Testimonials
Spiritual Wedding
Dearest Elisheva & T. Wade,
It has been one month and one day since the happiest day of our lives (OK, maybe the second happiest, given the day Emily was born). We need to express our sincerest thanks for the process you enforced in getting us properly married. This was the key to everything. Things had been going well with us for years, and we both thought it was little silly to answer all of the questions you posed. For the first time in years, we were forced to think deeply about our relationship and about our feelings for one another (and also to think deeply about ourselves). And then you took our musing and created a special ceremony, one that deeply touched everyone in attendance. The ceremony was perfect - exactly what we would have wished our family and friends to hear. And we could never have created that without you and your insights into what makes a couple special to one another. We especially enjoyed the hand binding section - Jan was worried that her family would be too shy to participate, but several of them told us afterwards how much they enjoyed that part. And we heard over and over again from those present that it was the most beautiful wedding they had ever attended (maybe people always say this, but we choose to believe them in any case.
People keep asking me how we found you guys - and I am almost embarrassed to say, "I found them on the internet." After some reflection, I realize that this is because I have always been skeptical of people who meet their soul mates online. And after the wedding preparation process, and then the ceremony, it does feel like this was a soul mating of ministers to brides. So now I will suspend my skepticism of online dating, and know that it is indeed possible.
People also wonder why we waited so long. As we expressed in our questionnaires, we are both pragmatic and wanted to wait until it seemed like "making it legal" would have some practical ramifications. However, after the ceremony we realized that this was the perfect time in our lives to get married and to hold this ceremony in front of friends and family. It would not have been the same ceremony if we had done it sooner. Emily would not have been quite as mature and thoughtful in her remarks. We likely would not have had you as our ministers, and therefore the ceremony would not have been nearly as special of thoughtful as it was. And we would not have reflected as deeply on our relationship beforehand, and that would have diminished the ceremony even further. Another way we know the timing was right is that we were both able to truly focus on and listen to the words of the ceremony, and to absorb their meaning in real time. I suspect this is rare - many couples seem to be in a daze during the ceremony.
Finally, we want to report that we are taking our vows seriously, and trying to live up to them every day. Thank you for the notebook that makes them easy to find and review. We are trying to "see" one another in new ways. We look forward to visiting you, and replenishing your jam supply! And we invite you to visit Three Oaks Farm if you are ever in southwest Virginia.
With love and many, many thanks,
Suzie & Jan married June 9, 2012 at Intown Uptown Inn, Washington, DC
Spiritual Wedding
Reverend Elisheva & Wade
Holli and I wanted to take a moment to express our deep apprecation and many thanks to you both. It has been amazing to get to know you both and have you both enter our lives. The way you both took the time to get to know us was amazing. Truly made the words being spoken in the ceremony that more meaningful.We are truly blessed to have you both in our lives and look forward to getting to know you more and more throughout the years. Thank you will never be enough to truly express our appeciation and the true depth of how much you both mean to us.
With lots of love and many thanks
Danielle Fergus & Holly Bennett married September 10. 2011
at the
Khimaira Farm, Luray, VA
Spiritual Wedding
Hello ,
We both feel blessed to have had the reverends officiate our service. We had the challenge of putting our DC wedding together from afar and the ease and comfort we found working with Reverend Elisheva was truly appreciated. Our service was personal, meaningful and thoughtful. Each of the reverends were a wonderful source of comfort on the day of our wedding which was great for those of us who are prone to getting nervous when on the spot.
With Love,
Renee Ussery & Courtney Bryson married January 22. 2011
at the International
Student House in Washington DC
Spiritual Wedding
Suzanne and I knew immediately that we were meant to spend our lives together. When we realized we already had plans to be in Washington DC the week same sex marriage laws were to become legal, we made the decision to be one of the first lesbian couples to be legally wed under the new law.
Our planning began and we found Elisheva and Wade, we had an immediate connection and felt as if we had known them forever. They counseled us together and individually to help prepare us for this amazing step forward not only for us as a couple and parents of a wonderful 14 year old son, but also worked with us as friends. We felt embraced by their love with every communication. Since we were not from the DC area, Elisheva walked us through the application process in the District and of planning the ceremony. She made it easy so that we could focus our energy on each other and truly enjoy the ceremony with our friends and family. Great care was taken by them to understand us as a couple and as individuals.
The ceremony that was prepared was more intimate, more moving than any wedding we have ever attended. The loving details, energy and creativity that was put into our ceremony was unprecedented and we will never forget. It was a day that will live with us forever.
With Love, Char and Suzanne Hamilton married March 6, 2010 at Hotel Rouge Washington DC
Spiritual Wedding
Dear Wade and Elisheva,
Hope you are doing well. We are back from our honeymoon and trying to get our new place ready to move in. It took a long time for us to write this thank-you email because Amanda is such a procrastinator.... well, we both are! .... Like I tell our family, we just have a very special and unique way to schedule things
Our honeymoon was so wonderful. We departed from Baltimore the day after our wedding. Our first stop was Orlando, we were like two kids running around Universal Studio and Adventure Island. We got on every ride we could and had a blast. We had fatty food, ice cream and lots of coffee. We just enjoyed our time there. Our next stop was Nassau in Bahamas. We spent two days at sea before we got there, so at this point, we had partied on the ship a little too much. Did I mentioned that Amanda and I sang karaoke together???? Well, we did. Unfortunately, I have no video to prove it but will keep it in my mind forever. So, we stop in Nassau for a day. When we woke up and got ready to get off the boat, we realized that there was almost nobody on the ship. We went to the customer service desk and asked them how to get off the boat. They smiled and realized we had spent all that time in our suite (HELLO, it was our honeymoon). We got off the boat at around 4pm and got my hair braided. We just walked around town, ate something and took a nice horse carriage ride. We had a nice time there. Our next stop was Freeport in Bahamas. At this point, we decided to take an excursion to prevent what had happened the day before from happening again. After all, we needed some proof that we were in Bahamas, right? So, we spend the whole day at this beautiful resort in one of the Islands. We just had a lazy day at the beach, spent some time in the pool and I did some water aerobics. We came back on Sunday. Trust me when I tell you that it was very hard to get off the ship... we did not want to come back to reality. That is what our honeymoon really was 'a wonderful dream' and we did not want to wake up.
We are now back to work and back to our normal routine. Many friends have asked us "how does it feel to be married?" I have thought about it many times. I tried to figure out the difference in our lives after we got married. I think it is too early to see any difference -we are still in our honeymoon- and we love it. It feels good to be able to talk about Amanda as my wife. At first, I thought it would be challenging, I was not used to saying 'my wife'. The truth is, she is. Amanda is my wife before the law and before the whole world. The more I said it the easier it got. So, it comes right out now. I love talking about her all the time.
We wanted to thank you for believing in our love and helping us to make our wedding possible. We loved our ceremony. Thanks for making it so special and unforgettable. We officially adopted you as our parents so you HAVE to keep in touch with us. We would love to invite you to spend a weekend with us, at our home, after we move. We know that you have a busy schedule so let us know if sometime between August-September works for you
Hope to hear back from you soon.
Love,
(Signed anonymously until DADT becomes obsolete!)
Married May 8, 2010 in Washington, DC
on the Cherry Blossom Riverboat on the Potomac River
Spiritual Wedding
We would like to heartily thank you for a phenomenal ceremony. Even
months after, our friends and family would mention that we had the most
meaningful and moving ceremony that they had ever witnessed. Tanja and
I plan to read our ceremony book on every anniversary we share together.
We are also so pleased to know that there are two wonderful interfaith
ministers out there to share all of our major milestones with in the
future. We hope to have you do our baby-naming ceremony when we finally
start to begin our family.
Thanks again. Chris & Tanya
(Ceremony performed April 27, 2008
at
Chesapeake Bay Foundation Phillip Merrill Environmental Center,
Annapolis, MD)
Spiritual Wedding
Where to begin?? T. Wade and Elisheva truly amazed us since we couldn’t even fathom what a wedding with two brides would be like. They counseled us together and individually to make sure that we were ready for this step. Wade and Elisheva walked us through the entire process of planning the ceremony and even advised us as to how to handle all of the little details that would get the best of us. We are more in love with each other because of our new set of parents, Wade and Elisheva. We felt like lost orphans until we met them. Our ceremony was more intimate than any wedding we have ever attended. The loving details, energy and creativity that was put into our ceremony was unprecedented and we will never forget it. I will always remember that the most important hug that I received that morning before the ceremony was from my new parents, Wade and Elisheva. Whether you are looking for a traditional ceremony or one that is quite unique, you definitely are looking for Rev. Wade and Elisheva Clegg to do your ceremony. All of the guests at the wedding asked us if these two were pastors so that they could join their church and have them to perform their future wedding ceremonies. We love the Cleggs and you will love them too!!!
Kimberly & Mercinda(ceremony performed in Arlington, VA November 11, 2009)
