I have been in the business of weddings for almost 30 years. Most of my career in the wedding industry has been as a Master Wedding Planner. I have had the honor and pleasure of working with hundreds of couples and getting them happily down the aisle. I believe my work as a wedding planner was my ministry and prepared me to become a wedding officiant.

I have such a love for weddings and the art of ceremony and rituals. As I was planning to retire from wedding planning, the love I have for the industry and the clients I have served for so long, would not allow me to leave. Every time I tried to leave, something or someone would pull me back. If I stayed in the industry, I wanted to focus on what bought me the most joy. This was not an easy task because I loved so much about weddings.

After months of thought and prayer, I realized that it was the planning of the ceremony that bought me the most joy. It is really the ceremony where the couple’s love story is shared. It is the ceremony where their personalities and values are intertwined and expressed. It is the ceremony where each song, reading, or scripture has meaning to the couple. The ceremony is where the magic of the day begins. This is when I decided to become an officiant and I became ordained to be of service to couples on their wedding day. Wedding officiating is my new ministry.

Through officiating, I can still share all of my wedding planning experience and wisdom and share my love of rituals, ceremonies, and weddings.

I am an ordained wedding officiant who performs ceremonies in the District of Columbia and Maryland. I work with my couples in creating beautiful, memorable and personalized ceremonies that reflect their personalities and love story.

I believe in love, in the sanctity of marriage, and marriage equality for all. Though I love intimate ceremonies, I can officiant weddings of all sizes. I perform non-denominational, interfaith, spiritual, non-religious, religious, traditional and contemporary ceremonies. I believe that every ceremony should reflect the personalities and values of the couple and that every ceremony speaks of the couple’s love and commitment to one another.

o As a certified life and relationship coach, my time is split between officiating weddings and guiding my clients through their personal and relationship challenges. This includes a range of services from general life coaching, couples coaching and pre-marital coaching. And, in my free time, you can usually find me hanging out with my family or somewhere in a garden enjoying the beauty of nature which brings me peace and joy.

About Shelby

Through officiating, I can still share all of my wedding planning experience and wisdom and share my love of rituals, ceremonies, and weddings.