It is one of the first questions couples ask me, and it deserves a straight answer. Here is exactly what I charge, what the price range looks like across wine country, and what actually makes one officiant cost more than another.

Your officiant is the one vendor who is present for the most important fifteen to thirty minutes of the day. The flowers, the meal, and the music all matter — but the ceremony is the part your guests will describe afterward. Pricing reflects that responsibility, and it varies more than most couples expect.

My Pricing, Plainly Stated

I keep three packages, and the price you see is the price you pay. Travel is included anywhere in Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino counties for all three.

  • The Elopement — $400. For the two of you and a handful of witnesses. A ceremony written for you alone — never a template — in a vineyard, on a bluff, or in a garden, with the legal signing handled carefully afterward.
  • The Intimate — $650. For smaller weddings with the people closest to you. A fully bespoke ceremony shaped around your story, your beliefs, and the tone you want, with planning support as the day takes form.
  • The Signature — $950. For a full celebration. Everything in The Intimate, plus your rehearsal included, so everyone walks in on the day knowing exactly where to stand and when to breathe.

Every ceremony I perform is written from scratch for the couple — secular, spiritual, interfaith, or traditional. Your beliefs lead; I follow.

What Wine Country Officiants Typically Charge

Across Sonoma and Napa, officiant fees generally run from about $300 to $900. At the lower end you will usually find a brief, lightly customized ceremony. At the upper end are experienced officiants offering a fully written ceremony, a rehearsal, and coordination with your venue and planner. National wedding sites report similar averages, but wine country carries destination-wedding pricing — especially in harvest season — so local numbers tend to sit at the higher end of the range.

Price alone does not tell you what you are getting. A lower fee with a script read to fifty couples a year is a different product from a ceremony built around your story, delivered by someone who has spent a career making gatherings feel effortless.

What Drives the Price

  • Customization. A ceremony written for you — your story, your readings, your rituals — takes hours of conversation and drafting. A read-from-a-booklet ceremony does not.
  • Experience. I have been officiating since 2012, on top of 25 years in hospitality. When wind picks up on a headland or the timeline slips by twenty minutes, experience is what keeps the moment calm.
  • Travel. Wine country is big, and a Mendocino bluff is a real drive from Santa Rosa. My travel is included across the tri-county area, so distance never becomes a surprise line item.
  • The rehearsal. A rehearsal is a second trip and a second evening. It is included with The Signature, or available as a $150 addition to the other packages.
  • The date. Harvest Saturdays in September and October are the most requested days of the year, and they book first.

Enhancements, Priced Up Front

Two additions couples ask about often: vow-writing coaching for $95, if you want help finding the words for personal vows, and a keepsake ceremony script for $25 — a printed copy of your ceremony to keep. No hidden fees, no travel surcharges inside the tri-county area, and destination weddings are quoted up front, travel and lodging included in the number, before you commit to anything.

How Booking Works

We start with a conversation — no charge, no pressure. If we are a fit, a 50% retainer reserves your date, and the balance is due two weeks before the wedding. I book ceremonies from one month to two years out, so whether you are planning a harvest celebration far ahead or eloping next month, the process is the same: talk first, then decide.

Questions Worth Asking Any Officiant

Whatever you decide to spend, a short conversation should answer these clearly before you sign anything:

  • Is the ceremony written for us, or adapted from a template? Ask how much of it will be original to you.
  • What exactly is included? Travel, the rehearsal, license handling, extra meetings — get it in writing.
  • What is the payment schedule? A professional will state the retainer and balance terms plainly, the way mine are stated above.
  • What happens if you are ill on our date? Experience and a plan matter more than a promise that nothing will go wrong.
  • Do you coordinate with our venue and vendors? Timing, sound, and the license signing all run through your officiant on the day.

An officiant who answers those questions easily — and puts the answers in a clear agreement — is telling you something important about how your wedding day will feel. The ceremony is short. The memory of how it was held lasts considerably longer.