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Weddings

About

Ceremonies By Design is a wedding officiant company located in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, creating personalized and meaningful ceremonies for couples. Reverend Joan Pape is honored to be your confidante, collaborator, and spiritual coach in creating the ideal wedding ceremony for you and your partner. Whether you want to combine traditional elements or create something truly unique, Ceremonies By Design provides services based on your tastes.

Experience
Ordained by the Universal Life Church in 1998, Reverend Joan Pape's first officiating experience was for her daughter's wedding in 2002. Over the years, she has performed over 600 weddings. Additionally, she is a Reiki Master Teacher and practices alternative medicine.

Services Offered
Ceremonies By Design officiates interfaith, religious, and non-religious ceremonies, as well as civil unions. During your introductory meeting, Reverend Pape will discuss your vision for your wedding day, whether traditional or alternative, and her approach. Ceremonies By Design offers hands-on assistance both on the big day and during the planning process; from arriving early to ensure proper set up to coordinating musical cues, they keep your special day organized. Premarital counseling is available upon request, and sample vows are provided to assist in the customization of your own vows.

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Frequently asked questions

Does starting price include the ceremony rehearsal?

No

What is the starting price for ceremony rehearsals?

$100

What is the starting price for pre-marital counseling (per session)?

$65

What types of weddings and events do you provide services for?

Non-religious
Interfaith
Ceremony Rehearsal
Vow Renewal
Civil Union

What services do you provide?

Premarital Counseling

What religious affiliations do you serve?

Agnostic
Anglican
Catholic
Jewish
Lutheran
Methodist
No Denomination
Unitarian

On average, how long are wedding ceremonies you officiate?

Less than 30 mins.

In which states are you licensed?

WI

What languages do you speak?

English

Reviews of Ceremonies By Design

Sarah
Sarah Sent on 10/01/2022
5 out of 5 rating

Joan is amazing

We chose Joan based on a search for someone who could capture our personal magic, while honoring two different belief realms. Joan was absolutely perfect. She was so kind, caring and easy to speak with. She sent us rough drafts of our potential ceremony and made edits with us until we felt that all things were perfect.
She is so eloquent and amazing with words. We received so many compliments on how beautiful the ceremony was overall.
It was the most perfect day and we are so happy that Joan was a part of it.
A
Amanda Sent on 09/29/2021
5 out of 5 rating

Highly recommend Joan!

Joan was so easy to work with and provided so many great options for our ceremony. We were able to completely make the ceremony our own. She was present for our rehearsal the night before and was available early before the ceremony. She made the ceremony run very smoothly. Joan was such a pleasure to work with and I would HIGHLY recommend her!
Patrick
Patrick Sent on 09/16/2021
5 out of 5 rating

Great officiant, super pleasant to work with!

Rev. Joan was so pleasant to work with! She helped craft the perfect ceremony for US and went above and beyond in assisting with the marriage license filing process and turned it in for us after the ceremony. We received so many compliments from the guests about how well the ceremony was conducted. Afterwards, we received a printed and binded program of our ceremony. Highly recommend her services!
Caroline
Caroline Sent on 09/08/2021
5 out of 5 rating

10/10 for Joan - Couldn't Recommend Her Enough!

Rev. Joan is a no-brainer when it comes to choosing your Officiant! We interviewed 7 potential officiants in a day, and knew she was the right choice as soon as our meeting ended. Joan was extremely helpful throughout the year leading up to our wedding; from helping us choose the perfect ceremony flow, to sharing helpful links and resources to apply for and receive our marriage certificate. If you haven't found an officiant yet, look no further. Joan is the best and more than we could have asked for.
Ashley
Ashley Sent on 10/28/2020
5 out of 5 rating

Highly Recommend!

We heard about Joan through one of the wedding coordinators at our venue. We were super nervous about booking an officiant because we knew we wouldn’t be able to meet them before we booked them because we lived 3 hours away from our venue.
We took a leap of faith and booked Joan after seeing countless good reviews of her and her work. I am so happy we stumbled along Joan’s path. She is the most friendly and personable woman you will ever meet. She helped us write our ceremony from start to finish and answered all of our questions along the way. There were so many tears shed at our ceremony because of how beautiful it was. I truly can’t say enough good things about Joan. She truly made our wedding day everything we wanted and more.
M
Melissa Sent on 02/02/2020
5 out of 5 rating

More than we could ever ask for.

Rev. Joan was amazing & blessed us with a beautiful ceremony. Everyone was left speechless afterwards-including us! The ceremony she wrote for us was completely personalized and was a perfect & beautiful rendition of our love story. Many of our guests said it was the “best ceremony” they have ever seen. We are so thankful for Rev. Joan-the best officiant in Wisconsin.
L
Louisa Sent on 12/16/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Joan is exactly what you're looking for!

We learned about Joan through a friend who had used her and spoke highly of her. Neither of us had been married before, but we knew we wanted a less traditional ceremony. Joan was responsive and available for the wedding date and upon meeting her, we immediately felt at ease about the entire process. She got to know us and what we envisioned for the wedding and had a great deal of advice and options for us. She tailored the flow and content of the ceremony for us, which completely exceeded our expectations! She was always willing to answer questions and kept us on track throughout the year of planning the wedding.
We opted to have her come for a rehearsal the night before the wedding and I was incredibly impressed by how she conducted the entire walk through. We hadn't decided on a few crucial details, but Joan helped us decide the best approach right on the spot. By the end of the rehearsal, we felt completely at ease with how the actual ceremony would go.
The end result - the ceremony - was absolutely beautiful. Joan was welcoming, warm, and made the entire experience come together. We highly recommend Joan for her flexibility, her helpfulness, her warm personality, and her professionalism that accompanies everything she does. Joan is the absolute best and I can't imagine anyone else being such a crucial part of the beginning of our lives together.
K
Kelli Sent on 11/18/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Top notch!

Joan was fantastic as our officiant! She went above and beyond to make sure our ceremony was exactly how we wanted it. She was professional, organized, easy to work with, and genuinely cared about us and our big day. I would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for an officiant.
C
Courtney Sent on 10/07/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Voice of calm amidst the wedding day chaos!

My husband and I can't recommend Joan highly enough! Joan gave us a couple draft ceremonies with dozens of customization options, making it easy for us to pick and choose the language we liked (we preferred a non-religious ceremony but she had both options). She was extremely communicative via email during the whole process, giving us gentle nudges when needed, and offering suggestions based on her experience. On the day of the wedding, not only did she coordinate with the DJ, but she single-handedly coordinated the entrance of my nearly 20 member procession (including two dogs and three flower girls!). We had hoped to keep the ceremony to ~20 min and she was awesome keeping us on schedule, reading through the content we had drafted with her at a steady yet still reverent pace. As the bride I didn't have to worry about a thing on my wedding day! And she took care of submitting the license to the county and all that paperwork. We were a few hours away from her but the price was still reasonable for all of her hard work. Joan was exactly what we needed and we highly suggest working with her!
Katie
Katie Sent on 07/06/2019
5 out of 5 rating

Perfect Ceremony

Joan was able to capture our relationship and the right tone for our ceremony perfectly. We loved working with Joan to get the ceremony exactly how we wanted it. We received many, many complements on our ceremony and Joan. Would highly recommend working with her.
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Awards

96
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2020 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2019 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2018 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2017 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2016 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2015 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2014 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2013 Winner

Professional Network & Endorsements

1 Endorsement
The Darling Wedding Co The Darling Wedding Co Wedding Planners

Joan and Karen are such fantastic people and amazing officiants! They really listen to the clients and create ceremonies that embody the couple love and spirit. We have worked with Joan and Karen for many years, and absolutely love working with them!

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