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Wedding CeremoniesI'm an Ordained Clergy Person and can perform any kind of legal marriage in my state. I create meaningful ceremonies for those prefer a wedding without the organized religion dogma. As a Humanist clergy person, I don't do Christian or bible based ceremonies. I don't invoke god nor demon, but I'm down for just about anything else lol. All kidding aside, there is room for much creativity in the marriage experience and it's my aim to give people a wonderful ceremony that is much closer to what people really want than the traditional "love, honor, and obey" wedding ceremony can provide. I can also perform ceremonies that aren't legal (such as prior to same-sex marriages being legal), but they would not and could not be considered a legal marriage and would be for personal meaningfulness only. Any Time, Day or NightWith enough notice, I'm willing to perform your wedding ceremony at any time of the day or night. For instance, you may want a late night wedding or a wedding at sunrise. Extreme hour ceremonies more than a reasonable commute distance away will cost extra since hotel accommodations and meals may be required. Yes, I Perform Same-Sex Marriage CeremoniesAnd not only can I perform same-sex marriage ceremonies, but if it's important to you to know, same-sex marriages are sanctified by the Church of Spiritual Humanism under which I am ordained. Here is what the church says about same-sex marriages:
Again, while marriages I perform are sanctified by the Church of Spiritual Humanism, it should be noted that this is not a Christian or bible-based belief system. No JudgmentI don't have any judgment on your belief system, your lifestyle, your sexual orientation or anything else that may arise in the course of your marriage ceremony. It is not my place, nor my desire, to judge another human being and/or their preferences. The Technical StuffI take marriage licenses in for recording every Monday, so you can get any certified copies you need quicker. Certified copies of recorded marriage certificates are generally available, from the County Clerk's Office in the county in which you were married, one month after the date of submission (not the date of your ceremony). Most weddings happen on the weekend, so I take all the licenses for the week down to be recorded every Monday. Update as of 06-17-08: I talked with the Registrar of Marriages in Santa Clara County (this is my area and covers much of the bay area and is where most folks will come to be married by me) and she said there *is* no wait period for certified copies. You can get certified copies the day I submit your license for recording. If you obtained a CONFIDENTIAL MARRIAGE LICENSE, I cannot request copies on your behalf since these are not public record. This means that only the parties can request copies unless there's a court order. If you provide me with an email address, I will email you when I get back from taking your license in for recording, so that you can get on the horn with them if you need certified copies ASAP. Note: It is the solemnizer's (the person who performed your marriage) responsibility to record your marriage license after the ceremony. The county prefers to have the licenses back for recording within 30 days of the ceremony. However, the licenses can be submitted for recording up to a year after the ceremony. You do not want your minister or clergy person to dilly-dally in submitting your license for recording because this will delay you getting certified copies of your marriage license for however long they delay plus one month. This is especially important with same-sex marriage licenses because it will be on the ballot in November. You want your license recorded timely. If you provide me with an email address, I will email you when I get back from the court house on Monday, so you know for sure that your license was recorded on that date. You'll go to the county seat and get your marriage license and then hold onto it until the day of your marriage ceremony. Your marriage license is valid for 90 days. Once you get it, be careful with it and do not make any changes to it. There can be no white-out, erasures, strikeovers or other alterations on the marriage certificate or it will un-recordable and you will have to start over. This means purchasing a whole other marriage license and purchasing the fees again. You can download the forms below. They are .PDF files. You'll still need to take them in to the County Clerk's office to get your marriage license issued, but it'll be faster because you've already made sure you have all the info you need. Application For Public Marriage License (This is the standard one requiring blood tests, etc.) Free to download and will cost $79 at the Court House to get the actual license. Application For Confidential Marriage License (This is the one most people would use who are living together already.) Free to download and will cost $83 at the Court House to get the actual license. Marriage License Instructions (Important things you need to know, so be sure and download it.) PricingMy fee is $250, plus mileage, paid up front. According to the IRS, the standard automobile mileage reimbursement rate set by the IRS for 2008 is 50.5 cents per mile. I feel bad about having to charge mileage, but with gas prices being what they are, and me having to travel to perform the ceremony, it just has to be done. When you set up the date, time, and place of your ceremony with me, I'll use Yahoo Maps to calculate mileage and tell you ahead of time what the mileage will be, so you know the total cost of the ceremony. I'm working on beautifying my garden. It's in the front of the house, but has a beautiful arch. The porch is covered with a huge orange tree with potted plants all around. I'm putting in some plantings to make it more attractive and cover the arch with greenery. I'll post some pictures when it's ready. It would only be able to accommodate a small group of 6 or fewer people, including the bride and groom and it would be wedding services only - no reception, no restroom, no changing area, etc. I plan to offer services there, which would save people willing to be married in my front garden the mileage fee. It would be picturesque. If pictures were taken to take advantage of the greenery, it would look like you were married in a beautiful garden. I may offer a photo package as well. Payment OptionsYou may pay with cash or credit card. If paying with credit card, please call to give me credit card information for processing. If you can make an appointment to come by in person so that I can see your ID and actually run the card through the credit card machine, that would be wonderful. If you can't, that's not a problem, but please do be willing to provide your credit card information via telephone if you can't come by, including the exact name on the credit card, the billing address with zip code, the credit card number and the 3-digit number on the back of the card near the black stripe. I also accept PayPal. My PayPal payment email is cynthia(at)cynthiaclinton(dot)com. The (at) and (dot) are to be replaced with the normal characters for email addresses. Other Fun ThingsIf you have at least 6 weeks to prepare for your wedding date and you're still deciding on jewelry, you may be interested in looking at the bridal jewelry I make. I've been making and designing my own line of exquisite handmade jewelry since 1996. Here are a few examples:
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