Weddings by Jason Groenink (Seattle, WA)

I have been officiating weddings since 2005 and performed over 100 weddings from small and intimate to large and extravagant, and everything in between!

Whilst each ceremony is different, I find that most ceremonies on average last between 12-20 minutes depending on the couples preferences, the size of the wedding party, and the size of the venue. While I have certainly done shorter as well as longer ceremonies, these have depended upon the couple’s preferences and desired elements to their ceremonies. The reality is that when you are up in front of people it will feel longer than it really is!

The quick answer is that I do both. I have training and education in the religious environment in my former career, but find that most of the weddings I do are non-religious. Often times I find that a couple will come from different religious backgrounds and will find ways for both to be comfortable with their heritages given equal time. I did a wedding for a couple where one of them came from a religious home and the other did not, and both wanted their families to be honored in the ceremony. Without mentioning any specific deity or religion, I had family members from each side come up to me and thank me for honoring their family’s religious convictions in the ceremony.

Every ceremony I do is different from the last. Whilst there are standard elements to a wedding ceremony, I, by no means, am determined to stick to those. I am sensitive to many different religious and cultural preferences as well. I love to learn and try new things, so I welcome a challenge to find ways to combine different elements from a couple’s varied backgrounds.