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Get Married For Free at River House at Odette’s in New Hope

Equal Dignity Pop-up Nuptials is getting the band back together to provide Free wedding ceremonies for ALL, especially those who are concerned about their right to marriage equality, hosted at River House at Odette’s in New Hope.


Sunday March 21, 2021 (that’s 3-21-21) for those who like the number 3, and are looking for an anniversary date that is easy to remember!

Equal Dignity Pop-up Nuptials
celebrates all families joining with affirming, LGBTQIA+ inclusive, free civil ceremonies. Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania’s top wedding industry vendors donate time and services to give couples a big-budget marriage ceremony at no cost.

Celebrants Alisa Tongg, Cynthia Manchester and Donna Forsythe will be officiating the civil wedding ceremonies for free to all couples on a first come, first joined in marriage basis, Sunday March 21, 2021 at the River House at Odette’s in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Marriers are encouraged to bring their own witnesses, vows, rings, glass to stomp, broom to jump or other wedding ceremony tradition.  

The March 21st event will be the second for Equal Dignity Pop-up Nuptials, powered by the local wedding community and volunteers representing several floral companies, photographers, live musicians, venues, officiants, hair and make-up artists, a cake shop and event planning agencies. The inaugural Equal Dignity Pop-up Nuptials event married six couples over the 2020 Thanksgiving weekend. River House at Odette’s has put together special packages for dinner and overnight stays for those who want to extend their celebration on property for the March 21st event! 


Couples who wish to participate in the free civil ceremonies at River House at Odette’s, may bring up to 8 witnesses with them and are encouraged to pre-register for a time slot. 

https://www.equaldignitypopupnuptials.com/ Those who prefer to walk-in will be married on a first come first served basis. 


PENNSYLVANIA MARRIAGE LICENSES
Pennsylvania requires a three-day wait to issue a marriage license. Information about how requirements and locations a marriage license may be applied for and obtained may be found at:  http://www.usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/pennsylvania/

Equal Dignity Pop-up Nuptials Sunday, March 21, 2021
Free Civil Ceremonies Officiated by Celebrants Alisa Tongg, Cynthia Manchester and Donna Forsythe
-One Day Only-
First come, first joined in marriage
River House at Odette’s
New Hope, Pennsylvania


All couples invited. Must present a valid PA marriage license.
BYO: witnesses, vows, rings, glass to stomp, broom to jump or other wedding ceremony tradition.  

Pre-register here



Photographers who became Equal Dignity Partners in 2020
Kate Neal Photography
Haley Richter Photo
Alison Conklin
Salt and Cedar
Bokeh Lane
Jess Palatucci



Equal Dignity Pop-Up Nuptials...Philadelphia Edition

Oops I did it again! Time to break out my custom rainbow stole.

Celebrant Alisa Tongg officiates one of the first legally recognized same-sex marriages in the State of New Jersey, Jersey City 2013. Douglas James Studios.

Equal Dignity Pop Up Nuptials

Free wedding ceremonies for All, especially those who are concerned about their right to marriage equality. Hosted at Pomme Radnor, Philadelphia's Main Line.

Register Here

(November 4, 2020) Wedding industry professionals and Philadelphia businesses have come together to provide free wedding ceremonies for couples who desire to make their partnerships legal in the Keystone State, over the long Thanksgiving family-holiday weekend, especially those who are concerned about their equal right to marriage.


Celebrant Alisa Tongg, Rev. Cynthia Cherish Malaran and Humanist Celebrant Cynthia Manchester will be officiating the civil wedding ceremonies for free to all couples on a first come, first joined in marriage basis, Sunday November 29th, 2020 12 Noon-4pm at Pomme Radnor, wedding and events venue on Philadelphia's Main Line.


This will be the third pop-up marriage equality event created by Alisa Tongg. Her first, prompted by her sister’s need to make her marriage legal, was held just days after marriage equality was adopted in New Jersey in 2013.

  
Marriage equality became the law of the land in all 50 states in June 2015, with a 5-4 United States Supreme Court decision in the landmark civil rights case, Obergefell v Hodges, which ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples as well as opposite-sex couples.


“No union is more profound than marriage for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than they once were….”  Justice Anthony Kennedy, Obergefell v Hodges Ruling 2015


Tongg says, “I’ve quoted part of Justice Kennedy’s Obergefell v Hodges ruling in every wedding ceremony that I’ve conducted since June 2015. Unfortunately, with the recent shifts in the Supreme Court, American’s equal right to marriage with their chosen partner is still being debated. One of the phrases used in the landmark ruling is about our inherent right to “equal dignity” under the law, and an environment of equal dignity is what I aim to create with this event.”



“As humans and as a company we believe that everyone deserves equal rights and the right to marry the person they love,” says Rebecca Mulholland, owner of RAM Floral, a Philadelphia-based floral styling company will be creating a ceremony arch fitting of the moment. “I’m participating in this beautiful day because of that reason. What an honor to be thought of as an ally. If I get nothing more from the experience of this day, simply being thought of as someone who supports humanity and love before anything else, is all I could ask for.” 


Several other Philadelphia-area florists have offered to donate bouquets and boutonnieres to the LGBTQIA+ couple participants.
Several, fine art and wedding photographers have also volunteered to be on hand to capture the nuptials; among them, award-winning editorial, portrait and wedding photographer Alison Conklin.


Couples who wish to participate in the free civil ceremonies, may bring up to 10 witnesses with them and are encouraged to pre-register for a time slot. Those who prefer to walk-in will be married on a first come first served basis.

Register Here

COVID PRECAUTIONS
Every guest and volunteer will be required to complete health screening questionnaire before arriving, getting temperature checked, and wearing masks unless they are the couple saying vows. 


PENNSYLVANIA MARRIAGE LICENSES
Pennsylvania requires a three-day wait to issue a marriage license. And with the pandemic backlog in many courthouses, we suggest that you start this process as soon as possible. Bucks County has implemented a pretty smooth online marriage license application process, check them out!


Information about how requirements and locations a marriage license may be applied for and obtained may be found at:  http://www.usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/pennsylvania/

Equal Dignity Pop-up Nuptials Sunday, November 29th, 2020

Free Civil Ceremonies Officiated by Celebrants Alisa Tongg and Cynthia Manchester, and Rev. Cynthia Cherish Malaran.

-One Day Only-

First come, first joined in marriage

Pomme at Radnor

12noon-4pm


All Couples Invited. Must present a valid PA marriage license.
BYO: witnesses, vows, rings, glass to stomp, broom to jump or other wedding ceremony tradition.
 



alisatonggcelebrant.com

clovereventco.com
www/pafa.org/event-rentals
ramfloral.com
djcherishtheluv.com
alisonconklin.com
cynthiamanchester.com

pommeradnor.com


Promise Ridge FAQs

We're thrilled to have you consider Promise Ridge for your upcoming elopement or microwedding ceremony. We understand that there are a lot of factors that come into play even when planning a simple wedding. Here are the most frequently asked questions that people have when trying to determine if Promise Ridge is the right fit for them and their families. -Alisa Tongg



9 Things to Consider if You're Getting Married Right Now in the Middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kelly Rose Photo
Now that we’re firmly in spring, and many states are still restricting movement and gatherings, it looks as though most 2020 couples who were planning a large traditional wedding celebration, or destination wedding, are having to re-evaluate what they want their wedding day to be like in light of a global health pandemic. Many couples may choose to postpone their wedding and extend their engagement into 2021, while other couples are scaling back the scope of their original celebration to just include their inner circle in a microwedding, and another set of couples are deciding that they just really want to be married to their partner and are making arrangements for a legal marriage ceremony in the meantime while they figure out how best to celebrate with everyone at a bigger gathering sometime in the future.

As an officiant and a microwedding expert, I have been in the fortunate position to be able to help so many couples who, at no fault of their own, find themselves trying to navigate a new path. I wanted to share my discoveries on how I have been advising my couples on how to set up for a wedding ceremony and celebration and also provide the answers to the questions I am being asked right now:


1) Valid Marriage Licenses
M2 Photography
Pennsylvania- Virtual Marriage Licenses
Several Pennsylvania counties have pivoted to provide (on a pilot basis) a virtual option for applying for a marriage license. For the most part this entails an online portal to submit documentation like ID and application, followed up with a video call with a clerk, then a valid marriage license is sent in the mail to the couple. In Pennsylvania, a valid marriage license issued by any county can be used anywhere in the state for 60 days. If you are in this position of needing to be legally married now, check out BUCKS, MONTGOMERY, DELAWARE counties—they are offering virtual application processes without residency or emergency stipulation requirements. 



2) Virtual Ceremonies

New York State was the first to announce an executive temporary order, “Project Cupid” which allows couples to not only apply for their marriage license through a fully online process, but to also legally marry in a virtual ceremony with a qualified officiant. The couple, officiant and two witnesses all need to be physically located in New York State at the time of the ceremony.
 
For information about virtual weddings in New York here.

California has also instituted a temporary online marriage license application process and authorization for virtual video conferencing wedding ceremonies. Just like in New York, the couple, officiant and one witness need to be physically located in the State of California at the time of the ceremony.

There is no word on if these options will continue permanently, and professional officiants are trying to figure out the best way to collect signatures of the couple and witnesses to complete this paperwork. If you go this route, please be kind and considerate to the marriage bureau clerks and your professional officiant, everyone if figuring it out as we go.


Virtual Weddings Everywhere Else:
While many states are starting to offer options for applying for a marriage license virtually, there is no legal mechanism to also solemnize the marriage and conduct a legal ceremony virtually—the couple and the officiant must be in the same physical location. But there are a few ways you can get creative with how to meet the legal requirements for ceremony while also keeping your circle tight.

Scenario 1: Meet in person with officiant earlier in the day to do the legal part, and then later, while gathered with your family, Zoom or FaceTime in the officiant to conduct the meaningful ceremony with personalized vows, virtually. This might be easily described as a "front porch license signing."

Kelly Rose Photo

Scenario 2: Arrange a private elopement ceremony in a location where the couple and officiant can maintain safe physical distance from each other and invite your guests to witness your ceremony and vows virtually through Live Stream.
Celebrant Alisa Tongg hanging with the family who attended an elopement ceremony via Live Stream, Love Me Do.



3) Groupings by Household for Outdoor Ceremony

Kelly Rose Photo
In the event that you opt for a microwedding gathering instead of an elopement, when setting up for ceremony, make an extra wide aisle.  If guests will be seated while witnessing the marriage ceremony, place ceremony chairs in clusters by household, where each cluster is at least six feet away from other clusters. We’ve been working with our Promise Ridge microwedding couples the week before their ceremony to identify households and those who need to maintain their physical distance from the rest of the group, within their guest list.



4) Adjust Ceremony Elements

Instead of ring blessings, passing the sign of peace, handfastings  and other ceremony rituals that require guests to intermingle in close proximity with each other, or touch the same item, include ceremony elements like Signing the Marriage License, a Tree Planting, Unity Beer Blending or a community vow of support--all rituals and actions that can be done while maintaining everyone’s personal space.



5) The Officiant Stands to the Side of the Ceremony Space

Julie Floro Photography
The officiant is one of the only vendors for whom wearing a mask while performing just doesn’t make sense. In order to help maintain a safe physical distance from my couples and their families, I have changed where I stand during ceremony so I don’t have to wear a mask. Instead of standing in the traditional spot—between and in front of the couple--I am now standing off to the side for outdoor ceremonies. When I am officiating a ceremony at Promise Ridge, I am standing off of the ceremony platform entirely but close enough to still be heard. If a couple feels more comfortable with their officiant wearing a mask, they’ll need to make arrangements for a microphone on a stand to amplify the officiant’s words.


6) Ask a Friend to Officiate
No one knows how long we’re going to have to be mindful about crowd size, and if these restrictions continue through the summer, couples may want to prioritize a close friend or family member being at their microwedding ceremony instead of an outside professional officiant. The good news, is that my new online class is designed to help lay officiants do a good job at this task.

The Wedding Ceremony Master Class is online, can be completed in about an hour and includes my tried and true questionnaire (so the uncle officiant has a lot of APPROPRIATE material to pull from), a starter ceremony (so the friend officiant doesn't waste time cobbling together awkward scripts from the internet) and my primer on VOWS for the couple. And at the start of 2021 I've updated the class to include a BONUS video lesson on "How to Officiate During the Pandemic".

www.weddingceremonymasterclass.com


7) Cake + Cutting Ceremony, Champagne Toasts

Creme Brulee Cake
With all the uncertainty right now with the restaurant industry, (take out, individual plates, family style, buffet woes etc.), the original desire remains—we want to celebrate by sharing a special meal with loved ones. My suggestion while we are still in the middle of this pandemic and trying to figure out how to return to these communal meals and moments, is that couples forego a wedding banquet (for now!) and instead opt for a simple cake + cutting ceremony with a champagne toast.
Madeline Isabella Photography

Everyone can keep safe distance from those outside of their household while still sharing in the wedding ritual of cutting a cake and eating something sweet together. With everyone standing and spread out in a manner that each person is comfortable in, speeches and toasts can also be done in this configuration while not being a constant visual reminder of the crisis.

Storytellers & Co maintaining a safe distance while photographing

One of the most compelling draws of having a microwedding is soaking in all the intimate and genuine relationships with everyone gathered. Speeches and toasts to the couple are a natural way that guests can express their love for the couple on this momentous occasion. I recommend that couples ask a handful of the most important people in their life to prepare some formal remarks. Recommended time frame to give people time to prepare a toast or speech is 6 weeks.



8) Consider Making a Commitment to Each Other

Oxford University study: changing the way our social networks are structured—rather than simply reducing the amount we socialize—could be effective in flattening the curve.

If you don’t want to be physically distant from your own families on your wedding day, consider making a commitment to modify your behaviors in the 14 days leading up to the event. Inspired by New Zealand’s approach to lifting restrictions as well as my own family dynamic with shared custody, if everyone who is to attend your nuptials takes care to isolate their household members and use safety precautions when having to go out into public (maintaining 6-feet of physical distance, wearing masks, washing hands etc.) then everyone can feel safe and comfortable being close and maintaining each other’s health during your celebration. 

As a celebrant, I am currently working on creating a Social Bubble Commitment Ceremony for when Stay at Home Orders are lifted and we, as a society, slowly start expanding our social circles again.



9) Practice Safe Vendors!


Wedding vendors, photographers, videographers, catering servers etc., wear masks when possible, use hand sanitizer often, and most importantly, communicate with other professionals to maintain physical distance from other vendors providing a service at the gathering.
Chef Kara Snyder prepared elegantly boxed individual dinners for a social distanced family dinner after ceremony.


7 Things You Can Do To Prepare For Marriage In The Time Of COVID-19



Pat Robinson Photography

Lots of wedding plans that have been a year or even two years in the making, are having to shift and adapt this week as we, as a society in earnest, adjust our behavior to flattening the curve of the COVID-19 outbreak. Here are 7 things you can do to prepare for marriage in the time of a global pandemic.  


1) VOWS
Use this opportunity to look for ways that you can show up for your partner in the life ahead, let these real-world daily things and acts of kindness inform your vows. Check out my how-to on Vows here.

2) MICROWEDDINGS NOW, BIG CELEBRATION LATER
Consider having a microwedding ceremony, with group size following the current CDC guidelines. At the time of this post, the CDC guideline is groups of 10 or less. Hire a professional officiant and photographer for this pared down ceremony, so that it will feel special and real when you think back on it.

3) MAKE IT OUTDOORS

As a celebrant, I personally feel safer officiating an elopement or microwedding ceremony in an outdoor ceremony space so that I can maintain my distance from the couple and their family during the ceremony. Everybody’s health and safety is top priority.
Emily Wren Photography
4) ADJUST BEHAVIOR
As an officiant, I've already adjusted the types of ceremony elements we might include in a ceremony for couples in the foreseeable future, for example Passing the Sign of Peace (where people greet each other with a handshake, hug or a kiss) or a Ring Blessing (where the rings are passed around and everyone has a chance to infuse them with their best wishes before the couple exchanges them) are not going to be in any of the ceremonies I conduct until we're through this pandemic.


5) SELF-IMPROVEMENT DURING QUARANTINE
No one knows how long we’re going to have to be mindful about crowd size, and if these restrictions continue through the summer, couples may want to prioritize a close friend or family member being at their microwedding ceremony instead of an outside professional officiant. The good news, is that my new online class is designed to help lay officiants do a good job at this task.

The Wedding Ceremony Master Class is online, can be completed in less than two hours (and with social distancing!!!) and includes my tried and true questionnaire (so the uncle officiant has a lot of APPROPRIATE material to pull from), a starter ceremony (so the friend officiant doesn't waste time cobbling together awkward scripts from the internet) and my primer on VOWS for the couple.

www.weddingceremonymasterclass.com


6) BE FLEXIBLE
I think the best thing we can all do right now is stay home, keep making plans for the future and have a flexible attitude if something needs to change -- whether that's date, venue, a particular vendor, or if Gran can attend.


7) REMEMBER WHAT MATTERS
And we’re book-ending this post by focusing again on what matters the most—honoring your relationships. When things get crazy and everything around us is uncertain, I hope that you can draw strength from remembering that marriage commitments traditionally include a basic premise, ‘for better or for worse, good times and difficult, sickness and health.’ If you’re reading this, my wish for you is that you have someone or a handful of people in your life that you are “in it with”, people who you trust and who provide some stability during these unstable times. Do whatever you need to do today to be that someone, that shelter in the storm, for the people you love too.
Alexis June Photography

Asking a Friend or Family Member to Officiate? All The Reasons You Shouldn’t And The One Reason You Should


Will you marry us?

One doesn’t need to search hard for real wedding examples of how asking a friend to officiate a wedding ceremony can go wrong. There have been numerous articles written and horror-stories shared in wedding boards about having a Friend or Family Member officiate, and still more examples of regret that people would never share because they don’t want to hurt the feelings of someone they care about.

5 Couples Who Majorly Regretted Having a Friend Officiate Their Wedding

Top 7 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Ask a Friend to Officiate Wedding Ceremony

My Friends Are Getting Married and I Don’t Think They Should. Help!

Eight reasons why friends or family members shouldn’t officiate your wedding ceremony

This round up by fellow celebrant Donna Forsythe is particularly illuminating...When Your Friend Officiates—What Do the Pros Have to Say?

Ash Imagery

As a professional officiant, I have the great fortune of only being at weddings where the ceremony is spectacular. But that is not the case for the majority of wedding industry professionals. In fact, two years ago, I started being approached by wedding planners, venues and other wedding professionals, asking if I would put together a ceremony ghost writing/ training/ coaching package for their clients who have asked a friend to officiate the wedding ceremony, because wedding professionals know that everything on the wedding day is affected by how the ceremony goes.

If creating a powerful ceremony moment (the genuine fairytale moment couples are imagining when they ask their friend or family member to officiate) were as easy as following a wedding board checklist, or reciting a sample script available online, then why are wedding professionals at these weddings still reporting such easily avoidable mistakes?

Well, the answer is because, creating the type of ceremony experience most people are dreaming about is harder to do than you’d think. There’s an art to performance, ceremony and communicating from the heart. And learning an art, takes time and repetition.  

 

Wedding Ceremony Master Class for Friend Officiants is the result of professional wedding planners, photographers, venues and videographers alerting me to the problems and dramas of so many of their weddings when a Friend or Family Member is not prepared to officiate, freezes up (or worse yet—doesn’t even show!) or makes the ceremony awkward, uncomfortable or a joke.

The biggest Pro to all those Cons, though, is when the Friend or Family Member asked to officiate does a great job, deepens the friendship and creates forever-cherished memories with the couple. A successful officiant helps people connect emotionally in that moment. A well-written and delivered ceremony helps the couple demonstrate to their community what makes them special as a couple, the WHY of it all. A moving ceremony helps everyone rally around what the couple is hoping for the future.

As an award-winning Life-Cycle Celebrant and a professional officiant, that’s the kind of experience I am delivering each time. It’s often assumed by everyone present, that I am a good friend of the couple because of the warmth I bring to the writing and delivery of a wedding ceremony. Sometimes it takes a professional to deliver the kind of ceremony experience that we hope a friend can provide. I’ve created this Wedding Ceremony Master Class to teach Friend and Family Member Officiants my process of creating those kind of powerful, moving, and memorable ceremonies where everyone leaves with “hearts filled with love.”
Love Me Do Photography


How to Officiate Your Friends' Wedding

Officiating a Friends’ Wedding? I created this online course just for you!

 


I've cracked the code on writing and performing meaningful and inclusive 20-minute ceremonies, and every aspiring Friend Officiant will receive my tried and true, universally appealing, Starter Ceremony, with simple, straightforward and most importantly, non-gaggy language, so that they can use the bulk of their creative efforts making that ceremony personal, charming and memorable for all the right reasons.
Pat Robinson Photography

Why Friend Officiants?

“Two years ago, I started to be approached by wedding planners and other wedding professionals, asking if I would put together a ceremony ghost writing/ training/ coaching package for their clients who have asked a friend to officiate the wedding ceremony. I know the primary appeal of having a friend officiate is that personalization is such a strong factor for today’s couple. Couples want all the pieces of their wedding to be a reflection of who they are, what their story is, and what their hopes are for the future—authentically.

Having someone who loves them in the role of officiant is a natural draw for modern couples. I get it! The problem is that even the best, most put-together-public-speaking-loving-friend, is a lay person when it comes leading the process of creating ceremony flow and content. What ends up happening is the honored friend (or worse yet, the bride!) devotes tens of hours scouring the internet for sample ceremony scripts and cobbling together official-sounding language that is NOT an authentic representation of the couple’s personality and style. Lots of times, the friend (knowing the cobbled together script is not great) panics and backs out of the responsibility close to the event date, or shows up at the wedding unprepared for day-of considerations, causing chaos—hence the requests from a handful of wedding planners to create something to help this phenomenon.

I’ve created this online Wedding Ceremony Master Class to take Friend Officiants through my process of authoring and performing a simple, genuine, memorable and meaningful ceremony. Wedding Ceremony Master Class students will receive a tried and true questionnaire to help the couple and their Friend Officiant identify important sentiments that need to be included in the ceremony, a Starter Ceremony –a framework for the Friend Officiant to work in, a demystification of what legally needs to be said/done in the ceremony, and (my favorite part!) a coaching session to help prepare the Friend Officiant to knock it out of the park."
-- Alisa Tongg, Fairy God Celebrant




The Wedding Ceremony Master Class for the Friend Officiant

Covers Three Important Aspects:

1)   Making It Legal. Although online ordination is the legal tool for the lay officiant in the majority of states, there are a handful of states where a friend who has been ordained online actually puts their friends’ marriage in legal jeopardy. Celebrant Alisa Tongg’s Wedding Ceremony Master Class will equip Friend Officiants to be able to confidently use the phrase, ‘by the authority vested in me…’”

2)   Writing a Ceremony.
 Starting with what questions to ask the couple, Wedding Ceremony Master Class will take Friend Officiants through Celebrant Alisa Tongg’s tried and true process of creating a heartfelt, simple, meaningful and appropriate ceremony that will be about 20 minutes in length.

3)   Performance-getting ready to shine. From what to wear, what’s in your hands, when a microphone is needed, an overview of the responsibilities of other wedding professionals the Friend Officiant will have to work alongside, when to collect the marriage license and a performance trick that will boost confidence right before the aisle, the final part of Wedding Ceremony Master Class will prepare Friend Officiants so they can deliver a memorable ceremony, for all the right reasons.


Wedding Ceremony Master Class is an online course that students complete at their own pace, (although I recommend that you give yourself at least 8 weeks to do the classes and complete each step in preparing for being at the end of the aisle on one of the biggest days of your Friends’ lives.)

www.weddingceremonymasterclass.com