Reverend Wendy Clark

There were several issues that happened during this wedding and unfortunately the bride has chosen to place the blame on my shoulders. The night before the wedding I spoke to Tierra notifying her that I had laryngitis from a cold. I offered her the option of having my husband (who is also a wedding officiant) perform the ceremony. She was fine with me performing the ceremony. At that time I also told her that I would need to see their picture IDs and the marriage license before I could perform the ceremony. I responded to all phone calls from the bride and groom in a timely manner. I never received any calls or messages from a wedding planner. I arrived 20 minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin at which time she was unable to locate the marriage license. I waited 40 minutes for the bride to get ready during which time I had to repeatedly remind her that I needed to see her marriage license. She was never able to locate it and insisted we go ahead with the ceremony anyway. She said she would have someone back home in Monterey sign it. I cautioned her that if she did that then this date could not be their official wedding date. She said she didn't care. I agreed to do it provided that they sign a statement agreeing that that day's ceremony would not be a legal marriage. During this process she was very difficult to talk to, she made it obvious that this was a problem she didn't want to deal with. I eventually got her husband to sign the agreement, but was unable to obtain her signature. Unfortunately the groom's father, who was also the best man, was very intoxicated and repeatedly talked over me throughout the entire ceremony. The groom and groomsmen tried desperately to quiet him. Finally, I asked him politely and firmly to please remain quiet. That made it worse, he just got louder. I performed the ceremony in a professional manner doing my best to ignore the scene going on behind me. Both the bride and groom were obviously mortified and completely distracted through the entire ceremony. I don't see how she can possibly say I was the one that messed up the ceremony. After the ceremony I offered to meet them near my home the next day, on my own time, at no additional charge to sign the license so they could keep the same wedding date. She seemed thrilled and grateful. They then changed their minds because they didn't want to drive that far. I dealt with these issues in a polite and professional manner. It's unfortunate that they have chosen to blame me for events that were completely out of my control. As a wedding officiant I have certain legal guidelines I must go by and it's unfortunate she felt that I was rude by insisting those guidelines were met before the ceremony. After the ceremony both the brides's mother and aunt complimented me on the ceremony and apologized profusely for the father's behavior. As for my pricing, I choose to keep them low because there are millions of couples out there who don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on a wedding and it makes me happy to be able to offer a quality service everyone can afford. I have officiated 115 weddings during the past two years. I have over 20 five star reviews on Thumbtack that paint a far more accurate picture of how I do business. Thanks for reading. Rev. Wendy Clark.