Weddingbee PRO

We’re very excited to welcome another member to the Weddingbee PRO family, New Jersey based officiant Jessie Blum!  She has tons of amazing tips on everything ceremony related from music to readings to interfaith ceremonies!  Here is the gal of the hour to tell you a little bit about herself.

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Hi! I’m Jessie Blum and I’m a celebrant and wedding officiant.  That means that I write and officiate at completely original wedding ceremonies for my couples.  I work closely with the bride and groom - incorporating stories of their relationship, any traditions or rituals to honor their backgrounds, readings, poetry, and all of that fun stuff into what becomes a wedding ceremony that is just perfect for them!

The story of how this all got started is kind of strange.  When we were in college, my best friend asked me to officiate her wedding - honestly, we don’t know how it came up (we were both always wedding obsessed, so the topic wasn’t too strange), or how we decided on it, but I said sure, and that was that.  The only other part of the conversation I remember was us deciding that, if I was her officiant, I would wear “multi-colored robes,” whatever that means.

Fast forward four years and her boyfriend proposes!  And then she reminds me that I’m not going to be her Maid of Honor - I’m going to be her officiant!

Of course, it made sense - I had been there for their entire relationship, and though they were both culturally religious, neither was really practicing.  They had a bunch of different traditional elements they knew they wanted to include (Lutheran ring vows, the Jewish chuppah, yichud, ketubah, & seven blessings, a handfasting).

I began to do research and put their ceremony together, and was having a fabulous time doing it.  It was my fiance who suggested that this is something I could do for other people as well - specialize in creating wedding ceremonies that are about the couples, and not necessarily bogged down with any traditional expectations.

And so I did.  I trained with the amazing Celebrant USA Foundation and Institute in New Jersey.  I graduated just a month before my best friend’s wedding, and it was a truly amazing experience to stand up in front of all of those people, relate their stories and their love, and declare them husband and wife (and I only cried a little!).  And thank goodness she didn’t hold me to wearing those multi-colored robes!

I love that I can do this for people - that I can help them to create their own ceremony, one that is tailored specifically to them.  It’s the best feeling in the world, getting to be such an amazing part of my couple’s days, and I look forward to every single wedding.  I’ve done weddings in backyards (my favorite!), in the conference room of my apartment complex, churches, catering halls, restaurants, gardens, historic houses, the beach, and a ton of other really awesome places.

Though I’m from Northern New Jersey, I’ve done weddings all over the state (as it’s only about two hours long & wide!).  I live with my fiance and our two adorable kitties, Friday & Maeby.  We’re currently planning our own wedding for October 10, 2010 (yup - 10/10/10), so my life is all weddings all the time - and I wouldn’t have it any other way!