When people ask, “What is a life celebrant?” we explain it is someone who helps celebrate life’s great moments. As officiants and ordained non-denominational ministers, our passion is to assist people in celebrating life events and transitions in their lives and relationships. It is our joy and calling to officiate weddings, anniversary and vow renewals, pregnancy blessingways, baptisms, memorial/funeral/end-of-life celebrations, house blessings and space clearing, divorce rituals, and milestones/coming-of-age ceremonies. See the descriptions and fees below. All ceremonies include supplies used by the officiant, one in-person consultation, email correspondence, time creating ceremony script, travel and pre-ceremony set and check-in, performing ceremony/ritual, and post-ceremony cleanup. Returning Client* Reduced fee if Koru Ceremony has officiated your wedding or another ceremony/ritual for you in the past. Travel Cost Included is travel cost up to a 50 miles round trip. Additional mileage costs will be calculated beyond 50 miles round trip at $1.00/mile from the officiant’s point of origin.
Anniversary and vow renewal
Photo by Kelsey Jean Photography
Tell your spouse you would choose him/her all over again after all these years by renewing your wedding vows. Whether it is your 5, 10, 25, 40 or 50th anniversary, the number isn’t less significant as wanting to renew your commitment to each other.
Do you want to say the same vows or write brand new ones? Do you want the same people from your first wedding party involved, or maybe this time include your children or even grandchildren? These decisions and more will be discussed and planned with your officiant. Fee: $350 ($300)* with rehearsal: $400 ($340)*
Blessingway
A blessingway is different from a baby shower because it offers friends and family the chance to come together to share in a sacred time of reflection, support, and celebration that focuses on the mother-to-be. The main goal of the blessingway ceremony is to raise the new mother’s energy for labor, provide comfort and support, and help her welcome her new baby. The blessingway may be an alternative to, or in conjunction with, a baby shower. It is also a lovely way to honor a new mother and to create a circle of support that will cradle her as she prepares to give birth. Fee: $225, includes supplies ($190)*
Baby Blessing or Baptism
After the baby is born, we can create a custom baby blessing ceremony or baptism with you that will welcome, honor, bless, celebrate, and honor the name of your child. Your baby blessing or baptism can reflect a spiritual, religious, traditional, or alternative perspective. It can also combine the rituals of your faith and cultural traditions in an uplifting way that honors the whole family. The ceremony can be simple and intimate, festive and elaborate, or anything in between. Fee: $225, includes supplies ($190)*
Memorial/Funeral, End of Life celebrations
Planning a Memorial or Funeral service is a way to say goodbye to your loved one and celebrate their life. Honoring your loved one with a unique and sacred gathering when family and friends come together and share the memories of years, as well as commemorating their death.
There are three helpful and essential guidelines that Koru Ceremony will tend to when planning a beautiful memorial or funeral service. The service itself will encompass these three things: 1. Beginning with the significance of your loss and how much you will miss your loved one. 2. Sharing the importance of the person who died. Share stories about their life and what they accomplished. 3. Establishing their social significance by showing that other people loved them too, that their life touched other people’s lives, and that they had value in the world. Fee: $475 ($400)*
Space Clearing and House Blessing
The atmosphere of your house is vital as it can play a significant role in your health and wellbeing. Your home can impact your behavior, emotions, mood, and mental health. In turn, you influence the atmosphere of your house. Ideally, your house is your refuge: a haven for rest, rejuvenation, nourishment, recreation, and a place of comfort for you, your family, friends, and pets.
If you are moving into a new house, or have been living in the house for a long time, a space clearing will help sweep away the energy “cobwebs” that may have accumulated over the years or energy leftover from past occupants of the house.
After clearing out the old stagnant energy cobwebs, a house blessing ceremony initializes your home with your intention and builds the foundation you wish to create. A house blessing can disperse any negativity that may be permeating the space or may be used to charge the environment with positive energy to welcome a fresh start within peaceful, harmonious surroundings. A house blessing can at the beginning of a new year, or anytime you seek to reboot your current living situation. The ceremony can be an intimate occasion with just the homeowners or as a group event that includes family and friends, i.e., housewarming party. Fee: $195, includes supplies ($165)*
Divorce Ritual
Whether you wish to mark a mutual marital completion, or simply planting the seeds for “letting go,” a divorce ritual, or parting ceremony, clears the way for healing.
A divorce is a life transition, and a divorce ritual can transform lives by fostering an improved relationship between two former partners. The ceremony symbolizes the disbanding of your marriage and the emergence of a new path of possibility for you. A divorce ritual can gently facilitate a healthy grieving process and clear the way for apology, forgiveness, and closure.
Although the potential for completion and healing is enhanced if both parties participate in the ceremony, a divorce ritual is beneficial to all concerned, even if only one of you joins in this ceremony. Friends or family members are welcome to play a role in the service or be in attendance for support. Fee: $475 ($400)*
Milestones: Birthday, Coming of Age celebrations
Perhaps you are celebrating a milestone birthday- such as your 50, 60, 70, or even 80th birthday, and you want to do something a little different to celebrate the wisdom that comes with age with a Croning Ceremony. A crone, elder, or wise woman is someone who: 1. Has reached the age of 50, or 2. Has gone through menopause, or 3. She became a grandmother.
When children transition from childhood to adulthood is another significant stepping stone in everyone’s life. Many cultures celebrate this pivotal moment in our lives. In American, we often talk about turning Sweet 16, getting our first driver’s license, being able to vote, or old enough to drink.
But another celebration that we often overlook is when a young girl gets her first menstrual period called menarche. Rather than feeling shame, embarrassment, or shy about a young girl’s changing body, it is something to celebrate. All indigenous people provide their youth with specific rites of passage to signal a change in their status from child to adult. Some of these rituals and more can be explored when creating a Coming of Age Ceremony. Fee: $225, includes supplies ($190)*
Pre-Marital and Marital Workshop The Key Elements to a Healthy Marriage
Congratulations to wedding couples on your new journey! Working in the wedding business, I know how much effort it takes to plan a wedding while keeping your relationship healthy. My goal is not only to help you plan your wedding but also to honor your commitment to each other. To help couples strengthen their union, I offer a relationship-building course to both engaged and newly married couples. Transitioning to married life requires specific skills to ensure your marriage remains healthy well into the future. This half-day workshop will allow you and your spouse to learn the skills to strengthen the loving foundation that brought you together. The key elements we will be exploring are the Root Cause of Conflict, Effective Listening Skills, and Empathy. These powerful skills apply to the situations and challenges you will face throughout your marriage. Keeping the marriage healthy in good times is easy, now you will have the skills to keep the marriage healthy in challenging times as well.
The Key Elements to a Healthy Marriage is a half-day workshop Rev. Pat offers with her colleague, Delores Kokinos, owner of The Empowerment Cafe. This workshop will help you establish new patterns of open and effective communication with your partner. It will be held twice a year in the spring and fall. Workshop Date To Be Determined- DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC WE HAVE SUSPENDED THIS WORKSHOP UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Sunday, 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Cost: $199/couple Includes: dinner and materials
If you have further questions and/or would like to sign up for the upcoming workshop please feel free to contact us.
Contact Rev. Pat at 608.213.7558 or koruceremony@gmail.com or fill out the contact form to check for my availability.