Most of our wedding clients hire us because they want to design and develop a highly engaging, personalized wedding ceremony that is far above the ordinary and average ones for which most other couples settle. Drawing from our depth of experience of performing hundreds of unique ceremonies, we specialize in creating customized ceremonies that are fully centred on the couple rather than the officiant. We take the time to get to know you and provide you with the personal touch which gives you complete peace of mind through the entire process.

Our wedding couples want their guests to experience the WOW factor and remember theirs as the best wedding ceremony that they have ever attended in their lives. As Ottawa's most innovative officiants and celebrants, we consistently deliver that rare result using our years of experience in the wedding sector to give you the highest level of service and results, unmatched by any other officiants in the Ottawa region.

When you choose your wedding celebrant or officiant, you shouldn't be just buying a commodity service as you're investing in lasting memories for you, your families, and your guests. You have an opportunity to ensure that everyone experiences your wedding ceremony like no other than they have before. Unless you want a very average ceremony, you should seek an experienced and talented officiant or celebrant whose style incorporates and builds upon your personal vision of your wedding day.

Do you want your marriage ceremony and wedding script to be romantic and elegant, meaningful and fun; specifically designed for and about the two of you, customized and personalized to reflect who you are both as individuals and as a couple and treat your family and guests to a romantic, innovative, yet relaxed experience, something that really energizes them? Or, will you settle for having just another ordinary, ho-hum cookie-cutter marriage ceremony (you know, the kind where everyone just wants to get it over with so that they can then get a few drinks in them and start to party)? We really know how to make your party start within your ceremony so that the energy and momentum flow onto your reception while possibly even reducing your open bar tab.

Anyone who has ever attended a wedding ceremony performed by either of us has experienced the difference between the usual types of ceremonies prevailing in the area and their unique contemporary ones. They really know the positive impact you can make by treating your guests, as well as yourselves, to one of our innovative wedding ceremonies.

Wedding Ceremony at Strathmere Garden House

As Ottawa's only full-time ceremony celebrants and marriage officiants, we have invested thousands of hours in researching and developing a range of approaches which inject life, energy, and originality into every ceremony we perform. Not only are we widely regarded as Ottawa's most innovative wedding officiants and ceremony celebrants, we also offer a much higher level of service providing the personal touch that ensures a peace of mind that other officiants can't even come close to matching. Moreover, we are two of the very few Ottawa officiants who have any significant experience in leading wedding rehearsal sessions, something for which we are renown. In fact, we likely perform more wedding rehearsals each year than all other Ottawa civil officiants combined!

Having been married for over 45 years and having designed and performed mostly unique ceremonies, we have proven convincingly that wedding ceremonies don't have to be too long, boring, impersonal, overly churchy, and lacking real emotion for everyone attending. As we experimented with new ceremony techniques over our years of officiating ceremonies, we heard back from the couples, families, and guests at the weddings which we conducted that they were thrilled with the innovations and personalization that we introduced into the Ottawa area.

If you believe that you and your guests deserve a superior, unique wedding ceremony; a spectacular event filled with joy, love and laughter, then we can help you raise the bar by which weddings are judged. We can make your wedding ceremony stand out in the experience and memories of you, your families, friends, and guests as the best wedding ceremony that you and they have ever attended in your lives. Read what our clients have written about our ceremonies here and then imagine you having a similar or even better experience up to and on your wedding day. And then there will be all those wonderful memories for many, many years to come!

Unique in Ottawa, we offer all prospective marriage clients considering our Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum ceremony packages a one hour, face-to-face, no-obligation consultation with both of us in the privacy of our own home (or by telephone conference call for those couples remote from Ottawa) prior to your making any deposit or booking. We do this so that you can meet us and judge first hand our chemistry and expertise to be effective with you in taking your wedding ceremony to a level far beyond anything you've ever experienced or imagined. In doing so you can determine that we have the right experience, look, sound, style, energy, and presence to preside with confidence and authority at your ceremony

Meet us over a pot of tea (or coffee) and find out why over 95% of the couples who have met with us, have then proceeded to book us, a record unmatched anywhere else in Canada. With our experience of having performed ceremonies in most Ottawa area venues, leverage our extensive expertise to work for you and feel the peace of mind that comes from being serviced by two of the very best professionals that you'll meet in all of your wedding planning.

Unlike most other Ottawa officiants, we limit the number of weddings we perform any afternoon to a maximum of two, both of which are usually spaced two or more hours apart. We do this so that we can provide you with the best possible service and to ensure you a stress free experience, especially if things run somewhat behind your schedule. We believe that your ceremony deserves our full attention and focus and we ensure that our scheduling will not be the source of any stress during your wedding day.

We offer a premium service for our clients and due to the significantly higher level of service we offer, the extra number of hours we work on your behalf, and the limited number of engagements we accept, our fees for larger wedding ceremonies may be slightly higher (but not always) than those of most other Ottawa officiants.

When all other relevant elements are assessed (e.g. no need to rent microphones for us, superior wedding photography, reduced post-ceremony reception bar consumption, effective wedding rehearsals, etc. notwithstanding our vastly superior services to you, actually we are often less expensive than most other Ottawa officiants, if you do all of the math.

Being a small, home-based boutique operation, we are not equipped to respond to a high volume of enquiries daily but rather a more limited number of serious enquiries from couples who really appreciate and want excellence and uniqueness for their ceremony.

We openly publish our fees and the rationale for them. You don't have to make a deposit before you get to meet with us. For medium and larger sized weddings, the cost difference between the average, ho-hum ceremony available everywhere and our enjoyable, memorable ceremony spectacularly officiated is at first glance only about $25-$150, but that's before you have to spend another $100-150 to rent a microphone for another officiant who can't be heard without one and then maybe another $300-$350 to extend the contract for a DJ who is needed only to amplify the other officiant's microphone. In the end, when you factor in the added associated costs of many "low cost" officiants, you may find yourselves paying more for an inferior wedding ceremony experience. Ever heard of penny-wise and pound foolish!

There is no other element of a wedding (dress, limo, ring, flowers, meal, venue, photos, decoration, etc.) where that extra $25-$150 investment can leverage such a positive impact upon your wedding day experience as an awesomely executed ceremony! Almost without exception, couples who do choose to have the complimentary and private, one hour meeting with us are very delighted to have done so. Of these, over 95% of the couples who meet with us, then proceed to book with us !

Our extensive sample client testimonials can be found here and convincingly document why engaging us is usually the best decision you will make amongst all of your wedding services options. For couples who meet with us before they make the other major vendor decisions (especially the venue), we can usually give you advice that could save you thousands of dollars and provide superior results.

For full descriptions of our different ceremony levels and 2024-26 rates , please click here.

2024 Wedding Ceremonies

Presently, most of our Saturday afternoons during the October to December period have been booked. However, there are still a few dates and times available during this time and throughout the rest of the year. Most Fridays, we have lots of flexibility to perform ceremonies. Now is a good time to line up your officiant so as to avoid disappointment.

To determine our availability, please contact us (Lynne and Keith) as early as possible, either by phone at (613) 831-7555 or alternatively inquire by e-mail at Keith@ExceptionalCeremonies.com to secure a reservation for your preferred ceremony date & time. Please go to this page, on our website, and answer the questionnaire which will send an email to us. We will will be back to you, usually within 24 hours.

2024-26 Wedding Ceremonies

Bookings for 2025 and 2026 are now being accepted for those couples wishing to get the maximum lead time on their planning.

Please contact us as early as possible, to determine our availability as most couples are booking dates 10 to 18 months in advance and it is now that you will have the best selection of dates and times.

For those couples who demand an outstanding ceremony experience for yourselves and your guests, we are experts for a range of customized ceremonies. Our specialities include:

Civil Style Ceremonies * Spiritual Ceremonies * Eloping *  Bilingual & French Ceremonies
Second & Third Marriages * Same Sex & LGBT Weddings * Surprise Weddings
Renewal of Vows Ceremonies * Co-Officiated Ceremonies
Baptisms & Naming Ceremonies * Memorial Services
Non-Denominational or Inter-Faith Ceremonies
Ceremonies for Remotely Located Couples
  Backyard, Home & Cottage Ceremonies 
Civil Style Ceremonies in a Church
Ceremonies with Children
Commitment Ceremonies
Unplugged Weddings

You can contact us at Keith@ExceptionalCeremonies.com or 613 - 831 - 7555 in Ottawa. We're usually around most days and evenings.

We are Ottawa Wedding Officiants, Marriage Celebrants, non-denominational Ministers, and Wedding Ministers, who function much like a Justice of the Peace or Marriage Commissioners. We perform ceremonies mainly in the greater Ottawa-Gatineau, National Capital Region, as well as surrounding locations in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec.

We do not perform ceremonies in the Toronto, GTA, southern Ontario, or Northern Ontario regions.