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Weddings

About

Hello, my name is Joe McAlpine. I am the main wedding guy here. I am a professional wedding officiant and certified marriage coach in the Milwaukee area with over 15 years of experience and I have a passion for helping couples begin their marriage journey in the most healthy and life giving way possible.

One of the reasons I do this is to help couples get started on their marriage journey in the best way possible. We are here to serve you and help you have the wedding and marriage you have always dreamed of.

Our team loves walking through the wedding planning process with couples. We always say that your wedding day is the biggest day of your life. It is the day where you will look the love of your life in the eyes and pledge your unending love and devotion to only them. Your marriage covenant is the biggest promise you will ever make to another human being.

We love weddings! We love everything about them. Our favorite part though is getting to walk through the planning and preparation of what life will look like AFTER the wedding. We are Christians by belief, BUT we work with couples from all different faith backgrounds. Our goal is to help you in your marriage, not to convince you one way or another on religion choices. You will never feel like we are trying to convince you of what we believe.

We offer so much more than just showing up on your wedding day and performing your ceremony. When you choose on of our team members as your wedding officiant you can take advantage of some of the best tools in preparing for your marriage that are available to couples today. We first schedule a no hassle meet and greet through an online web meeting. We don't pressure you or ask you to make any quick decisions. Then you can let us know in your own time if you would like to proceed.

The other big thing that we offer couples is solid pre marriage coaching. The divorce rate today is hovering around 50% Thats right... HALF of all weddings today end in divorce. I am a certified marriage and relationship coach from two different national organizations. The divorce rate among people that have taken our pre marriage program is under 5% To top it all off we make sure that it is affordable and realistic for anyone who wants to take advantage of the tools we offer. It is SO worth it!

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Frequently asked questions

Which of the following are included in the price of your wedding officiant services?

Ceremony Rehearsal
Premarital Counseling

Does starting price include the ceremony rehearsal?

Yes

What is the starting price for ceremony rehearsals?

$50

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

$15

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
Baptist
Catholic
Episcopalian
Evangelical
Lutheran
Methodist
No Denomination
Presbyterian

On average, how long are wedding ceremonies you officiate?

30-60 mins.

In which states are you licensed?

AL
AK
AZ
AR
CA
CO
CT
DE
DC
FL
GA
HI
ID
IL
IN
IA
KS
KY
LA
ME
MD
MA
MI
MN
MS
MO
MT
NE
NV
NH
NJ
NM
NY
NC
ND
OH
OK
OR
PA
RI
SC
SD
TN
TX
UT
VT
VA
WA
WV
WI
WY

What languages do you speak?

English

Reviews of FamilyConnect Weddings and Coaching

A
Alisha Sent on 09/23/2017
5 out of 5 rating
Joe was great throughout our entire process. From the time we interviewed him to the day of the wedding, Joe responded promptly and put together a great ceremony! He's so easy to work with and genuine in his work. Definitely recommend!
R
Rebekah Sent on 05/31/2017
5 out of 5 rating
Joe McAlpine of FamilyConnect Weddings was an absolute charm to work with. Upon our very first meeting, he treated us as old friends, making it quite easy to open up and share our most cherished memories. He created an exquisite, personal ceremony for us, better than we could have ever imagined on our own. He took the time to learn about our entire relationship, and turned our ceremony into a story who we were, who we became, and how we will grow together in the future.
N
Shelley Sent on 04/03/2017
5 out of 5 rating
A true professional, engaged and in-tune with couples' well being.
When we were searching for an officiant my husband and I never thought to look for one that offered more than performing the ceremony.
Joe offers marriage counseling sessions, an unexpected, but a highly recommended and amazing bonus!
While some people may be reserved and guarded during 'traditional' marriage counseling, Joe's demeanor and suggestion to meet at restaurants and bars really allowed us to feel comfortable. It turned into a deep discussions with an old friend over cocktails - bonus!
Christy, his wife, was also able to join many sessions which really helped us understand each others point of view.
Planning a wedding is no doubt time consuming and stressful, Joe was extremely flexible with scheduling the sessions and also kept us to a definite time line. Even more, Joe promises to be a marriage counselor for life and offers 6-month and yearly check-in sessions.
Joe really went above and beyond to make our ceremony about US. Even though I had read and edited the ceremony script he prepared, he added many things he learned from our counseling sessions and stories from our family and friends. Our ceremony was amazing, he truly captured 'our story' and we still get compliments, months later.
At rehearsal, Joe was able to organize our wedding party-a group of over 25 people- and perform practice runs, he took the time to announce people by name, again no small feat with the large wedding party.
Upon arrival on the big day he checked in with both bride and groom to ensure there were no last minute changes, calmed our nerves, and reminded us of the life event we were about to embark on. Joe performed an amazing ceremony despite unanticipated background noise and he politely kept the Mother of the Bride and other members of the bridal party in-check despite their many requests.
We are beyond thrilled with our decision to work with Joe, trust me, you will be too!

J
Justin Sent on 12/21/2016
5 out of 5 rating
Not everything is about pricing becuase you get what you pay for and Joe's service was top notch and fully satisfactory! We loved the counseling/ therapy sessions as well which was a huge plus in his wedding services.
R
Rebecca Sent on 12/14/2016
5 out of 5 rating
Stop your searching right now, you will not find a better fit for your wedding! From the very beginning we felt very comfortable. The very first time we met, it felt as if we had known each other for years. Joe is the most patient, warm hearted, generous, caring, funny.... the list goes on and on, but every word is true. He was willing to work around both of our schedules, and would go the extra mile to make things go as easy and smooth as possible. Our coaching sessions were very helpful and really strengthened my relationship. It helped us create new ways to communicate, and appreciate my husband more. This guy is the real deal, I highly recommend working with Joe and FamilyConnect. Seriously, stop your searching!!!
J
James Sent on 12/14/2016
5 out of 5 rating
Joe did and outstanding job with the short amount of time we had to get ready for our wedding. We couldn't have ask for a better person to do our Ceremony!!! Thank you Joe!!
A
Adam Sent on 10/17/2016
5 out of 5 rating
Joe was absolutely amazing to work with. When we first decided to choose Joe, we were undecided about the pre-marriage counseling sessions, but are so glad we decided to book them. It was great learning from him ways to problem solve and how to understand your partner better. Well worth the money!

On the big day he was prompt and prepared and gave an incredible ceremony, start to finish. We are so thankful to have met Joe. My wife and I couldn't have been happier to have found him.
K
Kristin Sent on 10/13/2016
5 out of 5 rating
Joe was wonderful. He was always easy to contact and did a great job at our ceremony. I loved that we could read what he would say ahead of time, and I loved that our money went to help out other people who are struggling in their marriages and need counseling. We recommended him to my brother, and he did my brother's ceremony as well, even though it was last minute and he had another ceremony to do that day as well!
A
Allison Sent on 09/23/2016
5 out of 5 rating
Joe was exactly what we were looking for! We had an outside wedding ceremony and he catered it to how we wanted it to be. He will incorporate as much or as little religion in your ceremony as you want. He put a lot of time and effort into getting to know us and made sure our ceremony was personal. We really enjoyed his classes too. These were great to have before our wedding and have learned tools that we started using right away. I would recommend Joe to absolutely everyone! He was great to work with and am so happy we found him!
C
Charlandria Sent on 09/20/2016
5 out of 5 rating
Joe was super responsive and customized our ceremony with great memories from our personal lives. We had a super-small ceremony so no rehearsal was needed but he still came in early to make sure everyone knew where to go and what to do! I will highly recommend him again and again!
We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.

Awards

31
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2017 Winner

Professional Network & Endorsements

1 Endorsement
Tuscan Hall Venue and Catering Tuscan Hall Venue and Catering Banquet Halls

We were so thankful to have Family Connect come to Tuscan Hall to perform one of our on site ceremonies. His expertise helped everything run smoothly, and professionally. We cant wait to recommend them to all of our on site ceremony clients.

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Next Wedding Officiants: Reverend Carol Hansen

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