Ceremonies by Bethel

I would just like to say that Bethel is AMAZING! Never did I think that an officiator could really capture the essence of our relationship in a ceremony the way that Bethel did. She took the time to get to know us and our relationship, and I really do feel like that made all the difference in the world. By the time we got to the actual ceremony, it felt like we had a life-long friend standing before us, walking us through our commitment to each other. It was so wonderful and so beautiful, and I really do feel like that can all be attributed to Bethel and the way she works. Our day was beyond special, and we are both so grateful to have someone who could make it personal, make it reflective of our lives and our love for each other, and give us the most beautiful memories to have forever. I cannot speak enough to how wonderful it was to work with Bethel. In all honesty, it wasn’t work it all. It was fun! Bethel is so genuine and caring, and I am so grateful we were able to share it all with her. We recommend Bethel to the highest degree and can both truthfully say that our wedding was that much better because she was a part of it!

My husband and I had a small JOP ceremony a year before we hired Bethel. We knew we wanted to do a vow renewal/larger ceremony and reception that all our friends and family could join us at, which is where Bethel came into play. Because we were already married (all of our guests knew), I wasn’t sure how we wanted to go about the ceremony. I wasn’t sure how we were going to make it different and special. Well, Bethel was the answer to all my concerns. She is absolutely fabulous! I had heard wonderful things about her so I made an appointment for my husband and I to meet with her. We both felt like we had known her forever, and you could tell she had a vested interest in all the couples she helped. We knew the minute we stepped out of the meeting that we wanted to hire her; she also offers a military discount, which we appreciate! The way she has you prepare for the ceremony is so easy and fun! I didn’t have to do any research; she sent us everything we needed and more! Our “homework” was fun and she always gave us plenty of time. Part of the homework is kept secret from your spouse until the actual ceremony. This was probably one of my favorite parts! It was so wonderful having a surprise on the day of the wedding! I had planned every single detail, so having an unknown was exciting and really put me in the moment! Bethel also introduced us to the hand fasting ceremony, which was such a pleasant alternative to sand or wine. It was also a nice way to incorporate our families. It was quite the hit with our guests as well!Bethel was able to write the ceremony in a way that celebrated the fact that we were already married, which was important to me. She is also amazing at logistics. She has all the readings and vows written out for you so no one has to worry about forgetting anything! She’s got the ceremony nicely prepared on her iPad, so no shuffling of papers! She was early enough that she was able to say hi and explain everything to the participants in the ceremony, so come show time, everyone was comfortable. I cannot say enough good things about her. I wish there were more opportunities to hire her for things! I guess I will just have to make sure all my friends hire her so I can see her again! She brought a zest to the ceremony and the ceremony planning!

Bethel married my husband and I on Oct 30th, 2011. From the start Bethel explained the process to us very thoroughly. She really took a lot of time to get to know us and what was important to us for our ceremony. She gave us a ton of material to look through for readings, vows, etc to help us out. We are obviously very new to wedding planning so all of this material helped us a ton. The day of the wedding was what I thought she was the best at. She was on time, looked very nice and spoke very well. She met with my husband and I separately before the wedding to explain what exactly would happen during the ceremony. This was great because we did not actually have a formal rehearsal and we were both very nervous. She had a way of calming everyone down and made sure we enjoyed our day. Even my father mentioned to me how great Bethel was. He was very nervous too! The ceremony was simple, yet had a lot of personal details on how we met, what we love to do with each other and other fun stuff. She was fast about getting our marriage license in and I was able to pick it up ready after 10 days. She sent us a beautiful signed marriage certificate after in the mail along with a printed copy of our ceremony. Overall, Bethel is amazing and I would recommend her to anyone getting married. The ceremony is obvious a very important piece of the wedding and she gets 100% for a job well done. Amber and Matthew Hudson

Bethel was an outstanding officiant for our wedding. She is friendly, outgoing and thoughtful, and we knew she would do a great job. Her suggestions made the ceremony planning much easier than we anticipated. She incorporated wonderful personal touches as well, from saying a greeting in Japanese for our guests from Japan (her Japanese is excellent) to incorporating our personal stories and reflections. We loved the ceremony, as did our guests - we heard from so many of them about how much they loved Bethel’s ceremony. We couldn’t have been happier. We highly recommend Bethel!

Bethel is nothing short of AMAZING. She is warm, kind, compassionate, considerate, friendly and professional. These qualities, coupled with her wedding experience, make her a wonderful officiant. My husband and I knew we wanted a non-denominational ceremony, and had general thoughts on certain words and pieces we wanted to include, but had NO idea where to start. We were feeling very overwhelmed about writing the ceremony (it felt like the hardest part)! Once we found Bethel we immediately felt at ease. We loved the way she made a big effort to get to know us as a couple. It was great skyping with her, and her "homework" questions about our relationship were fun and meaningful to answer. It gave us a chance to really reflect on what we both wanted the ceremony (and our marriage) to stand for. We would recommend Bethel to anyone. She really gets the positive energy flowing on your special day!

Bethel was amazing. We saw her perform a friend's wedding and decided on the spot that she was the right officiant for our upcoming wedding. She was so wonderful and fit right in with the playful, intimate, and personable nature we wanted for our ceremony. She walked us through the process, exactly what would be said, and was so organized and responsive, it was a gift during such a busy time. The ceremony was beautiful, and we couldn't have asked for it to go any better than it did. Simply amazing. :)Thanks, Bethel!

Bethel is what every wedding officiant should be and more! She is 100% awesome and professional. She took time to get to know us on a deeper level, thus being able to help us clearly communicate our love and feelings that we have for each other. She is very knowledgeable, patient and understanding and made herself available to answer any questions we might have had. Her organizational skills are also quite impressive; we did not have to worry about setting deadlines for anything because she did that for us! Our ceremony was that much more special because Bethel was there and made us feel completely comfortable. We highly recommend Bethel and when we renew our vows, we know who we will be calling!Thank you Bethel for everything!

Bethel was our perfect match! After meeting with her, we hired her right on the spot. She was knowledgeable and very professional with a twist of humor that was just what we were looking for. After we hired her, she sent over 20 pages of ideas and examples to help us get started. The entire process was so easy and fun. Everyone at the wedding complimented us on our choice. Our day went off without a hitch and she delivered more than we ever expected. You will not be disappointed, you will be grateful you chose Bethel!

Out of all the people that helped make our wedding so memorable, Bethel is at the top of our list! She is such a joy to work with and we encourage all future couples reading this to find out for yourselves how fantastic she'll make your experience! With her prompt response, professionalism and willingness to help out wherever it was needed, Bethel made the process so easy and that in and of itself was invaluable to us during such a stressful time! Just saying "thank you" doesn't express the measure of gratitude we have for her and I can't tell you how many people came up to us at the reception to tell us that she was the best officiant they had ever seen. You can tell Bethel loves what she does because it shows in her good-natured, beautiful personality. We feel truly honored to have had such a wonderful person marry us making and look forward to keeping in touch with her for many years to follow. Thank you Bethel!!!

I wish I could give her more than 5 stars! From the moment I met her (at a bridal bazaar), I knew that I loved her! During the planning process she was great, providing suggestions for the ceremony as well as recommending other vendors. Bethel has this way about her that makes everyone around her feel at ease. On your wedding day there are so many feelings and emotions it was nice to have her standing by our sides. During the reception we received so many compliments on our ceremony, many of our guests thought Bethel was a family friend, that is how personal she makes the ceremony. I really can't say enough about her, she is absolutely the best!

Bethel is the BEST officiant! We had to arrange our wedding ceremony in only ~2 weeks. I was lucky to contact Bethel. Thanks to Bethel, we had a wonderful wedding place in La Jolla. Everything went very smooth and organized. Bethel responds to all e-mails and calls on time. Me and my husband strongly recommend Bethel as a great officiant and wonderful person. Thank you, Bethel!

We found Bethel on wedding wire and going by the reviews we read she fit our needs to a tee as we were looking for a small, personalized and intimate ceremony. We were on a tight budget, so we couldn't do the big fat wedding, but also didn't want to do the generic wedding ceremony at the county office either. Upon calling her, she immediately set up an appointment to meet and get to know us. Our meeting was very productive, and she instantly knew what we wanted and was willing to work with us within our bounds. A price was negotiated and she agreed to do it as an "elopement" though we were technically not eloping, but this was the cheaper option for size and scope of what we wanted. She threw a lot of ideas at us which made it very easy for us to decide what we wanted that was both memorable and personal.She was very professional from the very first correspondence, and given that we booked her only 3 weeks before our wedding date she made sure that the process went as smoothly and efficiently as possible. She is very technologically savvy, so everything from putting down a deposit, to signing a binding contract was conducted electronically which was very welcome. She assigned us weekly 'homework' (yaay!) which helped her with creating the ceremony. The homework was actually fun, and reminded us of the reason we were getting married: love. It really helped us realize that our wedding day was exactly that... ours. We wanted to do our own vows, so she sent us a plethora of ideas to make that process as painless as possible. She then sent us a draft of the ceremony she had created for our approval. The actual ceremony was a little bit rushed but that was understandable given that she had another wedding to officiate immediately following ours. But she still conducted our ceremony with the respect it deserved even though it was without the pomp and circumstance of the traditional wedding ceremony. Bethel also filed our marriage in person at the county office which was a great plus. Thereafter, she even sent us a packet with a printed copy of our wedding ceremony and a proof that she had filed our marriage. All in all, Bethel was a pleasure to work with. From the very first day we met her, we could tell that she really loved what she does. Her enthusiasm was infectious which made us actually enjoy working with her and look forward to our 'big' day. We would recommend her to anyone wanting a personalized, unique ceremony, and needing a painless process to get it all done.On our first 100 days,P&P.

We hired Bethel to be our officiant for our wedding in July. From our first meeting with Bethel (over Skype because we had moved out of state) Bethel blew our mind and we knew that our wedding was going to be perfect because of her. Bethel was so much more than a vendor to us, she made us feel like we were to become a special part of her life, and she definitely became a special part of our lives. She had so many personal and creative ideas, and they made our ceremony truly memorable. She helped us, throughout the year, stay focused on why we were getting married, and helped remind us that the wedding is about our union, not about all the silly little details that go into wedding planning. Bethel worked so hard with us to create the perfect ceremony, and it truly was perfect. The ceremony was personal, touching, funny and so exactly fit us and what we wanted out of our ceremony. People are still coming to us and telling us that it was the most memorable wedding ceremony they had ever been to. She made each of our guests feel like they were a part of the day, which was so special. She had everyone crying and laughing - she truly has a gift and any couple would be lucky to have her as part of their lives!!

Bethel was exactly the person we were looking for to officiate our wedding. We were in a difficult spot trying to figure out how to have a nonreligious wedding, and not offend any family members. Bethel knew exactly how we were feeling and helped us create a beautiful wedding ceremony. She had so many readings and ceremony ideas, and helped us create a beautiful ceremony. Many guests told us that our ceremony was the best they had ever seen because it was unique and only about us! Some guests even said they knew us much better after listening to the ceremony. We loved that Bethel was able to tell our love story, and respect our wishes for being nonreligious. Bethel was very helpful with many other things as well, such as with the name change process. We highly recommend Bethel if you are looking for a unique, personalized, and beautiful ceremony!

Bethel officiated at our out-of-the-box Native American inspired pre-wedding ceremony. She was so sweet, flexible, professional, articulate, and GENUINE. Her aura is one of pure kindness and sincerity. She is a dream to work with. Upon telling her a few vague ideas we had for our ceremony she went to work and put together a beautiful ceremony incorporating all of the ideas we had. She made the occasion so memorable. You can't go wrong hiring Bethel!

I have nothing but great things to say about Bethel! Bethel offered many suggestions at our initial meeting that helped us create a very personal ceremony. She is thorough with an extensive list of readings, sample vows, and blessings. Bethel is also well known in the wedding community in San Diego, and respected. She truly creates a personal ceremony, which helped our family and friends get to know us as a couple. Since our wedding we have had several compliments about the ceremony.

I was the maid of honor in my best friend's wedding this past weekend. Bethel's words as officiant moved me, as well as lots of other guests, to tears. She was able to truly integrate who my best friend and her new husband are into the ceremony. She was absolutely amazing!

Bethel provides a truly unique service...a customized wedding ceremony, exactly the way you want it! Within hours of my original email of interest, she responded with a detailed description of what she does, how the process goes, and then setup a meeting via Skype, since we were out of San Diego. Bethel won me over immediately with her kind spirit and cheerful personality. The ceremony planning process was painless and fun! We chose our own vows, ring ceremony, readings and were able to add in whatever else we wanted. If you're not sold on all that, Bethel also has you and your fiance answer questions about your relationship and uses those answers to create stories about you during your ceremony. Neither my husband or I knew what the other had written, so it made for a fun and sweet addition to the ceremony. She also emailed us all the legal information we needed...a bridal name change kit if you decide to change your name, and all the information you need for your marriage license. She then even files it for you!Overall, Bethel was kind, dedicated, enjoyable, professional and the ceremony (the most important part of a wedding) was better than I could have ever imagined. I highly recommend you look into her services! You won't be disappointed!

Never would we have imagined that my small, simple wedding would have been so stressful in the beginning, and after choosing Bethel as our Officiant, we also wouldn't have imaged it being so simple and enjoyable. She was so organized and professional at all times, yet passionate and caring. It's rare that you come across professionals who actually "care", so having her be a part of the ceremony was a blessing to us. She speaks with passion, and her smile and eyes are warm and loving, making it so easy to talk to her. We NEVER once felt like we weren't in control, or that anything was going to go wrong. She was VERY good at keeping us updated in the ceremony's progress, and the "homework assignments" were so much fun (for both of us). Ultimately, she helped us make our wedding just the way we've always dreamed it to be, and for that, we are FOR EVER thankful. -The Dimanches (Bride and Groom

We met Bethel at a wedding show in downtown San Diego and we got a fantastic impression! She is very outgoing, sweet, and loving! We did not book her right away because we were keeping our dates open for the reception site. By the time we figured out our date we were worried that she would be booked up. We were reading reviews online...and as I'm sure you have seen they are all amazing...my husband actually made me stop reading them. He said, "Don't keep reading those until we know we can get her. I don't want to hear how amazing she is and then end up disappointed if we don't get her!" Lucky for us we did get her! Bethel is married her self and has a policy of not going to receptions, after her day of marrying she goes home to have dinner with her husband...that alone says a lot of her character! She is very open to idea's and supplies you with tons of idea's to personalize and make the ceremony your own. She also has you fill out information about each other (it stays secret until the wedding day) which she uses to personalize and tell stories at the wedding ceremony. She puts so much time and effort into making each wedding unique and special. All our guests loved her and we have been blessed to have her in our lives and as a special key to our special day!