Ceremony Packages and Fees

 

Fast Ceremony: $35.00 scheduled from 9am-5pm during the week in Officiant's home or garden in Silver Spring or on the beach at the Solomons Navy Recreation Center; after hours:  $45.  Weekends and holidays:  $65.00.

Simple Ceremony: $75.00 scheduled from 9am-5pm during the week in Officiant's home or garden in Silver Spring or on the beach at the Solomons Navy Recreation Center;  after hours: $85.  Weekends and holidays: $100.00.

Budget Ceremony: $175.00 and up for locations within 10 miles of Officiant's office, and $200 and up for locations in the Maryland, DC Metropolitan, and Northern Virginia areas.

Traditional Ceremony:  $530 to $645 and up for locations within the Maryland, DC Metropolitan, and Northern Virginia areas.

The Budget Ceremony

This ceremony is conducted at your chosen location.  For the basic fee, the officiant conducts the ceremony, signs all the copies of the official marriage licenses, and mails the official court copy to the appropriate court clerk.  The officiant is available for email and phone consultation; provides ceremony samples and vows, recommendations for music, food, and flowers, and provides tips for saving money, planning rehearsals, and planning indoor, outdoor, and beach ceremonies.  Additionally, a set of toasting glasses or a cake topper will be given as a wedding gift to the couples that schedule a Budget or Traditional ceremony during 2010; these items can be seen on my Ceremony Supply page.

The Traditional Ceremony 

This ceremony is conducted at your chosen location. For the basic fee, everything in the Budget Ceremony is provided.  In addition, the officiant prepares a worksheet with samples of readings and rituals; writes the wedding vows; attends the wedding rehearsal, and prepares a bound copy of the ceremony along with a keepsake marriage certificate.

The Simple Ceremony

This is a beautiful ceremony for couples who wish to have a ceremony that is inexpensive and private, or where wedding stress may be an issue. It can be performed on very short notice in the Officiant’s office or garden in Silver Spring, Maryland or on the beach at the Solomons Navy Recreation Center (limited to active duty, reserve, or DOD personnel only).  Guests are strictly limited to eight (8) inside and up to thirteen (13) outside, and depending on location, a Montgomery County or a Calvert County Marriage License is required.  Couples may select the Spiritual Ceremony #3, the Religious Ceremony #3, or the Commitment Ceremony #3 which can be seen on our website, and choose either the Unity Candle, the Hawaiian Sand, or the Celtic Hand Fasting Tradition.  For the basic fee, the officiant provides the supplies for the ceremony tradition, a decorated arch (Silver Spring location only), and bubbles, conducts the ceremony, signs all the copies of the official marriage licenses, and mails the official court copy to the appropriate court clerk.  

 

 

The Fast Ceremony

 

 

This beautiful ceremony is an alternative to a courthouse wedding.  It can be scheduled on very short notice in the Officiant’s office or garden in Silver Spring, Maryland or on the beach at the Solomons Navy Recreation Center (limited to active duty, reserve, or DOD personnel only).  It is performed for the couple only, and depending on location, a Montgomery County or a Calvert County marriage license is required.  For the basic fee, the officiant conducts the ceremony, signs the official marriage licenses, and mails the official court copy to the appropriate court clerk. 

Same Sex Marriages and Commitment Ceremonies

Endorsed by Gayweddings.com, the ministers and officiants at A Beatific Union of Two Soul perform same sex marriages in the District of Columbia.  We perform Fast ceremonies for $75.00 at North Portal Park NW in the District of Columbia (see directions below), $175.00 for performing Budget ceremonies at DuPont Circle and $225.00 for performing budget wedding ceremonies at other locations in downtown areas of the District of Columbia. Please view our same sex wedding ceremonies on our Ceremony Sample page of this website.

For the Fast Ceremony at Portal Park NW, the officiant conducts the ceremony, signs all the copies of the official marriage licenses and mails the official court copy to the appropriate court clerk.  For the Budget Ceremony, the officiant also provides complimentary ceremony samples and  materials on wedding planning for inside, outside, beach, or theme weddings, music, rehearsals, etc., is  available for email or phone consultation, and gives a set of garters, a Unity Candle, a cake topper, flower basket, the Precious Moments Guestbook or matching pen as a wedding gift; these items can be seen on my Ceremony Supply page. 

Budget Commitment and Partnership Ceremonies are performed for all loving couples in Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia; these ceremonies  are beautiful, meaningful affairs in which a couple may declare and affirm publicly their special love and their lasting commitment as partners in life and gather with their friends and family to celebrate their committed relationship.  The ceremony includes a beautiful notarized Certificate of Commitment honoring the occasion.  Please view our commitment ceremonies on our Ceremony Sample page of this website.

The officiant also performs Fast and Simple Commitment Ceremonies for couples in her office or garden in Silver Spring.  Both of these ceremonies include a beautiful notarized Certificate of Commitment honoring the occasion.  The Fast Commitment Ceremony  is a short, beautiful Commitment Ceremony performed for the couple only.  This ceremony can be scheduled on very short notice by appointment only, 24 hours a day, in the officiant’s home or garden in Silver Spring or Solomons, Maryland.  Fast Ceremony Fees: $35.00 from 9am-5pm.  After hours: $45.  Weekends and holidays: $65.00.

 

The Simple Commitment Ceremony is a beautiful ceremony that has more flare than the Fast Ceremony.  The ceremony incorporates a decorated arch, bubbles, and includes the Unity Candle Tradition, the Hawaiian Sand Tradition, or the Celtic Hand Fasting Tradition.  Couples may choose the Spiritual Ceremony #3, the Religious Ceremony #3, or the Commitment Ceremony #3.  The ceremonies can be seen on the Ceremony Sample Page.  For the basic fee, the officiant supplies either the unity candle, the sand, or a Celtic Hand fasting cord which may be kept as a wedding keepsake. This ceremony can be performed on very short notice by appointment only, 24 hours a day, in an officiant’s home or garden in Silver Spring, Maryland.  Guests are strictly limited to eight (8) people inside and up to thirteen (13) outside.  The Simple Ceremony is for couples who wish to have a commitment ceremony that is inexpensive, and private, or where wedding stress may be an issue.  Simple Ceremony Fees: $75.00 from 9am-5pm.   After hours: $85.  Weekends and holidays: $100.00.

 

Please read the comments from same sex couples in my Guestbook.  Additionally, there are free ceremony planning tips for saving money, inside and out side weddings, rehearsals, samples of ceremonies and vows and recommendations for food, flowers, and music.   We have Unity Candles, Celtic Hand fasting Cords, Hawaiian Sand, and other ceremony supplies on my Ceremony Supply page for sale.

 

Please email or call me for more information and see the additional information below on weddings in the District of Columbia. Thank you for considering me as your wedding officiant.  Hope to hear from you soon. Rev. Martin

Marriage information for the District of Columbia:

Marriage Bureau, D.C. Superior Court, H. Carl Moultrie I Courthouse, 500 Indiana Avenue, N.W., Room 4485, Washington, D.C. 20001.  Office Hours:  8:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Monday - Friday (except legal holidays) Information line: (202) 879-4840.  The three day waiting period to receive your license can be waived for good cause.  Website: http://www.dccourts.gov/dccourts/superior/family/marriage.jsp.

 

Wedding Venues in Washington, D.C./District of Columbia that do not charge a fee and do not require a permit for small ceremonies with less than 25 people include: Portal Park, Reflection Pool, Lincoln Memorial, West Potomac Park, and DuPont Circle. 

Directions to Wedding Venues:

North Portal Park, NW, Washington, DC Directions:  North Portal Park is located at the intersection of 16th Street NW, Eastern Ave. NW, and Colesville Road (Route 29). The park forms a small triangle between Portal Ave. NW, Eastern Ave. NW, and 16th. Street NW.  Portal Park divides DC from Silver Spring, MD.  It is very close to the Silver Spring Red Line Metro stop (exit the train on Colesville Road and walk underneath the metro rails 3 blocks south to 16th Street NW intersection).  If you come by car, parking is free and a permit is not required on Eastern Ave NW and Portal Ave. NW.

 

West Potomac Park and the World War II Memorial are located at 17th St SW & 17th St NW, Washington, DC 20006. (202) 426-6841.  Traffic and parking are a nightmare.  Meter parking costs 25 cents for 7 minutes so bring a bag of quarters; sometimes space is available at the World War II Memorial Information Center. 

 

DuPont Circle NW, Washington, DC 20036.  DuPont Circle has a park with a beautiful fountain depicting maritime scenes. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, and New Hampshire Avenue NW. Traffic is not as bad and metered parking is better than at the World War II Memorial.

 

Lincoln Memorial is located at 900 Ohio Drive SW, Washington, DC 20024.  Contact National Park Service, (202) 426-6895. www.nps.gov.

Native American Weddings and Smudge Ceremonies

 

Native American weddings and smudging ceremonies are always colorful.  They are normally held outside where nature provides the flowers and beauty, or in a ceremonial lodge, or under an arbor during the evening hours.  Ceremonies may be either informal or traditional.  A simple informal ceremony may entail the bride and groom approaching a sacred fire and receiving their vows and blessing from a spiritual or wedding officiant. Songs are sung and the Creator is honored and all participants in the wedding and guests are blessed.  The bride and groom are then covered by a blanket and/or bound together by a woven sash or decorated leather stip. At the end of the ceremony, the blanket or sash is removed, indicating the beginning of their new life together.  The weddings are always preceded by a Smudging Ceremony where sage is burned to cleanse the area and participants, both physically and spiritually, of any bad feelings, negative thoughts, bad spirits or negative energy.  The participant’s prayers, concerns, and thoughts rise upwards to the heavens on the sage smoke.  Rev. Martin is from Mississippi and her great grandmother was full blooded Choctaw.

Premarital Counseling Fees

 

Premarital counseling is not required to get married; however, it is available upon request.  As a Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Specialist for over twenty-four years, Dr. Georgia Martin is highly experienced in conducting premarital counseling sessions.  The goal of the counseling program is to improve interpersonal relationships through communication and listening, conflict resolution, family origin, sexuality, and spiritual beliefs.   The fee for premarital counseling and marriage coaching is $110.00 per hour.