Chicago Weddings

We were looking for an officiant to conduct our wedding before we found out that my father in law was able to marry us after all (he is a pastor), and we met up with Rev. Kolanowski to talk about the details pertaining to the ceremony. Instantly we really liked his sunny personality as well as the warmth and professional demeanor that he brought to the meeting.

He asked about our backgrounds and the story about how we met, in a way that didn't feel at all part of a routine, but rather, friendly and triggered by genuine interest. He gave us lots of options to customize every portion and tone of the ceremony; as well as offered us wonderful suggestions. He even sent us great wedding poems when he found out we loved poetry!

Due to our monetary constraints, and the offer from my father-in-law, we decided to have him marry us instead; however, I was very impressed with pastor Barry and would HIGHLY recommend them to anybody who was looking for a heartfelt and memorable wedding service. Pastor Barry pours himself into his work and we could tell that it isn't a "job" for him, he likes helping couples on their special day and it really shows.

It was a pleasure to meet him.

-Susy and Steve

Reverend Barry was amazing….simply amazing!!! We can’t say enough good things about him. We had met with other reverends but they all felt very cold and distant. It was just business with them; some even came off as arrogant. We were at the point of absolute frustration when we came across Barry. We scheduled a day to meet with him and we knew within the first few minutes of meeting Reverend Barry that he was just what we were looking for. He really listens and genuinely cares about the people he is uniting in marriage. He is warm and friendly and I can’t imagine having anyone else marry us. It was definitely worth the long hard search to find him! If you are reading this review stop looking!!

We chose to attend his partner for life seminar and it was great. He opened our minds up to things that you don’t normally reflect on every day. It wasn’t pressured and you didn’t have to get up and share your answers in a big room with strangers. It is very laid back but he is still opening up the lines of communication and bringing people closer together. They made us very comfortable and it was a very warm and open environment. I’m glad that we attended this.

Barry also did our rehearsal and covered the steps of the ceremony with us until everyone was comfortable. He didn’t give away the entire ceremony though to our friends and family that was in attendance.

He really listened to what we wanted for our readings and vow selections. The ceremony was beautiful. My husband still says the ceremony was his favorite part of the day. Barry threw in extra special touches that were personal to our relationship that really painted the picture of how we came to the point of marriage for everyone. It was amazing of him to really personalize it for us. Our family all were blown away by him and what a beautiful ceremony it was. We can’t thank him enough!!!

We can sum it up simply: Barry was perfect. He took the time and effort to listen and understand us AND our relationship. He was interested and caring. Our service was perfect. During our rehearsal he was careful and responsive, walking us through what would become one of our happiest memories, but making sure we remained confident and alert.

We received so many compliments throughout the reception for Barry's excellent non-denominational service. A few even told us that it was the best, most PERSONAL service they had ever witnessed. They were correct – during our ceremony, Barry remembered key facts and tidbits that we had only glossed over during our initial meeting (e.g. our tiny apartment in France that did NOT feature a bathroom door, and our first meeting/date in our freshman year of high school). These little mentions made the ceremony very special for us as well as our friends and family.

Barry himself even seemed moved during our ceremony, creating a very personal atmosphere throughout the entire service.

If we had to get married again tomorrow, we would pick Barry again. Simple as that. He was MORE than what we had asked for and really, truly delivered on his promises. My wife and I couldn't have been happier with Barry as our officiant. He will always be remembered by us as one of the highlights of our wedding day.

Barry was everything we were looking for in an officiant: friendly, flexible, and low maintenance! He provided us with information to customize our ceremony as much as we liked, was a pleasure to have coordinating the rehearsal, and officiated our wedding joyfully (even in 100 degree heat!). He was so easy to work with!!

Barry is wonderful! So easy to work with, extremely down to earth, and gives you TONS of examples of things to do to make the ceremony perfect! Thank you so very much Barry...for doing the research on the Celtic Stone Ceremony and putting together a beautiful reading that symbolizes extactly what the stone represents. It was so unique and beautiful. It really helped make our ceremony even more special! Thank you again for making our rehearsal and wedding day go so smoothly!

Reverend Barry Kolanowski helped us to create the intimate ceremony we were looking for. He really helped to bring our personal story into our vows which made our ceremony extra special and original. My husband and I felt very comfortable with Reverend Barry and could not be happier with his service. His fee is minimal compared to others I researched, his services are beyond exceptional.

Barry is amazing! We met Barry only one time and somehow he managed to personalize our ceremony remarkably. He must have taken great notes during that initial meeting because his whole introductory speech at the wedding was about my husband and I and how we met, etc. I had no idea he was going to do all that and I was so impressed as I stood up there. Barry also showed great improvisation during the ceremony when he suddenly saw the look of panic on my face when I realized that the presentation roses for the rose ceremony for our parents were nowhere to be seen. He quickly and smoothly grabbed two roses from the altar pieces and handed them to us…along with a few chuckles from the guests. We knew we wanted Barry to officiate our wedding the moment we met him and we have no regrets. He let us plan our whole ceremony and gave us tons of readings/vows to choose from. He is also the most reasonably priced officiant that I found. I would highly recommend Barry to anyone planning a wedding!

Rev. Barry Kolanowski was a pleasure to work with. He provided us with a free consultation prior to contracting him, which (much to the surprise of my wife and I) many other officiants actually charge for. He's such a genuinely nice and friendly person, that we decided on him immediately after we left the initial meeting. His fee was very manageable, and he was very responsive to our emails and phone calls throughout the process. He provided us with a wide variety of good quality sample ceremony readings, and using that, we were able to craft a beautiful ceremony. And last but not least, he was punctual! We definitely recommend Rev. Barry.

We interviewed many officiates; nobody understood us or our vision like Rev. Barry did. Our families and friends all commented on how Rev. Barry did a wonderful job and most importantly the ceremony reflected us 100%. We couldn’t be happier with our ceremony. Perfect doesn’t even come close to describing it. It was that good. Bottom line…Hire him. You will not be disappointed.

Barry was fantastic in allowing us to customize the ceremony to our liking. He keep the ceremony heartfelt with a touch of humor. Our guests thought we knew Barry for years! I will recommend him to anyone looking for an officiant.

I am so glad that I found Reverand Barry and chicagoweddings.org on this website. He did an awesome job with our ceremony and he was also very reasonably priced. We had our initial meeting with him and after that he sent us a bunch of different choices for our ceremony and vows. He is willing to work with you to make your wedding as special as you want it to be. We got a lot of compliments from our guests on the great job he did and on how wonderful the ceremony was. I strongly recommend him.

Barry was the second officiant my husband and I met with while planning our wedding. As soon as we met him, we both knew we wanted Barry to perform our ceremony. Barry is so friendly and personable which came through not only in our meeting with him, but during our ceremony. Once we decided to engage Barry's services he provided us with a materials to help us plan our ceremony. That was very helpful to us and we used the templates he provided for our ceremony but he was open to anything we would have wanted. Our ceremony was just beautiful - touching and sweet but also with a touch of humor which was absolutely perfect for us. Additionally, Barry's rate was fraction of the rate of the other ministers I contacted so it was an excelllent value for our budget.

Barry was absolutely fantastic! He was always early to every appointment we had. He made us feel the most comfortable of all the officiants we met with. He was genuinely interested in us and our life together. After meeting him for the first time, I felt like I knew him for years. Our rehearsal ran extremely smoothly because of him and our ceremony was fantastic. Everyone that attended the ceremony loved the way he ran it and his message to us. He was very humorous too. I will recommend him to anyone I know who is getting married.

What can I say about Barry... Well he is a Wonderful person the first time my husband and I had a meeting with him. He is so kind and understanding and most of all he did a great job ! He interacted with our relatives throughout the ceremony and even had them laughing. It was the best day of our lives and we are extremely happy that Barry was apart of it.

My husband and I were extremely greatful that Barry was our officiant. We could not have asked for anyone better. He set the perfect tone for our ceremony. I had many guests compliment how laidback and fun our ceremony was and I credit that to Barry for understanding us as a couple. Thank you Barry for making our wedding ceremony everything we wanted.

Barry is an excellent officiant. He handled our wedding with the grace, class, and expertise that you would hope for from an officiant. He really was able to organize our wedding party and made the ceremony seem effortless.

Barry was on-time (early!!), Friendly (both families loved him!), respectful (two different belief systems), organized (helped direct/produce a great wedding!) and flexible (traveled to the city and burbs!).

Originally, I wanted a judge but Barry had such a great personality I hired him and he was so respectful of my beliefs. I really enjoyed Barry he really helped make the ceremony smooth! He instructed the wedding party with a great practice of the ceremony events, he had great suggestions for readings and vows, and he was so friendly and patience he really added to making me feel great on my special day!

We are so glad we hired Barry for our wedding! He was super easy to work with, very helpful, and made our ceremony interesting for our guests. He provided a ton of options months before the wedding so all we had to do was pick out what we wanted. Or you can also bring him your ideas. Our wedding was outdoors and it was extremely cold and windy, but Barry did a great job! I had many people tell me they enjoyed his ceremony! Barry was great!

Highly recommend! Barry was great! He was plesant, had a great personality, prompt and organized. He wanted to cater our service to our needs and gave us alot of suggestions for our not-so-traditional wedding!

Barry was a pleasure to work with! Everyone commented on how sweet and had such a great personality. He is very reasonable, prompt, and did a wonderful job with our ceremony on 08/20/10. I could not have been happier!

I would like to write a special thank you to Reverend Barry. Mike & I want to thank you for making our wedding day the most special day ever. I cannot tell you how many positive comments we received from family & friends about how special and loving the ceremony was. You surprised us both (in a very good way) when you mentioned our first date at Red Lobster and when you mentioned our loved ones who have passed, we were both about to loose it (also, in a very good way). Your professionalism and kind heart made us seem like you've known us for many many years. If anyone is considering Reverend Barry, we can both guarantee you that your wedding day will be one to remember forever and ever! Thank you again Reverend Barry from Michael & Bernadette Czarnik!

Pastor Barry was very helpful and professional. He had great idea's to help make our day special. I recommend him to everyone I know!

We knew Barry was the perfect officiant for us from the beginning. He made us feel so comfortable during our first meeting and calmed our nerves when it came down to all of the details of the ceremony. Barry was flexible and provided guidance with all of the details. He really made our ceremony PERFECT!! He is a great speaker and very funny too! We received so many compliments from our guests of how great Barry was including the coordinator at our wedding site Klein Creek Golf club. He really knew what he was doing and provided relief and companionship to my husband while they waited for me to come down the aisle. I cannot possilbly say enough great things about Barry and would recommend him to anyone!

Was able to taylor our service to fit our needs.

Rev. Barry Kolanowski is not only a great officiant, but a wonderful person. As soon as my (now) husband and I met him, we knew that he would be the perfect offician to marry us. We met with a priest before him that was very judgmental and overall, not very nice; so when we met Rev. Barry we were relieved. At the rehearsal, he laid everything out nice and easily, was patient with my wedding party of 24(!), and fully prepared us for the wedding day. Prior to the ceremony, he helped put on the guy's boutonnieres and just completely stepped beyond the role of officiant. My parents just raved about how wonderful he was. During the ceremony, he shared many inspirational words about love and marriage. He is fairly priced (much lower than other officiants I called) and goes above and beyond what is expected of him. I obviously can't say enough nice things about him :-) Choose Reverend Barry to be your officiant... you will NOT regret it!!

If you want a beautiful personalized wedding, you must MUST call Pastor Barry. This man has a heart of gold. He's sweet, gentle ans really funny! We initially met with him for prior to the wedding and my now husband and I knew immediately that he was the one. He ran our rehearsal like a pro. the day of, he was early and had a way about him that calmed all our nerves. He had open communication with my string quartet about music played during the ceremony which was helpful. This officiant is one of a kind not at all like the rent-a-revs you'll find out there.

Barry made our day better than we could have ever imagined! He was an extreme help and pleasure to work with. He was always there to answer any question we had and was extremely professional. He worked around our schedule, always responded quickly and made it so we didn't have to worry about anything except showing up :-) He helped to personalize our ceremony so it was a true refelction of who we are nbot only as a couple but also as a family. I would highly recommend him to anyone who is looking for an officiant!

I found Pastor Barry on this website, by just doing the search. We got about 10-15 e-mail responses from different officiants to marry us. But from the very first e-mail we liked him, and we made an appointment. When we first met Pastor Barry, he made us feel both very comfortable, and we laughed a lot as he began asking us questions trying to get to know us. We signed him immediately, because we knew that we didn’t need to talk to anyone else. Though the whole ceremony planning process, he was very helpful. He provided us with a ton of material to let us customize our ceremony to how we wanted it to be. And he answered ALL of my questions in a VERY timely fashion.

Now when it came to the wedding time, he showed up early for the rehearsal, and got about 28 people prepared for the next day’s events. On wedding day, everything ran so smoothly. He was polite, he was funny, and he was very professional. My mom was so impressed with him. Her comments were,” I was almost crying, but I couldn’t because he kept making me laugh.” I definitely recommend Pastor Barry for anyone’s wedding. He is 100% worth it!!!

Thank you again Pastor Barry!!

Barry was great - he was completely prepared, and we were so happy with our ceremony! Even less-than-prepared groomsmen and people doing readings are no match for him!

Barry was very professional. The material he provides is easy to follow and provides enough variety to help you make your service specific to you. We would recommend Barry to anyone who is looking for a minister to perform the ceremony.

This officiant was a wonderful speaker during the ceremony. He brought something special to the day. I had so many people approach me and tell me how great the service was and how nice the officiant was. He was on time and made sure everyone was doing well and ready for such a big day. I could not have asked for anyone better. I would have no problem refering him to anyone.

My husband and I recommend Pastor Barry to everyone. He made the ceremony so perfect and everyone complimented on how well he did. We are so happy we found him!!!

We loved having Rev. Barry be the officiant at our wedding! He met with us a few months before the wedding and then was available by phone or email after that. I found that he replied to emails within 24 hours and even sent us tons of samples vows, readings, etc. to choose from - we even created some of our own. He was very affordable and was available not only for the ceremony, but also to lead the rehersal. We would definitely recommend him to couples...he is not only affordable, sincere, and kind, he also truly wants to work with you so you can have the best ceremony possible!

Barry was the perfect officiant for our wedding. We had a very non-traditional wedding, with a mix of American and Hindu traditions, including quite a few rituals and Hindi words and Barry did a phenomenal job. The ceremony exceeded our expectations! Barry easily guided us through all of the rituals. The venue's microphone did not work properly so he turned it off and my guests said they had no trouble hearing him. Many people told us they loved our ceremony and I have no doubt a lot of that is due to Barry. We've already had two requests for his contact information and I'm happy to endorse his services.
I had no worries even before the wedding day because he worked very closely with me to understand the ceremony and pronounce all of the words. He was very enthusiastic throughout the planning process, which made us even more excited and at ease. In addition, I sent him the ceremony materials very late, yet he was extremely nice and calm the entire planning process. At first, my husband and I wanted to go with a judge so there were no religious aspects to the ceremony, but Barry was so flexible and understanding and he never pushed anything religous into the ceremony per our request. Also, his price is extremely affordable, especially with all of the time and effort he puts into the ceremony planning. I cannot imagine a better officiant!

Pastor Barry was truly wonderful! He made our wedding absolutely perfect. Pastor Barry is extremely responsive, very organized and put us at ease during the rehearsal and ceremony. Our ceremony was just perfect – more than words can say. We received so many compliments on Pastor Barry from our guests, even weeks after the wedding we’re still hearing so many nice things. I honestly couldn't have imagined a more perfect officient.

My wedding day was perfect! Pastor Barry did a wonderful job helping me organize the ceremony. He offered many different selections for vows and allowed to service to be customized EXACTLY how we wanted. You can tell that he really cared, by offering advice and help, even before we hired him. When I look at the pictures from my wedding, he is smiling in every single one of them and you can tell that he really enjoys his work. I would highly recommend Pastor Barry!

Pastor Barry was great and very professional. We arranged a time to meet with him in person and we hired him on the spot to officiate our wedding. He was just warm and friendly and we felt immediately comfortable. He even had a wedding to officiant the day before our wedding so we worked with him and found a time where he could still make it to the rehearsal without having to rush to get to the wedding he had to be at. Everything worked out great...now all we need to do is get a copy of our marriage certificate!

Barry was wonderful to work with! He provided so much information and helped me plan the perfect wedding ceremony that fit the taste of me and my husband. He was really easy to work with and always responded to my questions quickly and helped put the busy bride at ease during the entire planning process. He was one of the few vendors that I worked with that I didn't feel the need to confirm or check up on to make sure they were still coming. He was professional, helpful and extremely nice throughout the entire process. His ceremony was perfect and his positive attitude and enjoyment helped set the stage for a perfect wedding day! I would highly recommend Barry to anyone looking for an officiant. He was a real pleasure to work with!

Barry was a wonderful officiant and helped make our ceremony perfect. He was exactly the type of person I wanted for our ceremony.

Barry was an absolute joy to work with. We loved him from the first time we met, he is very friendly and down to earth. He was always very quick to respond to my emails/calls and emailed me all sorts of helpful info. for readings and ceremony choices etc. I HIGHLY recommend him!! He made our day extra special and I am going to miss him.

Initially when searching for an officiant, my husband and I looked at alot of websites and emailed with quite a few potential officiants. Barry was the only officiant who took the time to call us directly and hear straight from us what we were looking for. In talking with him that first time, Barry offered to set up a free in-person consultation with us. He drove over 90 minutes early on a Saturday morning in a blizzard to meet with us at a Starbucks! He was so accomodating and attentive to what we wanted to happen in our ceremony. While my husband and I had ideas of what we wanted to happen in the ceremony, those ideas were always changing. Barry was very open throughout the entire process as my husband I shifted ideas quite a few times. On the evening of our rehearsal, Barry was very friendly and enjoyable to be around. Both our families found him to be a pleasure, and the actual wedding ceremony worked out beautifully!

Rev. Barry was amazing. He was very easy going and very professional. He offered lots of help with planning the ceremony, picking vows/readings etc. and made me and my family feel extremly taken care of.

I found Pastor Barry online through a recommendation from another officiant who was not available for my date. My ceremony was not religious and Pastor Barry did a great job of accommodating this request. He was very professional and corresponded promptly with me via e-mail/phone. He provided a large list of poems/benedictions/vows and ideas for the actual ceremony (much better than I could have come up with on my own). He arrived for the ceremony and delivered the documents to the court house on time. I have no complaints. The fee was on the high end, but similar to other quotes I received in the Chicagoland area.

I recommend Chicago Weddings to all my brides! I loved working with them.

Barry is a kind and respectful gentlemen with an extremely friendly nature. He makes you feel important even at the first meeting. All of this adds up to a calm comfortable ceremony. He is a great person!