This was by far the toughest vendor to choose for our wedding. My husband's family isn't religious at all, mine is Roman Catholic. We both wanted the ceremony to include some spiritual readings, but we needed a flexible, open minded officiant to make it feel like more than just a civil ceremony. There were lots of New Age-y options out there that felt totally wrong. I found a recommendation for the Ethical Humanist Society in a wedding publication, and it was ideal. Tom Hoeppner gave us a flexible ceremony template to use for our vows, which we personalized quite a lot. There were certain sections he advised us not to change, and explained why he thought they were important. We were able to identify all of our own readings (Song of Solomon, one literary essay on marriage, and wedding poem by Rumi). Best of all, Tom gave us some excellent fatherly advice about how to integrate our families into the ceremony while retaining the spirit and feel that we were after. We took his suggestions, and our families were really moved by the touches. He's also an expert and calming the nerves that arise the day of. In all, he made the ceremony feel the way it should.
