Kay and Ari were married on a beautiful March day. I don’t get to say that too often. Their wedding and reception were at the Daughters of the American Revolution chapter house on Capital Hill. It’s a beautiful old house filled with antiques. The ceremony was done by Pat of A Heavenly Ceremony. You can see their slideshow here.

The DAR building

Rubber ducks as a wedding gift. How cool is that?

A hug for Dad to end the night.

Our latest featured vendor is Patricia Stimac of A Heavenly Ceremony. Photographs are by Cory Parris.

Hello! I’d like to introduce myself and my husband. We are Patricia Stimac and Kent Buttars and we are Seattle officiants. . . and, yes, we do travel throughout the Puget Sound area. You may have heard of us by our company’s name: A Heavenly Ceremony (www.aheavenlyceremony.com).

“Heavenly” means something extraordinarily beautiful and wonderful. The word describes how we feel about wedding ceremonies. It is a gift to find a person you love so much that you want to share the rest of your days with them. Kent and I know this from personal experience: we have been married for almost 30 years. We understand the blessings and challenges of wedded life. When a couple publicly declares they are entering into matrimony, it is certainly a moment to celebrate.

Your wedding ceremony is a reflection of the love you share and a celebration of your life-long commitment to each other. By listening to your thoughts and concerns, providing you with lots of ideas of what is possible, offering the wisdom that comes from 12 years of officiating, and being present in a centered and heartful way, your ceremony will surely be a warm and memorable occasion. And, most importantly, you will be able to relax and enjoy it, since we see to all the details (from directing you rehearsal to coordinating music cues and organizing the procession).

What makes us very good at officiating is we believe in what we do, we have the skills (social, writing, organizational and professional) to be successful, and we both bring a genuine sense of being while we help you plan, rehearse and then officiate. You can look to us and find a sense of calm and compassion on your wedding day. (We also handle emergencies well.)

For couples who would like to improve their relationship skills, I do offer premarital preparation (this is an option, not a requirement). It is based on a communication model known by various names (Straight Talk, Compassionate Communication, Nonviolent Communication) which helps individuals better understand themselves, how to more effective present their concerns and needs, and how to better handle conflict. Then, we can look at your thoughts about being parents, managing finances, couple’s/individual goals and more.

When looking for an officiant, what do you look for?

• Choose someone that you personally feel comfortable with. This is an incredible moment and you want to be able to be yourself.
• Select a person who has the needed talents and abilities to create and officiate your ceremony: a person who listens and translate your words into a ceremony, who publicly presents well, who has good organizational skills, who is timely and responsible.
• Find someone who provides you with the assurance that all will be well. You have enough to be concerned with – the officiant can be the “wedding planner” for the ceremony part of the day.
• Work with a person who provides you with choices, encourages you to shape the ceremony and lets you know exactly what will be said. Someone who offers you guidance and who respects your decisions.

Professionally, we are active in our community, belonging to the Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce, the Phinney Neighborhood Center and the Greenwood Senior Center. We also attend various wedding seminars and take part in the Seattle and Bellevue Wedding Shows. In 2005 we were voted Best Officiant/Clergy in the Seattle Bride poll.

My life philosophy is that I am privileged to be alive … and I hope to contribute to the happiness and well being of my world through being at peace and aware of myself. This translates to sharing our gifts and our selves by being of service through the ceremonies (weddings, memorials, and baby namings) we officiate.

The couples we meet are our inspiration. They each bring their unique perspective about marriage to us. And, when we say (or listen) to the words the two have selected to express their love, it is a reminder of the vows we exchanged decades ago and the commitment we remain dedicated to. Being part of a ceremony always opens my heart to more love.

Regarding specific services and fees, please contact us at weddings@aheavenlyceremony.com or call us at (206)789-9788.

I love to garden, be outdoors, enjoy my family and just appreciate what each day brings. Kent is into bicycling, devising ingenious ways to make our lives easier, history and science, and sharing the joys of every day life. We have had amazing adventures together from building and living on a boat in San Diego, to constructing RV tricycles that we rode from Mexico to Canada, to journeying around the country in our 1963 Classic Shasta trailer and renovating a few houses.