Bonnie was recommended to us by more than one of our vendors, and now it is very clear why. She went above and beyond to make my husband and I feel listened to and cared for throughout the process. Bonnie made the trip to visit us in person and interview us about our relationship. The session not only made us feel so comfortable with Bonnie, but got us smiling, laughing, and reminiscing, and ended up being a very welcomed moment of love and reflection in the otherwise chaotic journey that is wedding planning. In the end, Bonnie crafted a ceremony so personalized to us it was as though she had known us for years. Our friends and family all complimented us on our choice of officiant, and Drew and I couldn't agree more. read more

Dearly Beloved - Officiants Near Me

To me and my now wife Lauren it seems like the universe sent Bonnie to Earth and said "You will officiate weddings in a way that they will be the best weddings - full of joy and happiness, and great fun to remember. Go, help people when they do not know exactly what a wedding takes, introduce them gently to the sacred meaning of the ceremony, guide them thoughtfully through the process to forever crystalise the beautiful thoughts that they have, to sprinkle their every day with the best memory of this most important moment in their lives!" We can attest that Bonnie was the warmest person that we could have had for this task, she provided adorable guidance and best writing and editing services. She never put pressure on us, even when we were wondering if we need to be pushed forward a bit, but she always kept us informed with the current tasks and the process onward. It was a joy to talk to her during the interviews we scheduled - she made it seem important to all of us, and she opened our insight into the essence of our love. She gently compiled all the important bits of our love and life into a beautiful ceremonial script. That is now becoming our private holy reading at our personal celebrations. It was astonishing, the way she supported us in presenting our love at the special day in the most beautiful way, where her presence was deeply felt and has made a lovely impression on all of our family and friends. They, too will never forget Bonnie Pipkin. We are just now editing a book that includes the whole text, the vows, photos, some other details about the event - and we will always see her as our affectionate fairy godmother who said those special words that made us a happy husband & wife. Thank you, Bonnie! read more

Bonnie is one-of-a-kind. Since our wedding (about a month ago at the time of writing this) everyone is still asking us for copies of our vows and Bonnie's ceremony reading. She not only delivered an incredible speech but coached us on writing the best vows we possibly could. Not only that, she enabled those meaningful words to flow out of us and into our vows by giving us the confidence and assurance that we could. What started with a quick drink to meet each other became a long discussion about all the overlapping threads between us. We met Bonnie and soon realized we shared friends, and similar experiences in Brooklyn. We felt like we knew her from another lifetime and instantly felt comfortable and completely at ease. Part of what makes working with Bonnie so special is her process. After our first meeting Bonnie came over to our apartment and got to know us. We told her our whole story (which is a long one) but she genuinely was interested and took notes the whole time. It made us feel really understood and special! Then a couple weeks later she sent us her ceremony speech---it left us in happy tears and completely awe-struck! Bonnie got us 100% and captured everything we wanted to share about ourselves and our love story. We recommend working with Bonnie for your wedding, speech or vows. Honestly, our recommendation couldn't do what she did for us justice! She is just such an incredible talent and a one in a million gem of a person. read more

My now husband Daniel and I ended up having a fairly short engagement (well under 6 months) as we were ready to get the show on the road after having waited so long to find one another. He proposed in July and we set the date for November so, needless to say, there was not a lot of time to plan the wedding at all, which meant I really had to trust my instincts when it came to booking the venue, our vendors and all other logistics. I came across Bonnie after conducting a great deal of online research and was instantly drawn in by the overall aesthetic of her website and the excellent reviews that I read on both her website as well as Yelp. She just seemed like she would get us. So, without hesitation, I contacted Bonnie right away and she got back to me within hours. We set up a coffee date a few weeks later and instantly clicked, as I had a feeling we would. During our conversation, we talked about life in New York and life in general and it felt like I was hanging out with an old friend. Bonnie listened patiently while I described the vision that Daniel and I had for our ceremony (short and sweet!) and Bonnie not only got it, she made our vision come alive beautifully. It truly was perfectly us. After our initial meeting, Bonnie came to our apartment in Brooklyn to get to know us better, learn more about the story of how we met, and discuss in more detail what we wanted for our ceremony. Bonnie asked relevant and thought-provoking questions and took notes as she listened to Daniel and I define and describe our overall vision. We weren't entirely sure about what we wanted prior to discussing it all with Bonnie and she really stepped in and helped us flesh it all out. I can't tell you how much this helped to allay our nervous jitters and put us at ease. A week or two after our meeting, Bonnie sent us the most beautiful ceremony text in which she perfectly captured our story and our love for each other. The ceremony was short and sweet which was exactly what we wanted but it was also incredibly moving. In fact, our friends and family complimented Bonnie all night long and kept coming up to us and asking "how did you find her?!" All I can say is I'm so very glad we did because I can't imagine our wedding any other way. Bonnie was an absolutely pleasure and joy to work with and we recommend her so highly. read more

Finding Bonnie and hiring her to officiate our wedding was the missing piece that tied all of the random ideas we had about what we wanted our wedding to be, together. She calmed us down in our nervous first meeting, assured us that everything would be great, and let us read an example ceremony she had written for another couple - it was perfect and we both instantly decided that we would be honored for her to be our officiant. We only met with her twice (She was up for meeting more though!) and somehow she wrote a ceremony that was so lovely, so personal, so funny, so sweet and so us. It told our story infused with warmth, love and humor, so perfectly. I had so many (really, so many!) people come up to me to say "That was the best wedding ceremony I've ever seen!" and it was really all because of the words Bonnie wrote. read more

When Hillary and I embarked on our wedding-planning journey, we were armed with, aside from each other, little knowledge of what our event should be like - except for a vague notion that we wanted a ceremony that reflected the light-hearted attitude (and desire for a big party!) we both shared. In considering an officiant, we suspected we had a challenge on our hands. Those fears, however, proved to be totally unfounded as soon as we met Bonnie and started to discuss "the story" of who Hillary and I are. Surprisingly, Bonnie was largely uninterested in the fluid ideas about our desired ceremony in the beginning. All she wanted to understand is the story of how we met, fell in love, and grew that love over the years. It wasn't until she felt like she "knew" us did she help guide us in refining our idea of the ceremony - something that was so necessary and so so helpful as we pulled all of the wedding pieces together. From there, Bonnie's true magic was experienced. She delivered to Hillary and I a gorgeous retelling of our story that was crafted to intertwine seamlessly with the details of a wedding ceremony. Her words were beautiful and, on the day of the event, her delivery was impeccable. Her demeanor set just the right tone and was the perfect beginning to what became a perfect night. Bonnie and her company Dearly Beloved are part of what makes planning for a modern wedding possible. We'll remember her and the work she did for us always. read more

Jen and I have a great love and home and a child together already and we'd been planning to get married at city hall for a while. We got the marriage license and then we got to thinking that Bonnie marries people and maybe she could just do it for us, real quick and easy. Also it should be noted that Bonnie is a wonderful old friend with whom I've celebrated many a wedding and birthday over the years. She's the kind of thoughtful host that really goes above and beyond in her enthusiasm and warmth. So I called her and told her a bit about our relationship and Jen sent her an email. From those exchanges, Bonnie wrote a short history of our love. She came over in the rain and our neighbor and best friend came by too. Jen held our son while Bonnie read and I couldn't have explained our story better. We all cried. Then we finished the ceremony and drank a toast and ate some cake. It was perfect. read more

Wow, what more can I say about Bonnie that hasn't already been said. There are not enough great things to say about her. She officiated my ceremony about a month ago and she was Amazing! Every time I speak with someone about our wedding they can't help but mention how much they loved how personal our vows were. A few couples who were already married commented that they wished they had done this instead of going the traditional vow route!!! In regards to practical matters, working with Bonnie will be the most stress free easy part of planning your wedding. Also, the consultation we did w/her actually helped us take a deep breath during the crazy planning bc it gives you a chance to remember and discuss why you love each other. In addition, Bonnie's energy is super calm which you will appreciate on your actual wedding day. She also is super professional and completes your paperwork before you have a chance to worry about it! I highly recommend Bonnie for the talent and time she spent on making our special day even more special! read more

When Rachel and I decided to elope we could have never expected to find such an incredible officiant in such a short amount of time. With only speaking on the phone with us for maybe twenty minutes she wrote an incredibly beautiful ceremony. She wrote the ceremony as if she had been our friend for years. She was attentive to what we wanted and put a ceremony together better than we could have ever imagined. For such a crazy fast wedding Bonnie was definitely the calm through the chaos. read more

I was sister-of-the-groom but took over the job of delivering the Best Man's speech at my brother's wedding. I had a rough idea of the speech, but I was hoping to get help tying the whole thing together and with some of the awkward parts (opener, closer, transitions) that just weren't feeling right to me. I was introduced to Bonnie by a friend whose vows Bonnie had written, and Bonnie was an incredible resource from start to finish. Bonnie was, firstly, incredibly responsive and flexible. I reached out without a lot of lead time, and I was travelling a good bit during our editing period, and she fully accommodated my schedule and time line. She was also flexible and completely understanding when I adjusted the scope of the work (and as a result, her fee reduced) - which was very helpful and a point of distinction in terms of Bonnie's consultative approach - as we all know, there are very often situations where specs change and a project becomes smaller than what the vendor was originally told. And there are many vendors who will still take on the project but do so begrudgingly, and make the client feel like they're getting a favor or less attention than if they were a 'bigger' client. This was absolutely not the case with Bonnie, and I was very happy to work with her, and very pleased with how accommodating she was. Bonnie was consummately professional and ultra-thorough in her approach - we spoke at length about the subjects of the speech, and I felt very much like she captured what I was going for - she not only improved on the sentiments that I could put into words, she also captured all the stuff I just hadn't been able to articulate. She was integral to turning this into a ready-for-prime time speech that I delivered, confidently and with pride, because I knew I had a real pro behind me. I am so glad I worked with Bonnie on what ended up being a remarkable and memorable wedding toast. One of the bride's friends came up to me afterwards to tell me that he's been to a LOT of weddings, and heard a LOT of speeches, and he gave this one an A+. I also had a tough crowd that night filled with word smiths who would have happily picked it apart if they could - but all I got was effusive kudos and congrats, and the bride and groom got a toast to remember. Thanks for making me look good, Bonnie! I'd recommend you without reservation, and I absolutely intend to use your services again. read more

When looking for an officiant we knew more about what we didn't want, than what we did. The idea of "light hearted" and "casual" kept coming to mind. Bonnie took our vague idea of what we didn't want and incorporated it with everything she knew we needed. Bonnie did an amazing job of telling our story; she did it in such a meaningful heartfelt way that you'd think she was a dear friend. I couldn't imagine how to convey the things I love about our life together without it sounding too sappy, too much of the same you hear at every wedding. At our first initial coffee shop meeting Bonnie took the time to get to know us, in a casual friendly way. I walked away from that meeting thinking "she's the one!" We felt for the first time that someone understood what we wanted. At our second meeting Bonnie came to our home and asked questions about our love, our relationship our family. She truly took the time to get to know us. There was no pressure of what a ceremony "should be", everything was about what we envisioned for our day. Soon after we received the first draft with the comments: "It is hot off the presses, so I definitely expect to make changes, but I hope I captured the vibe of what you were imagining." I cried the happiest of tears while reading our ceremony, it was perfect. In our short time together Bonnie did the most excellent job of seeing who we really are, seeing the things that make our life together special. All of our guests commented on our amazing ceremony. They we're excited to hear about our love, to hear what brought us to this day. It was the ceremony we didn't know we wanted, it was truly the most special part of our wedding day. read more

Chris and I were married at the Wythe Hotel in August. Bonnie was wonderful to work with: she's very responsive, professional, and just fun to be around. We received tons of compliments, and many of our guests assumed we were childhood friends given how well her ceremony captured our relationship. read more

Sometimes when your sharing an intimate moment like a vow renewal, it can be hard to find an officiant that makes you feel comfortable saying such personal things in a public setting.  I can honestly say having Bonnie officiate our wedding vow renewal was as easy and comfortable as it comes.  Bonnie is a true professional, from her sweet demeanor and quick response to our questions she was an absolute pleasure to work with.  Our ceremony was truly unique and perfectly captured what we were feeling that day. I would hire Bonnie over and over again,  she was the perfect choice to making our day magical. read more

This testimonial will probably not do Dearly Beloved (aka Bonnie Pipkin) justice, but I will do my best. My husband and I are not exactly a conventional couple, and neither is our love story. As such, we did not expect our wedding ceremony to fit the traditional wedding mold, and oh man, it did not disappoint! A sudden torrential downpour, 100 anxious guests, and technological complications do not make for an easy event. And throughout the whole dramatic affair, Bonnie was the personification of Grace Under Pressure. Were we surprised? Of course not. But we continue to be blown away by her. Because of the rain, Bonnie had to make some very quick edits and cut the ceremony short. She did so seamlessly with no one being the wiser. And luckily, our guests were able to hear the rest of her beautiful words at the reception. Bonnie wove our love story into a poignant, funny, and heartfelt narrative which could not have been more authentically "us." I think people underestimate what it takes to be a truly great officiant. It takes so much more than words written on paper. It takes a steady hand, a calming presence, a flair for showmanship, and a deep appreciation for love. Spend two seconds with Bonnie and you will see that she embodies all of these qualities, and then some. She is one of a kind and will bring that same uniqueness to every ceremony she touches. We are so lucky and grateful to have found Bonnie, and we can't wait to see her flourish as an officiant. read more

I have been lucky to have as Bonnie a friend for many years. She has a knack for bringing people together and acknowledging both the big and little things in life with splendid celebration and ceremony. When we got engaged it was a no brainer for me that Bonnie should be our officiant. My trust in her was so great that I actually spent very little time in our initial wedding planning thinking about vows and the ceremony itself. Fortunately Bonnie was able to bring us into focus. Her questionnaire and the subsequent meeting brought me out of wedding planning mania to focus on why we were doing this, what we love about each other, and how to acknowledge all the different family and friends we wanted to celebrate with. She wrote our ceremony start to finish including the vows. When she sent us the first (and final) draft I literally cried emotional happy tears on the subway. Her words managed to express our story in such a personal,funny,and tender way that we struggled to do ourselves. She was a perfect professional on the day of helping keep things on track and delivering the ceremony with a strong, smooth, and warmhearted tone. We are so grateful this exceptional woman was a part of our wedding day. She's the best! read more

I had been nervous about writing my maid of honor speech for a full year before I decided it was time to buckle down and get serious. I had a few ideas of what I might do but they the overall pressure had me overwhelmed. I sat down with Bonnie for a consultation and I can't express how grateful I am to her. She took her time asking me just the right questions so she could really understand my relationship to the couple and what made their love story so unique. We kicked around ideas, shuffled them around a few times and before I knew it, I had a speech that was funny, emotional, romantic and not cheesy or cliche in the slightest. She had helped me discover the story I didn't even know I had wanted to tell. The daunting pressure I had felt for so long immediately turned to excitement. At the reception, I confidently delivered the toast and everyone told me that my speech was by far the best of the night! If you're at all nervous about an upcoming speech, ceremony, or vows, you must work with Bonnie. This lady really has a way with words! read more