LGBTQ+ and Secular Wedding Officiant in Seattle

I’ve been planning and attending weddings for over a decade. I have watched and listened to many, many wedding ceremonies and, over the years, I have learned what makes a good one. The answer? An officiant who takes the time to get to know you and creates a ceremony that showcases your personalities and celebrates your relationship – exactly as you are.

I have also heard my clients asking over and over: “Where can we find a secular wedding officiant who gets us?” because the truth is that it can be really difficult to find someone who does. At Aisle Less Traveled, I have always worked to be a brand and a person who embraces and serves folks who are often overlooked by the wedding industry: those of us who are not straight, white, skinny, wealthy, and Christian and who don’t see ourselves in much of the wedding media.

So in 2020, I introduced wedding ceremonies for my people – you independent, feminist, LGBTQ+ and allied folks who are looking for a progressive, secular wedding officiant to create a meaningful and joyful wedding ceremony that works for you!

Packages & Pricing

As always, we are all about giving you the details you need before you spend time inquiring, but there are really only two choices here: a very personal, custom ceremony (my favorite!) or very simply making it legal, either with a small elopement or micro wedding ceremony or literally just the paperwork. 

two grooms kiss at Thornewood Castle wedding ceremony

Custom Ceremony​

For weddings of any size (including elopements) in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest

These are my jam! Creating a ritual that is super personal to you and your relationship is so meaningful, not just for me (I might cry a little TBH!), but for you and the loved ones you include in your wedding day.

A completely custom ceremony incorporates your love story along with any readings, community pledges/group participation, and any other rituals (such as a handfasting, ring warming, or unity cocktail) that you would like to include. Every word is chosen just for you, using what I’ve learned about you through our conversations and your responses to detailed questionnaires. Once it’s written, you’ll have the opportunity to review the ceremony script, request changes, and approve the final text – so you’ll know you’re going to love it!

The Custom Wedding Ceremony Officiant package includes:

•  Writing a secular, feminist, LGBTQ+ inclusive ceremony for your wedding
•  One pre-wedding consultation to review the details, including processional/recessional order, music, and any readings or rituals included
•  Attending and facilitating your ceremony rehearsal
•  Officiating your wedding ceremony (which will last about 15-20 minutes)
•  Completing your marriage license paperwork and filing it with the county

$1250

Custom ceremonies are available on every day of the week in Seattle or any location where we can legally work, subject to our current COVID-related travel restrictions. Weddings outside the Seattle metro area are subject to additional travel and out-of-office fees.

Short & Sweet​

for Seattle Elopements & Micro Weddings

This package is for elopers and very small weddings! Though it’s not fully customized, you will have the opportunity to choose specific wordings for some key moments of the ceremony: the declaration of intent (aka the “I do” part), ring exchange, and, of course, your vows. You can write them yourselves, choose from my collection, or find them somewhere else.

The Short & Sweet Ceremony Officiant package includes:

 •  Tailoring my secular, feminist, LGBTQ+ inclusive ceremony for your wedding
 •  Officiating your wedding ceremony (which will last about 10 minutes)
 •  Completing your marriage license paperwork and filing it with the county

$575

This package is available Mondays-Thursdays in the Seattle metro area only for elopements and micro weddings with up to 25 guests. It does not include review or approval of the final ceremony text. Add rehearsal attendance and facilitation for $175.

bride in black dress and groom in floral suit exchange vows at Rattlesnake Lake elopement

Cindy did an absolutely INCREDIBLE job as our officiant! She was an absolute pleasure to work with, she took the time to get to know us and make the ceremony meaningful and personal, and when it looked like the weather might make it dangerous to actually get to our wedding she went above and beyond in making sure there were other options in place (thankfully a precaution that wound up not being needed!). 

The ceremony itself was just beautiful, and all we heard from guests was what a joyous celebration it was. Can’t recommend her highly enough!

lesbian wedding at Georgetown Ballroom

Caitlin & Kayla

custom ceremony

Just Make It Legal (Marriage License Signing)

For folks who don't want a wedding, but do want to be married!

Fun fact: Washington state only requires that you declare or affirm your desire and intention to marry one another in the presence of an officiant and two witnesses. You do not have to make any vows, exchange rings, or have any other pomp and circumstance if you don’t want to. And since we support y’all getting married in whatever way feels best to you, if that way is answering one question and signing some paperwork, we will gladly facilitate.

Pick a spot for us to meet. Bring your marriage license, photo IDs, and two witnesses and we’ll get you hitched without all the fuss. It will take approximately 10 minutes to complete the paperwork, which I’ll complete and file with the county for you. 

Subject to availability and an extra fee, I can also provide two of my staff members to serve as your witnesses. The cost for this is $150 plus their travel, if applicable. 

$85 in Green Lake; up to ~$200 in the Seattle metro, depending on distance

Green Lake boundaries: 85th St to the north; 50th St to the south; Roosevelt Way NE to the east; Greenwood Ave to the west

Seattle metro area boundaries: Roughly Shoreline/Mountlake Terrace to the north; White Center/Rainier Beach to the south; east to Lake Washington, west to the Sound. If you’re just a little bit farther, go ahead and try me, I’ll probably say yes. The additional cost is $2 per minute of driving time, with a $20 minimum.

Just Make it Legal is available during our regular business hours, Tuesdays-Thursdays from 9:30 am – 5:30 pm and Fridays from 9:30 am – 3:00 pm PT, and may be scheduled up to 30 days in advance.

We absolutely loved our wedding ceremony and Cindy was a big part of that! She was very professional, knowledgable, and reassuring- which was a big thing since we planned the wedding ourselves and felt a little like we were flying without instruments by the time we were ready to start looking for officiants! We had a short and sweet ceremony, but it still felt deeply personal to us and the speech was absolutely spot on for what we had discussed in initial planning. Shun and I highly recommend Cindy for anybody looking for a wedding officiant!

Also, for fellow members of the LGBTQIA+ community, Cindy took our pronouns very seriously and made certain to address us properly. I recommend Aisle Less Traveled specifically for LGBTQIA+ weddings- you’ll be in good hands!

George & Shun

short and sweet ceremony

Check Your Date & Inquire

All weddings are subject to the COVID-19 policies in our FAQ, so please read through them before you inquire.

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FAQ

Custom or Short & Sweet packages can be booked up to six months before your wedding date. If you don’t have a firm date yet, please check back once you’ve confirmed your venue, unless your date is flexible around my schedule. 

Really want me as your officiant but your wedding is more than 6 months away? I keep a waitlist – mention it in your note when you inquire and I’ll add you to it.

Just Make it Legal weddings are booked on a rolling basis for the next thirty days. (Use the link above to select a date and time.)

You’ll get an automated email right after you submit the form to confirm I’ve received your inquiry. Within two business days (Tuesday-Friday), I will reach out to confirm my availability for your wedding date and schedule your free consultation. 

When we meet, we’ll chat about your hopes for your wedding ceremony and what you’re looking for in your an officiant. I’ll go over the package options and pricing, including any applicable travel fees, and then answer any questions that you have. Then, if we both agree we want to do this thing, I’ll send you a proposal and contract.

Due to the number of inquiries I receive, I do not hold dates. I encourage you to sign your contract as soon as you decide you’d like to work with me. You will receive a proposal and contract within 24 hours of your free consultation.

Probably! Rehearsal facilitation is included in the Custom Ceremony package and can be added on to the Short & Sweet package for $175, subject to my availability. Since I sometimes officiate more than one ceremony in a weekend and I also plan weddings, I might not be able to attend if the time conflicts with another wedding on my calendar. 

If you choose to include rehearsal facilitation at the time that you book your package, I will hold the rehearsal date and time that you provide and guarantee my availability for it. If you don’t know the time yet, I will hold the entire day before your wedding or another mutually agreeable date and time while you get it sorted out.

It depends on what I have planned in my personal life, but it’s possible! A $500 surcharge will be added to my fee as compensation for giving up time that I would have otherwise spent with my loved ones. 

Holidays and special family dates subject to this surcharge are: Memorial Day weekend (Friday-Monday), Juneteenth, June 30th, Independence Day weekend (Friday-Monday), Labor Day weekend (Friday-Monday), September 16th & 17th, Thanksgiving weekend (Thursday-Sunday), December 15th, and our winter break from December 20th through January 5th.

As someone who lives in a immunocompromised household, I take COVID very seriously. I am fully vaccinated and will continue to get any and all recommended booster shots. I will also wear a mask while I officiate your ceremony, unless we are outdoors with plenty of airflow.

I ask you to protect me and my family by making sure that your wedding complies with any local government or health department mandates and by being up to date on your own vaccines.

At this time, to reduce potential COVID exposure, I am only accepting weddings within the Pacific Northwest planned for up to 150 guests.

All Aisle Less Traveled contracts include one no-fee postponement if your wedding cannot be held as planned due to COVID.

It depends on where and when your wedding is happening. Due to COVID, I am not currently accepting any weddings that would require me to fly. And, sometimes I have more than one wedding in a weekend. So if you’re getting hitched somewhere that’s less than 5 hours’ drive from Seattle, I’m in, as long as my schedule allows!

In addition to my fee for officiating your ceremony, you will be responsible for reimbursing my travel expenses. Depending on how long the drive is, you may also be charged an out-of-office fee to compensate me for my travel time/time that I would otherwise be spending at work or with my loved ones if I were not en route to or from your wedding.

Photo credits:
Custom Ceremony: John & David by Alesha Brown for 
Rove Coast Photography; Short & Sweet: Short & Sweet: Maeve & Santiago by Loren Shea for F*ck Yeah Weddings, Testimonial: Caitlin & Kayla by Bishop Martin for MRC Multimedia, Just Make it Legal: by Amanda Summerlin, Testimonial: George & Shun by Cindy Savage.

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