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Saratoga County Officiant for an Intimate Wedding

oppositefloweroppositeflower member
First Comment
in New York-Upstate
My fiance and I are planning a last minute wedding for next month (ah!) and are looking for an officiant. Our back up plan is to book a Judge but we would like something a little more personal for our small intimate ceremony at Yaddo Garden. We are laid back, casual, comical people and we love to be married by someone who gets our personalities. Other challenges, I'll be 8 1/2 months pregnant so they have to be accepting of our premarital bundle of joy. We don't want to spend the same amount of money you'd spend for a 100% personalized large wedding ceremony but also don't want a simple by the books ceremony where our names are inserted into a script. 
Thanks!
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Re: Saratoga County Officiant for an Intimate Wedding

  • AuroraRose41AuroraRose41 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    The Yaddo Gardens are beautiful! I'm not sure what your budget is, but a good family friend of my FI's is officiating our wedding, and is a professional secular officiant. We compared his price to other officiants in the area, and they were a little cheaper than others ($450 for a customized ceremony; others ranged from $500-900). I believe he would be accepting of your situation, as he advertises that he is accepting of all situations. I would at least reach out to him! Jim Manuel at WeMarryU, based out of Clifton Park. He also has a business partner named Ed, who I don't know personally but should also be accepting if Jim isn't available for your date. 

    We also interviewed Robyn King, who seemed quite nice too. Her fee was $500. We didn't realize Jim was an officiant until FI's mother told us a day before our interview with Robyn, and we went ahead with it anyways to keep her as a backup in case Jim just wanted to enjoy our wedding as a guest (his family was on our guest list already). We really liked her and would have used her if Jim wasn't available or just wanted to be a guest only with his family. 

    I hope that helps! 

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  • oppositefloweroppositeflower member
    First Comment
    Thank you! I did speak with Joy Burke and her fee for a smaller ceremony where she meets us and then performs the ceremony without any customization is around the same at $450. I'm glad to know what the comparable rates are!
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  • AuroraRose41AuroraRose41 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    No problem! I did my research, and saw Joy Burke's $750-900 price tag (listed on her website) for a custom ceremony and thought that it was a bit high, so I kept looking. Robyn was recommended by our venue coordinator and is much more reasonable, and Jim and Ed are too. I hope that you find someone that you like!

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