Celebrate Your Love Wedding Officiating

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Introduction: Hi, thank you for considering me to officiate your wedding. I believe every ceremony should be a celebration of love. It should be genuine to each couple, fun, and meaningful. I have included here a review I received from a drummer for a band that played at a wedding I officiated in October 2013 to give you a sense of what a person who attends one of my weddings experiences(she sees a LOT of wedding ceremonies): I had the unexpected pleasure of attending a wedding ceremony performed by Reverend Tom Maluga. There was nothing unusual about him upon first observation: nicely and professionally attired, graciously addressing the audience during the seating process and prior to the bride's entrance. However, once all were seated and the ceremony about to commence, his delightful, warm, unique personality and style came to light. While expounding the beauty and significanceof marriage and love, he interjected the most wonderful, appropriate and clever humor throughout the entire service. He officiated in a most charismatic manner.....you could hear a pin drop throughout the entire ceremony, as he had everybody entirely engaged....nobodywanted to miss a single profound or hilarious word. All this, while presenting his immensely touching and poignant insight regarding love and the key ingredients for a successful marriage. Throughout the remainder of the evening, Reverend Tom Maluga was sought after and complimented by so many of the still-smiling, very appreciative guests. He is a gem. I am passionate about celebraing love with joy, humor, meaning, and romantic warmth. I enjoy the response of people surprised by how genuine, meaningful, and fun a ceremony can be when love is celebrated. Most of all I love telling couple's love stories, I call it their "Journey of Love." I approach this a little different than others who do it as I get aspects of the story separately from bride and groom so they don't know exactly what the other told me. It makes for very genuine moments in the ceremonies as couples hear their journey told in a way that reminds them of what brought them to this moment of commitment. In every ceremony I see people, including the bride and groom, laughing with tears rolling down their faces. I believe celebrations of love should be enjoyable and deeply felt and that is what my ceremonies deliver.

Overview

Hired 3 times

1 employee

21 years in business

Payment methods

This pro accepts payments via Cash, Check, and Zelle.

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Facebook, Instagram

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7 photos

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Reviews

Customers rated this pro highly for work quality, professionalism, and responsiveness.

Exceptional 5.0

6 reviews

100%

Sarah J.

Jul 19, 2018

Tom is an absolutely wonderful officiant. I highly recommend him to any couple who wants their wedding ceremony to be personal, unique, and engaging. Tom spent time getting to know us both prior to the wedding. He was organized which was so helpful to me during a busy time of planning. Our ceremony was filled with the perfect balance of laughter and happy tears. A number of guests who attended our ceremony came up to us weeks after the wedding and complimented our ceremony, our vows, and our love story — all of which we owe to Tom who was able to put it all in words for us! Better than I ever could’ve imagined our ceremony on our wedding day. The most passionate, personal wedding ceremony I have ever seen. Amazing! :)

Wei S.

Aug 21, 2014

We really appreciate Tom's service on our wedding at Chicago Navy Pier. Tom's speech was perfect. After the ceremony all of our families required to take pictures with Tom because they were all impressed by him.

Tyler R.

Jun 3, 2016

My wife and I used Rev Tom for our wedding in St Charles and couldn't be happier. He kept the ceremony fun, engaging and serious at the same time. Received numerous compliments from our guests saying how much they enjoyed our ceremony with him!

Merilyn C.

Aug 27, 2018

I attended a wedding officiated by Rev. Tom in August 2016 in Cedar Lake, Indiana. Rev. Tom shared the couple's story in a way that sometimes brought touching tears and sometimes laughter. The entire ceremony was a masterpiece of decorum and yet very intimate and personal. I highly recommend Rev. Tom as a wedding officiant

Celebrate Your Love Wedding Officiating's reply

Thank you Merilyn for your review. The setting was spectacular for a very special couple.

L. B.

Sep 24, 2018

We had Rev. Tom Malauga officiate our wedding in August 2009 and people still talk about how great our wedding ceremony was whenever the subject comes up. That's how memorable it was! Rev. Tom Maluga has a professional demeanor, warm personality, patience and understanding. He made the process of developing our ceremony easy and comfortable. He made himself available anytime we had questions or concerns. If you are looking for an officiant that will help you celebrate the wedding of your dreams, the one that truly shows who you are as a couple, you can't go wrong with Rev. Tom Maluga.

Celebrate Your Love Wedding Officiating's reply

LB, thank you so much for your review. I will never forget that day especially the surprises (ball and chain) and the carousel after the ceremony!

FAQs

What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
I offer discounts for 'off-prime times' (November to March, weekdays, Friday or Sunday, and even morning/early afternoon Saturdays). Rehearsals are a separate fee. $150 for Friday rehearsals, $125 for other days. For November to March, $125 for Fridays and $100 for other days. My rehearsals are unique from what other officiants or wedding planners do. Similar to my ceremonies, I interject humor and meaning into the process of helping people be prepared for the positions and movements of the ceremony. I also have an option to tell your love story as part of your ceremony. I call it your "Journey of Love." This makes your ceremony even more personal and powerful. It is an additional $150 to the base customized ceremony fee.
What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
Typically I meet with a couple for a free one hour consultation. This can happen in person, over the phone, or via video chat (Skype of Google Hang outs). I often do "destination weddings" with couple who live out of state and we usually meet via video chat. In order to book me, a couple needs to complete their part of my Wedding Officiating Service Agreement form and send me half of their total as their deposit. I accept personal checks (at least 30 days in advance), Chase Quickpay/Zelle, and cash. After booking, we will meet again for me to explain/talk through my Ceremony Template. After our meeting I will send you the resources that contain wording/action options for every component of the ceremony that you are interested in. You and your fiance can choose the wording options you prefer or ask me to do it for you with your guidelines regarding inclusion/non inclusion of faith elements. I produce a script with your selections. If you also want to include your "Journey of Love"/Love Story, I will send you a questionnaire with 15 areas of questions. I recommend that you and your fiance do this separately and choose to respond to only 4 or 5 of the 15 questions. Some of the questions are common (how you met, how the proposal happened, etc...) and some are not (what you have learned about love, 3 things you would ask your fiance never to change, etc)
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I have an earned Masters (M.S.) in Communication Studies from Indiana State University. I also have an earned Masters of Theology (Th.M.) in Pastoral Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. I served as Senior Pastor of two churches, one in Dallas, and the other in Chicago, for more than 16 years. Both churches were primarily young adult attendees and were multicultural (during a time when that was not nearly as common as it is today). I officiated a lot of church weddings during that time. I am a member of the American Association of Wedding Officiants (AAWO).

Celebrate Your Love Wedding Officiating

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