From "Yes" to "I do", your life together begins here!
"My husband Mike and I happily chose The Liberty Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY for our reception, yet toyed back and forth for months if we’d go against the grain of some conservative family members and hold our ceremony at the venue vs a Catholic church. While Mike and I are both Catholics and desired a religious ceremony, two factors ultimately led us to listen to our gut and hold the ceremony at the same site as the reception - 1) PRACTICALITY of avoiding busing guests from a church to reception location on a Friday night in NYC and 2) our ability to craft a ceremony uniquely to us - incorporating Catholic elements and religious sentiments with personally written vows and other individual touches. After some research, we thank GOD found Reverend Jim. Let me start by saying that EVERY SINGLE guest we greeted after the ceremony GUSHED about Rev Jim and asked - HOW DID YOU FIND HIM?! What a TOUCHING, love-filled ceremony. He is such a warm, genuine person that commanded a perfect balance of laughter and emotion, and inspired us to really dig deep and never lose sight of what the day’s truly about. I would love nothing more than to help promote him to other couples - as I’m sure there so many in our same position, conflicted that a “non-traditional ceremony location” may not satisfy some conservative family members. I’d say - GO WITH YOUR GUT. Because you CAN have your dream ceremony in your dream location, while still leaving every family member in awe regardless of religious affiliation, in hiring Reverend Jim. You can inspire your family with a ceremony all your own, that is as religious or non-religious as you’d like it to be. At the end of the day, it will your UNIQUELY YOURS and officiated by someone who takes the time to LISTEN and really strive to know you as a couple before the wedding day. Our retreat to his home in Beacon is a day we’ll remember dearly forever. You will be SO thankful that you hired Rev Jim to officiate your wedding ceremony”
“After our first Skype meeting with Reverend Jim, we knew he was the one who was going to officiate our wedding. He truly wanted our ceremony to be about us. He took the time to ask questions and to get to know us and we really enjoyed speaking with him. We both come from Catholic backgrounds so we wanted some sort of Catholic element but we also really wanted our ceremony to be unique and special and Reverend Jim made that possible and so much more. He provided us with many different ceremony options to help curate our ceremony and reminded us that we could do anything we dreamed of. We had a couple Skype meetings with him and we chose to go on a retreat at his beautiful Bed & Breakfast in Beacon. We really enjoyed spending the morning talking with him and going for a hike with just ourselves. He really listens to you and takes what you have to say and delivers the most beautiful ceremony. When it came time for our ceremony, we were blown away. I never thought the ceremony would be my favorite part of my wedding but it certainly was thanks to Reverend Jim. He was so charismatic and was told our story so perfectly. We were able to be interactive with our guests and everything felt very relaxed. The ceremony itself was so meaningful and beautiful and it completely exceeded our expectations. After our ceremony, every single guest came up to us asking where did we find him, can they have his contact details etc! He truly did an amazing job and we are so lucky to have found him. If you are searching for someone to officiate your wedding, don’t look any further - choose Reverend Jim!!”
Rev Jim is the absolute best and made our ceremony amazing. I would recommend him 100 times over and after your first conversation with him, you will know he is the best choice to officiate your ceremony. Long version: we found Rev Jim on wedding wire and after reading all of his reviews, decided to reach out. We had our initial Skype meeting and I was already in tears by his beautiful thoughts on love and marriage and how he truly wanted to hear our story. Throughout the entire process, he was kind and genuine and touched our hearts. He invited us to his house and we ate together and talked through every detail of the story that brought us together. We left feeling loved, and confident that our ceremony would be personal, joyful and insightful. Day of, Rev Jim was at the venue early and made sure to spend some time with me, reassuring me that I looked beautiful and the ceremony would be an amazing celebration of love. And, I tell you - it was. He was charming and funny and made sure the ceremony was about us. There was not a dry eye in the room. When I was shaking up there, all I had to do was look at Jim with his calming presence and then was able to focus on what that moment meant. At the reception, almost every guest mentioned how amazing he was and how it was the most beautiful ceremony they attended. One guest rightfully said "There was no fluff, every word was meaningful and honest." That was exactly what we asked for and I can truly say it was the most beautiful moments of my life. Thank you Rev Jim Rooney. We will never forget the gift you have to us
Rev. Rooney was an absolute pleasure to work with! From the moment my husband and I met him we knew he would be perfect for us! He took his time to get to know us and he genuinely took an interest in us as individuals and as a couple. My husband is pretty quiet especially when he meets someone new but Rev.Rooney found a way to get him to talk and put us both at ease. We met with him three times and during our last visit he made us a delicious meal and encouraged us to take a walk where we reflected on our relationship, our love and our future. The day of our wedding Rev. Rooney was absolutely AMAZING! All of our guests LOVED him! He was funny, witty and delivered a beautiful ceremony for us. Some of our guests thought he was a family friend because of how well he seemed to know us! We wanted a ceremony that was unique, special and one that reflected us and it was everything we dreamed of. Rev. Rooney gave us a lot of material to work with and helped us shape the kind of ceremony we envisioned. If you are looking for someone who will deliver a wonderful and personalized wedding ceremony for your special day, look no further than Rev. Rooney. We started out looking for an officiant and in the end, we made a lifelong friend. Thank you!!!
There aren't enough words to express how happy we were with Jim Rooney as our officiant. I am still getting compliments several months later about how great he was! From the moment we met him on our first skype call, we knew he was the perfect officiant for us. He is passionate about what he does and so eloquent with his words and always reminded us the real reason we were getting married. I would highly recommend meeting with him in Beacon on a retreat. It's great because he gets to know you better as a couple to make the ceremony more personal, but also its a great time as a couple to take a step back, hike and swim in beautiful Beacon, and relax a bit before the wedding! (plus he cooked an amazing breakfast!)
The ceremony was absolutely beautiful and I still get chills thinking about it. It was so personal and special and romantic (and I'm not saying that just because it was ours haha) He really worked with us to make it "ours" but also brought a lot of his elements, got our friends and family involved, and even surprised us a bit :) It was perfect and he will work with you to get exactly the ceremony you want. The nice thing is Jim provides lots of example ceremonies, passages, poems, vows, etc etc to help guide you in making the perfect ceremony whether you want a religious or non-religious ceremony. Our was a perfect mix of Irish catholic, christian, and most importt US... Absolutely perfect.
The last thing I think that is important for a bride to know is Jim is super easy to get ahold of via email, phone,etc. He communicates great and there is no guessing game so you will never have to worry...
If we could get married again, we 100+% would use Jim...in fact we have a couple friends that are hoping to have him officiate their wedding.
We were married on September 20, 2014. My husband and I were referred to Rev. Rooney by our venue. From my first conversation with Jim I had a good feeling about working with him. Aside from being very kind and thoughtful, I felt as though he was invested in getting to know us. Throughout the process of speaking and meeting with Jim, he made it a personal and welcoming experience. Not only did we get to know Jim but he also had such a wonderful ability that led us to growing closer in our relationship. As part of the meeting process, I felt like a guest in his home. playing with his adorable dog Angus and being blessed with some of his wonderful cooking! During the last meeting, Jim sent us out on a hike in the trails behind his home. The whole process reminded us why we were getting married, in addition to the investment that would be required by both in any sucessful marriage. The ceremony was amazing and I am still receiving compliments on how special it was. Rev. Rooney incorporated what was important to us and our family in such a unique and personal way. As flexible as he was during the planning process he was also very helpful and gave us great recommendations for our ceremony. My husband and I are both Roman Catholic so our experience has always been very traditional, leading us to experience some initial hesitantly in having such a personal and family oriented ceremony. I'm so glad we listened to his suggestions because I can't stress enough as to how much we loved the ceremony. We and our guests smiled, laughed and cried throughout it all! What a wonderful experience!