Karisa
"It was such a pleasure to have Francie marry my husband and me. She was so informative from the start and made sure that Amir and I felt completely comfortable with what she had written. She made it clear that if we had any issues we should let her know, but of course, the first draft she delivered was absolutely perfect! Francie was also an incredible resource as we wrote our vows and was happy to help us get those finalized. We couldn’t have asked for a better officiant and highly recommend working with Francie for your wedding!"
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Kayla & Nate
Francie is an absolute gem and truly, I am SO incredibly thankful and blessed I found her. How many weddings have you been to where the ceremony was not the memorable aspect and after all, that’s why we’re all there!? I planned my micro-wedding in a little under two months but, just because the planning time was shortened did not mean I wanted to skip out on amazing vendors to make for a memorable day. And let me tell you, finding an officiant that feels authentic, kind and light-hearted, is not an easy task. Not because there are not good officiants out there but, finding someone that makes you feel calm, heard, and wants to move you in the best way possible is not easy and believe me, I reached out to several officiants all lovely but, no Francie!
Francie brought into focus a moving and true-to-us ceremony. Tears, love, laughter were felt by all in the room. She wove into the ceremony our love story along with little bits and pieces of who we are both as a couple and as individuals. She took the time to meet with us, supported us at the rehearsal and submitted our marriage license in record time (we received it back from the town in less than a week from our wedding date). All to say, Francie has all the elements you need (filing of the license, rehearsal support, etc.) plus all that you want (taking time to make the ceremony everything you never knew you wanted). My husband and I cannot thank Francie enough!”
Sonia
"Francie led a Zoom memorial for our dad during the Covid pandemic. She was such a safe person to have entrusted this job to. She really put her whole big heart into it, and the tone she set was lovely. She interviewed many family members while preparing the service, and seemed to really capture his essence when she spoke about him. I feel she liked our dad even though she never met him, and was interested in his quirks, which I really appreciated. She also had good timing. She was always respectful, and at appropriate times was humorous. She had perfectly timed pauses, and would look at the camera at key moments for emphasis. And perhaps what I appreciated most was that there was a ribbon of kindness through how she spoke with the family while preparing the service, and how she talked about dad and those who attended the service. I think having an officiant was important for us in that she helped the family think about Dad while she was learning about him, and she was very supportive to us in a way that a funeral director or perhaps even a clergy member might not be. While I was struggling with what I wanted to say about Dad, she gave me just the right encouraging words and helped me stop going down an unnecessary path. I had really needed her help right at that time. We are very grateful to and appreciative of Francie, and highly recommend her!"
Patti
"Francie is warm, compassionate, and engaging. Her deep joy and reverence for creating celebratory rituals for life's big moments made our celebration so personal and so very special. Francie is a delight to work with."
Megan & Mike
“Thanks to Francie, we had an absolutely beautiful ceremony! When we first met with Francie, she had such a welcoming presence and made it clear she was going to create a personalized ceremony for us. Francie did an amazing job incorporating our story into our ceremony to make it special. She communicated with us often to make sure she was on the same page for what we were envisioning. With all of Francie’s effort, we knew our day would be wonderful and special, and it certainly was! We recommend Francie for anyone’s wedding.”
Bonnie & Rick
“Francie is a true aficionado when it comes to setting the scene for the married couple and guests and enfolding the story of how two people came together and painting the picture of their love story. Francie was very open and receptive when we shared our ideas of what elements we would like to see in our marriage ceremony. We shared favorites quotes, our handwritten vows, poignant stories of our parents, children and dear friends. Francie beautifully and with such “Francie style”, composed the most meaningful, heartfelt, symbolic, witty and charming Wedding Ceremony. Her warm and loving spirit shines through like the gleam on the beautiful ocean.”
Elisa, Debi & families
“Francie, I can't thank you enough for the amazing Celebration of Life you composed and officiated for my Mom, Georgia. My mom was a dynamic, complex force of nature and I can't imagine anyone who could have captured her like you did. My entire family was touched, inspired and in awe that a funeral could truly make us laugh and cry, and above all leave us feeling a depth of love and gratitude for the family my Mom watched over, and for the gifts she gave us. My Mom was neither a sinner nor a saint, and you captured her honestly and authentically and helped us all find our own favorite memories in comforting ways.”
Heather & Jared
Numerous guests from our wedding told us that we had one of, if not the most intimate, romantic, and spiritual ceremonies they had ever witnessed. Francie was instrumental in helping us achieve that most honored praise. As an officiant, Francie delivered top notch service on multiple fronts. Leading up to the ceremony, she maintained a perfect balance of following up with us to ensure that she could do her job of crafting a beautiful, personalized service while not applying too much pressure, ever aware of the overall effort that goes into planning an entire wedding. Her questionnaire was a perfect tool to help script a lovely, personal preamble to our vows which gave our entire audience a brief but thorough recount of our love story. We highly recommend every couple take those questions seriously and make the time to answer them to the best of their ability because she uses those answers well. Ever communicative, Francie shared her script with us with plenty of time for us to review it and edit. She was humble and permissive, encouraging us to tailor it to us. Truth is, it didn’t require any major overhauls! Finally, at the rehearsal and ceremony, Francie was a professional, calming presence. She allowed us to have some fun and figure things out, all the while patiently guiding us to our goal of a romantic and personal ceremony. Our only regret is that things we went so fast after the ceremony and we didn’t get a chance to offer her to stay for our reception! We genuinely loved Francie and could not have achieved our dream ceremony without her spectacular efforts.
Gabby & Mike
Francie is an amazing officiant! We truly don’t have enough good things to say about her. In fact, we are still getting compliments more than a month later about how special, and meaningful the ceremony was - and that is all thanks to Francie. We’re obviously a tad biased…but even our parents’ “pickier” friends said it was one of the best wedding ceremonies they’ve attended. Not only was the ceremony flawless, Francie made the planning process so easy, stress-free and most importantly personal. She took into consideration every detail that was meaningful to us as well as the details we did not want incorporated. Even though we had never met in person before the big day, we felt that someone who knew us for years was beside us on our wedding day.
As one of three girls, I can guarantee our wedding is not the only in our family Francie will be part of! We couldn’t have asked for a better experience. If you’re still in need of an officiant for your wedding, don’t hesitate to reach out to Francie…you won’t be disappointed!”
photo courtesy of Deb Grazier
Liz & Joe
“ Working with Francie for our wedding was delightful from the moment we first met.. I (Liz) actually met Francie when she officiated Kayla and Nate’s wedding. I was enchanted by her warm presence and the way she delivered the couples story. There were moments of laughter, sentiment, and true love. I knew that if she had our wedding date available my search would be complete. Well fast forward a few months and the date was free, we set up an online video call so she could meet my husband Joe and get to know us a bit more. The conversation felt like we were all friends catching up. We found many similarities between all of us, love of tulips, music, bright colors, just to name a few! Francie is so easy to talk to, and she’s a great listener. Genuinely a wonderful person and we feel so blessed to have booked her. Francie wrote us a beautiful ceremony and we both were confident that it was exactly what we had in mind. I am still getting comments from my guests about how beautiful our ceremony was and that’s all thanks to Francie. She is well spoken, confident, and you can just tell she loves people and cares about the human connection through story telling. I would recommend Francie over and over and over again. Thank you, Francie, we love you. ”
Megan K.
“At my mom’s Celebration of Life at the end of September late fall, Francie did such a wonderful job capturing my mom's vivacious personality. Her ability to recognize and acknowledge my mother did not just happen by accident. It was after several zoom meetings and emails that she was able to do so. She also had the challenge of trying to appease three sisters that often did not see eye to eye. Francie was able to ask the right questions and that guided my sisters and I to come together and share. She encouraged us to laugh and to cry and grieve so that she could truly understand who she was going to be speaking about. We all felt that my mother would have loved the job she did. Francie is so skilled at all aspects: public speaking, grief, and people skills. At the end of the ceremony my sisters and I discussed how Francie had made the day an outstanding tribute to our mother. To this day my sisters and I are in a better place thanks to her!!!”
Bill H.
"Our family was so thankful to have Francie speak at my father's funeral. She did a wonderful job to help us all through the grieving process. From the weeks and days leading up to the service, to the day of, she was so helpful in putting things together for us. She gave us exactly the service our family wanted to honor his life.”
Al Y.
"Just wanted to say thank you again, Francie, for your wonderful handling of Roger's memorial service. Your script was right on and the presentation was perfect, both at the Ahern Funeral Home, Frank's facility, and the graveside. Kudos to Frank for recommending you to us
because you captured Roger's essence very well. Very much appreciated."
Mary Ann
"Francie did an impressive job officiating a ceremony I attended in Chicago last fall (2019).
She gave remarkable attention to detail and succeeded in setting the appropriate tone of the celebration to reflect [the client’s] intention and requests.
I highly recommend Francie Brown to be your Celebrant."