Ashley and Steve
We feel so lucky and grateful to have had Rev. Jude Smith officiate our wedding. We wanted a wedding ceremony that was non-denominational yet still had weight and warmth to it. Rev. Jude helped us build a moving, transcendental and truly magical wedding ceremony. Rev. Jude helped us navigate the seemingly intimidating landscape of building our wedding ceremony. She provided a clear, calming road map for us - giving us solid logistical help on wrangling our large bridal party and families as well as endless resources of poems and vows to handcraft a wedding ceremony perfect for us. Our families were all so moved by the ceremony - many commented that it was so personal and warm we must have known Rev. Jude for years. But in fact we had worked with Rev. Jude remotely for just a couple weeks leading up to the wedding. This is testament to the warmth and sensitivity she brings to her work and her amazing aptitude to get to the heart of relationship, fully celebrating and honoring that relationship with a uniquely crafted wedding ceremony. She created a magical and loving foundation to build our marriage on and we could not be happier!
Mark and Fred
Jude was one of the first officiants that I came across. There was something about her picture & bio that completely resonated with me. From the first moment Jude stepped into our lives, she's been nothing short of amazing. Jude is extremely personable, captivating, knowledgeable & at the top of her profession. As a gay couple, our ceremony was a total co-creative process with Jude and she knew exactly how to bring out the personal elements that were most important to us, our families, and friends. On the actual day of our wedding, I whispered to her, "Ok, this is your area of expertise and we're handing over the reins to you.....let's do this!" We walked out into the ceremony and the rest was truly otherworldly. I've never witnessed anyone bring a group together and create the remarkable synergy of love, union, and commitment like Jude did. It was palpable. It was as if she was a well-seasoned conductor in front of a symphony and the final product was truly beautiful music that moved everyone to the core. Afterwards, we had so many guests tell us that they had never been to a more unique, authentic, and touching ceremony. Not only was it far beyond our greatest expectations, but we also found a remarkable and lifelong friend in the process.
Vicky & Charlie
Jude is an incredible and rare gem. My wife and I are both nonreligious, but sought out someone who still understood that a deep love and spirituality brought my wife and me together. Jude worked with us over Zoom, as we live out of state, and at first we were skeptical of being able to feel a connection this way. But Jude's warmth and compassion shone through even remotely, and we knew we were on the right path. Jude helped us find our center amongst all the chaos and anxiety of planning a wedding, and this was tremendously important. It gave us the space we needed to focus on why we were doing this in the first place, and to find a calm with ourselves that brought us even closer together. Jude's ceremony was perfect, and perfectly tailored to us. It was an incredible day, and I cannot recommend Jude highly enough.
Brittany & Mark
My husband and I had a difficult time finding the right officiant to lead our wedding ceremony until we met Jude. Immediately, we were speaking the same language. She understood our expectations and what we wanted for our ceremony, and what we wanted this journey to achieve. Jude made us extremely comfortable with our decision to build a labyrinth ceremony and continued on surprising us with adding and suggesting things that superbly enhanced the power of our vision. We shared our ideas with Jude and she continued to encourage us to use our imagination to make this day as beautiful, special and as prepared as possible- physically, mentally and emotionally.
Jude has an amazing way of setting the tone and bringing everyone onto the same plane. With Jude's skill and the power of the labyrinth and family, I was brought to tears several times, and I am NOT typically a crier!! Mark and I both recognize there is no one else on God's green earth that could have ever performed such a meaningful ceremony, except for Jude, and we are so incredibly grateful to have had her lead us into our marriage. All of her guiding words and wisdom prepared us for marriage, not just our wedding day and we will always be grateful! We look forward to spending time with Jude in the future, she is not the type of officiant you see on your wedding day, never to speak to again, but one you can seek guidance from, for years to come. Thank you Jude for all you do!