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   I am thrilled to have been awarded a Weddingwire.com's 2013 Bride's Choice Award. Although, next year, maybe they should think about making it a "Bride's and Groom's Choice Award!" My most important goal as a wedding officiant is to provide a "five star" experience for each and every couple that I work with. Click on the button above to read reviews from 2012's happy Weddings By Lauren couples. Add Comment  I am excited to announce that I am now available for baby blessing ceremonies. Please see the Baby Ceremony Page for more information.  I am overjoyed by New York state's recent decision to affirm the right of all people to marry the ones we love. Please contact me if I can be of service in helping you celebrate your wedding. "Marriage is a vital social institution. The exclusive commitment of two individuals to each other nurtures love and mutual support; it brings stability to our society. For those who choose to marry, and for their children, marriage provides an abundance of legal, financial, and social benefits. In return it imposes weighty legal, financial, and social obligations....Without question, civil marriage enhances the "welfare of the community." It is a "social institution of the highest importance." It is central to the way the Commonwealth identifies individuals, provides for the orderly distribution of property, ensures that children and adults are cared for and supported whenever possible from private rather than public funds, and tracks important epidemiological and demographic data....Marriage also bestows enormous private and social advantages on those who choose to marry. Civil marriage is at once a deeply personal commitment to another human being and a highly public celebration of the ideals of mutuality, companionship, intimacy, fidelity, and family.... Because it fulfills yearnings for security, safe haven, and connection that express our common humanity, civil marriage is an esteemed institution, and the decision whether and whom to marry is among life's momentous acts of self-definition....It is undoubtedly for these concrete reasons, as well as for its intimately personal significance, that civil marriage has long been termed a "civil right." Words of Wisdom from the Massachusetts Supreme Court affirming the civil right of same - sex marriage in Goodridge v. Dept. of Health. |
