Rev. Marilyn Montgomery Wings of Love Weddings
Rev. Kaleena Bergman joined Wings of Love Weddings in 2010. When Reverend Montgomery's wedding schedule is booked full, Reverend Bergman is here to make sure you have someone to perform your wedding. She also covers for Reverend Montgomery in case of an emergency. We both cover weddings if another minister fails to show up. We don't want to see anyone's wedding day ruined, or any couple to be disappointed because they could not secure a minister for the wedding day. It is not always possible to be there for everyone, but we do our best to make your day special, and exactly the way you dreamed it to be.
Is An Associate Minister at Wings of Love Weddings
Rev. Kaleena Bergman
Read about Rev. Montgomery. How I got started as a wedding minister. It's always nice to know a little about the person that you are making a part of your special day! The article below appeared in the Michigan City and Laporte Indiana Local Newspapers on Valentine's Day February 14th 2012. Article was written by staff writer Lois Tomaszewski of the News Dispatch
Michigan City- There are just as many ways to say "I do" as there are couples getting married, and Rev. Marilyn Montgomery of Michigan City knows this as fact. She has been there to marry more than 600 couples.
Weather it's a ceremony that includes traditional vows in a church, an informal ceremony on her front lawn, a Gothic ceremony with hand fasting wedding, Montgomery is ready to personalize it and make her clients' day as special as possible. To do that, it often takes research and a little creativity.
Montgomery didn't start out with the intention of becoming a wedding minister. She left a career in the steel mill to take care of her elderly mother. She wanted to teach Sunday School and began studying for her degree. She was church ordained in 2004 and casually made a comment to her family that she could perform a marriage ceremony for family and friends because she was now a minister.
The very first wedding she officiated was for her granddaughter Kaleena Bergman, who has since become Montgomery's assistant, handling the overflow Montgomery is unable to take. Her business, which started out part-time, is now a full -time endeavor. She does about 70 to 80 weddings per year and estimates she has performed more than 600 weddings in her career.
"My business got so big, I was turning people away," she said. "My business has doubled every year."
Her office is located in her family home, a place that several generations have taken care of and improved. Small ceremonies can easily be accommodated in the living room, which is decorated with a fabric-draped arch adorned with small white lights, a vase of roses, scattered rose petals and romance-inspired statuary. Lit with soft light, it conveys a romantic ambiance and is just what you'd expect to find at a wedding minister's place of business.
Montgomery's intentions were to provide an alternative to a court house wedding. Her home and yard can take care of various size ceremonies. but she goes to various locations, including the beach, International Friendship Gardens, or their family church. She even travels if needed, to southern Michigan, northern Indiana or anywhere else the couple requests. She also makes the effort to customize their ceremony, incorporating elements they request, and rewriting any of the hundreds of ceremonies to make it special and meaningful.
At one ceremony, the couple wanted to highlight their interests in hunting and fishing by having the guests, the minister and even the bride wear camouflage. Another wedding that Montgomery officiated was a horse-back wedding in Texas. And she has been asked to dress in football attire, as a referee or wearing something from a favorite sports team.
It makes me feel good to do these things for people, "Montgomery said."
It must be mutual, because Montgomery has a tall stack of thank you cards, photos, and letters from many of the couple she married. These tokens of appreciated are treasured. Montgomery never had a wedding the kind of wedding she creates for her clients, one of romance and ceremony. One or two have even been very emotional, with couple's devotion and love, making everyone cry, including the minister.
While no wedding es ever exactly the same, there are some elements that must be in place for the ceremony to be legal. "You must ask them if they come freely, of their own free will, and if they choose this person. Then I can pronounce them husband and wife. It's wonderful because the couples are so happy to be together. You can just feel it.
In addition to the customized vows, ceremonies, prayers, and the personalized keepsake, Montgomery can add touches to the weddings. Some couples want to use a untiy candle;others, especially couples with children, prefer a sand ceremony, in which different colors of sand are poured into a container. Other unique elements are the parents blessing or honoring mothers with roses.
Montgomery is convinced she has the best job in the world, She puts her creativity, organizational ability and decorator training to good use, and she loves the atmosphere she finds when she's on the job. "This is the only place I have ever worked where everyone is always smiling, happy all the time, and they look their best. "Montgomery said."
Weather it's a ceremony that includes traditional vows in a church, an informal ceremony on her front lawn, a Gothic ceremony with hand fasting wedding, Montgomery is ready to personalize it and make her clients' day as special as possible. To do that, it often takes research and a little creativity.
Montgomery didn't start out with the intention of becoming a wedding minister. She left a career in the steel mill to take care of her elderly mother. She wanted to teach Sunday School and began studying for her degree. She was church ordained in 2004 and casually made a comment to her family that she could perform a marriage ceremony for family and friends because she was now a minister.
The very first wedding she officiated was for her granddaughter Kaleena Bergman, who has since become Montgomery's assistant, handling the overflow Montgomery is unable to take. Her business, which started out part-time, is now a full -time endeavor. She does about 70 to 80 weddings per year and estimates she has performed more than 600 weddings in her career.
"My business got so big, I was turning people away," she said. "My business has doubled every year."
Her office is located in her family home, a place that several generations have taken care of and improved. Small ceremonies can easily be accommodated in the living room, which is decorated with a fabric-draped arch adorned with small white lights, a vase of roses, scattered rose petals and romance-inspired statuary. Lit with soft light, it conveys a romantic ambiance and is just what you'd expect to find at a wedding minister's place of business.
Montgomery's intentions were to provide an alternative to a court house wedding. Her home and yard can take care of various size ceremonies. but she goes to various locations, including the beach, International Friendship Gardens, or their family church. She even travels if needed, to southern Michigan, northern Indiana or anywhere else the couple requests. She also makes the effort to customize their ceremony, incorporating elements they request, and rewriting any of the hundreds of ceremonies to make it special and meaningful.
At one ceremony, the couple wanted to highlight their interests in hunting and fishing by having the guests, the minister and even the bride wear camouflage. Another wedding that Montgomery officiated was a horse-back wedding in Texas. And she has been asked to dress in football attire, as a referee or wearing something from a favorite sports team.
It makes me feel good to do these things for people, "Montgomery said."
It must be mutual, because Montgomery has a tall stack of thank you cards, photos, and letters from many of the couple she married. These tokens of appreciated are treasured. Montgomery never had a wedding the kind of wedding she creates for her clients, one of romance and ceremony. One or two have even been very emotional, with couple's devotion and love, making everyone cry, including the minister.
While no wedding es ever exactly the same, there are some elements that must be in place for the ceremony to be legal. "You must ask them if they come freely, of their own free will, and if they choose this person. Then I can pronounce them husband and wife. It's wonderful because the couples are so happy to be together. You can just feel it.
In addition to the customized vows, ceremonies, prayers, and the personalized keepsake, Montgomery can add touches to the weddings. Some couples want to use a untiy candle;others, especially couples with children, prefer a sand ceremony, in which different colors of sand are poured into a container. Other unique elements are the parents blessing or honoring mothers with roses.
Montgomery is convinced she has the best job in the world, She puts her creativity, organizational ability and decorator training to good use, and she loves the atmosphere she finds when she's on the job. "This is the only place I have ever worked where everyone is always smiling, happy all the time, and they look their best. "Montgomery said."
For ordained minister Marilyn Montgomery, everyday she gets to conduct a marriage is Valentine's Day. The Michigan City resident has performed more than 600 weddings since 2004. Photo by Lois Tomasewski
Wings of Love Weddings are happy to announce that we have added Baby Baptism's to our services.