I had the honor of officiating a wedding today for a super sweet and fun couple, Sonya and Klaus.  At our first meeting, we clicked right away.  It was important to them to create a very unique and one-of-a-kind ceremony that reflected their relationship.  They paid attention to the details and you could really see this at their celebration.  

Milford Hills is such a unique venue for hosting a wedding.  Check out their gallery of photos.  Additionally, I do weddings all over the state of WI and I adore working with their wedding coordinator, Heidi.  She too has an eye for the details so the wedding goes seamlessly. 

Gail posted this review on Google Business after I officiated a memorial service for her brother, Allen.  

"Pat Werk is an extraordinarily compassionate and detailed woman who listens carefully to her clients to deliver relevant and people-centered services. Recently I contacted Pat to help us with a celebration of life for my brother. Pat offered several options for the service and asked questions about my brother, our family, his friends and the outdoor setting. Her presentation was outstanding and included meaningful prayers and readings, brief speeches by me and several of his friends and inspiring music. Many of those who attended commented how impressed they were with the entire celebration of life. We could not have done this without Pat Werk." 

Thank you so much for your extremely kind review.  It was an honor to help you celebrate Allen's life in such a meaningful and touching way that resonated with everyone present that loved Allen and mourned his death.
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I would like to send Aaron and Katie my very best wishes as they begin their life together as husband and wife. On June 26, 2021, they were married at Vintage Fields at Farmin' Betty's Event Venue surrounded by their loved ones. Thank you for including me in your special day as your officiant!

Thank you, Katie, for writing this really nice review for Sarah on The Knot:
"We were looking for the perfect officiant for our wedding, and Koru provided us a wonderful match. After filling out a brief survey, we were matched with Sarah H. as our officiant. She was so personable, professional, and a perfect officiant to help us answer all our wedding questions/needs for the ceremony. We really enjoyed Sarah, and she helped us put together a beautiful ceremony! Thank you!"

"Where do we even begin? From our very first consultation with Pat, we made an instant connection and knew at the very moment we wanted to work with her for our ceremony. Pat is energetic, thoughtful, and personable. You can really tell how passionate Pat is about what she does! We got great satisfaction knowing that Pat was there for us whenever we had questions throughout the planning process and helped create the perfect ceremony for us based on our preferences. We were very pleased with how responsive and organized she was - even assisting us with orchestrating our wedding rehearsal the night before - something we absolutely knew we needed help with. I can't speak highly enough of Pat! She did a phenomenal job!! I would highly recommend Pat to anyone looking for a wedding officiant."
Kayla and Paul were married on May 29, 2021, at RiverStone Premier Event Center in Fort Atkinson, WI.

Thank you so much Kayla and Paul for your extremely kind comments about your experience working with me. The feeling is mutual. The two of you are the BEST and it was a complete joy working with both of you. I loved officiating your wedding at RiverStone and wish the two of you all the best in the years to come.

To see more photos by The Siegers Photo + Video from this breathtaking wedding click here. 

​I am always attracted to anything to do with the koru symbol.  
The artwork of Raweyn Harris was used to teach first through fifth-grade students to create koru designs using oil pastels. In the lesson plan, their definition of a koru is:
"The koru is the Maori name for an unfurling fern frond known as the ponga plant that grows in New Zealand. It symbolizes new life, growth, strength, and peace and is an integral symbol in Maori art and tattoos."

Here are some of the 2020 couples we married last year. We are incredibly grateful that we were still able to marry 50 couples despite the pandemic and how COVID-19 completely messed up the 2020 wedding season for so many couples.
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(I have listed the professional photographer if known at the time of this post. Please tell us if you know the photographer for a photo. We always want to give photo credit whenever possible.)

Thank you so much Rachel for writing this wonderful review.  It was a delight to work with both of you and I was honored to officiate your ceremony.

"Reverend Pat officiated our wedding ceremony. She was so wonderful to work with and made planning out our wedding ceremony not only easy but also uniquely ours. We received countless options and ideas for ceremony wording, music, vows, and more. Once we had made our selections, she did a great job organizing everything so it flowed well. Additionally, she was very familiar with our venue (The Barn at Harvest Moon Pond), having officiated weddings there before. This really helped things to go smoothly during the rehearsal and day of the ceremony. If you are looking for someone who is warm, personable, and organized to officiate your wedding, my husband and I highly recommend using Koru Ceremony!"
Rachel and Bret were married on October 16, 2020, at Harvest Moon Pond in Poynette, WI.

My favorite moment during the wedding was when Rachel walked down the aisle. I was told right before the wedding began that the radar said it was supposed to rain right when the ceremony started. We decided to go ahead anyway to see if we could fit it in before the rain began. While the wedding party walked down the aisle, it was super windy. But right as the gates opened as Rachel and her parents walked down the aisle, the wind suddenly died, and it was calm for the rest of the ceremony. I leaned over to Bret and said, "Did you see how the wind died?" It was so magical. The rain stayed away for the entire ceremony, but then it started to rain as I left.

Here are a few photos of Harvest Moon Pond. Brian and Stephanie do an amazing job of running this incredible venue. It's true what they say on their website, "Owners who genuinely care, are super-organized and can’t wait to treat you like family." Be sure to check out the horseshoe picture and the close up of Rachel and Bret's horseshoe to commemorate their wedding day.

Katie and Shaun did a phenomenal job of not only creating a gorgeous wedding celebration but they did an amazing job of keeping their guests safe. This wedding was probably the most COVID conscious wedding I have been to all season.
Katie and Shaun were married on 10-10-20 at RiverStone in Fort Atkinson, WI.

Thank you Sommer for your kind words of praise for me on Google Business, and for the opportunity to baptize both of your children.  It was an honor to do this for your beautiful family.
"We had Pat perform baptisms for both of our kids. We are not associated with a church but having our kids baptized was important to us. We loved that the ceremony was personalized and we were able to do it right in our own home! Pat was amazing! Highly recommend her!"

Congratulations Marc and Jackie, who were married on October 3, 2020. I loved working with this super sweet couple and the ceremony we created together because they were creative and wanted their intimate celebration to be unique and meaningful. For example, they asked all 18 of their guests to be in their wedding party. Therefore, all the women wore dresses in the same color and carried bouquets and all the men wore the same color suits and had boutonnieres. During the ceremony, their plan was to release lanterns as a way to remember their loved ones that had passed away. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate and it was too windy to light the lanterns, so it didn't come off quite as they had hoped. But it was still a fabulous idea. What did work was their guests tossing rose petals as the newly married recessed down the aisle at the end of the ceremony.

Many thanks to their amazing Day of Coordinator, Marsha VanArk, and photographer, Kate Frank, for helping the day come off beautifully despite the cooler weather.

Congratulations Melissa and Michael. They got married on Friday, October 2, 2020, at Blackhawk Country Club, Madison, WI. They got a hold of me 4 days before the wedding because their officiant came down with COVID. They were panicked trying to line up a new officiant the week of their wedding. Fortunately, I was free and was able to help them create a beautiful and meaningful ceremony for them on short notice.

One of my favorite parts of the ceremony was that they bought a jade plant and we incorporated a plant ritual into the ceremony that was symbolic of their relationship's roots and the continued growth of their love and the new family they are establishing. A jade plant is also known as a "good luck" or a "money tree" and is believed to bring good fortune, wealth, and prosperity to its owner. The vibrant green leaves symbolize growth and renewal, so it was appropriate that Michael and Melissa purchase a jade as a way to bring good luck to their new marriage.
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Thank you, Austin from Juke Box Bandstand and Tara Draper Photography for being so good at what you do! It is always wonderful to have a team of wedding pros you enjoy working with at a wedding.

What a sweetheart! Thank you Kathryn and Vince for writing this wonderful review for me on The Knot, Wedding Wire, and Google Business.
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Your wedding may have been one of the most memorable of this wedding season. Even though you had to change your venue 3 times because of COVID and it rained during the ceremony, you didn't let these issues affect your mood or upbeat disposition. Your joy and love were infectious and you captivated your guests as you danced your way down the aisle at the end of the ceremony.

"Selecting Pat to officiate our wedding was easily one of the best decisions we made in the wedding planning process. From our very first phone consultation, Pat was extremely warm and welcoming, making us feel instantly at ease. We also appreciated how thorough and detail-oriented she is. We thought that creating our ceremony outline would be one of the most daunting wedding tasks but Pat's guidance and templates made everything so incredibly easy. She also gave us awesome pre-marital counseling resources. It rained during our short outdoor ceremony but Pat didn't skip a beat and officiated the wedding so beautifully. We are so grateful for her and the very special role she played at our wedding!"
Kathryn and Vince were married on September 12, 2020, at Horticultural Hall in Lake Geneva, WI.

​Photos by Michelle Kujawski Photography

What a joy it was to see Sommer, Bryan, and their family again.  Three years ago I baptized their son, Aiden, and today I had the honor of baptizing the newest addition to their family, Claira.  In an era of COVID and modern technology, the godparents and grandparents joined us via Zoom.  

I had the honor of officiating Dianna and Garrick's wedding yesterday at their family farm in Lyndon Station near the WI Dells yesterday. It was a small ceremony with only immediate family physically present (although there were virtual guests also attending).
One of the joys of creating one-of-a-kind ceremonies is being able to write words and add sections that are significant to the couple. It was important to Dianna and Garrick to not only recognize their ancestors that had passed away but also to honor the land farmed by their family. Here is a piece from the ceremony I wrote for them:
"Garrick and Dianna would also like to acknowledge the farm. We recognize not only the families that have farmed this land over the years, but we also want to honor the indigenous people that also came here. For eons, this land has welcomed all that have come to this beautiful place. But we know that all the love and hard work you gave to this farm doesn't end here. In turn, your family's care for this land will continue and this lineage of love for this special place will get passed along from generation to generation. . . So let us take a moment to listen and give thanks to this farm that we call home, and remember our loved ones with a moment of silent gratitude."