Another milestone in the wedding planning process is meeting with and deciding on an officiant. If you're getting married in a church, this is typically your parish priest. If you're getting married in an outside venue, like we are, you need to find an officiant to perform the ceremony.
This can be anyone from an ordained friend to someone who runs an officiant business, to Elvis (we are in Vegas, so there are plenty of ordained Elvis-es). It can even be a reverend, pastor, or other religious figure who is able to perform wedding ceremonies outside the church. Our list of criteria was not very long. We wanted someone who was familiar with the Mexican and Filipino traditions of the lasso/cord and arras coins, someone who would be both religious and secular, and who was friendly without being too much of a joker (you may have been to a ceremony where the officiant kept pulling one-liner after one-liner. Not really our thing).
Unfortunately, Internet searches did not pull up too many options that specifically listed the lasso and arras traditions. One bilingual reverend I found never responded to my email, and the only other officiant familiar with the lasso didn't really fit what we had in mind for a traditional ceremony. I asked my wedding coordinator for ideas, and she led us to Pastor Pete Starzyk of Elegant Vegas Weddings. I had heard his alliterative name before, and wondered how much "Pastor Pete" liked to joke--but his website was as elegant as its name (and easy to navigate compared to other officiant sites I'd explored). It also showed that the pastor definitely had the experience in weddings. I still wasn't entirely certain if he would be right for us--the website did show an Elvis picture pretty prominently on the homepage--but I liked the continued repetition of the phrase, "Your wedding, your way." It sounded like his company really customized to the bride and groom's preferences. I decided to send an inquiry through the site's contact form.
I was pleased to receive both a phone call and an email almost immediately afterward acknowledging that they received our message, and that Pastor Pete himself had done the cord/arras/veil traditions many times before. His voice on the phone message sounded like the kind of tone I was looking for in an officiant, and he sent us a questionnaire to learn more about my fiance and I as a couple. He was definitely organized.
The next step was to call back and set up an appointment in person. When I called his number, Pastor Pete's wife answered the phone and said he was unfortunately at a wedding, but would be back by 9pm. Could I call back then? I was surprised he was willing to take a call so late, but she stressed that yes, 9pm was fine. I called at about 9:02 and Pastor Pete was ready to get in front of his computer, check his schedule, and set up a date to meet at the Starbucks near his house--in Henderson, which was perfect for us!
That evening we arrived to Starbucks a bit early to ensure we made it on time and saw a man that looked a lot like the image of Pastor Pete in the photo on his site. The only concern: he was taking what looked like a garbage bag out from the hands of a Starbucks employee and leaving the building with it. Could this still be Pastor Pete, or was I mixing him up with a nicely-dressed Starbucks janitor?
The man returned and began setting up chairs into a little meeting space inside Starbucks, so I thought I'd take a chance. As I approached he said, "Oh, I'm saving these seats."
"Are you by chance Pastor Pete?" I asked.
And he broke into a smile, realizing that my fiance and I were the people he was saving the seats for.
The garbage bag was actually a bag of used coffee grounds the Starbucks employees donated for compost in his garden! How eco-friendly! I liked him already.
We sat down together to discuss the logistics of a wedding ceremony, and he regaled us with both funny stories and horror stories of other weddings he had done in the past. Lessons learned that day: Pastor Pete will wear a referee jersey if you have a laid back sports-themed wedding. He will also warn you if you are running an hour late that you may not have time for a very long ceremony. Pro tip: make sure your mom knows where to find the ceremony so she doesn't arrive halfway through it. Another pro tip: try not to sweat the small stuff. At the end of the day there are only five things you need to get married: the two members of the couple, the officiant, a witness, and the marriage license. If we can get at least that much, we'll be fine and married by the end of the day!
Pastor Pete walked us through where we would stand, when we would turn to the audience, when we would kiss, and who would be responsible for which tasks. He stressed again that each step was up to us if we wanted things a certain way. We asked whatever questions we could think of, but mostly we just listened in silent agreement that he sounded good to us!
Pastor Pete has already reserved our date in case we decide to choose him for our wedding. The final step is to call him up and officially say yes to the officiant!
This can be anyone from an ordained friend to someone who runs an officiant business, to Elvis (we are in Vegas, so there are plenty of ordained Elvis-es). It can even be a reverend, pastor, or other religious figure who is able to perform wedding ceremonies outside the church. Our list of criteria was not very long. We wanted someone who was familiar with the Mexican and Filipino traditions of the lasso/cord and arras coins, someone who would be both religious and secular, and who was friendly without being too much of a joker (you may have been to a ceremony where the officiant kept pulling one-liner after one-liner. Not really our thing).
Unfortunately, Internet searches did not pull up too many options that specifically listed the lasso and arras traditions. One bilingual reverend I found never responded to my email, and the only other officiant familiar with the lasso didn't really fit what we had in mind for a traditional ceremony. I asked my wedding coordinator for ideas, and she led us to Pastor Pete Starzyk of Elegant Vegas Weddings. I had heard his alliterative name before, and wondered how much "Pastor Pete" liked to joke--but his website was as elegant as its name (and easy to navigate compared to other officiant sites I'd explored). It also showed that the pastor definitely had the experience in weddings. I still wasn't entirely certain if he would be right for us--the website did show an Elvis picture pretty prominently on the homepage--but I liked the continued repetition of the phrase, "Your wedding, your way." It sounded like his company really customized to the bride and groom's preferences. I decided to send an inquiry through the site's contact form.
I was pleased to receive both a phone call and an email almost immediately afterward acknowledging that they received our message, and that Pastor Pete himself had done the cord/arras/veil traditions many times before. His voice on the phone message sounded like the kind of tone I was looking for in an officiant, and he sent us a questionnaire to learn more about my fiance and I as a couple. He was definitely organized.
The next step was to call back and set up an appointment in person. When I called his number, Pastor Pete's wife answered the phone and said he was unfortunately at a wedding, but would be back by 9pm. Could I call back then? I was surprised he was willing to take a call so late, but she stressed that yes, 9pm was fine. I called at about 9:02 and Pastor Pete was ready to get in front of his computer, check his schedule, and set up a date to meet at the Starbucks near his house--in Henderson, which was perfect for us!
That evening we arrived to Starbucks a bit early to ensure we made it on time and saw a man that looked a lot like the image of Pastor Pete in the photo on his site. The only concern: he was taking what looked like a garbage bag out from the hands of a Starbucks employee and leaving the building with it. Could this still be Pastor Pete, or was I mixing him up with a nicely-dressed Starbucks janitor?
The man returned and began setting up chairs into a little meeting space inside Starbucks, so I thought I'd take a chance. As I approached he said, "Oh, I'm saving these seats."
"Are you by chance Pastor Pete?" I asked.
And he broke into a smile, realizing that my fiance and I were the people he was saving the seats for.
The garbage bag was actually a bag of used coffee grounds the Starbucks employees donated for compost in his garden! How eco-friendly! I liked him already.
We sat down together to discuss the logistics of a wedding ceremony, and he regaled us with both funny stories and horror stories of other weddings he had done in the past. Lessons learned that day: Pastor Pete will wear a referee jersey if you have a laid back sports-themed wedding. He will also warn you if you are running an hour late that you may not have time for a very long ceremony. Pro tip: make sure your mom knows where to find the ceremony so she doesn't arrive halfway through it. Another pro tip: try not to sweat the small stuff. At the end of the day there are only five things you need to get married: the two members of the couple, the officiant, a witness, and the marriage license. If we can get at least that much, we'll be fine and married by the end of the day!
Pastor Pete walked us through where we would stand, when we would turn to the audience, when we would kiss, and who would be responsible for which tasks. He stressed again that each step was up to us if we wanted things a certain way. We asked whatever questions we could think of, but mostly we just listened in silent agreement that he sounded good to us!
Pastor Pete has already reserved our date in case we decide to choose him for our wedding. The final step is to call him up and officially say yes to the officiant!
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| I have to admit, I am impressed by Pastor Pete's mustache. Photo from elegantvegasweddings.com |
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