Northern Virginia Ethical Society Reviews

Reviews

• Rachel Sent on 11/27/2017
  5 out of 5 rating

  5.0
  • Quality of service
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Average response time
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Professionalism
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Value
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Flexibility
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0

  My husband and I loved working with Ellen. We were looking for someone who could balance our secular views and our parents religious views and Ellen was just amazing. Not only did she help give us inspiration on how we could write our ceremony and vows, but she also happens to have a college degree in English and was able to suggest edits so our ceremony was as beautiful as possible. She was on time and pleasant at every meeting, responsive to e-mails, and provided her phone number if we needed to get in touch with her immediately. The day of our ceremony she was open to some last minute changes we asked for and spoke beautifully. This is clearly a woman with years of experience and a gentle heart. You won't be sorry you went with the Northern Virginia Ethical Society.

  My husband and I loved working with Ellen. We were looking for someone who could balance our secular views and our parents religious views and Ellen was just amazing. Not only did she help give us inspiration on how we could write our ceremony and vows, but she also happens to have a college degree in English and was able to suggest edits so our ceremony was as beautiful as possible. She was on time and pleasant at every meeting, responsive to e-mails, and provided her phone number if we needed to get in touch with her immediately. The day of our ceremony she was open to some last minute changes we asked for and spoke beautifully. This is clearly a woman with years of experience and a gentle heart. You won't be sorry you went with the Northern Virginia Ethical Society.
• April Sent on 11/18/2016
  5 out of 5 rating

  5.0
  • Quality of service
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Average response time
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Professionalism
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Value
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Flexibility
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0

  I'm so glad we found NVES, particularly Mary Ellen Stanton! Like many other couples, my husband and I wanted a secular but meaningful ceremony and didn't know where to begin. Mary Ellen is a very experienced officiant and ushered us through the process of creating our own ceremony. She provided examples of vows, blessings, etc. and brought up points (such as music and sequence) that we wouldn't have thought of. She respected our vision and our vows. She's very conscientious, responsive, and flexible, and will raise any any potential issues ahead of time (which I greatly appreciate!). We trusted Mary Ellen from the moment we met her; the actual wedding ceremony was the least of our worries through the wedding planning process! To our delight, she also loves dogs and enjoys having them around at weddings.
  
  One of our initial and unfounded worries was that NVES would attempt to "recruit" us to their organization, with which we were relatively unfamiliar. But don't worry about that! Mary Ellen will discuss ethical culture if asked, but working with NVES comes with no obligation. Officiants with NVES are volunteers who perform weddings because they want to be of service to their communities.

  I'm so glad we found NVES, particularly Mary Ellen Stanton! Like many other couples, my husband and I wanted a secular but meaningful ceremony and didn't know where to begin. Mary Ellen is a very experienced officiant and ushered us through the process of creating our own ceremony. She provided examples of vows, blessings, etc. and brought up points (such as music and sequence) that we wouldn't have thought of. She respected our vision and our vows. She's very conscientious, responsive, and flexible, and will raise any any potential issues ahead of time (which I greatly appreciate!). We trusted Mary Ellen from the moment we met her; the actual wedding ceremony was the least of our worries through the wedding planning process! To our delight, she also loves dogs and enjoys having them around at weddings.
  
  One of our initial and unfounded worries was that NVES would attempt to "recruit" us to their organization, with which we were relatively unfamiliar. But don't worry about that! Mary Ellen will discuss ethical culture if asked, but working with NVES comes with no obligation. Officiants with NVES are volunteers who perform weddings because they want to be of service to their communities.
• Joannapstephens@Gmail.com Sent on 05/29/2016
  5 out of 5 rating

  5.0
  • Quality of service
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Average response time
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Professionalism
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Value
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Flexibility
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0

  Mary Ellen Stanton was our officiant from Northern VA Ethical Society. She was absolutely wonderful! My husband and I are both atheist, so we wanted a non-religious celebrant. We were so relieved to find an officiant who shared so many important values with us and was able to give us a beautiful, thoughtful ceremony focused on love and commitment. She was also willing to work with our best man who translated the ceremony into Spanish for our Spanish-speaking guests. So many people told us afterwards that it was a beautiful and touching ceremony. We would definitely recommend Mary Ellen and the Northern VA Ethical Society to anyone looking for a secular celebrant!

  Mary Ellen Stanton was our officiant from Northern VA Ethical Society. She was absolutely wonderful! My husband and I are both atheist, so we wanted a non-religious celebrant. We were so relieved to find an officiant who shared so many important values with us and was able to give us a beautiful, thoughtful ceremony focused on love and commitment. She was also willing to work with our best man who translated the ceremony into Spanish for our Spanish-speaking guests. So many people told us afterwards that it was a beautiful and touching ceremony. We would definitely recommend Mary Ellen and the Northern VA Ethical Society to anyone looking for a secular celebrant!
Are you interested?
Send a message
• Della Sent on 10/14/2014
  5 out of 5 rating

  5.0
  • Quality of service
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Average response time
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Professionalism
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Value
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Flexibility
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0

  We chose NoVA Ethical to help us find an officiant. We had Ellen Dinerman, who was sweet, charming and very thorough. She asked us a lot of questions and truly cared about the state and nature of our relationship. We were sadly not as responsive to her as we should have been (not at all her fault!), but we managed to give her a draft of our very hard work as we crafted a 100% custom ceremony that she happily gave - word for word.
  We wanted something that was not as cold and clinical as a civil ceremony but as my husband is an atheist and I'm not Christian, and we both come from religious families - we felt it would be disingenuous to have a religious ceremony and felt strongly that we did not want to start our marriage off with a lie.
  Ethical Culture is very in-line with our personal beliefs and we are active advocates for social justice issues - we knew this was what we wanted as a representation of who we are and what we stand for as individuals and as a couple.
  We are thoroughly pleased with the results and we felt bad that we're on such a tight budget, but they didn't balk at our chosen donation amount (a little less than most civil ceremony officiants) and it's tax deductible.

  We chose NoVA Ethical to help us find an officiant. We had Ellen Dinerman, who was sweet, charming and very thorough. She asked us a lot of questions and truly cared about the state and nature of our relationship. We were sadly not as responsive to her as we should have been (not at all her fault!), but we managed to give her a draft of our very hard work as we crafted a 100% custom ceremony that she happily gave - word for word.
  We wanted something that was not as cold and clinical as a civil ceremony but as my husband is an atheist and I'm not Christian, and we both come from religious families - we felt it would be disingenuous to have a religious ceremony and felt strongly that we did not want to start our marriage off with a lie.
  Ethical Culture is very in-line with our personal beliefs and we are active advocates for social justice issues - we knew this was what we wanted as a representation of who we are and what we stand for as individuals and as a couple.
  We are thoroughly pleased with the results and we felt bad that we're on such a tight budget, but they didn't balk at our chosen donation amount (a little less than most civil ceremony officiants) and it's tax deductible.
• 
  User1217128 Sent on 06/26/2013
  5 out of 5 rating

  5.0
  • Quality of service
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Average response time
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Professionalism
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Value
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Flexibility
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0

  We were fortunate enough to have Mary Ellen Stanton as our wedding ceremony officiant. She made time for our wedding even though she had a personal appointment later that evening and we did not feel at all rushed on our day. She was responsive to our emails even after the ceremony when I had questions about our certified marriage certificate. With her guidance, we wrote a beautiful ceremony that we were all so happy with. Mary Ellen gave my husband and I advice on how to handle all of the different “issues” that could arise during a wedding ceremony. She made time to meet with us twice; once before we confirmed that we would like to have her officiate and a few weeks before our wedding day to go over our ceremony. We highly recommend Mary Ellen’s services, she made us feel so comfortable and offered suggestions and advice without any pressure or judgment.

  We were fortunate enough to have Mary Ellen Stanton as our wedding ceremony officiant. She made time for our wedding even though she had a personal appointment later that evening and we did not feel at all rushed on our day. She was responsive to our emails even after the ceremony when I had questions about our certified marriage certificate. With her guidance, we wrote a beautiful ceremony that we were all so happy with. Mary Ellen gave my husband and I advice on how to handle all of the different “issues” that could arise during a wedding ceremony. She made time to meet with us twice; once before we confirmed that we would like to have her officiate and a few weeks before our wedding day to go over our ceremony. We highly recommend Mary Ellen’s services, she made us feel so comfortable and offered suggestions and advice without any pressure or judgment.
• Jamie Sent on 11/21/2010
  5 out of 5 rating

  5.0
  • Quality of service
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Average response time
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Professionalism
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Value
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Flexibility
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0

  These are volunteers from the Northern Virginia Ethical Society who truly love doing weddings. Mary Ellen Stanton was our Officiant and she was a doll to work with. She met with us while sick, she was responsive, caring, empathic, and flexible. She helped us incorporate all that we wanted into our wedding and she made it a beautiful ceremony. She came early to make sure the place looked right and to confirm everything and the ceremony went off without a hitch. If you aren't looking for an overly religious wedding go to the Northern Virginia Ethical Society!

  These are volunteers from the Northern Virginia Ethical Society who truly love doing weddings. Mary Ellen Stanton was our Officiant and she was a doll to work with. She met with us while sick, she was responsive, caring, empathic, and flexible. She helped us incorporate all that we wanted into our wedding and she made it a beautiful ceremony. She came early to make sure the place looked right and to confirm everything and the ceremony went off without a hitch. If you aren't looking for an overly religious wedding go to the Northern Virginia Ethical Society!
• Natalie Sent on 07/14/2010
  5 out of 5 rating

  5.0
  • Quality of service
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Average response time
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Professionalism
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Value
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Flexibility
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0

  Mary Ellen Stanton was absolutely wonderful to work with!! We live in California and were planning our wedding long distance in Virginia. Mary Ellen was always accommodating for scheduling phone conversations with the time difference, and always made us feel welcome during our visits. She helped us to create a memorable and meaningful ceremony, always working with the ideas that we wanted to include and suggesting ways to improve it. We would recommend to her everyone getting married!!

  Mary Ellen Stanton was absolutely wonderful to work with!! We live in California and were planning our wedding long distance in Virginia. Mary Ellen was always accommodating for scheduling phone conversations with the time difference, and always made us feel welcome during our visits. She helped us to create a memorable and meaningful ceremony, always working with the ideas that we wanted to include and suggesting ways to improve it. We would recommend to her everyone getting married!!
• Jenny Sent on 11/01/2008
  5 out of 5 rating

  5.0
  • Quality of service
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Average response time
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Professionalism
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Value
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Flexibility
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0

  Mary Ellen Stanton was our officiant and the perfect match for us :) We met with her a few times prior to the ceremony and she made everything so easy! We couldn't think of anyone more perfect to marry us. We received so many compliments on our beautiful ceremony. Highly recommended!!!

  Mary Ellen Stanton was our officiant and the perfect match for us :) We met with her a few times prior to the ceremony and she made everything so easy! We couldn't think of anyone more perfect to marry us. We received so many compliments on our beautiful ceremony. Highly recommended!!!
• Liz Sent on 02/15/2007
  5 out of 5 rating

  5.0
  • Quality of service
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Average response time
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Professionalism
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Value
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Flexibility
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0

  Phyllis Duncan, our officiant from the Northern Virginia Ethical Society, did a great job. She understood that incorporating our friends and family into the ceremony was important and she was such a calming influence. I would recommend her to anyone with a diverse wedding party/guest list who wants an inclusive ceremony that reflects your personal traditions as a couple.

  Phyllis Duncan, our officiant from the Northern Virginia Ethical Society, did a great job. She understood that incorporating our friends and family into the ceremony was important and she was such a calming influence. I would recommend her to anyone with a diverse wedding party/guest list who wants an inclusive ceremony that reflects your personal traditions as a couple.