“Reverend Joy” weddings

To create and officiate your wedding ceremony, one of life’s most joyous events,

Rev. Gary becomes “Reverend Joy”

When it comes to weddings, one size does not fit all. Reverend Joy works closely with each couple – though ongoing conversations and an in-depth questionnaire – to create and officiate a wedding ceremony that is true and meaningful for them, that tells their unique story, expresses their feelings and beliefs about each other and about marriage, and is in harmony with their faith path, whether religious, spiritual or secular. Reverend Joy blends in traditions and rituals that reflect the couple’s love, joy, dreams, and growing edges for their married life together. This includes writing vows, if requested. The ceremony text is reworked as needed and not finalized until the couple is totally satisfied.

Reverend Joy happily designs and performs marriage ceremonies for all loving couples – both opposite-sex and same-sex, interracial, and interethnic. He officiates weddings in all faith traditions (Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, etc.), as well as combined religious-spiritual ceremonies. He also serves inter-spiritual and mixed faith couples, and those starting a second marriage. He works throughout Vermont, all of New England, and beyond, including destination weddings.

Si Uds, quieren tener la ceremonia en español, solo preguntan. El Reverend Alegría es 100% bilingüe

Reverend Joy also offers pre- and post-ceremony marital counseling

Ceremony fee begins at $250, and varies depending on time, complexity, travel, etc.

Looking for an inexpensive, secluded wedding venue with country elegance? Ask Reverend Joy about details and fees for getting married at his “Happy Harvest” homestead near Windsor, Vermont. Wedding planning and other services also available through his wife, Helen.

Testimonials  

“Reverend Gary Shapiro was an amazing officiant.  He couldn’t have made us feel more comfortable and at peace throughout our whole wedding process.  From the very beginning, Gary asked all the right questions to gain a better understanding of who we are as a couple and worked hard to make sure that our ceremony fit us perfectly and included everything we believed to be important.  Both of us are from large families that have been to dozens of wedding throughout the years, and during our entire night we had guests coming up to us saying that the ceremony Gary crafted for us was the most intimate, beautiful, and loving wedding they had ever been to.  He had the entire group completely in the moment.  We could not imagine having had such a memorable night without Gary, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to anyone looking for a personal, intimate, and heartfelt ceremony.” ~ Alexandra & Joe

“… We had several enjoyable conversations with Gary before the wedding. He had us fill out a questionnaire which he used to get to know us better and to get an idea about how we view our relationship and marriage. He incorporated this into our ceremony and made it very personalized. My husband and I are not religious, but Gary was very accommodating of our beliefs and tailored our ceremony to this. We were very happy with our experience with Gary and with our ceremony the day of the wedding. I would definitely recommend his services. Thanks!”
~ Jessica & Daniel

“Reverend Joy is a wonderful person. We had such a wonderful journey for about a year with him. He is inspirational and the whole ceremony was from the heart. My guests keep telling me how wonderful of a job he did. I hope to see Reverend Joy again because he is one of those people that has left an impact on us.”
~ Angela & Andy

“We hired Gary as the officiant for our outdoor wedding this past June, and couldn’t have been happier with our choice. What appealed to us about Gary was his extensive commitment to helping others… and an approach that focused on us as a couple. He focused on our commitment to each other, and respected our decision to have a non-religious service… He was available for us throughout the process and worked with us to create a ceremony that really spoke to everyone in attendance, and is something we will go back to and read over again later in life. We have received so many compliments on Gary’s ceremony from all the guests that attended & we continue to this day. We would highly recommend Gary for anyone looking for a personable experience. We thank you again Gary for our most memorable day!”
~ Lauren & Mike

“Working with Gary was immensely enjoyable. My husband and I appreciated all the time he took with us to put the ceremony together, and to make sure things were exactly how we wanted for our special day. We would recommend him in a heartbeat and wouldn’t change anything if we had to do it all over again. Thank you, Gary!”
~ Kristen & Charles

“Gary was absolutely fantastic. He was sensitive and responsive to our wishes. From our first interaction to the goodbyes, he was professional, kind, warm…everything you might desire in an officiant. What he put together for the wedding was absolutely perfect for us and he incorporated our additions into his spiel seamlessly.
~ Lana & Peter

Gary was patient and a great listener, talking on the phone with us and exchanging many emails to make sure our ceremony was perfect. His knowledge of many different wedding traditions and collection of samples and resources was helpful as we wrote our vows and put together our readings, etc.  He was easy to work with and offered great suggestions, and made our slightly-Jewish/secular/interfaith wedding ceremony a success.
~ Ally & DJ

Excerpts from Reverend Joy wedding of Lana & Peter

For more information on Reverend Joy wedding and related services, and to schedule an initial conversation, please contact Reverend Joy at 802-229-1165 or gary@reverendgaryshapiro.com