Reverend Simmons is a licensed officiant in DC, MD and VA and she will travel to your ceremony site!
Reverend Sunny Simmons was wonderful in officiating our last minute ceremony. My, now husband, and I have a larger more formal event planned out of state but were without an official officiant so we decided to wing it here in DC with a legal ceremony so that a family member could "officiate" our larger gathering.
I was referred to Reverend Simmons from a friend of mine who had recently done the exact same thing with an impromptu legal ceremony to compliment the larger event. Reverend Simmons responded very quickly to my emails and calls, she was very accommodating for our time line and choice of location.
Reverend Simmons is a non-denominational officiant and was very open to having either a religious ceremony or a secular ceremony. We did not have a ring exchange in our ceremony but it could have easily been included. She provided us with ceremony materials to chose from that were much nicer than many of the other materials that I had seen in looking for ceremony vows. We opted to save the vows we have written ourselves for our family gathering so we used Reverend Simmons' and found her words eloquent and fitting.
My husband and I hatched the idea for a DC shotgun wedding about a week prior to the ceremony. We had been working furiously to find a weekend date but between work schedules, finding an officiant and finding a handful of friends that could be our witnesses it was becoming frustrating very quickly. On Monday, June 18th it suddenly occurred to me that we might (just might) be able to pull it off on Tuesday, June 19th. Reverend Simmons and I had exchanged an email or two but had not set anything. I shot her an email Monday afternoon asking about her availability the next day. She responded within the hour with an affirmation of her availability and there it was, we were set! We exchanged several more emails to arrange a time and place, to which Reverend Simmons was graciously accommodating and punctual.
We chose an outdoor park location near one of DC's many wonderful monuments, but Reverend Simmons also does larger more formal ceremonies including church ceremonies. I would recommend Reverend Simmons to any couple (gay or straight) looking for a DC officiant, for a last minute ceremony or a planned-in-advance ceremony she is gracious, kind and open-minded. Her prices were very reasonable and we really appreciated her efficiency.
Reverend Simmons is registered at the DC Municipal Courthouse as an officiant so all you have to do is add her name to your marriage license. However you can apply for your marriage license without an officiant and add the officiant's name at any time later. We had already applied for our license so all I had to do was add Reverend Simmons' name and pick up the license, Reverend Simmons took care of the rest. However she knows the system very well so she can help you with any step in the process if you need it and would be happy to direct you.
http://www.dccourts.gov/internet/public/aud_marriage/main.jsf
Reverend Simmons was really wonderful in helping us with this momentous and slightly stressful occasion. Our ceremony worked out perfectly with every detail going better than I could have even imagined, we definitely have Reverend Simmons to thank in part for our very spectacular day! read more