About 2000 Lovingly Officiated Weddings by Judie L. Guild. NY Registration #77862. JudieGuild@outlook.com.
It is true that the “traditional vows” for both civil and (Christian) religious ceremonies are identical. Some denominations use variations, but the essence remains. The vast majority of my couples opt for a civil, humanist, or generally spiritual ceremony. Justice of the Peace style civil ceremonies are non-religious and contain generally straightforward language defining marriage. […]
MoreJudie, thank you so much! You are incredibly articulate and understanding. Thanks for sharing that day with us, it was cool, fun, maybe as strange as any other day I’ve ever lived, but also so very happy. Thanks so very much! Steve & Sara ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 reviews of Humanist Ethical Society of Spirituality Perfect Day. […]
MoreEloping in another city, especially one with only a twenty-four hour waiting period and no need to produce the birth certificate (a passport or US driver’s license is sufficient), is fairly easy! Unless your plane experiences a delay. With the winter weather soon emerging, please be sure to allow for two possible business days to […]
MorePlease pardon the outright corniness of this next blog entry. New York never had an official ban on interracial / intercultural marriages. For far too long, plenty of other states did until the Supreme Court knocked them out in the 1967 Loving v. Virgina case. By 1970, the Census Bureau statistics suggest about 300,000 interracial […]
MoreRamScale is a wedding venue on West Street with stellar views of the Hudson River, the Jersey shoreline, Manhattan Rooftops, and even Lady Liberty. There, K + T married before about forty loved ones in a most atypical ceremony. They put together a fabulously animated and humorously narrated multimedia slide-show with photos, video, and music […]
MoreTaken only about a week after the new Brooklyn Bridge Park opened by the dock area where the Bargemusic and Ice Cream Factory reside, this photos of a couple I married in the Spring. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of marrying another couple in the vicinity during the day — fortunately before the heavy winds […]
MoreI’ve professed love for the Queens Botanical Gardens before in warm weather with not a drop of rain. I’ll do so again today because raindrops plummeted from the sky on Sunday. At the QBG, couples have two choices in rainy weather. They can move the ceremony completely inside into the green auditorium. Or they can […]
MoreImages of the Museum of Natural History and Metropolitan Museum of Art (Lobbies) Planning a winter ceremony? Between December 1st and April 1st, do plan to marry indoors. If the weather is nice, then you can always move the ceremony outside. Free Indoor Winter Wedding Locations in NYC: These are really only suitable for elopements. […]
MoreKatie and Shane’s intimacy as a couple glows saliently in their images. Mutual, warm, and affectionate glances and touches make their photos all the more real, animated, and earthy. That they’ve been together for years could not be more obvious! Furthermore, I cannot get over how sharp they looked. Nearly navy blue seems to suit […]
MoreI adore officiating weddings in the “W” Hotel (Westin Hotel) at Union Square. John, the banquet manager, is a great guy. The staff is both friendly and perfectly able to orchestrate a wedding. And, most of all, I love the acoustics in the classically designed ballroom. I find that a microphone acts as an invisible […]
MoreThis is more of a review. The Ravel Hotel is a new “boutique” hotel in Long Island City, which is striving to make itself hip and trendy. It opened two or three years ago. Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to marrying a couple on the roof-deck this weekend, which the hotel is calling “Penthouse 808,” […]
MoreReferrals are always a joy. I married Shirvahna and Petr in July 2008 at the “W” Hotel with David Burton as the photographer. It was such a memorable wedding that David still recalled it with great warmth as we chatted before Shrivahna’s cousin’s wedding at an iconic Queens location that once hosted the World’s Fair […]
MoreAfter almost fourteen months of digital correspondence, Helen and Diarmuid finally got hitched! Their destination wedding in New York was actually quite simple with a touch of tradition and a touch of the personal. Helen first contacted me in June 2009 to check availability and for general ideas. Over the next months, this fabulous couple […]
MoreI met Lucy and her youngest daughter a few months prior to her August wedding / vow renewal. She felt regret that she never go to say ‘I do’ at her first wedding to Wesley. She wanted a celebration to mark ten wonderful married years that would gather in her whole family, including her four […]
MoreI’ve officiated at weddings in the Queens Botanical Garden a number of times. I admit that the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and the Snug Harbor Cultural Center are possibly more romantic and intriguing for photos. Yet the QBG is convenient, has a friendlier staff, and is more democratic when it comes to weddings. Yes, it is […]
MoreSummer is not over yet. It’s only over for small people and the college bound. The weather forecasts in September, October, and even early November are usually ideal for weddings… on a beach … in the middle of the day … during the week. With fewer bathers, especially school aged children, running about, the beach […]
MoreI met Ann and Joe of Nova Scotia for the first time on their wedding day. Having spoken to Ann on the phone, I knew we would get along easily. Together for years, they decided to exchange wedding vows and secure the public record (the marriage license) to make their union “official.” Given the prospect […]
More“What is the ‘normal’ ceremony?” and “I want my ceremony to be unique” are often spoken lines with much cross-over. “Normalcy” and “traditional” are relevant concepts. It’s true that the “I take you to be my lawfully wedded spouse to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer […]
MoreThe Old Stone House is a great site for a small wedding in any season. It’s not alone, the Voekler Oth House in Queens and the Merchant House in Manhattan are wonderful alternatives. Getting married in a historic site in New York is ideal for those, like me, who love the warmth of more intimate […]
MoreImagine: A cozy waiting area for your guests. Clean bathrooms — and plenty of them. Soft colors in ivory/cream-ish, beige, and dashes of greens and pinks on the carpeting (not that tacky over-done carpeting with bright gold and pink). A huge, tall room with windows on three sides that can seat 200 guests comfortably and […]
MoreWeddings are not just for the young. Too often officiants and photographers feature youthful brides and grooms (or brides and brides // grooms and grooms). But we can learn much from more mature relationships. Karen and Steve of Ottawa met at the gym. A few short years later, they decided to plan a destination wedding […]
MoreLisaann and Wellinton married in the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, which some refer to as the Staten Island Botanical Gardens. For those who prefer an indoor site, Snug Harbor also offers lovely indoor sites, including a concert hall. Having received their marriage license in the Clerk’s Office, they realized that marrying in the office was […]
MoreIf you are looking for a more off-beat wedding ceremony site in Queens, New York, here are a few ideas. Crossing Art Gallery Flushing Town Hall Oak Ridge, Forest Park Voekler Orth House Bayside Historical Society Flushing Meadows Corona Park Gantry State Plaza Park Astoria Park Alley Park Baisley Pond Park Queens County Farm Queens […]
MoreFelice and Graeme married on the bow of the Lucille at East 23rd Street and FDR Drive as about forty or fifty guests watched and cheered from the pier and twenty or thirty family members surrounded them on the boat’s front deck. A writer and phycisist respectively, this intercultural couple thoughtfully placed phycisist textbooks in […]
MoreBrooklynites Jessica and Brian came to Forest Hills, Queens for their wedding ceremony in search of an inexpensive, yet creative option for their wedding. They married on Friday the 13th in an old movie theater (Cinemart Theater) with family and friends surrounding them with tons of warm support. They requested a “sweet and simple” civil […]
MoreAbout half my couples marry in small weddings with fewer than a few dozen guests, another twenty-five percent have between forty and ninety guests or so, and the other twenty-five percent invite over a hundred. This decision has its origins in finances and personal preferences. I’ve married eloping couples who clearly had the means for […]
MoreThe Queens County Farm is a brilliant choice for any nature-loving, local couple. It is cozy, quaint, and affordable. Lindsay and Rick needed few decorations: they used fresh-cut flowers, including daisies, in classic jar bottles, some candles that will surely flicker beautifully against old-fashioned lead windows, and gave their guests hot sauce, which perfectly matched […]
MoreSome four or five years ago, Liam (spouse-to-be then) and I were wandering around the galleries in Chelsea. Having drank too much coffee to try to get rid of a headache induced by teaching six classes at various New York colleges at the time, I really needed to find a restroom. We came across one […]
MoreJennifer and Eddie were going to the Clerk’s Office in Kew Gardens, Queens to get married. Then they planned to invite a few dozen family and friends for an early afternoon celebration at Vetro on a Monday, which is a semi-new reception hall space associated with Russo’s on the Bay that is ideal for weddings […]
MoreE-mailed note: I’m glad you enjoyed the wine! I had wanted to bring something from Wisconsin and they had just got that particular bottle in that day. It seemed too perfect to ignore. We got your package in the mail today. Thank you so much! We hadn’t expected to receive prints AND a CD. And […]
MoreUpdated 6/29/11 Most couples who enlist my services will never know. I do not look “gay” ish. And a combination of a limiting gender language system and laziness when it comes to explaining stuff provoke me to use “husband” or “partner” to refer to Liam. But I am, seriously. Like a power suit, the dress […]
MoreJacqueline and Tad’s family drove eight hours from North Carolina to watch these wordly travelers who met abroad get married. A few hours after their early evening wedding, the family would return to run a hotel business down South at its seasonal height. I don’t think the family spent more than thirty-six hours on their […]
MoreThe New York Times published a tiny blog entry highlighting a blog entry by Andrew Brown of The Guardian. Fighting the temptation to go academic into a discourse expanding the meaning of “intertextuality,” I’ll stick to a summary of his main points. Folks commenting on Brown’s article seem to largely miss the two-pronged nature of […]
MoreBelow are a few thank you notes sent by my couples recently. Hi Judie- We are finally back home and we wanted to thank you so much for our beautiful ceremony. It was exactly what we wanted, and we will always remember it! …When we got home, our marriage license was in the mail…Thanks again! […]
MoreHurray! You are getting married in ten to twenty days! Do not procrastinate on these items. __Acquire marriage license from same state in which you marry: put this in a very safe place and be sure to present it to your officiant before the ceremony. __Pick or write your wedding vows: serious and/or funny, it […]
MoreI am totally in love with this site. Tucked away in Westchester — but conveniently only a ten minute taxi drive from the Tarrytown Metro North stop — Blue Hill is a restaurant situated on a farm. A real farm. A very picturesque farm. And a farm that yields much of the food served in […]
MoreDown-to-earth Traci and Dave secured my services back in March. When I met them, I knew we were likely to be a great match. They selected the Alger House as their ceremony and reception site. For those not familiar with it, the Alger House is a townhouse/brownstone renovated to service various events, including weddings. I […]
MoreNathalia contacted me in the early Spring with plans to marry the “love of her life and best friend,” Hector, in October. Fortune graced this interfaith (Catholic- Jehovah Witness) couple in early July: Nathalie learned that her brother would be visiting for a few days. In only about ten days or so, she quickly put […]
MoreThe forecast predicted rain, which never came. This seems to be the normal weather pattern, and it is welcome break from last year for couples, like Rob and Liz, planning their summer wedding in New York. These two love-birds married at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden in the Japanese Pavilion. As you can see from the […]
MorePrelude: This story is true and a first for me. Couples marry for many reasons, and I respect almost each one However, make no mistake: weddings are joyful, but marriage is a serious, intimate commitment that can bring much happiness if the couple freely enters it with a shared understanding of what they want their […]
MoreLaura and Jonathan plan to marry in a large celebration with all their family and friends. With Laura just out of school and starting a career as a pharmacist and Jonathan about to enter a nursing program, a wedding extravaganza was a bit much to handle at this point in their life together. Still, they […]
MoreCouples sometimes ask why I leave so much room in-between ceremonies. The simple answer: about fifty percent of my weddings begin a little late — about fifteen minutes — and a quarter begin more than thirty minutes late. Most of the time, no one really is to blame: accidents are inevitable. Take Kembilin and Dereek, […]
MoreEric and Maria were unsure as to where to have their wedding ceremony in Central Park, which is why I had the pleasure of meeting them in The Plaza. The Plaza is a lovely, classic hotel very conveniently located near the southern end of Central Park. As “recovering Catholics,” they wanted a spiritual, yet non-religious […]
MoreNot all feel compelled to write their own vows. Some prefer the timelessness of classic, traditional vows. In traditional vows, you promise to take each other in marriage “come rapture or ruin.” This is a straight-forward promise conveying the unconditional essence of your commitment and needs little more embellishment. Others find contemporary vows online that […]
MoreWilliam proposed to Heather about one year ago at Top of the Rock. Throughout the past year, they considered approximately twelve wedding plans, including running to Vegas to elope, which they rejected for its overt showiness and, well, inelegance. Finally — or so they thought — they decided to simply go to their local courthouse […]
MoreNothing else could have made this elopement stick more closely to the true spirit of the concept. First, Kristi and Chris choose a Monday evening as their wedding date. Secondly they planned to pack up their East Village apartment to move to Colorado the next day. Thirdly, they married in a public place with only […]
MoreKristen and Michael married in the lovely 6BC Botanical Garden, which is an intimate community garden located in the East Village. It also happens to be one of my favorite sites for small weddings in Manhattan. Locals do gather there, but since few tourists think to visit tiny community gardens while visiting NYC, the feeling […]
MoreUriel and Shelly contacted me less than one day before they planned to get married in Kew Gardens, Queens, which is a borough of NYC for those who are reading this blog from afar. Actually, Uriel called us the morning of the day to finalize plans! I squeezed them in at about 3 PM for […]
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Wedding Officiant in NYC and the Hudson Valley 