WEDDING: Officiant at Smogshoppe in Culver City, CA

Congratulations, Vivian and Jon!  Married on 23 Jan. 2010.

A former auto repair shop's structure, complete with its three garage doors, was the setting for this fantastic wedding in one the most unique spaces i have had the privilege to officiate at.  Touted as "L.A.'s greenest urban oasis", SMOGSHOPPE has a beautiful vertical garden, too.

The couple's wedding included a wine ceremony, as a symbol of their two lives combining or blending into one.  Each took an individual glass of red or white wine and poured all of it into  a third wine glass. Jon then poured the combined wine back into the 2 original glasses.  They both drank from their glass as they made a toast to themselves.

I had the great pleasure of working with Tony of REDSHOE LA again!  RedShoe, in my opinion as a music snob, is possibly the best d.j. company a couple could ask for at their ceremony, reception and more.  The entire event was in the very capable hands of Jeff from Smogshoppe, and handled through Kara of Marvimon, Smogshoppe's sister venue..  Photography by KYLE JOHNSON and his crew.

NEWS: Civil Marriage Religious Freedom Act... and Prop. 8

i recently received this email (excerpted) from EQUALITY CALIFORNIA:

As we’ve seen in the federal challenge to Prop. 8, our opponents have deliberately misled Californians on the distinction between civil and religious marriage, claiming that that clergy who refuse to perform marriages for same-sex couples would be punished and places of worship would lose their tax-exempt status. Thousands of EQCA volunteers who go door to door talking to people about marriage have reported that many Californians do not know that there is a difference between civil and religious marriage.

To alleviate confusion and to ensure our Constitution’s promise of religious freedom, Senator Mark Leno (D – San Francisco) introduced a bill today, sponsored by Equality California and co-sponsored by the California Council of Churches IMPACT, that protects clergy from being forced to perform any civil marriage that is contrary to the tenets of his or her faith and protects faith institutions’ tax-exempt status.

Regardless of party or ideology, every California legislator should support religious freedom. Email your representative and ask them to become a co-author of the Civil Marriage Religious Freedom Act.

When this bill is enacted, it will provide incontrovertible evidence that civil marriage for same-sex couples will not impact clergy or the freedom of religion.Email your representatives right now and ask them to become a co-author. If you’re registered with EQCA’s Action Center, you can reply to this email and a message will be sent automatically, or can log on to add a personal message.

Take action now and ask your representative to support religious freedom in marriage!

As you know, i am a strong advocate of equal rights for everyone, as i am sure you are.  Please take the time to show your support!  Thank you.

NEWS: The ONLY Officiant in Ceremony Magazine L.A. and O.C.!!

A NON-DENOMINATIONAL CEREMONY is excited to announce its inclusion in Ceremony Magazine for  2010! Ceremony is known for its discerning clientele and photography amongst other things...but until recently, they were missing the ceremony!

Now, they have an officiant, and only one:  see A NON-DENOMINATIONAL CEREMONY's web ad under 'Consultants and Planning Services' for Officiant Venus Kitagawa-Stojsic at Ceremony Magazine in Los Angeles and in Orange County!

NEWS: The New Economics of Marriage

The 'sugar mama' is a more common occurrence these days, according to a report on NPR.

In a new study released by the PEW RESEARCH CENTER*, men seem to be the ones reaping the rewards of being married in the 21st century.

Compared to the 1970's, when women would often marry women to 'get ahead in the world', today many more women are now working, and in a greater variety of jobs, and sometimes even are employed while men are not. In fact, women are more likely to have a higher income than their male counterparts these days, and they are more likely to be higher educated.




i first learned about this study this morning on the radio.

"Americans are considerably better educated than they were four decades ago, which has enabled many adults to upgrade the educational credentials of their spouses" and consequently improve their financial situation. The study also shows how fewer people in general, aged 30 to 44 years old, are married these days. From 1970 to 2007, of those married, the median adjusted household incomes (defined as the sum of financial contributions of all members of the household" rose more than those of the unmarried.

For a look at the complete report, please see the Pew Research Centre's website for a pdf of the entire study.

*PLEASE NOTE: i am acutely aware of the discriminatory nature of the data, as it refers to strictly 'man as husband and woman as wife'-type heterosexual marriages. This in NO way reflects my beliefs as to what marriage is or should be.

NEWS: A Non-Denominational Ceremony is Best of 2009!

OneWed Announces "Best of 2009" Awards Recipients and
Honors A Non-Denominational Ceremony

Top Wedding Planning Website Awards Leading Wedding Professionals with Annual Distinction

Chicago, IL (January 13, 2010) -- OneWed.com, the ultimate online resource for wedding planning and home of WeddingPreParty.com, today announced the recipients of their "Best of 2009" awards.   The program celebrates the best wedding planning and service professionals in the wedding business, and OneWed is pleased to honor A NON-DENOMINATIONAL CEREMONY with this distinction.

The wedding professionals selected for this prestigious acknowledgement are an elite group of vendors who have received the most positive reviews based upon OneWed's 5-Star rating system. Each year, the coveted award is only given to the most highly-rated OneWed wedding vendors as voted by couples themselves.  "We are thrilled to award A NON-DENOMINATIONAL CEREMONY with this prestigious annual honor," says Jennifer Napier, VP of Marketing.  "At OneWed, we believe in sharing the love, and we're so excited to celebrate the wedding specialists who work every day to make couple's wedding days as memorable as possible."
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The previous excerpt was taken from a OneWed.com press release.  For more information, or for a free, no-obligation consultation about your wedding ceremony, please see A NON-DENOMINATIONAL CEREMONY on the web!

INFO: How Do You Find a Couple's Webpage on The Knot?

Are you searching for an engaged couple's website on The Knot . com? Have you had a difficult time looking for a couple's personal wedding web page?

Many couples set up their wedding page on The Knot . com, but searching for a couple's page is not easy to find...it is especially not-so-obvious for internet novices, but even for a geek (like myself). So here's how you do it:

1. Go to the Community main page: http://community.theknot.com/cs/ks/community/default.aspx

2. Scroll DOWN on this community page. The "Wedding Web Page Search" is about halfway down.

3. Enter the name of the groom OR bride. If you have it, also enter the couple's home state and wedding date.

4. Click GO (or enter).

3. You will be shown a list of results. Find the couple you are looking for and click on the link.

There are lots of FREE wedding website services all over the internet. They are just a Google search away, but here are a few popular ones: Momentville, eWedding.com, and myWedding.com.

Alternately, you can simply set up a blog on Posterous, Blogger, Tumblr or LiveJournal for free, and away you go.

NEWS: Los Angeles Marriage License Fees to Increase Starting January 2010

Los Angeles County will soon begin charging more to issue marriage licenses beginning in the new year, as heard on local news outlets and in the L.A. Times. A memo recommending the marriage license fee increase to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors states the new fee would go into effect on January 21, 2010 or "thirty days from the date of Board passage" (which in this case was December 22, 2009).

This would make the cost of a public marriage license to go up from $70 to $90, and the cost of a confidential marriage license to go up from $70 to $85. To see the difference between public and confidential marriage licenses, please see this earlier post.

The fee increase is expected to bring another half-million dollars in revenue to L.A. County. A quick google search did not produce any planned increase in Orange County, nor did the O.C. Clerk-Recorder's website state anything, but considering how large the deficit is across the state of California, similar fee increases cannot be far behind...?!

ELEMENTS: Acknowledge Family/Friends or Honour Deceased in Your Ceremony

i saw the following on POSTSECRET.COM this week:

Frank,
My father, who I was very close to, passed away when I was 21 very suddenly and unexpectedly. 2 years later I met the man of my dreams and could not imagine getting married without my dad there.

To this day, whenever anyone asks me who walked me down the aisle the true and honest answer is: "My dad did".

Maybe someone else out there will find this to be a small comfort during the sadness of not having their dad.

My father passed away when i was fourteen, so not only do i empathise with this writer, i understand how important and meaningful it is, to acknowledge loved ones. Those unable to attend a (wedding) ceremony may still be made present! And, this can be done without bringing the mood down, taking the focus away from the celebration, or implying an afterlife. Consider these suggestions:

• Use of a short verbal passage or introduction - to be read by the officiant or other participant.
• Creating a symbol of the honoured person - through jewelry [see above], flower, dove release, candle lighting, balloon, ringing of a bell, etc.
• Moment of silence - before proceeding with the main body of the ceremony, encourage a simple bowing of heads so believers may offer a prayer and non-believers can stop for a moment of reflection.

MAP: Southern California Beach Ceremony Locations

The beach is an ideal location for a ceremony in Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange County. The map below illustrates a fraction of possibilities, after having created, written and performed many weddings and funerals/memorial services on Southern California beaches.


View Southern California Beach Wedding Sites in a larger map

For more information, or if you are looking for an officiant in Los Angeles, Orange County or greater Southern California, please see my website:A NON-DENOMINATIONAL CEREMONY!

WEDDING: Officiant for Interfaith Multicultural Ceremony in Ontario, CA

Congratulations, Amar and Chase, married 8/8/09!



The best part about this wedding was the bringing together of two families and the cultures each belonged to. As the bride is Indian, [above right] the morning consisted of a sacred Sikh marriage ceremony, complete with traditional dress, symbols and rituals. i was fortunate to have conducted the afternoon Western marriage ceremony in the atrium of the hotel! [above left]

Photography by RC PHOTOGRAPHY.