Ceremonies from the Heart
FINE ARTS BUILDING
Chicago, IL 60605
(map) Phone: 847-707-1781
Reviews for Ceremonies from the Heart
GUEST
Reverand Rebecca did a wonderful and amazing job for our wedding. My husband and I are both from interfaith backgrounds, she incorporated beautiful and meaningful verses and sonnets from the Koran and bible. Rev. Rebecca included our 9 year old daughter into the ceremony which made our wedding very special.
Overall, Reverend Rebecca is a personable and compassionate human being. Her spirituality excubrates love and happiness which was evident during our wedding ceremony.
With all our Love
Medina-Ezoubeiri Family
GUEST
Reverend Rebecca provided a beautiful ceremony for us. She worked closely with us to make sure we, collectively, put together the ceremony that matched who we were. The result was agreement from all of our wedding guests that it was one of the most beautiful and appropriate ceremonies they had ever been to.
About Ceremonies from the Heart
Have the wedding you want, incorporating themes, words and innovative rituals
that reflect your deepest beliefs while respecting the traditions you value.
Lay the foundation for long-lasting love and respect with a profoundly meaningful ceremony.
Rev. Rebecca Armstrong
Ceremonies@aol.com
www.chicagoceremonies.net
tel: 847.707.1781
Rev. Rebecca Armstrong is a minister in the liberal religious tradition ~ dedicated to the free and
conscious search for truth. Bring your own beliefs and values with you and she will weave them into your ceremony. Her deep and abiding interest in the role of STORY and RITUAL in human life has made her keenly aware of how important it is to
build upon the specific words and images that inhabit the personal imagination. Simply borrowing other people’s ideas about what a wedding is or should be does not give the grounding for a satisfying ceremony.
Rebecca works with every couple to create, from the depths of your own hearts and minds, the perfect ceremony that expresses your core values and your highest aspirations. Only with this kind of depth preparation will your ceremony truly become
the lasting fountain of inspiration that it is meant to be. Her graduate degrees from the University of Chicago Divinity School and the Unitarian seminary have prepared her to work with rigorous intellectual and spiritual honesty to do justice to this
profoundly important event in your life.
Rev. Rebecca Armstrong is an ordained Humanist Minister with the Humanist Society of Friends and has officiated over five hundred weddings since 1991. A professional musician and mythologist, she worked for fifteen years with the Joseph Campbell Foundation, leading seminars around the world on the importance of myth and ritual in contemporary life. As a minister, she has been a guest preacher, educator and workshop leader in churches around the country and abroad. Her work has received wide attention in the media and she has been published in magazines, journals and books.
She meets with couples in downtown Chicago and from her home in northwest Indiana. She is available to officiate in all fifty states and in a wide variety of indoor and outdoor locations. She encourages couples to come in for a free half hour meeting to see if they would like to work with her for their ceremony or for counseling.
TESTIMONIALS FOR REV. REBECCA
Dear Rebecca ~ Thank you so much for being our special guide and making our day even more perfect. It was truly an honor to have your there with us at such a profound moment of our lives. Thank you, also, for the unexpected gift of our vows -- we
framed them and have them hanging in a special place. We look forward to sharing a cup of tea with you soon! All the best ~ Jeff & Masayo
Dear Rev. Rebeca ~ What can we say? You were simply fantastic. Really great. You made our special day extra special by hitting all the right notes. The Dylan Thomas love letter couldn't have been more perfect. It was our favorite part of the
entire day -- such a nice surprise from you! Both of our families thought the ceremony was the highlight of the day. ~ Deb & Chris
Dear Rev. Rebecca ~ Thank you so much for being a part of our wedding. Your warm spirit and kind words made the ceremony unforgettable. We will always be grateful for the memories you have created. ~ ~ Love, Kate & Andrew
Dear Rebecca ~ We’ll still savoring our wedding celebration. I’d like to thank you again for your part in shaping the event - your words, your thoughts, your presence, your energy, all that you brought to our ceremony - was a beautiful
fit, and helped us in saying best what we wanted to say most. It felt like we’d known you a long time. You have a gift, a wonderful gift, for creating ceremony, that is meaningful and real and sacred and joyous. Thank you for traveling
so far to share that with us. It would not have been the same without you.
~Mer & Steve
Dear Rebecca ~ We can not thank you enough for all your insight and guidance in making our day truly memorable on many levels. Thank you for expressing our love so uniquely.
~ John & Robin
Dear Rebecca ~ Russell and I wanted to thank you for the wonderful wedding service you made happen for us. The whole experience was more wonderful than we ever even hoped it could be. Thanks again for your guidance and artistry!
~ Rebecca & Russell
Dear Rebecca ~ While we’re still basking in the afterglow of Saturday’s event, we want you to know how truly grateful we are to you for your gentle support, encouragement, and for seeming to know what we wanted without out telling, for
helping us see what we did want, for candle ‘detective’ work, but most of all for beautifully weaving together a ritual we will never forget. It really couldn’t have been any better. Thank you, thank you.
~ Sue & Bob
Dear Rebecca ~ We just wanted to write and thank you for the lovely wedding service. You ‘pulled the stitches” of the readings and the music together with your quilting and weaving metaphors and poetry. We were thrilled at how smoothly
things went and how lovely the whole service was. Your benediction was truly inspired!
~ Mary Beth & Scott,
Dear Rebecca ~ Let me tell you first that we had more compliments on you and the ceremony that you helped create than anything else about our wedding. I think that is the first and best thing a couple can hope to hear. Both of our father’s
spoke specifically of you, of how your warmth, expression of emotion and elocution helped bring the words out from the pages of the books and into the hearts of the family and friends that had gathered. I can’t believe our good luck that we
found you and that you were so creative and perceptive in your selection of the readings.
~ Joseph & Garratt
Dear Rebecca ~ I have such great joy about the way our wedding turned out. Everyone told me how touched they were - even the best man cried! I just can’t imagine how it could have been more wonderful!
~ Rebekah & Jeffrey
Dear Rebecca ~ It’s been more than a month since the wedding and we’re still getting glowing remarks about your work. The gods were with us when we found you and we’ll never forget you. Fondly,
~ Laura & Bill
Dear Rebecca ~ Thank you for a unique, memorable, fabulous ceremony! Your words to us were poignant and spoken with sweet truth. Thank you for a beautiful day!
~ Julie & Bobby
Dear Rebecca ~ Thank you for the tremendous ceremony. It was truly perfect - exactly what we wanted and had envisioned when we decided to get married. Thank you!
~ Brad & Marlese
FAQ for Ceremonies from the Heart
This is the most commonly requested service. It includes the initial meeting, the long meeting where we createof the ceremony, finalizing the order of service with cue-to-cue directions, a walk-through of the ceremony one hour before the real event, officiating at the ceremony, and doing the follow-up paperwork. It generally includes at least two meetings, but may have more of fewer depending on complexity of the ceremony and the couple’s needs.
Most meeting will take place at my downtown Chicago office, but other locations can be arranged. Feel free to call with any questions.
Rev. Rebecca Armstrong
847-707-1781
ceremonies@aol.com
www.revreb.com
WILL YOU BE ABLE TO CASH YOUR WEDDING CHECKS? The summer of 2007 was a great year for weddings, but it also raised a new concern among three of my newlywed couples – PROBLEMS AT THE BANK! It seems that banks are tightening up regulations about what checks can be deposited or cashed. When Mary Smith and John Doe try to cash checks made out to Mr. and Mrs. Doe, or put a check to Mrs. Mary Doe into Mary Smith’s account the bank may say “No Way!” One couple had their whole account frozen while the bank tried to sort out all the different name combinations coming into the account – just as the couple was heading off to their honeymoon! There is a simple way to avoid these nightmares, according to a personal banker at Chase Bank: open a joint account well ahead of the wedding with both of your names on it. Alert your personal banker to the fact that you are getting married and on what date. If you receive any gift checks made out to both of you prior to the wedding, go to the bank in person to make the deposit, taking the opportunity to remind your bank of the upcoming nuptials. If there will be a name change – bride taking the husband’s last name – you can go in and modify the account later. If your bank is still resistant, ask for a name and fax number of a bank officer and have your officiant fax a signed copy of the marriage license immediately after the wedding. This may be critical if you are counting on those wedding checks to help cover the cost of your honeymoon! And the couple who had their assets frozen on the way to Tahiti? A frantic phone call from the airport on Saturday afternoon sent me to my desk where I emailed a personal letter to their banker and attached a copy of the marriage license. They had access to their money on Monday morning and went on to have a great honeymoon. But, who needs the stress! Advance warning is the best defense against unexpected pitfalls at the bank. Just because you know that “what’s yours is now ours” doesn’t mean your friendly banker knows, and, after all, the bank is just trying to look out for your best interests. As with most things having to do with weddings, the best advice is still - PLAN AHEAD!
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