We held a private ceremony in our home. Joan really listened to us and understood our desire for a short ceremony, yet still filled it with all the love and customization we could have hoped for! She was professional and, in short, the perfect pick. So glad we went with her.

We could not recommend Joan more! She made our elopement ceremony better and more special than we ever could have hoped for. We customized every aspect of it, and the resources she provided beforehand helped us immensely. She was so easy to contact with questions and so easy-going and so well-spoken at the ceremony. She filed our marriage license so quickly the following day and made sure to follow up with us with instructions as we were out of state and mailing the paperwork in for certified copies. All in all you should stop what you're doing right now and hire Joan to be your officiant, you will not regret it!

Joan was kind, thoughtful, warm, and made everything seem so easy and just right. She the took time to get to know us in person and by asking insightful questions and beautifully weaved our love story into the wedding script. We were delighted with the outcome and will forever be grateful for all the extra work she did, as we got married during the pandemic. Joan - Please stay lovely and healthy, as we last saw you under that gorgeous cherry blossom tree for our nuptials. Dan & Gigi

My now husband and I are so happy that we found Joan to officiate our wedding. Before meeting with her, I was feeling very overwhelmed by the prospect of putting together a marriage ceremony (especially since we were wanting something a little different) - I had no idea what all would be involved or where to begin. She made everything so easy and did an incredible job of explaining the process to us and giving us ample resources to use along the way. Also, she's just so sweet! My husband said that she's "absolutely meant to be doing this." We have zero complaints and would recommend her to anyone!

From our first outreach, Joan exuded professionalism, thoughtfulness, and positive energy! She instilled confidence by responding to out questions thoroughly. And based on her own of us, she ensured that she understood our inputs and was focused on making our day “ours”, not a preconceived formality. She really listened, shared resources, and wove our “homework” into a truly beautiful ceremony!!! Ours was a small home wedding and our family and guests were most impressed by Joan’s natural ability to bring people together into the community of our day. Whatever you have planned for your special day, we have confidence that Joan will make you and your day brightly shine!

Joan worked hard to create a ceremony that was extremely personal and extremely touching. It could not have been better. She is one of the biggest reasons why our wedding day was amazing. Highly recommended!!!

We contemplated having a friend marry us and I'm so glad we didn't. Joan was such a pleasure to work with. She was so thoughtful in her approach and created a ceremony that was perfect for us. I'm so glad she was part of our day and her words will be with us forever.

My husband and I had to postpone our wedding due to COVID19, so we decided to have a small elopement ceremony with just us and an officiant. Joan made this experience just as meaningful (maybe more) than the bigger ceremony would have been! From our first zoom call with her, we knew that she was going to be a wonderful fit for us! Joan is an incredibly kind and warm person. What impressed us the most, though, was her level of preparation! The questionnaires, resources, and anthology of readings were above and beyond what we had expected! Using our responses and our chosen reading, Joan crafted a beautiful customized ceremony that wove the themes of both throughout. We could definitely see her experience (as both an officiant and someone with a master's in English), her dedication, and her attention to detail throughout the event. We whole heartedly recommend, Joan! She's a gem!

We hired Joan Phillips as our officiant for our upcoming wedding, however, like many we had to postpone twice. Joan was so flexible and worked with us when we had to reschedule both times. We finally decided to hold an intimate ceremony this year for our family and hold a larger wedding next year. We are so grateful Joan was able to also officiate our small ceremony this year. Joan was so easy to work with and offered as many calls as we’d like to discuss our vision and honestly she blew us away with her ideas and listened to us and all of our wants. The genuine care and creativity was impeccable. Joan was extremely professional and spoke loud and clear for all our family to hear at our outside ceremony. All of our guests had so many amazing comments about Joan’s service and we look forward to working with her again next year! I highly recommend Joan Phillips!

We had a tall task for Joan to officiate our inter-faith wedding in the middle of a global pandemic, on a date that already had special meaning to Joan, and despite all these obstacles, Joan was absolutely fabulous! Without having known us previously, Joan depicted our love story perfectly, as if she knew us from the beginning of our decade long relationship! Our guests were laughing and crying, and overall, left with an overwhelming sense of joy! Our guests all raved about the ceremony, and we couldn't be happier to have had Joan officiate our wedding ceremony!

Joan was our wedding officiant through Simply Eloped. She was absolutely incredible. She personalized our ceremony in a way that made us feel she had known us for years. It was the first compliment my family gave right after the ceremony, they loved the personalization. She was in constant contact with us right from the start and made everything so easy. You can tell she absolutely loves and takes pride in her role. She helped make our wedding day absolutely perfect. I highly recommend.

Joan was incredible!! We had to delay our wedding due to the shutdown, and when we could finally start planning again it was chaos. We came to Joan last minute and she was outstanding - she helped us realize our vision for the wedding and prepared a beautiful ceremony for us. I cannot recommend her highly enough!

Joan is a genuinely kind and wonderful person who also happens to be an amazing officiant. Joan took the time to get to know who we were as a couple in addition to understanding what we wanted out of our wedding ceremony. Joan brings a wealth of past knowledge and experience with her services and uses that information to ensure that everything aligns perfectly on the day. Joan was not pushy about the the flow of the ceremony or the rituals that should be included, but used the information she learned about us to craft a truly unique experience. Our wedding ceremony would not have been as incredible or the same had it not been for Joan!

Joan officiated my sister’s wedding in Rockville, Maryland, and was a pleasure to work with throughout the process. Joan was organized, generous, and helpful during the planning process and on wedding day. My sister and her now husband told me that planning their ceremony with Joan was one of the things that made them most excited about their wedding day. Joan really tailored the ceremony to the bride and groom and took the time to chat and get to know them in the months leading up to their wedding. Not only is she an experienced and versatile officiant, but Joan also showed herself to be an all-around kind-hearted person.