The Reverend D

My wife and I wanted someone special to officiate our wedding so mountains of research were done and we landed on The Rev D for her aesthetic. We enjoy horror and her overall approach stylistically was what we were going for, though you do NOT need to be a fan of horror to get the full experience (which I will explain a little bit down). We already had our civil ceremony and were legally married before our ceremony so the only difference was we didn't sign paperwork after the ceremony. We had a zoom call and she explained everything she does in great detail. While she did not pressure us on the call it took a whole five minutes to decide she was perfect.

Upon hiring her, she sent us a very long questionnaire for my wife and me to fill out separately and privately. She explained to not skimp out on answering as the answers were to be the basis of how she would conduct the ceremony. We adhered to this and wrote long and thoughtful answers (as best we could). And what resulted from that was a beautiful, personal, and loving ceremony that moved everyone in the room. You can tell she took great care to look over our answers and write something truly unique and not just a "fill in the blank" ceremony as some others do. It was the highlight of the entire night for myself and my wife because we frankly weren't expecting something so moving and perfect.

Because my wife and I are horror movie fans, we got married on the Necromonicon from The Evil Dead. She has an entire selection of book styles on her website in case you're looking for something specific to your interests (there's a lot!) She also knows how to do traditional handfasting rituals from very quick to incredibly long depending on what you prefer. We went with the short and sweet version but she'll do what you want.

She's worth every penny (she's actually quite affordable) so if you are getting married do yourself a favor and hire her. She's by far the BEST officiant in NYC and likely the tri-state.

Do yourself a favor and hire her already! RevD crafted the most beautiful, touching, true-to-us ceremony we could've imagined, and really contributed to our wedding day being so special. She is an incredible writer and speaker in addition to being the perfect balance of laid-back and professional. The ceremony she wrote really got to the heart of who we are as a couple, and was a beautiful, sincere expression of our love that we got to share with all of the important people in our lives. Several of our guests asked us how we knew RevD, because the ceremony was so personal to us that they assumed we must've already been friends with her. She is a true gem and hiring her was easily one of the best decisions we made throughout the wedding planning process.

There aren’t enough words to describe how incredible Rev D was. The moment our first video call connected we knew she was who we wanted to marry us. She was able to pull such detail from questionnaire she had us fill out that our guests assumed we had known her for years. I cannot stress enough how wonderful and accommodating she was. Our wedding was what it was because of her. I’m almost sad you only get married once because I would love to hire her again.

They say no one cares about your wedding as much as you do. This is a lie because Donna absolutely does. We used her as our officiant and day of coordinator and our wedding truly would not have been the same without her. There were moments that I actually forgot that we weren’t her only client. That was how much individualized attention she gave us, and how much love she put into our day. For ease of understanding we’ll break this review up into two parts for each job she did.

Officiant - Donna gave us a ceremony that was both tear-jerking and hilarious. We knew she was “one of us” going into it (all three of us are massive metal nerds) but the way she incorporated the nuances of our relationship into the ceremony was, for lack of a better word, perfect. Her questionnaire delved deep into who we are as a couple, and her attention to every detail of our answers was unparalleled (and met with follow up questions). The process itself was incredibly fun and the resulting ceremony was flawless. She truly has a gift for language, and she can and will learn to speak yours.

Day of Coordinator - Let me preface this with the fact that I am a neurotic, type A, project-manager-for-a-living, crazy person, so the idea that my day would be ruined by me trying to control every detail terrified me. Donna did not allow this and for that I am eternally grateful. She shielded me from ever minor issue (or not so minor, like the caterer being hours late) and dealt with it herself - in some cases quite literally, arranging chairs and placecards, mounting a full sized ram-skull to an eight foot arch unassisted, and keeping the entire machine moving. This actually allowed me to enjoy my day fully and without worry.

Beyond this she was at every walkthrough and rehearsal, on every email thread, and brought up every question we forgot to ask. She even helped us after the wedding with a problematic vendor.

We, as a couple, do not have enough words to express how grateful we are to Donna. If you are on the fence in any capacity, don’t be. Hiring her is legitimately one of the best decisions we made since we got engaged.

She worked with us personally to create the most thoughtful and personal ceremony for us and made our ceremony so much fun!

What can I say, the Rev D was amazing. She wrote a completely personalized ceremony that had people laughing, my wife and I crying, and left everybody raving. We are over the moon with the service she provided. Thank you

Everyone has a first, and my wife and I were Rev. D's. In the days long before she became a bonafide NYC legend of love, we asked her to officiate our wedding. Why? Because even with no experience under her belt, we knew the raw power of her personality would be a shining beacon leading us to the alter. Her ability to engage with people on a deeply personal level and to hone in on what makes each bride and groom special, and her willingness -- no, her EAGERNESS -- to dive in to a couple's weirdness in pursuit of their perfect evening sets her apart from just about any other officiant. She's brilliant, hilarious, compassionate, and empathetic, and she'll treat every wedding as if it's the most important wedding she'll ever oversee. And now, here we are, more than a decade later, and I'm jealous of you all because, if you're smart, you'll get to have the Rev. D officiate your wedding. My wife and I are here to stay, so we don't get to do that again. But I swear, if there was a way for us to get divorced and then get remarried, she and I'd do it in a heartbeat just to get to spend another night with the Rev. D!

We got married this fall and among the million other things we had to worry about was hiring an officiant. We (or at least I) thought little of our decision, at least at first. But it turns out an officiant can be so much more than someone who makes you say "I do".

Donna Marie started by sending us a fairly lengthy questionnaire in an effort to know us better. Then she followed up with a meeting to iron out any uncertainties and ensure that both parties were on the same page. This is where she clarified our answers and asked how we want the ceremony to go. For instance, do we want her to dress up? Do we want her to use a Beetlejuice-themed book? We took the ladder.

With the information we provided, she crafted a custom ceremony that wowed everyone. I literally didn't think anything of "the officiant" and Donna Marie became the talk of our wedding.

While her well-written words and attention to detail were impressive, her kindness was even better. She clearly cared about our wedding and out-performed anything we could have imaged and as a result, we had a much better wedding than anticipated.

If you're planning a wedding, I know you have a lot to worry about. Hiring Donna Marie means the officiant isn't one of them.

Rev D is a truly incredible. She will write you a personalized service that is the perfect balance of emotional and hilarious. After wiping away tears from laughing and crying all of my wedding guests had nothing but compliments about our ceremony. She was supportive, caring, flexible, and nothing short of professional. I appreciate that she hand wrote our service in a book of our choosing that we now get to display in our home and revisit anytime we please. I would highly recommend her to anyone!!

Reverend D went above and beyond our expectations. She was so easy to work with and so open to anything we desired for our wedding and she accommodated every request. She made the ceremony fun and sweet, telling our story in the most authentic way. Rev D took the time to get to know us and our story and did a fantastic job to present it during the ceremony. Very professional, easy going, creative. We trusted her 100% and she definitely helped making our special day memorable. We highly recommend her.