Once Upon A Wedding Humanist Officiant Service

08/13/2022

12/28/2021

Since I don't have any way to show some of the wonderful thank you notes I have received from my happy newlyweds, I am putting this here. This one is the best yet! From Tiffany and Steve:

Dave was so incredibly helpful when it came to planning our wedding ceremony and vows. Picking an officiant can be tough but Dave left us feeling reassured that he would do a great job. He’s down to earth, easy to talk to and clearly very passionate about weddings. He is a Toastmaster, a retired firefighter and a family man and all of those unique pieces of his character really shine through in his delivery and sense of humour.

Dave has a ton of great resources to help you on your way. He can write a ceremony for you or point you in the right direction if you want to write your own. Most important, he is so flexible and understanding!! We chose to write our own ceremony and vows but we would have been lost without his guidance and reading selections. He gave us as much time as we needed and countless edits. He never once made us feel like we couldn’t do it our way.

Also, on the day of he was great! He didn’t ad-lib too much or do anything cringey! That said, he read the audience and our wedding party perfectly and put everyone at ease. He improvised just the right amount and made our ceremony truly special.
If you are looking for an officiant in the Ottawa area then look NO further. Looking back we couldn’t be any happier with our choice.

Best,
Steve & Tiffany

Thanks Tiffany and Steve! May your honeymoon bliss last forever!

08/22/2021

Hot enough for ya? I am lovng this hot weather! And no central air! I will confess, I broke down and put the window unit in the bedroom. By order of the Boss! Pay attention, Men. Following orders just makes life easier!

I have done 15 weddings so far this year, with 15 to go. The Brides and Grooms are getting restless, and now that the vaxes are increasing, September and October are loaded up with ceremonies. I did a wedding in Spanish, and another in Hebrew this summer! Another secular jewish ceremony next Saturday. Love the diversity. Can’t wait for my first Klingon wedding!

If anyone knows of a Bride planning her ceremony for 2022, tell them to get busy now. The optimism is very high for next year, and all vendors are being snapped up. I have 17 for next year already, and a few for 2023.

Enjoy the lovely weather folks! And the mandatory mint juleps!

09/04/2019

This is why I love this gig!

01/25/2019

06/06/2018

Today was a big day for me. I did my first Memorial. The Humanist Assoc. of Ottawa is looking to expand Humanistic type services in the area, and asked me if I did memorials. Since these days, I rarely say No to any challenge, I said I would give it a try. A family contacted me through the HAO website to officiate the memorial of their late brother, who died on May 20. I met with his sister, gleaned what info I could, and put together a nice eulogy. Lucky for me, this person was a wonderful guy, great brother and Fun Uncle, loved by all. I threw in quotes from Bertrand Russel, greek philosophers, even Jerry Seinfeld, from memory. I got into this ceremony business because of this reason: I always hated religious funerals, where they talked about the religion 99%, and the deceased 1%. I talk about the dearly departed and his family ties 100%. I felt pretty confident, as I have now done over 60 weddings, and have NO problems speaking in front of an audience! All those years I was overly chatty, and talked too much? That was just practice for this phase of my life. Can't wait to do the next one. The 32 weddings I have still to do this summer will keep me in good form. I am marrying off my nephew Bryan to his sweetie on June 16. Gonna be a good summer!

09/07/2017

Good morning Fans! What a season this has been. 20 weddings in, about 14 to go. Sheesh! Met lots of beautiful happy people, and tried my hardest to bring on a few tears of joy. Drama Queen 101! If any of you have friends out there getting married, please let them know of the range of fees that we charge. $160 at city hall, but you must wait for an appointment, and you can only bring 8 others. So that is a bartender and 7 others! Most charge about $250-450, and provide a good range of services. One charges 580, but only pays the officiant 160. Nice coin for taking a phone call! Some charge 800+. For that, you better get a chapel, custom made script, music of your choice and a whack of other services, or you are being taken advantage of. Cheers!

06/27/2017

Secular and Humanist weddings: Best idea since sliced bread!

If you're curious about what a humanist wedding might look like, here are ten things you can expect.

05/16/2017

05/05/2017

I love my job!

Tonight I was photographing Adrian & Roslyn at sunset. I was setting up those grand sunset scenes... you know the ones... the little people in a big scene... I love those kinda shots... but tonight that just didn't seem enough.

Just as the light became amazing I scrapped everything I knew and I walked up to them and said, "guys, stop posing. Just enjoy your first sunset together as husband and wife".

They then held each other in the most beautiful way... It was so much more beautiful than anything I could ever set up.

Then I said to Adrian, "I have a question for you, but I want you to tell the answer to Roslyn and not me." I continued, "Out of the billions of people on the planet, you've chosen to spend the rest of your life with Roslyn. Can you tell her why?"

In a matter of moments I could start seeing Roslyn's eyes glisten, then the most beautiful tears streamed down her face.

Then I found myself crying.

Oh Love, You are oh so precious.

03/04/2017

I just did the math. It's official: Today is day 15,000 in my life affair with Debbie. Only one word comes to mind: More.

02/04/2017

Hi friends! Well here we go! I have put an ad on Kijiji and the calls are coming in. I have 6 weddings booked this year so far, all from word of mouth. I must be doing something right! Last year was so much fun. I did weddings at Bean town Ranch, Lagos at Dows Lake, the Rockliffe Lookout, Billings Estate, Orchardview Estates, Century Weddings in Manotick, Strathmere, Marshes Golf Club, and the rest in people's back yards. The backyard ones were really creative! One had a cowboy theme, with the tables identified by pics of 60's TV western guys like Maverick, Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, etc. Everyone got a cool cowboy hat to wear! They had this massive pig on a slow turning spit and steaks on another BBQ. At another, the bride pulled a fast one with her groom, when he opened the ring box, hers was missing! Everyone froze, I thought they would all pass out. Then she pulled the ring from her bazooms! Winner! Almost had to do CPR on the groom. I did a "mixed" type of ceremony, where the groom was Muslim, and the bride was secular, so we did both services together. Really cool. As I started the ceremony by welcoming the family and friends, I threw in a "Asalaam Alekum" (peace be upon you), and to my surprise, the entire audience responded with "Alekum Asalaam" which I think loosely means "Right back at you, brother!" Mom always said you should learn a few languages. The Imam high fived me after the ceremony! I had a brother unofficially officiate the wedding of his brother and his bride, with me stepping in to do the legal stuff. Not a dry eye in the place at that one. Almost every wedding had some small little glitch, but you go with the flow, and I managed to make it seem like "we meant to do that!". All of my brides were spectacularly beautiful, stunningly gorgeous, as were all the bridesmaids. As for the grooms and the groomsmen, well, they tried their best! Some of them even shaved! And don't get me started with the Man Buns! This year I will be taking a few more pics, and have set up a twitter feed and instagram account, and a few others, to make it more interesting for my "fans". Can't wait to get this party started!

12/01/2016

I am adding this to my selection of vows!

06/24/2016

2 big weddings for this weekend! Friday's wedding is in Cumberland, on Canada Day. A great day for a wedding, and maybe fireworks down the street at dusk! Bonus! This crowd is well known for bringing fiddles, guitars, banjos, mandolins to family gatherings, and just may jam all night. Maybe I should bring my Bass, just in case! It should be a blast!

Saturday's wedding is a little more subdued, and the script the couple chose is beautiful and romantic, with a few family members doing readings. It is at the Billings Estate, so the venue has an old fashioned look to it. I can't wait!

That weekend will be really busy, since the Sunday is booked for my wonderful, and long suffering (wink!) wife Debra's B-Day party. Both of my sons, Scot and Grant, have stepped up (as usual) to share in the preparations, so it should be a fun afternoon. I'll be back at formatting scripts the next day, for the next 5 weddings over the next month. this retirement thing is getting busier than I thought!

06/24/2016

Update: 14 weddings booked so far! Word must be getting out. Officiated at an amazing wedding last weekend. a home wedding. The yard was decked out beautifully. The groom, Michael, had built an amazing multi level stone patio and there was plenty of room for the guests. I was caught off guard by Diane, as she walked down the aisle. For a split second, I thought she was her own daughter as a bridesmaid! Gorgeous, stunning and elegant. It was very much a family and friends day, with even their 3 dogs getting into the act! One was the ring bearer! It went off without a hitch. Right near the end of the ceremony, a sudden cool wind hit us, and blew millions of pieces of white fluff from the trees onto us. I said that the day was so perfect, nature decided to cool us off with a snowstorm! A perfect day was had by all.

03/14/2016

Hi everyone! The word must be getting out! I have 9 weddings booked so far for this year, and even one booked for 2017. That last bride is some kind of planner! Several backyard weddings, a few restaurants and a few "regular" wedding venues, if there is such a thing. My biggest one is a backyard wedding, 10 groomsmen, 10 bridesmaids, where they are going to take down the back fence, and over 200 people are going to camp, trailer, winnebago, etc in the farmer's field behind it! It is on July 1, and by coincidence, they are having fireworks at dusk just down the street! This crowd is famous for bringing their guitars, fiddles, mandolins, banjos, etc., and after the ceremony, they will be jamming and signing all night. Hmm. I wonder if they need a Bass player??!! This ceremony will be extra sweet, as the bride has 2 little girls, and we are writing a special add-on script, a "jewellery ceremony", where the new step Dad will give them each a ring, to welcome them into the new family. That's why I love this job: You never know what might come up. Another wedding has a neat twist: Their dog will be the ring bearer, in a little oak cask container around his neck! I hope he doesn't spot a squirrel at the wrong moment. Bye bye ring! Another has folks coming in from India, the caribbean, out west, the states and Australia. There are more calls coming in almost every day. I am advertising on Kijiji, and it is working. Can't wait for the first wedding, April 23. I am now going back and forth with the brides by email, developing their script, polishing it up to perfection for the big day. Each of my wedding scripts are custom made, full of unique, personal touches. Feel free to pass the word on, as my season is filling up quick!

11/17/2015

I just could not resist posting this pic. It pretty much sums up all that marriage is: An umbrella against the elements, and the loving couple snuggling together. This is not a photo shopped pic. The photographer saw the light rain, grabbed an umbrella, set them up and started snapping. Brilliant!

11/17/2015

It was a Fall wedding for Katelyn and Nick. The weather may have been a little cool, but the staff at the Beantown Ranch had it covered: Every seat had a blanket to keep the folks warm and toasty. The Bride and Groom live in Alberta, so I only met Nick at the wedding itself! The ceremony they picked was elegant and personal. At one point, I asked "Who gives this bride away?" and both Kate's Mother and Father stood up and answered "We do!" That is the kind of personal touch I like to see. It is a family time, so the more family involvement, the better! They are back in Fort MacMurray now, soon to be blasted by arctic cold. Cheers to Katelyn and Nick!