Christel was very professional, always made sure the ceremony would go according to plan from the time of our practice rehearsal until the very end with our ceremony. She was fun to work with and cared about every aspect of the process. We of course were naturally nervous as anyone would on their wedding day. She helped calm our nerves and was super helpful with all of our questions. We truly believe Christel is a wonderful person to work with and we recommend her for your ceremony. read more

Reverend Christel Stuart - Officiants Near Me - Del Valle, Texas

There is no question on who to use for an officiant here in Austin and the surrounding area. I work in the wedding industry and see a lot of officiants, and when I got engaged, I didn't contact anyone except her. Her personality is magnetic and you feel so comfortable around her instantly. I knew I would be nervous in those moments and her up there with me would make the world of difference. After booking, she sends you about 9 different vow options to choose from and you can customize and pick parts from different ones. It helped me as I had no clue what I wanted her to say. I customized some parts and asked her if she could include my fiance's son in some of it, saying we are becoming a family, not just husband and wife. On the day of the wedding, we both said "I do" and then she asked his son if he would take me as his bonus mom and he said "I do." That was not planned out and melted my heart and I couldn't stop smiling! She is so flexible and accommodating as well. I asked her if Mark could announce us for the first time as husband and wife. She was so good with him and he felt confident coming up there and speaking from the stage where she was at. And this is silly but super important, when she is saying you can kiss the bride, she moves out of the way so she is not in all of your photos! Bonus information on her company- her husband has a photography business and they do specialize in elopement style weddings as well so it is great if you want to get a photographer and officiant in one stop! read more

Reverend Christel Stuart - Officiants Near Me - Del Valle, Texas

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When she sent us samples of writing to look through, we sent her back exactly what we wanted, to the word. We cut out about half of the selection because we are very particular with our words and we wanted a short ceremony. Day of, I end up in a conversation with her and she tells me she added half of it back in! I express my concern, telling her that word choice is extremely important to us, and she dismissed me, saying she didn't add in anything bad. So at this point, I'm bummed out that she added back in a bunch of fluff that's going to make our ceremony drag on longer than necessary, but I decide to just let it go...until the ceremony itself. We are both atheists, and our families are Catholic, and we went through A LOT of effort to make a tasteful, secular day that everyone could enjoy. Right away when she opens her mouth she uses the phrase "standing here in front of all Creation", and my heart sank. Standing in front of everyone I knew, starting my ceremony with that charged word, I was distracted from then on and the memory still plagues me months later. Less importantly, she also read the whole ceremony off as if she were a kid reading a section of a textbook in class. Not a huge deal on its own, but everything together left me with uncomfortable memories of one of the most important days of my life. Had I known, I'd have asked a friend to get ordained online and use them. Sorry Christel, but I still think about this all the time and I want to protect future couples from this feeling. (Two stars instead of one because she did mail off the paperwork for us just fine.) If you're just trying to get through the day itself and don't really care about what is said in the ceremony or how it sounds, Christel is probably fine for you. If you care about the meaning of words, use someone else. read more

Christel is an absolute GEM! We spoke with a number of officiants and decided on Christel because of her fun, personable nature as well as the variety of customizable ceremonies she offered. We had to change our plans a number of times due to the pandemic and Christel always went with the flow -- we ended up having a minimony on our original date in June 2020 with immediate family present, and we were able to do that because Christel was down to still marry us despite everything going on in the world. We are forever grateful for that. She then went the extra mile and showed up for us by also leading a vow renewal a little over a year later for our originally-planned wedding celebration that we finally got to have with the rest of our family and friends. Both ceremonies were a beautiful balance of fun, serious, authentic and unique -- even drew some laughs and cheers from attendees during them! When you work with Christel, you feel like you're hanging out with an old friend. We are thankful for her time and talents in making both of these days so special for us! read more

Reverend Christel Stuart officiated my wedding on 10-31-16. She did everything it took to make sure the day ran smoothly. I also hired her husband to take the photos, and they even gave me a discount! Glad you were there with me. Thanks Christel and Austin. =) read more