For Couples Requiring the Performance of a Wedding Ceremony.
Typically this may be a ceremony for an eloping couple, or for couples having their ceremonies at a restaurant, county park, private residence etc. My service to you includes planning your ceremony by phone, and unlimited phone and email support.
See Also: Your Wedding Ceremony.

I have set a pricing structure allowing couples to purchase from what they need - and only what they need. There are however, several important considerations when accepting a couples' request to perform their wedding ceremony.

What Determines Your Fee? Let's say I live in downtown Chicago. I don't actually live in downtown Chicago, I live in the suburbs, but because Chicago is central to all the suburbs I'll use that as my starting point. In our example, a couple has hired me to come out to Schaumburg on a Friday evening to perform their wedding ceremony. Their fee is $300, and I have planned their ceremony with them by phone and email in the weeks prior to their big day (or in this case, their big evening).

To ensure my timely arrival, I must leave my home at least two hours early. That's is because, as we all know, you can't trust the Kennedy to be moving very quickly (if at all) on a Friday evening. It's rush hour. If the Kennedy is a nightmare, I will take side streets to get to my location in Schaumburg, and I have afforded myself enough time to do so. Being late is not an option.

I arrive and perform my wedding ceremony. On average my ceremonies are 30 minutes in length. The couple is delighted and I spend some time with them filling out the marriage license etc. Then there's the ride home, but it takes only an hour or so, the Kennedy is moving again.

When you consider the time of transit, the performance of the ceremony, as well as the planning time I spent with them by phone, I have spent about four hours of labor with this couple. At a fee of $300, that's $75 per hour; an amount their plumber won't come out for.

Now let's consider a larger wedding event, one in which the couple has engaged me for a planning session ($100), as well as a rehearsal and wedding ceremony ($700). Again, we'll say the couple lives in, and will have their rehearsal and ceremony- in Schaumburg.

Their total fee is $800. The investment of my time has gone up as well. There will now be three trips to Schaumburg. And unlike the time of ceremony, which is 30 minutes, an interview takes and average of one and half to two hours. A rehearsal is a minimum of an hour and 15 minutes. These events take much longer than the wedding ceremony. Total invested time is now 12 to 14 hours and rising. And if the events are taking place further out than Schaumburg, say at Zion or Joilet, my investment in time rises further still.

When I put prices on my web site, people acutely know what they mean. And as my college economics professor taught me, price measures what we must give up, for in paying one cost, we can no longer pay the cost of others, be they our bills, filling the gas tank, or the various toys in life that we all cherish. Cost is well understood.

Value however, cannot be expressed in numbers. Value is something we must interpret. The following review of my work, posted on WeddingWire.com speaks of value. Here is what one bride wrote:

"This was the best wedding I've ever been to!" Those were the first words out of my friend's mouth. That says a lot as there were 5 other weddings this year. Tom was outstanding. My wedding ceremony was much more that I ever dreamed. I loved being able to look at my family and friends during my ceremony. Tom always gave us encouraging words and basically took our nerves away. The ceremony was so intimate and interactive. A guest of mine told my mom that if he ever gets married again, he'd definitely choose Tom. Some may be taken aback by his fee. HE IS TOTALLY WORTH IT!!! "

I put the second to the last statement in red; she chose to CAPITALIZE the final sentence. Yes, I am very appreciative of the words she wrote about my work for her. This bride got the value she was paying for. But those who are taken aback by my fee should know that it took 12+ hours of work, an interview complete with a video presentation, a 75 minute rehearsal session and then the performance a unique, glorious and very photogenic wedding ceremony to deliver this level of value. A wedding ceremony that inspired her to write about it on WeddingWire.

( continued )

I simply ask those who are considering my services to not separate cause and effect. The fee is the cause, the effect is delivered in value. And don't take just her word for it (or mine). There are more reviews on WeddingWire.com, the Knot.com and the thank you pages of my web site. All are unsolicited comments on my ceremonies from those I officiated for.

In order to get the wedding ceremony you and I want for you- we have to work at it. Whether you are hiring me for just your ceremony, or for an interview and rehearsal as well- you are getting all that you're paying for. My fees aren't high, they're correct for what I'm doing.

Rehearsing. Let's face it- most small weddings don't need a rehearsal session, and let's also face the fact that most large wedding ceremonies do. Some couples, a minority, would rather skip having a rehearsal and just keep their money. Your wedding day, one of the top five days of your entire life, is not a time for skimping. Standing up in front of a couple hundred of your family and friends, is no place to find out you don't know what you're doing. This is especially true when elaborate options are chosen or the wedding ceremony has a large bridal party.

When discussing your wedding ceremony plans with you, I'll ask if you need a rehearsal. I won't be pushing one on you. But couples do me a disservice when they construct large ceremonies, skip rehearsing them, and then expect me to crash-course them just prior to the ceremony's start.

Why do you Charge for an Interview? I use an interview fee for two very important reasons. First, if the couple who asked me to come out to their home and show me an hour and half long video presentation doesn't hire me, it partially compensates me for my time and trouble. The average commitment of my time, driving included, in doing an interview is from 4 to 5 hours. Then there's the gas used, eating on the road etc. $100 serves as a partial compensation for this should a couple ask for an interview and then not hire me.

The second reason is the more important of the two- it's a deterrent. If a couple is only partially interested in my services then I don't want to interview them. That's because in the end, I'm not going to get their business, and the trip and the effort were all in vain. They in turn give all my ideas to someone else who performs their ceremony for next to nothing. A couple who realizes an interview will cost them $100 is much less likely to invite Tom out to their house "just for the fun of it."

Here are other examples of why I use interview fees: One bride to be asked me to come up to McHenry to interview her and her fiance. As I conducted my interview I noticed how delighted and interested she was in it. She loved my style of wedding format (bridal party facing forward) as well as the modern ceremony options I use. He in turn sat at the table like a lump. He asked no questions and showed no interest. When the phone rang he answered it, not explaining to the caller he was in an interview. He was absent for 15 to 20 minutes, and it was obvious he really didn't care either. The reason? He knew he wasn't going to hire me, that he was just allowing the interview to take place to stay in the good graces of his fiance. Maybe he knew a minister who was real cheap. Maybe Uncle Ned would do it for free. But to stay politically correct with his wife to be, he allowed the interview to take place. Which didn't cost him a dime.

A young couple asked me out to their home near Midway airport. They listened to the entire presentation, smiled at each other and then turned to me and said.."We'd like to hire you." The bride's mother, who sat in on the interview, then looked at my and asked "Sir.. how much does all this cost?" She, and not the young couple, was going to be paying for the ceremony. It was her gift to them and a lot of parents do this for their sons and daughters. Some even pay for the entire wedding. I wasn't in her mother's price range. No sale.

An interview and planning session with me educates a couple on what they should and should not be doing in their wedding ceremonies. The video footage I use has been collected over a decade and is supplemented by hundreds of still photos as well. All are examples of my work. Any couple who has seen this presentation will tell you that it's even more informative than this web site.

However, I want to spend my time - and work for - couples that are genuinely interested in learning about my ceremonies. The use of an interview fee has saved both me, and the couple who is deterred by it, from us spending time with each other.