We planned a very simple wedding in our backyard for a small group of family and friends. Stephen went over everything with us and made suggestions when it was clear that we didn't have a clue about how to proceed. He offered to meet with us as often as we needed to make sure our wedding day was perfect. His humor and professionalism got us through what turned out to be a very stressful time. Our ceremony was three days after the wind storm of the century! We had no power until the morning of the wedding and we weren't sure if we had any place to go for our dinner. Through it all Stephen never missed a beat, he was a sea of calm reminding us of what great stories we would have to tell afterwards. And he was right! We moved it indoors and our ceremony was beautiful, it was everything we hoped it would be and we could never have done it without him. Thanks Stephen, we love you!

Stephen was a wonderful part of our wedding. We relied on Stephen so much throughout the whole process and we enjoyed working with him every step of the way. He made an effort to get to know us and help us decide what we wanted out of our ceremony. He provides a great handbook that outlines the basic steps of the ceremony and then helps you customize it to create "your perfect wedding".

He always responded quickly, made him self available in the evenings, and was just generally willing to go the extra mile for us. By the end of it, even though we only met Stephen as an officiant, we felt as though a friend had conducted the ceremony.

We also hired his friend Amy to act as the day-of coordinator, and she was a joy to work with. She went far above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that everything ran according to schedule and everyone had a great time.

I can't recommend Stephen (and Amy) highly enough. I can't imagine anyone doing a better job.

I got married in May 2011. I must say my wedding was amazing and Stephan had a huge part in that. He is flawless!!! He is so organized and has a lot to offer. He is knowledgeable and willing to do just about anything. He helped me with many aspects of my wedding. He officiated, hired all my help from bartenders to a lady in waiting. He is the real deal! You should not pass on him and his team, you will regret it. Meet him and you will see he is amazing. I am do glad I had Stephan at my wedding.

My husband and I were married May, 2011. We chose to use Stephen Merriam with Your Perfect Wedding and it was by far the easiest choice we made. Stephen is everything you are looking for in an Officiant. I promise! He is professional, timely, organized, affordable (there are different packages according for all budgets), extremely easy to work with, and fun  Honestly, the only difficult part of working with Your Perfect Wedding were all of the choices he provided regarding ceremony types. You could literally choose any type of ceremony; fun, traditional, religious, or off the wall. It was all there for you in easy to navigate notebooks. You also have the choice of developing your own original ceremony as Stephen walks you through all the necessities or allows you to choose for yourself what you both want in your wedding. That being said you also have the choice of saying to him “You do it” and he will develop a beautiful and perfect ceremony. He stayed in constant contact and kept us on track with everything that needed to be done. He provided drafts of the ceremony in case we needed to make revisions (or changed our minds). Stephen even gave us direction on what we needed to do with all the paperwork after the wedding which is something we knew very little about. We could not have been more satisfied. I literally cannot think of any way he needs improvement. Wedding planning is full of difficult choices but this one is easy. Choose Stephen you will be delighted!

We loved Stephen because he ha a very calming effect on us by being so familiar with weddings, and giving us advice on things to do the day-of.

Reverend Stephen Merriam was very professional, friendly, and accommodating. We had a pretty hectic schedule and he was very flexible in moving our meeting times around. He checked on us periodically to see if we needed any help with picking out our vows, and responded very quickly to phone calls or emails. He was reasonably priced, had a nice presence and voice for the ceremony. We were very happy with his services.

Stephen Merriam was so organized for my wedding! I orginally had another officiant booked, which I found through the referral list at the venue, BIG MISTAKE! It was a total nightmare! They were non responsive and completely rude! Needless to say, I lost my deposit with the other officiant and contacted Stephen two months before my wedding and he was a total savior! He was quick to respond to any questions we had and did a fabulous job at our wedding! Thank you Stephen!

I don't remember exactly how much we paid Stephen, and I vaguely remember paying less than $700, but I figured I'd estimate on the high end because whatever we paid and whatever he asks for, he's worth it. Not only did Stephen make our wedding possible, but he made it possible the way we wanted, and he was so detail-oriented that going into the ceremony, there was no confusion for a single moment about exactly what was going to happen or what was going to be said. He was invaluable at the rehearsal. Our on-site coordinator proved to be particularly useless and even managed to get in the way. Stephen very politely but very authoritatively assumed the reigns and pushed us through the rehearsal and coordinated all our people. He was a calming influence on both me and my wife all throughout the process from the moment we hired him. Whenever we had questions he was available or responded within hours. He was also receptive to different ideas about what to do during the ceremony. In fact he was not only receptive to our input but he actually even gave us the tools to be clear with our input so there was never any confusion. When he says that he works hard to do everything the way that YOU want it, he really means it. Every sentence every detail and even our goofy sensibilities was open for discussion and his process really made it so that our ceremony was not only unique, but reflected who we were as a couple. It simply couldn't have been anyone else. He was perfect in every way.

Highly Recommended!! My future husband and I found Stephen on weddingwire.com and projectwedding.com. Honestly we were a little leary hiring someone from the internet but was pleasantly suprised and relieved. Stephen was very attentive, well spoken and sincere. He is very organized and accommodating. Our rehearsal and wedding ceremony went off perfectly thanks to Stephen, we could not have asked for anything more.

I highly recommend Stephen for your wedding officiant. He was professional. Stephen helped us through every step of your ceremony. He allowed us to put together our ceremony wording and he was open to our thoughts. He was wonderful we really like him. All of our guests said that he was great and they were very impressed. Thanks Stephen you made our wedding day so memorable!

Stephan married my husband and I last November. We were really impressed with his genuine interest in us and in making our wedding ceremony special. We put together our own ceremony with bits and pieces we found on the internet and books. Stephan was more than happy to read this at the wedding and did so beautifully. I am so glad we chose Stephan! He is very flexible and open to creating a ceremony that truly suits you and your beliefs.

Extremely organized and affordable. We basically wrote our whole ceremony and personalized every detail. He helped us make our ceremony even better than what we had written. I would highly recommend him to any couple who wants to write their own ceremony and needs some help personalizing it & organizing it.

I highly recommend Stephen Merriam to any bride looking for a flexible officiant. He is highly dynamic and can provide ANY type of ceremony you would like. When my husband and I first met with him he asked questions about us to get to know our personalities. He gave us a book with examples of different ceremonies in it and told us to take it home and review it. I was able to pull out pieces I liked from different ceremonies and create my own, I also wrote our vows so that they were unique to us. Stephen had no problem officiating our ceremony just the way we wanted it. He read beautifully and was extremely professional. I had several guests ask where we found him and if they could get his information for their family members weddings/baptisms. Please e-mail me for more information or questions: futuremrslara@gmail.com