Your Wedding The Way You Want It
I am an experienced wedding officiant living in Ames, IA. I specialize in Christian non-denominational, nonreligious, and same-sex marriages of any size, including elopement. My goal is to facilitate the beautiful and meaningful wedding that you want! I like to meet in advance with the wedding couple to go over ceremony details, and then consult by email to produce a draft of the ceremony that you are happy with. I highly recommend rehearsals! Meeting, consultation, help with vows, and the ceremony are all included in my basic fee. There is a small separate charge for rehearsals. If you need a place for a small elopement ceremony, my house in Ames is available for weddings both inside and outside on the beautiful grounds here.
Please contact me at cfford@iastate.edu
Clark Ford
I am a retired professor (biological sciences) and songwriter who is a romantic at heart! I have officiated more than 30 weddings in the last several years, and try to bring to each ceremony the unique, meaningful, and beautiful elements that couples request. I am there solely for the couple, and bring years of experience in front of audiences to each ceremony. I was born and raised in Southern California, but have made Iowa my home for over 40 years. I was raised Christian, but my own spiritual path has touched on many religious and philosophical traditions along the way.
Reviews
David S.
Clark did an excellent job officiating our wedding. He was pleasant and helpful, both before the wedding and during. Most importantly, he officiated the wedding professionally and with confidence. Guests commented on the great job he did. Highly recommended.
Kris S.
Clark did a fantastic job officiating my daughter's wedding. He listened to them and provided guidance to give them the ceremony that they envisioned.
Lindsay S.
Clark was wonderful! We were set on a non-religious, personal ceremony, and he helped steer us in the right direction. He was on time, well spoken, and a pleasure to work with.
Anonymous Review
Clark was a great communicator from the beginning. Knew the script and the plan right away. Did great for the rehearsal at no extra cost. Everything went smooth and clark helped ensure this
Kassidy H.
He was very nice and professional.
Emma D.
Did an amazing job!
Aileen C.
Well prepared, enjoys doing the job.
Debra P.
Couldn't have asked for better help plus very PROFESSIONAL.
Nancy F.
Clark was there on time, visited with guests that arrived ahead of schedule. He even provided my mother with a chair to sit in ( it was an outside wedding).
Kayti H.
For our wedding, my husband and wanted a ceremony that was personal to our relationship, our family, and our shared interests as a couple. We'd known Clark for several years, and knew he had experience officiating weddings, and asked him to officiate ours. Over the next couple months we met with and emailed back and forth with Clark several times to hash out the details of what ended up being an extremely unique, personal, and beautiful ceremony. Neither my husband nor I knew very much about wedding ceremonies, or what would be good things to include in them, and in this point Clark was an excellent resource for us. He explained both traditional things that are included in ceremonies (including poems, songs, vows, etc) as well as non-traditional things (we included a great many quotes and references to our own relationship). He did an exceptional job and tailoring and crafting or ceremony, from the songs that played as guest sat down to the vows we read to each other. To this day, my husband and frequently get compliments on how unique, beautiful, and fun our wedding ceremony was, and I owe all of that to the hard work that Clark put into it. He literally crafting each element of our ceremony to our personal taste, and rather geeky relationship. It was filled with quotes, jokes, touching moments, poems, songs, and love. I would 100% recommend Clark to any couple looking for an officiant for the wedding ceremony, he will give you the most tailored and beautiful ceremony that you and your guests will remember for years to come.