Living Ceremonies

If I could give Rev. Benita more than 5 stars I would. We are truly so grateful that she was an integral part of our wedding day. We connected with her about 5-6 months prior to our wedding day and from our first meeting with her we knew that she would be an amazing officiant. She truly goes above and beyond to tell your love story and is wonderful at accommodating any special traditions or rituals that you want to incorporate into your wedding ceremony. She is also accommodating of non-traditional ceremonies; which we greatly appreciated. I was extremely thankful for her professionalism, organization, guidance and patience through our wedding planning process.

She truly exceeded our expectations for our ceremony. She gave us an outline of how it would go and we had told her some things we wanted to incorporate, but we wanted the specifics to be a surprise on our wedding day. She did a beautiful job of telling our love story. There was laughter and tears, but more than anything the ceremony was overwhelmingly "us". It truly captured the essence of who my partner and I are and the story of our love. All of our guests mentioned how wonderful and unique our ceremony was.

I cannot recommend Benita enough and will refer her to anyone I can!

From our very first conversation with Benita we felt totally at ease. We decided to have premarital counseling with Benita in addition to her officiating our wedding. We had three sessions, which we found very valuable and thought provoking - my now husband and I kept continuing the conversations we started with Benita after each session since it sparked deeper conversations. While we may have had some of these conversations before, it served as a helpful reminder to revisit and align on where we are as a couple and where we want to go. Part of Benita’s process is having each person share their version of their love story, in addition to family and friends sharing their views and wishes for the couple. I spent over an hour telling my side of our first date, engagement, and life together and it was easily one of the things I was looking forward to hearing during the ceremony. Benita gave us a lot of flexibility in customizing the ceremony to our views and wishes, so it felt great having a partner listen to what we both want out of our partnership and want to convey to our loved ones. During our actual ceremony, Benita was warm and funny - it was one of my favorite ceremonies I’ve sat through (but I’m biased). My mother was asked by guests if she was part of our family the way that she talked about us and our love with so much knowledge and kindness! We definitely wouldn’t mind if she was! I, nor my husband, cannot sing her praises enough. Thank you so much Benita for helping us usher in a new chapter and create such a beautiful ceremony and day! 

“Benita made our wedding ceremony so special!!  All of our guests were raving about how she brought our love story to life with so much energy.  She truly made our ceremony feel like a celebration.  So many of our guests said it was the best wedding ceremony they had ever been to.  Additionally, our premarital counseling sessions sparked great discussions that every couple should have before marriage.  We highly recommend hiring Living Ceremonies for your wedding.”

“If I could give more stars I would. Our original officiant had a conflict about 90 days prior to the weeding date. We were stressed until Benita stepped in and took charge. She immediately got up to speed on all the plans and removed all doubts that our wedding would be perfect. Benita performed extensive research on us as a couple and individually, reviewing our social media posts, conducting interviews with family and friends and of course the bride and groom. During the planning process Benita was engaged with other wedding vendors, helping to coordinate the details and perfecting the flow of the wedding. Fast forward to the big day! Benita did an awesome job officiating our ceremony. Our ceremony was closed and she masterfully informed the guests that there would be no phones or recording devices. Her ceremony was engaging & entertaining, the thoughtfulness she crafted into telling our story had the guests laughing and crying at the same time. She is a true master of ceremony.”

Rev. Benita was amazing as our officiant at our wedding! She is amazingly personable, caring, compassionate, and made us feel so comfortable. More than anything it was apparent that Benita wanted to help us create our dream ceremony, and asked all the questions to make sure that she knew what we had in mind. We also did premarital counseling with Rev. Benita and each session opened our minds to exploring and revisiting important conversations about our relationship. During the ceremony, she spoke beautifully to our love story which evoked tears and laughs from all in attendance. Even after the wedding she made it clear that she is available in the future to continue to have conversations about navigating marriage. Overall, Benita made us feel so comfortable and seen and we are so thankful and fortunate to have had her as our officiant. Everything was 10/10 - if we could give her more stars we would! Thank you, Rev. Benita!

“Benita was fantastic! She fulfilled all of our special requests for our ceremony. The process of Benita getting to know us was fun and my wife and I were pleasantly surprised that it strengthened our relationship. Benita’s ceremony was both heartfelt and entertaining. I never thought I was going to hear such great feedback from so many guest at our wedding about how awesome the ceremony was. Thank you so much, Benita! Much love ❤️ “

Benita was truly amazing! Our ceremony very much exceeded our expectations all due to Benita. She was engaging and charismatic. She shared our story in the most beautiful way. I could not ask for more and I will recommend her 100 times over

“Couldn’t have asked for a better officiant! Rev. Benita really took the time to get to know us and our story and included it in an individualized ceremony. We had our wedding 8 hours away from family & home, but Benita provided a level of comfortability that was priceless for our special day and we truly can’t thank her enough!”

"Ms. Benita was awesome! From beginning to end, she was caring, considerate, and thoughtful. Being from out of state, she made every effort to create a sincere relationship with both of us. She fulfilled every request and became a pivotal person within our journey to marriage.”

"Our wedding was amazing!  Rev. Benita's captivating words are still, to this day, a highlight of our ceremony. Inspiring and encouraging words we will never forget, we are so appreciative of her professionalism and care. Rev. Benita gave us a gift that was priceless!"

"Benita was so sweet and kind.  She took the time to learn about our entire story and all the small details that makes us, us.  We had a few meetings prior to the wedding to just discuss how we were feeling and how the process was going.  She did everything the way we asked and never questioned us at all."

"Benita did an amazing ceremony for our wedding in June she did everything I wanted it was so personable and intimate. I love how she added the prayer into it and shared our love story which made all of our guests laugh and some tear up.”

"Rev. Benita was prompt, kind and flexible. We were married during the height of the pandemic. Given everything happening at the time, we are so grateful she was able to serve as our officiant. Rev. Benita was able to meet us at our location and officiate our ceremony.

Thank you so much Pastor."

“Rev. Benita was a pleasure to work with!  She wrote a beautiful speech for our ceremony! She’s very kind and professional!  I’m so happy we chose her to be a part of our special day!”

“Benita was fantastic! We had multiple sessions with her in order to prepare for our big day and our marriage. She was organized, kind and knowledgeable. The day of the wedding, the ceremony was perfect. How she constructed our love story into the ceremony was beautiful. All of our guests commented on how amazing she was! We are so grateful for her and we highly recommend her!!!”

“Rev. Benita was absolutely amazing. Every step of the way since the beginning. Our ceremony was amazing as well. She made us laugh and our love story was spot on. I truly appreciate you marrying us and all the support you gave us. I highly recommend 10/10.”

“Five stars does not do Rev. Benita justice. She was incredibly kind and made our ceremony perfect. Our guests are still talking about how unique our ceremony was. I would absolutely recommend Living Ceremonies to anyone looking for an officiant.”

I reached out to Ms. Benita a week or two before my wedding. I was in full panic mode, due to hired officiant was going to be a no-show. I truly believe everything happens for a reason! She took my call and jumped right in, though she had prior engagements with her family that weekend. She drafted the contract and scheduled a zoom call the following day. I knew the moment I spoke with her she was the ONE. We spoke daily up to the wedding and the ceremony was amazing!! It was fully customized, matched our personality and energy like no other. You would have thought she had known us for years! She was everything we could’ve dreamed of for an officiant. I will always remember 9-23-23 for two reasons; 1) the obvious, married my best friend and 2)my officiant. Ms. Benita is a true gem!!

If you want a true personal, lifetime experience, Ms. Benita is a MUST.... she pours her heart and beautiful soul into the entire process. Don't miss out!

I wish that everyone could have an officiant as incredible as Benita! My husband and I are unique in the fact that this was our second wedding to each other, we are not from the Nashville area, and we did not know Benita personally prior to hiring her. Our first officiant for our first wedding years ago was a family friend, and we both felt that Benita knew us better and portrayed our story completely within our ceremony. She is warm and inviting, smart and organized, professional and thorough. She made our guests (and us) laugh, cry, smile, and feel special. We are incredibly grateful for Benita and will consider her a special part of our journey forever.

“My fiancé and I needed to perform our vows before our destination wedding, and Reverend Benita came to our home and performed our vows on our front porch with only a day’s notice.  She was absolutely phenomenal, and I wish I could teleport her to Belize to do our ceremony down there!  Reverend Benita is so kind, shared the most touching words, prayed for us, was so professional, responsible and reliable – what more could you ask!  I HIGHLY recommend her to anyone getting married!  Thank you Reverend for making yesterday so special.”

Dr. Benita was an absolute jewel and made our wedding ceremony so special. We appreciated how organized she was and how she walked with us every step of the way. Our personalized wedding story was such a delight to hear during the ceremony. She thought of things we didn’t and made sure the ceremony went without a hitch. She even handled getting our marriage license to the clerk’s office after the wedding as we were leaving for our honeymoon soon after. I would recommend her ten times over if you are looking for an officiant.

Reverend Benita did an amazing job officiating our wedding ceremony. She wrote us a beautiful love story. It brought tears to my eyes to hear our love being brought to life with such joyous and touching words. Our guest loved her professionalism and poise. She also provided us with premarital counseling and gave us words of wisdom and advice we continue to use in our marriage. Thank you for making our wedding day not only unforgettable but beautiful too. ❤️

"We connected with Rev. Benita fairly late based on a traditional wedding timeline. She immediately got to work, collecting information from us and our closest people- began building our personalized ceremony. When I say she truly exceeded our expectations, we are STILL talking about the ceremony. It was so unique, personal, uplifting and touching-we could not have ended up in better hands. It was such a beautiful day & Rev. Benita was to thank. She included our best memories, our small group of guests & did it with the biggest smile! We are so grateful Rev. Benita was able to share her gift with us that day-the memories will last a lifetime!"

Dr. Rev. Benita Livingston was amazing. We used her as our officiant for our wedding, and we had no regrets. She was very engaged from the moment we first met her. We knew she enjoyed bringing couples together as one. She is very passionate, loving, and have a great personality. She was also very responsive. If we had any questions she would answer them promptly, communication was great. Please if you need an officiant/counselor she is the one, do not look any further!!! Thank you Rev we appreciate you!!❤️

"Rev. Benita was the perfect choice for our ceremony. She was referred to my husband and I by our wedding planner and we couldn’t have been more pleased. From our first introduction, she went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable and walked us through everything. The premarital counseling was a great option as well as it allowed her to equip us with tools for our future. Our ceremony was so tailored to our story and our guest really enjoyed the REALness of it all Lol. She really hit a home run, “it all started at Kroger store” lol. Our guests are still talking about it. We appreciated the personal touch she put on everything and would recommend her any day!!! Thank you so much!"