevin was the quickest to respond to my early requests for information and that sense of service NEVER stopped...He contacted me again just a short time before our wedding to make sure everything was going as planned and to see if we needed to make any adjustments or anything (we did have some changes after our initial contact).

We did want a tiny bit of spirituality in our ceremony, but not a lot. Our ceremony was intended to be very casual and Rev. Kevin was very accommodating in that respect. He injected a little humor/and charm...it was just what we wanted!

In the end, I believe anyone of Disney's recommended officiants will be more than happy to work with you to give you the type of ceremony you want. I don't believe any of them are going to make you feel uncomfortable with your choices of religious/civil ceremony/vows.

Good luck with your choice!!

 

[TinkerFairy]

Glad to hear all the positives on Rev.Kevin Knox, I was originally going to go with Rev. Jack Day, and have had quite a issue of getting in contact, and getting responses from him.

 

[orangetiggs]

does anyone have any of their websites? we should look into these as we are getting close to our contract date

 

[mmmsarah3]

does anyone have any of their websites? we should look into these as we are getting close to our contract date

On the disney fairy tale wedding website in the wishbook thee is a tab for officiants and it gives you a list of the ones they recommend and their contact info.

 

[KellyJo18]

I would like to know this myself. Geauxn2Disney, I have all the same preferences as you. Non religious, willing to accomodate what we would like for the ceremony, etc.

Kelly, thanks for the recommendation. I will look into Ron. Does he have a website or anything?

He does have a website. It is http://www.wedinorlando.com/.

 

[BaBeeCee14]

Thank you so much Kelly. I'm going to check it out.

 

[Geauxn2Disney]

Thanks to everyone who is replying! We're narrowing it down but are still very interested in people's comments!

 

[smoof]

WE, meaning DH and I, my Catholic family (who was very vocally upset we weren't married in a church with a priest), DH's mix and match Christian family, and our non-religious friends and family members, LOVED Rev. Jimmy Johnson. He will do whatever you want. There was even a question on the questionaire he had us do asking what we wanted him to wear! He is very flexible, and has done all sorts of weddings. I initially met him with my parents, and DH wasn't with us. I thought it was important for DH to meet the person marrying us and to be comfortable with him. When we were in town, he set time aside to meet with us again. His website is www.affordableorlandoweddings.com. It is his and his wife and daughter's planning site, but he does just officiate weddings too. His wife is a notary as well. She may be another option for you. Mom and I spoke with her a couple of times.

 

[Geauxn2Disney]

Thank you again to everyone who has replied. We have narrowed it down to two - Kevin Knox and Ron Rosenzweig - and will be making our final decision this weekend. If anyone else has any opinions on either of these two officiants, we would love to hear them! Good luck to everyone else who is trying to make this decision also!