We were blessed to have Pastor Chris perform our wedding ceremony. It was personal, and warm...our guests were moved by the beautiful words he shared. He guided us through the process and took time to get to know us. Thank you for helping make our wedding more memorable! We appreciate you! Gil & Donna Calvillo read more

Personal Weddings - Wedding Ceremony - Wedding Planning Near Me - Tracy, California

So lucky to find Chris! Our small wedding of closest family and friends (as well as ourselves) really enjoyed the intimacy, warmth and personalization of our ceremony. Chris used the details we provided to share our love story in his service. It was so perfect that even though I thought I would not get teary-eyed, I did. Even as I write this review I feel the emotion of those moments still. read more

We would put 10 stars if we could! Chris did a phenomenal job officiating our wedding. The rehearsal went great due to Chris's familiarity in situations like these. His welcoming and social personality made so many of our friends and family feel comfortable. Prior to our wedding day, he gave us so much great information about the ceremony and our marriage license, and answered any questions that we had. Our ceremony was held at the Rivermill. He was very familiar with the staff and the location, and ensured that everything went smooth throughout the whole ceremony. Thank you Chris!! - Byanka & Jerry read more

Personal Weddings is a preferred vendor for our venue and it's clear why!!! Chris, you brought awesome vibes to our special day!!! Our guests & wedding party loved how fun, personable, and easygoing you were. We appreciated how responsive you were via text. We loved that you made our ceremony unique, in addition to the insight you provided on certain aspects of the ceremony during the rehearsal. You gave us encouragement to write our own vows & supported us when we were stressed out due to cramming them in at the last second! (Side note, the vows turned out decent, given our procrastination lol). My husband shared a fond memory with me of you telling him, as he was scribbling in his vow book, that it was our day & the ceremony would start when he was ready. Thank you also for having a (clean) tissue on hand when I got emotional during our vows!!! We would do it all over again in a heartbeat. And if we ever do a vow renewal in the future, we will be giving you a call!!!! :) thank you so much for everything!!! read more

Chris was such an amazing person to work with as an officiant.  From the beginning, we were drawn to Chris because he made us feel like he genuinely cared about us and our story rather than having the relationship feel transactional, as we sometimes felt with some other officiants.  Having 20+ years of experience as a wedding officiant, Chris was extremely knowledgeable in the ins and outs of wedding ceremonies that will not only put you at ease, but also give you great tips leading up to and on the big day.  Another great thing about Chris we found is that he makes it all about the bride & groom - he never once pushed his agenda on us, and was so agreeable in whatever we had envisioned for our ceremony (and was actually quite encouraging as well!).  All in all, we thank Chris for marrying us and for being part of our special day! read more

Our Wedding was 10.18.19 Chris provided our Officiant services for our wedding and we could not have been happier! We had originally selected a family member to proceed over our Ceremony, but he could not at the last moment. My, then Fiance and I scrambled to see who could Officiate our big day and in came Chris. After countless interviews and video chats with other Officiants, we had found our Diamond in the rough! Chris's demeanor was very calming and relaxing and we knew he was the right fit for our Ceremony. (He is also a Children's Pastor so this helped us in the selection). He got to know us and was able to create the perfect dialogue for our event. He guided us through the Ceremony and incorporated elements that were very important to us. In the end, we laughed, cried and created a memorable Ceremony that we and our families were extremely happy with. We highly recommend Chris's services for your event and would definitely pass his contact to anyone looking for Officiant services. Here is our same day edit video (that has some of Chris's work): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRN-a8xdj44 read more

Chris was absolutely fantastic as our wedding officiant. We met with him at a local coffee shop initially to meet him, introduce ourselves and share our story. He was friendly from the get-go, and we knew he was the perfect fit to officiate our wedding. Chris led the rehearsal smoothly, despite there being weather mishaps for where we'd practice. We were a loud bunch, and he was able to easily rally us in order to make sure we all knew what we were doing for the ceremony day. The rehearsal was easy, thorough, well thought out. Our ceremony was truly special. Chris brought in some personal touches to the ceremony, making it unique and special. I would highly recommend Chris! read more

Chris performed our wedding and did an outstanding job! We met with him prior to our wedding which was a great way for him to really get to know us (though my husband and I had both worked with Chris for many years prior at the event venue where we met). Chris wants you to share your anecdotes and quirks of your relationship so that he can use those stories in your wedding ceremony. He really wants to understand the ins and outs of your relationship. He's not just a one time officiant - he truly wants to see your relationship succeed and grow and makes the commitment to help you through your marriage should you need his advice and counseling in the future. He provides you paperwork with pre-marital questions that you and your fiancé can go over in private. We definitely took advantage of that document, and it was a nice, subtle substitute to true pre-marital counseling. Whether you want a faith-based ceremony, or not, Chris is able to adapt to your needs and wants as a couple. We chose to include various prayers and special people as readers in our ceremony and Chris did a great job at writing the ceremony so that it flowed nicely and included all aspects that we wanted. Chris is well spoken, friendly, clear in his communication and adds an element of lightheartedness while still emphasizing the seriousness of the commitments that are being made on your big day. I would hands down recommend Chris for your wedding ceremony! He's awesome! read more

Personal Weddings - 10.11.14 wedding at Wente Vineyards - Wedding Planning Near Me - Tracy, California

Chris was the perfect choice for officiating our elopement last fall in Yosemite. He took the time to get to know us and our story (via Skype) and travelled to the park to meet us on the big day. He was very friendly and down to earth. He made our ceremony feel so special, he even included a poem by John Muir to signify the beauty of our chosen location. The whole experience felt so personable and spot-on for our intimate ceremony. read more

Chris was a wonderful officiant at our wedding last month! When we met it had felt like he had known us forever and our guests felt that as well. Our ceremony was absolutely beautiful and SO MANY people were crying! We had many of our guests tell us they had never cried at a wedding, but were so moved during our ceremony and loved how personalized and different ours was. There was a fair share of laughter and tears, and Chris truly listens to you and tailors your ceremony based on what you would like. I could not recommend him enough. Thanks Chris! read more

If you don't have Chris officiating your wedding you are making a huge mistake. He was absolutely INCREDIBLE!! The most compliments from our wedding are about Chris! I'm not even kidding, everyone loved him. He made our wedding humorous, loving, and really personal. We laughed and cried with him, and so did all our wedding guests. He is so down to Earth. From the first meeting we had with him, we knew he was the one. We walked out feeling like we just made a new friend. He answered all questions we had and gave us great advice. I never felt like I was bugging him when I reached out to him with all my questions. When we were standing up their together getting married, he made us feel so comfortable. I recommend him to everyone! Please use him for your officiant, it will be the best decision you made! Thank you so much Chris! You made our wedding so special! read more

Chris was a recommended vendor from Casa Real. I contacted other officiants but I was taken by his bubbly personality via telephone and knew he was a potential candidate for the job! We met him in person before picking him. He was really nice and felt right about going forward with him. He did a fabulous job with the ceremony. We received compliments left and right about how great he was. He is very comfortable in his shoes. He gave us a little bit of homework but it wasn't bad. Its totally optional! I am very glad that we did it because he used our comments in the ceremony that made some guests "aw" and "ooohhh". My Dad didn't walk me down the aisle and Chris didn't pry on why he didn't. He did everything that we asked and exceeded our expectations. read more

Chris was a preferred vendor for our venue, Casa Real, and I'm so happy we chose him to officiate our wedding! Chris was very quick and responsive from the beginning, and even held a skype interview with us when we couldn't meet him in person! Chris has a great personality, and we knew instantly that he would be perfect for us! Chris attended our rehearsal, and he was amazing and funny at directing us and giving us tidbits to make our wedding day smoother. Chris is a professional and he definitely knows what he is doing. After our wedding, we received so many compliments about Chris! They all said how unique and entertaining he was. Before our wedding, Chris asks the couple to fill out an information sheet about us, and he uses that as a resource during the ceremony. One small detail that I loved was that Chris made sure to step out of the background during our first kiss! I highly recommend Chris! Thank you! read more

We booked Chris as our officiant for our wedding. He made the process so easy and fun! After our ceremony I had several guests come up to me asking how long we had known Chris because the ceremony was so personal. He is well spoken and truly knows how to make the day special! read more

What can I not say about Mr. Thielen? He is a great officiant that made me & my wife's wedding day fun & enjoyable. He doesn't talk in a way where you tune out & want to skip to the reception. He makes it to where it's intimate stories (the fun laughable ones), are being shared & see both sides point of views on how each other met, & which story will they believe more. He's not just an officiant but he's also a pastor. It worked out for both my wife & I because we share a different but similar view on religion. It may be practice different but still believe in the same Lord above. & he is able to give advice/counseling if we seek it from him & he's always lending out a hand if you need help/guidance with the Lord. He's a great guy overall & we couldn't have had a better person to wed us together in the name of the Lord! read more

Personal Weddings - Wedding Planning Near Me - Tracy, California

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After meeting with Chris once we knew that he was the perfect person to officiate our wedding. He is so friendly and personable and exudes happiness - just what we wanted to set the tone for our wedding day. Working with Chris was so easy. His rates are very reasonable, he's very accomodating, showed up early the day-of, and was so great throughout the whole rehearsal and ceremony. During the ceremony, Chris focused not only on keeping the ceremony moving along but also on keeping us calm and prepared for what was coming up next. After the ceremony, during our cocktail hour, several guests told our parents about how much they liked Chris. They loved how engaging and articulate he was. Don't hesitate to hire him - he's great! read more

Personal Weddings - Wedding Planning Near Me - Tracy, California

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My husband and I were referred to Chris by my cousin, who is a friend of his. When we were looking for a pastor to marry us, we knew we wanted someone who fit our personalities. My cousin said we'd love Chris and she was right! From our first phone call, I knew that Chris was a perfect match for us and the pastor we wanted to share in our special day with us. First and foremost, Chris was attentive to our desires, with regard as to what we wanted our ceremony to be like. He was caring and thoughtful and made a point to make the ceremony specific to us; funny and relaxed, yet touching. It's was absolutely perfect and my husband and I couldn't have been happier with how things turned out. We received so many compliments from our guests on the ceremony Chris performed and how comfortable he made everyone feel, now personal the ceremony was and how it's was a complete reflection of us! Thank you Chris for making our day so memorable! Lisa and James read more

Chris officiated our wedding in 2010. We interviewed a couple other people, but once we met with Chris, my husband and I agreed that it would be difficult for anyone else to beat him out (which they didn't). It was probably one of the easiest decisions we had to make in planning the ceremony since we both clicked with Chris from the beginning. My husband wanted an officiant with a religious background (Chris is a children's pastor), but I'm not religious so preferred a more low key incorporation of religion. Chris did a great job of making both of us feel we achieved the ceremony we wanted, and he let us take the lead on designing our ceremony, with no pressure on any specifics (though he was always available with advice). We really appreciated his warmth and sense of humor. He provided us with a ceremony that felt personal and allowed us to laugh out loud (with photos to prove it), but also retained a sense of respect for what we were entering into, so we didn't feel like he was taking our vows lightly. We also appreciated the time he took to meet with us before to go over our expectations for the ceremony and review our couples questions. read more

Chris was the officiant for our wedding and it couldn't have gone better! From our first meeting with him, through rehearsal, and all the way through the ceremony he was super personable and professional. He walked us through everything and we never felt overwhelmed. It was so great just to be able to live in this special moment and not have to worry, knowing he had everything under control. He made our special day all the better. I would highly recommend Chris for anyone in need of an officiant! read more

We were referred to Chris by a friend who had worked with him and also from our photographer who said "He's the best I've ever seen!" She was SO right! Chris was beyond amazing and our friends and family still talk about what a beautiful job he did for our ceremony. It was incredibly special and personalized! Our vows were the most special part of the day and Chris truly captured who we are as a couple and gave us wonderful guidance for the future. He put everything and more we could have ever hoped for into our ceremony. Truly AMAZING, truly WONDERFUL!! Thanks again Chris!! Our videographer is caught on tape after our ceremony saying how he wants Chris to marry him when his day comes. A lifetime of thank yous Chris! -Casey and Terry read more

As you all may know... the officiant is a big contributor to the ceremony. They have the ability to make it or break it. We initially hired Chris after reviewing one of his ceremonies on youtube. Not only is he professional, he made the process very easy and ensured us that he would take care of everything. Not only is Chris officiating your wedding, but we felt that he was looking out in our best interest. He prepares you by providing you with a set of questions, which allows him to cater your ceremony with a personal touch. Chris' rates are very reasonable and he is accommodating. Not only did he show up to our rehearsal, he made sure to arrive in proper attire approximately 1hr early on the day of. Chris made sure that the ceremony flowed smoothly and was sure to keep the audience engaged. If you are looking for a quality officiant, look no further! Brian + Mari November 19, 2011 read more

I first saw Chris in action at a friend's wedding. I thought Chris did an awesome job with the ceremony (not too long, boring or drawn out like a lot of other weddings I had been to). So of course when we got engaged, Chris was at the top of our list. Chris was completely accommodating and helped us keep the ceremony as intimate and stress free as possible. I was a nervous wreck about the entire day, but knowing that the ceremony was in his hands made me feel less anxious. Chris told the story of how we met and fell in love, and completely customized the ceremony to fit our personalities. We had only met Chris twice before the day of our actual wedding (the initial meeting and the rehearsal) but our guests were completely impressed by how well he knew us. He really cared about making the day special for us. We couldn't have asked for better! read more

My husband and I were married in May 2011 in an outdoor ceremony on a vineyard and Chris was wonderful! He was professional, kind and charismatic. He put both my husband and I at ease, listened to our wishes and incorporated all aspects of our demands into a ceremony that was perfectly taylored to our tastes. Throughout our wedding day guests commented constantly on what a beautiful and personal ceremony he had performed for us. Thanks Chris! read more

Initially, we found Chris on Yelp and he had good reviews, and his price was in our budget, so we figured we will give it a shot. He was the first officiant we met with, and we ended up choosing him to do our ceremony. At our first meeting, we felt really comfortable with him which was important to us. We wanted to feel some personal connection with the person who would be marrying us, and Chris gives off the vibe of an old friend that you've known forever, even after meeting him for 5 minutes. We were a little nervous just because there was a lot of unknown, this being our first wedding. Chris was able to answer all of our questions and we left the first meeting feeling confident that we had picked the right guy for the job. He had us fill out some personal questions which helped him get to know us better. He shared this information during the ceremony and got everyone laughing when he shared a funny story about us. It was a very nice personal touch. Chris was a good leader as he has a lot of experience with weddings. We needed that because we had no clue what we were doing. He told us where to stand, what to say, and everything else we needed to know. We left the rehearsal feeling confident that everything would go smooth without any hiccups during the big event. The wedding ceremony went flawlessly. A year of planning for this one day flew by so quickly. Before we went up there, Chris reminded me (the groom) to remember these special moments as they would fly by, and he was absolutely right. We are very happy to have had Chris be our officiant and share our special day with us. It was a time we will never forget. We are thankful we found Chris and highly recommend him to anyone looking to hire a wedding officiant. read more

Chris is the best. From the moment I first spoke with him on the phone, I knew that he was special. He was kind and he spoke with me as if we were old friends and not a potential client. We had a destination wedding and he made everything extremely easy for us. He walked us through our ceremony and customized it so it was very personable. Our guests really enjoyed our ceremony because we had a lot of fun and Chris did a fantastic job. Although we only had a couple phone calls prior to meeting, I felt we had an instant connection and I trusted him. He performed a beautiful ceremony and we thank him with all our hearts. read more

If your looking for a wedding officiant, I don't think you could find someone that will do a better job! Chris made our ceremony so personal and memorable for us. His message on marriage was beautiful and everything was exactly what we had envisioned. When we first met him we knew he was going to do an awesome job. He puts off such positive vibes and is very caring. He really set a wonderful tone for our ceremony, and made it to where we could just relax and really be in the moment. We would highly recommend Chris to anyone and are so grateful that we found him to officiate our wedding! read more

We had an amazing time at our wedding - the day ran so smooth and Chris Thielen got us off to the best start with a beautiful ceremony. Chris is the nicest guy with a great sense of humor. He had been recommended to us by a few of our other vendors so I was really excited to meet up with him and get to know him months before our wedding. My husband and I hit it off with him from the get-go. We looked at each other and knew there was no one else we wanted to do our wedding and we put our deposit down with Chris right there and then. We went over everything with him and we also had a call a week before the wedding to make sure any questions we had were answered. Chris came to our rehearsal to do a run through and to meet the wedding party. He put our minds at ease so on the day we could just relax and enjoy the moment. During the ceremony he'd quietly let us know what we would be doing next so we weren't like a deer in headlights. He made the ceremony completely personal to us and there were so many people afterwards that came to us and complimented us on the ceremony. Thank you Chris for a wonderful job - we appreciate you taking the time to get to know us and really reflect our personalities in our ceremony! read more