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About

Congratulations on your decision to be married. I am honored you are considering me to be the Officiant at your wedding.

This is your wedding, and I want to provide you with a ceremony that is personal, meaningful, and will bring you memories you will treasure.

I have officiated more than 270 weddings as a Justice of the Peace in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I have conducted wddings in private homes, traditional venues, on beaches, in apple orchards, camp grounds, town commons, and even two in a local House of Correction.

Should you wish to be married in another state, we can explore whether that state offers me the opportunity to obtain a one-day-one-marriage permit to perform your ceremony. I have conducted weddings in Maine and New Hampshire.

My fees are established by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I charge $100 to perform a wedding in North Reading and $150 in any other city or town in the state. I may charge additional fees for consultations or rehearsals. We can discuss such fees in our initial conversation, for which there is no fee.

I look forward to meeting every couple who wishes to be married. It will be my honor and privilege to work with you to create the perfect wedding ceremony for you and your beloved.

Member: Massachusetts Justice of the Peace Assocciation

  • Woman-owned
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Frequently asked questions

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

Non-religious
Interfaith
Civil Union

Reviews of Penny Richards, Justice of the Peace

Jack
Jack Sent on 10/17/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Wonderful ceremony from a wonderful friend

Penny is the consummate wedding officiant pro.

I've known her since 2017 and always knew I wanted her to be my officiant when I got married. She did not disappoint; she was a guiding presence for us throughout the process and yet flexible enough to make our special day totally unique for us.

There's a reason she's conducted as many weddings as she has, because she's the best one doing it.

I would recommend her to anyone getting married.
Isabella
Isabella Sent on 10/10/2022
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing experience!

We had our wedding September 23, 2022 and Penny officiated our ceremony. I can't say enough about Penny and her passion and attention to detail in her ceremonies. She set up a call with us 7 months before the wedding to start writing our ceremony and making it personalized to us. What she does is so much more than just "showing up" the day of the wedding. She "interviewed" us to learn more about our story and how we met and included that in the ceremony as well! We didn't want a religious ceremony and she gave us plenty of options for readings and other things to include that made it feel so special. We opted not to do our own vows so she provided options for that as well that weren't your traditional cookie cutter vows. Our guests are still talking about the ceremony and how special it was, they loved Penny and her spirit and love for what she does. Thank you Penny for celebrating our special day with us and performing the most beautiful ceremony!
K
Katherine Sent on 10/03/2021
5 out of 5 rating

The perfect ceremony

We could not have imagined a more perfect wedding ceremony. Penny made us feel so special and we could sense instantly that we were in the most capable hands. She took the time to get to know us as couple and seamlessly incorporated readings with our story, our families, and all of the details we had in mind. Planning with Penny was so easy, she offered us so many ideas that helped us create the ceremony of our dreams. She delivered the ceremony with so much love and truly made the wedding more than we could ever imagine, Our guests have told us it is the best ceremony they have ever attended, and we could not agree more!
K
Kristina Sent on 10/01/2021
5 out of 5 rating

Penny was exactly who me needed!

Penny was absolutely amazing to work with and she helped us so much! She was so kind and patient with us and was able to give us great advice and directions (because we had no idea what we were doing). I have already recommended her to all my engaged friends and I am now recommending her to you!
Ashley
Ashley Sent on 09/27/2021
5 out of 5 rating

The best jp!

First, I want to start by saying that having Penny as our JP was one of the best decisions we made for our day. Penny has a way of making you feel so comfortable and relaxed while delivering a beautiful ceremony. She made suggestions on how to make our ceremony a little more personal to us and our family and those suggestions were wonderful. She 100% exceeded our expectations! Plus her husband, Dave, was wonderful as well. He took some beautiful pictures of us while we wait for the pictures from our photographer. I could go on for days about how wonderful she was. Highly recommend Penny!
S
Shellena Sent on 09/24/2021
5 out of 5 rating

Penny is the best!!

Penny made us feel so at ease. She has a way of making you feel so comfortable and the ceremony was absolutely beautiful. She thought of things I never would have and worked with us every step of the way to make sure the ceremony was everything we were looking for. She totally exceeded our expectations! Before the ceremony I told my now husband not to be offended if I didn't cry because I'm not normally a gushy person, but we both sobbed like babies! Penny made it feel so special and intimate. Plus her husband Dave is a nice little addition if he is able to attend! He took some beautiful pictures of us which was a nice surprise while we wait for the pictures from our photographer to come in. Highly recommend Penny!!
M
Molly Sent on 11/17/2020
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing officiant!

Penny officiated our wedding and we could not have had a better officiant! We had to change wedding plans due to COVID and Penny responded to us right away, fit us in her schedule and delivered an amazing ceremony. So thoughtful, personalized and great to work with!
Deborah
Deborah Sent on 08/08/2020
5 out of 5 rating

Make your wedding perfect with Penny!

From the moment we met Penny, we knew we wanted her to officiate our wedding. Penny is warm, open-minded, and extremely knowledgable. She was able to guide us about various parts of our ceremony that we hadn't considered, or even thought to think about. Her wisdom and insights really helped us in our planning. On our special day, Penny's presence was like an anchor that kept the whole ceremony smooth sailing. We feel very lucky to have found her. Thank you so much Penny....you made everything amazing. With our gratitude, Deborah and Steve (from the Chapel in Manchester-by-the Sea)
K
Kerrie Sent on 07/27/2016
5 out of 5 rating
The wedding ceremony Penny wrote for my husband and I was simply beautiful. We'd been to another of Penny's weddings in the past and knew as soon as we got engaged that we wanted her to perform our ceremony. Working with Penny was an absolute breeze - from our initial face-to-face meeting when she asked us all about how we met and what we love about each other so she had material to use in crafting our ceremony, to the countless emails back and forth with tweaks to the drafts. Penny was so flexible and accommodating of all changes and suggestions we had. At our rehearsal and on the day itself, she was a calming presence and did a wonderful job reminding us to slow down and really take in the moment. The ceremony was wonderful and we were so thrilled to have her be a part of our special day.
J
Jennifer Sent on 02/23/2016
5 out of 5 rating
What can I say? Penny made what could have been a crazy day into something so calming and so personal for Ben and I. We got married at a beautiful venue which Penny was familiar with and loved as well.
She was able to work with us to change some of the wording of our ceremony around to make it very "us". We had so many of our guests come up to us after the ceremony and say how wonderful Penny was and how personal the ceremony was.
Penny went above and beyond to make our special day exactly that, special.
Thanks so much, Penny!!
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