Reverend

Several of our friends had recently been married, all in non-traditional or at least casual and relaxed ceremonies. So there were several references we could have pursued.

We very much wanted the ceremony and proceedings to be conducted in our style and we were quite concerned that an unknown officiant would not be able to learn enough about us to do this properly. Because we are both a little ceremony and pomp shy, this was quite important to us. If we were going to have such a ceremony, it had to be us.

And so we chose to ask one of Tori’s best friends from Pomona College, Jenny Ruhl, if she would be willing to perform the ceremony.

I sometimes wonder if she was thinking about doing it before we asked. She sure didn’t hesitate or need time to think at all. Her "YES" was swift and emphatic and enthusiastic. She was honored and very happy we had asked her to do so.

The only issue we had to resolve was her lack of legal standing...her non-officiant-ness, if you will. We knew of several people who had family or friends ordained through the Universal Life Church (ULC) as did Jenny, herself. It took a couple of phone calls to find out how to do it, but in the end, the procedure was simple.

One can, over the phone (1-209-537-0553) or across the Internet request an ordination from the Universal Life Church.

It is customary to make a donation to the ULC when requesting ordination.

When Jenny spoke with the ULC, she asked what they thought was an appropriate sized donation.

We appreciate a donation.

Yes, but what sort of donation do other people usually make?

We appreciate a donation.