Affinity Celebrations Wedding Officiants, Dayton, Ohio

Marcina Joins Affinity Celebrations

2009-08-02T17:02:00.002-04:00

Affinity Celebrations has extended its network to seven officiants this week! Marcina has joined us as an apprentice. She will work with Rev. Christine for the remainder of this wedding season learning the ropes. Next year Marcina will begin officiating with her own clients, with oversight from her mentor.

Marcina is a full-time student at Wright State University, finishing her bachelor's in Physical Rehabilitation. She is the proud parent of Trey, a vivacious and very smart 13 year-old.

We wish Marcina every success as she learns to become an Affinity Celebrations Officiant!

Congrats to Melissa & Johnny

2009-08-02T16:57:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Melissa & Johnny! Married Aug. 1st. This couple has an interesting story ...

They met 23 years ago as teenagers. They share three children. Their relationship has had its ups and down, just like any couple. After living together for four years, they decided to marry. The ceremony was held at the Bride's parents' home, under the tree where they first kissed 23 years ago! It was a small, private, family ceremony with about 40 guests.

The couple wanted a simple ceremony that didn't sound "churchy". They wanted a blessings, but no preaching. Rev. Christine assured the couple that no one from Affinity Celebrations "preaches" about anything. The couple created a beautiful ceremony that outlined the story of how they met. It was unique and beautiful!

Best wishes for many wonderful years together as husband, wife, and family!

Pagan Ceremony For Brett & Amy

2009-07-27T10:28:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Brett & Amy! They were married on July 25th, 2009 at the Dayton Art Institute, Gothic Cloister, Dayton, Ohio. Rev. Linda officiating.

This couple reserved with us 11 months in advance. They wanted a truly unique ceremony that was spiritual & non-Christian. When we first heard the phrase "Pagan ceremony", we weren't sure what to expect. None of our officiants is Pagan; however, that didn't prevent us from working with the couple to create the ceremony they envisioned.

The ceremony focused on the four elements: Air, Water, Earth, Fire. The couple had four friends participate in reading the ceremony. Each Reader stood at the four points on the compass (North, South, East, & West) and spoke about each element. The officiant & couple stood in the middle of a circle, surrounded by their family & friends. Very non-traditional & quite beautiful. This intricate set-up made the guests feel like they were taking an active part in the ceremony instead of being spectators & just watching.

Congrats to Brett & Amy! Best wishes for many wonderful years together as husband, wife, and family!

Dr. Seuss Vows for Casey & Kyle

2009-07-27T10:22:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Casey & Kyle! They were married in a private ceremony on July 25th, 2009 at Cox Arboretum, Dayton, Ohio. Rev. Christine officiating. The rain held off; however, the couple did have a rain location scheduled just in case.

Casey & Kyle wanted a light-hearted, non-religious ceremony. After reviewing the ceremonies we have & also searching the Internet, they chose vows in the spirit of Dr. Seuss. The vows are intricate with a lot of back-and-forth between the officiant & the couple. It was a complete surprise to their 15 guests. Everyone had a great laugh and the couple was able to have the light-hearted ceremony they wanted.

Congratulations and best wishes to Casey & Kyle for many wonderful years together as husband, wife, and family.

How Soon Should We Reserve a Wedding Officiant?

2009-07-08T08:05:00.003-04:00

We are amazed at the number of couples who wait until 6-8 weeks prior to their wedding to reserve a wedding officiant, minister, or celebrant. While in the off-season (November - March) this usually isn't a problem, we recommend meeting and reserving your officiant 6 - 12 months in advance.

Why reserve an officiant 6 - 12 months in advance?

Reason #1: Your officiant serves as the "master of ceremonies" for the wedding, similar to the DJ at the reception. If you wait to reserve, you may feel pressured by deadlines to reserve with someone who really doesn't fit your personality. Also, your officiant may not share or support your vision of your wedding ceremony. Interviewing and reserving in advance ensures you have hired a wedding professional who will serve your needs, not his/her own.

Reason #2: Ensure that your officiant has a "reserve" officiant or "back-up" minister in case of an emergency. Let's face it: Life Happens! Your wedding ceremony should not be affected by an emergency with your officiant, such as: hospitalization, death in the family, etc. For every couple reserving with Affinity Celebrations, we have a reserve officiant scheduled in case of an emergency on your wedding date.

Reason 3: Some officiants reserve multiple weddings on the same date. If you wait until the last minute, you cannot ensure that your wedding won't be #5 on that date for your officiant. Affinity Celebrations Wedding Officiants reserve only one couple per officiant per day. That ensures that should any last minute issues appear causing a delayed start-time, your officiant will remain on-site and NOT rush off to perform another ceremony.

Also, we want to be at our best for your ceremony. If you are ceremony #5 for us on a particular day, we will be exhausted from the other weddings and your ceremony will sound scripted and bland.

Don't wait until the last minute to reserve your officiant. Similar to venues, florists, DJs, & musicians, the best officiants are usually reserved months in advance of your wedding. Don't get stuck with a mediocre officiant when you have time to search for one of the best.

Congrats to Brad & Erin, Married June 20th

2009-06-22T10:21:00.006-04:00

Brad & Erin were married on 06/20/2009 at Country Club of the North in Beavercreek. Congratulations & best wishes for many joyous years together as husband, wife, and family!

Christine of Affinity Celebrations Wedding Officiants officiated. She is a co-founder of Affinity and has been working with couples since 2001.

Pam Vitale is the Catering Director at CC of the North. She was invaluable with solving last-minute glitches and changes at the ceremony site. The unparalleled teamwork of Pam (Country Club), Andi & Christine of Affinity Celebrations, every glitch was solved immediately and the Bride and Groom were unaware of any issues.

Each couple working with Affinity Celebrations Wedding Officiants has an officiant and assistant on-site for both the rehearsal and wedding. This teamwork ensures a smooth rehearsal and prompt solutions to any last-minute issues, without alarming the Bride, Groom, or wedding party.

Feedback From A Wedding Client

2009-06-16T17:38:00.002-04:00

This just in from Robin & Scott, married by Rev. Christine on 06/06/2009. This is posted on Christine's LinkedIn profile.

Robin writes: "Christine was everything we were looking for and more. From the beginning, she made it clear that she was available for as much or as little assistance as we needed. Christine did a wonderful job of guiding us through the creation of our ceremony, allowing us the flexibility we desired yet making sure all the details were covered. She is delightful to work with, very professional, and went above and beyond to help my husband and I create our ideal wedding ceremony. We highly recommend Christine to any bride and groom who are looking for their own unique ceremony.

Top Qualities: Great Results, High Integrity, Creative"

Importance of Contracts

2009-06-16T17:06:00.003-04:00

Wow! It has been a busy few weeks. All six officiants have been busy officiating every weekend and working with clients who are getting married later this year.

Today we received an email from a Bride getting married on August 1, 2009, in Gahanna, Ohio, outside of Columbus. She had an officiant lined up for $150, or so she thought. She "reserved" with the officiant two months ago, and hasn't heard from her since. Also, the officiant has not returned the Bride's calls for a week.

Don't let this happen to you! When working with wedding vendors, including officiants / ministers / & celebrants, it's important to have a contract which spells out exactly what you are getting for your wedding dollars. You have a contract with your venue, caterer, florist, DJ/musicians, etc. If you are considering an officiant who does not provide you the assurance of a written contract, we recommend you keep looking. The old saying is true: You get what you pay for.

Affinity Celebrations is a network of six officiants. We were created in 2001, are based in Dayton, Ohio and serve all 88 counties in Ohio, plus Destination Weddings all over the world.

We use a reservation contract with every couple we work with, going back to our beginning in 2001. We have never cancelled a wedding with a couple and we work with about 200 couples each year. We also make sure that one of us is scheduled off every weekend to cover for any emergency that may arise. This "reserve officiant" can step in at a moment's notice and officiate without affecting any couples' wedding schedule.

Be sure to research your officiant prior to trusting him/her with one of the most important days in your life. Here are some sample questions to ask:

What guarantee do my fiance and I have that you will officiate? (Hint: written contract)
What is your fee & what is included?
Do you require premarital counseling? (we don't)
Do you require church membership? (we don't)
Do you require religious readings and/or a sermon to be part of the ceremony? (we don't)
Can a friend or family member read part of the ceremony?
Can our children have an active role in the wedding ceremony?
What if you have an emergency (heart attack)? Is there a reserve officiant?
Can we meet or have a teleconference prior to reserving?
Will you officiate at non-Christian weddings? (not all couples are Christian)

Co-Officiants

2009-06-02T12:43:00.002-04:00

April & Jared have decided to have a co-officiant with Rev. Christine of Affinity Celebrations. This is a great way to incorporate family members and friends into your ceremony. Some ideas include: reading a poem or passage from a favorite book, performing a Hand Ceremony or reading the Sand Ceremony or Unity Candle selection.

Our job is really to make your ceremony unique for couples. Additional readers and co-officiants (even of different faiths/religions) are ALWAYS welcome to participate in the ceremonies we officiate.

Bride & Groom Reading at Own Wedding

2009-05-22T15:17:00.002-04:00

Scott & Robin will be married on Saturday, June 6th, 2009. They have decided to read part of their ceremony. It's a poem titled "The Invitation" by Oriah. They are taking turns reading different stanzas. Having the Bride & Groom read part of the ceremony isn't something we have had happen before. It should be quite beautiful! Christine of Affinity Celebrations is officiating and below is their Order of Service.

Opening & Welcome Statement

Reading of "The Invitation" by the Bride & Groom

Marriage Address

Vows

Ring Exchange

Sand Ceremony incorporating the Bride's two children

Vows to the Children by the Bride & Groom

Benediction

Pronouncement of Marriage

Scene from The Princess Bride

2009-05-20T11:09:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Corey & Cheryl. They were married on Saturday, May 16th at the Hilton Garden Inn, Beavercreek, with Rev. Christine of Affinity Celebrations officiating. This is a unique couple with a great sense of humor! The welcoming statement was from a scene in the movie "The Princess Bride". Click on the title to this post to view a video from YouTube. Fortunately, they didn't want Christine to wear the big hat.

At the rehearsal, a great laugh was had by all. Spelled phonetically, here is the opening statement in print. "Mawidge. Mawidge is what bwings us togewer today . Mawidge, the bwessed awwangement, that dweam wiffin a dweam."

During the wedding, the guests were unsure whether it was OK to laugh. By the end of the opening, everyone was in stitches! We can't wait to see the video, courtesy of Mike & Barbara at Butterfly Productions. Mike & Barbara run four cameras: three on tripods and one with Mike capturing the highlights during the rehearsal, pre-wedding, wedding, and reception. We highly recommend them without reservation.

The photographers were Sandra and Shad Reed of Sandra Reed Photography. They were efficient and invisible to the guests and wedding party. Their photography is exceptional and we highly recommend them without reservation.

Cheryl and Corey were wonderful to work with. We wish them many wonderful years together as husband, wife, and family.

Hindu-Jewish Ceremony Was Flawless

2009-05-09T20:55:00.002-04:00

David & Radha were married today in a Hindu-Jewish Ceremony. The rehearsal last night was almost 2 hours. There was a lot of choreography between the various Hindu elements, and then the segue into the Jewish elements. After 2 run-throughs, everyone felt confident about the flow of the ceremony.

Rev. Linda from Affinity Celebrations co-officiated with Hindu Priest Ramesh Rajamani. Rev. Christine from Affinity assisted with coordination & staging.

The ceremony was beautiful and proceeded flawlessly. This was no easy feat with 250 guests, 2 videographers with 4 cameras, 2 photographers, 2 officiants, and the DJ. Christine was the point person and ensured all professional wedding staff were on the same page and assisted with the coordination of the ceremony and bridal party. According to the Bride's mother Padma, "Christine was the glue that held it all together. We are so thankful she was able to step in and take care of everything so we could greet family and friends."

The ceremony lasted about an hour: 45 minutes of Hindu rituals and 15 minutes of Jewish rituals. Afterwards, a lot of guests said they hadn't seen an interfaith ceremony like this and were impressed with the professionalism of both Mr. Ramesh and Rev. Linda. They worked together to create Radha's (bride) vision for her wedding ceremony. It was quite interesting because Linda isn't Jewish, but led the Jewish part of the ceremony.

I think that sums up what we do best: working with couples to achieve their vision of their wedding ceremony. Each officiant's beliefs are his or her own. We don't think our personal beliefs should be imposed on a Bride & Groom. The wedding ceremony should really be about them, not us nor Affinity Celebrations.

We will post pictures on our website as soon as they become available.

Feedback From Wedding Client

2009-05-04T22:11:00.000-04:00

We just received this today by email and wanted to share.

Hi Christine! Thank you for creating such a wonderful ceremony for our wedding day! I really appreciate how comfortable you made us all feel. I will recommend you to everyone! Great work! Sincerely, Carrie and Brad Michaelson.

Married May 2nd, 2009 at Cox Arboretum.
Rev. Christine officiating.

Brides & Grooms Working With Divorced Parents

2009-05-04T17:22:00.000-04:00

If your parents are divorced, chances are you have quite a bit of experience navigating the turbulent seas of family commitment. Juggling holidays, vacation time and stepparents can be complicated, especially if you’re the type who feels the need to please everyone. In order to help you make it smoothly to the altar without conflict or hurt feelings among family members, we offer a few tips for tackling some of the situations which will require special attention if either or both of you has divorced parents.

Invitation Wording

This can be a tricky issue, particularly because it is often affected by who’s footing the bill. If you two are paying for the shindig yourselves, then problem solved (well, that one anyway): You aren’t expected to include your parents’ names on the invitation if this is the case. However, if either set of parents is helping, it’s likely that they would want to be named on the invitations. A great way to simplify is to use the perfectly acceptable: 'Together With Their Families.

Seating During Ceremony

If your parents are on friendly (or friendly-ish) terms, it might be nice to seat them together during the ceremony. However, forcing them to pretend to make nice may result in the ultimate wedding-day family drama. In order to avoid an uncomfortable situation, seat them in equally important spots in the front row, separated by other family members. If they’re remarried, it’s up to you whether the stepparents sit in the front row with their spouses.

Receiving Line

We recommend skipping the receiving line. That’s just 15 extra minutes that your guests have to wait until they get to the bar. Don’t make them suffer like that! If your ceremony is outdoors in June, July, August, or September, they are parched! The just want to get into air conditioning and find the bar. If you ignore our advice and insist on having a receiving line, simply separate your parents by placing other members of the wedding party between them. And please make sure somebody is passing out cold drinks to those poor souls who are waiting in line.

Hindu-Jewish Ceremony

2009-05-03T19:53:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the blog for Affinity Celebrations Wedding Officiants. We are glad you stopped by.

We are making our first foray into a corporate blog and Twitter. You can find us on Twitter at AffinityWedding.

I've been working with another officiant on an upcoming Hindu-Jewish wedding / marriage ceremony. It will be co-officiated with a local Hindu priest and one of our ministers. A little unusual in that the officiant isn't Jewish or Hindu. But that's exactly what we do - we work with couples to achieve their vision of the ceremony wording. We don't impose our beliefs on our clients.

The upcoming Hindu-Jewish ceremony on Sat. 05/09/2009 contains the following rituals & traditions. This is a very unique ceremony!

Welcome. Bride's parents welcome the groom to the Mandap / Chuppa (canopy for marriages. The Mandap is Hindi and the Chuppa is Jewish.)

Shri Ganesh Puja. Lord Ganesha is invoked at the beginning with prayers for his blessings and a smooth and successful passage of the wedding.

Punyahavachana. The parents of the Bride pay respects to the universe and planets and the 5 elements essential for life: earth, water, air, fire, and sky. These are invoked to sanctify the wedding ceremony.

The Holy Curtain / Antarpata.

Agnipuja, Lajahoma, & Saptadi. These rituals invoke the fire god Agni to witness the marriage and bless the couple. There are usually 7 steps taken around a fire or very large candle.

Ashirwad. The Bride & Groom bow down to their parents and elders and receive their blessings.

Marriage Address by Affinity Officiant.

Vows. The Bride & Groom are writing their own.

Ring Exchange. Jewish tradition of saying: "Behold, you are betrothed unto me with this ring."

Sand Ceremony. This particular wedding is including the couple's daughter. Sand ceremonies are a beautiful, creative, and visual way to include kids in a ceremony.

Wine Ceremony / Kiddush. Jewish tradition of sharing wine and breaking of the glass.

Pronouncement of Marriage.

This particular ceremony will last about an hour.