Valley Wed is a unique wedding show offering couples a handpicked selection of exceptional wedding pros in Western Mass.  It's designed especially for couples that want to go their own way, but they don’t want to go it alone.

Meet Rev. Hannah Grace, an ordained Interfaith minister.  Hannah is the owner of Grace Ceremonies and the co-creator and coordinator of Valley Wed.

I “officially” launched Grace Ceremonies on January 1, 2012.  I wouldn’t be ordained as an Interfaith minister until that July but I was clear about my path and had been officiating weddings and other ceremonies since 2010.

My middle name is Grace. My first name, Hannah, means “Grace of God” in Hebrew.  The week before entering seminary I got two tattoos: on the inside of my left wrist, facing toward me, the word “grace” written in fluid script. On the inside of my right wrist, the same word facing out.

I knew this loop – sharing grace – was a big part of my calling and the reason I became a minister.  From its Latin roots, to minister is literally to serve.  I do what I do because creating and officiating custom ceremonies allows me to feel connected to the flow of grace – receiving and giving – and feels like a meaningful and much needed service to others.

Very, very as in one thing??  That’s too hard.  But okay.  My very, very favorite part is after all the meetings, phone calls, emails, discussions, reviews, reminders, tips and advice that go into creating a one-of-a-kind ceremony, I love the actual officiating…partaking in the magic of the moment…seeing all the work come to fruition…witnessing people respond and be affected by the ceremony… 

It’s goose bumps every time.  It’s total magic.  I am so lucky.

(Also, I just have to add that I love being an entrepreneur and small-business owner.  I cherish the ability to grow and change my business and take it in new directions, and the flexibility is perfect for the mother of a two and a half year old!)

I want them to know my work is truly a calling for me.  Being a minister and serving people through these ceremonies really is my life’s purpose.  I’m still going to be doing it when I’m 80.  I’m pretty sure it’s never going to make me rich but it makes me very, very happy.

Based on the feedback I hear from other vendors, and from my clients and guests at a ceremony, many comment on my calm, peaceful presence.  I consider my “energy” to be a huge part of what I offer people as an officiant, helping keep them grounded, in-the-moment and openhearted.

I also care deeply and feel deeply.  A ceremony for me is never just reading words from a script.  My eyes fill up with tears.  My voice breaks.  I belly laugh.  In other words, while holding the space for the ceremony, I also allow myself to be fully present and experience the ceremony as it unfolds.  I think people can feel I am personally and genuinely invested, and have said that seeing me helps them also be more present, emotional and engaged.

After a wedding specifically, I am delighted when a couple tells me how many compliments they received from their guests about the ceremony.  I have heard from many couples that the ceremony was their favorite part of the whole wedding day…and that feels like a great accomplishment!

I am always honored to know when I’ve helped someone have the experience they needed.  Sometimes that’s a feeling of rest and reconnection, like in a healing ritual, or a sense of being held and supported, like in a mother blessing.  Sometimes it’s a sense of awe and celebration, like for a blessing ceremony, and sometimes it’s finally having the space to grieve and fully feel the loss of someone beloved.

Many people – myself included – advise couples to relax, be present and enjoy.  That is a great idea in theory but it can be a bit of a tall order in practice.  So I try to help couples find tools and ways to actually do it…mainly s  l  o  w  i  n  g   d  o  w  n, breathing, making lots of eye contact, feeling their heels pressing into the ground, letting their shoulders loosen and drop…

Just having a few concrete tips in your pocket goes a long way toward feeling relaxed in and of itself, and the tools are amazingly effective so as soon as you do one thing (like make eye contact), suddenly you’re doing something else that reinforces it (like breathing).  Plus, it really helps that I'm also relaxed and present!

Well, I am pretty darn proud of being the co-creator of Valley Wed and pulling off (almost!) this year’s show by myself while also having a record year for Grace Ceremonies.

Personally, hands down I am proud of and so grateful for my marriage and family.  Being a conscious partner and parent requires more energy and thought and attention than I ever could have imagined, but the rewards are more love, fulfillment and happiness that I ever thought possible.  Like I said before, I am so very lucky.

Valley Wed is a unique wedding show offering couples a handpicked selection of exceptional wedding pros in Western Mass.  It's designed especially for couples that want to go their own way, but they don’t want to go it alone.

Meet Megan of Megan Barber Ceremonies, a certified Life-Cycle
Celebrant offering couples custom-crafted, original ceremonies.

I started my business in 2013, as I was completing my training as a Life-Cycle Celebrant with the Celebrant Foundation & Institute.  A colleague reached out, looking for someone who could create and officiate a bilingual wedding in English and Spanish.  I leapt at the opportunity because I love speaking Spanish, and I had a blast working with the couple.  It was an exciting first ceremony, jumping in and doing my first wedding in two languages.  The spirit and sweetness and emotion of the day were contagious, and I was hooked.

Weddings and the engagement period leading up to them are such juicy times – full of hope and excitement, but also mixed in there are differences of opinion with family, opportunities to clarify your values, and grief over letting go of your single life.  I love being in that transition with people; and I love on the day of the wedding helping people be fully present during those life-changing transformative moments.

 Without fail I get choked up every single time!  It’s just such a powerful moment, at the precipice of such a momentous rite of passage, and it always gives me chills.

When I first meet with new clients they often say, “Help!  I don’t know what I’m doing – I’ve never done this before!”  And what I want them to know about working with me is that they are in good hands.  That they can relax because I have done this before.  I know how to craft a custom ceremony that is meaningful, true to their values and completely unique.  And they will have full control of the ceremony – not a single word or ritual will go in without their approval.  So the ceremony will be exactly how they want it.

We are fortunate to have a lot of really talented, wonderful officiants in our area. What sets me apart is my love of working with couples who are outside the mainstream – be that intercultural, bilingual, interfaith, couples with kids, older couples, unique venue weddings, and couples who get the squeemies from the mainstream wedding industry.

There are two compliments I love to hear.  One is when guests ask me how I know the couple.  I usually don’t know the couple outside of being their officiant, but my ceremonies are so personal and real that people often assume I am a dear friend.

The other compliment is when the ceremony brings out laughter and tears.  When I look out at the guests, the wedding party, the couple, and I see people getting choked up, or something in the ceremony gets people laughing hard, that’s when I know that people are fully present in the moment, and that their hearts are open, and that they’re connecting with each other – and that’s what it’s all about.

Your wedding is not a performance.  So don’t worry about things not going perfectly.  In fact, I have yet to see a wedding go exactly according to plan.  Your wedding ceremony is not more and not less than any other moment in your life.

Yes, it is a transformative, pivotal once-in-a-lifetime moment in your life, but when it comes down to it, it is still real life.  The imperfections make it real.  If the best man can’t get the rings off the dog collar, if the glass doesn’t break the first time you step on it, if you have to cry before you can manage to say your vows, that is welcome, and beautiful, and perfectly wonderful and exactly right.

I love thinking of creative, symbolic ways to express meaning during a wedding ceremony.  At this wedding, on a flower farm, the couple really wanted to honor their friends and family.  So we had each guest pick up a flower as they entered the ceremonial space, and then walk up the aisle to the front and place their flower along a marked out circle.

These flowers created a beautiful, sacred place for the couple to stand as they made their vows, surrounded by a physical representation of the love of all their family and friends.  The bride’s father had passed away, and she honored him in the ceremony by reading a letter she had written to him, and then adding a flower in his memory to the flower circle.  It was beautiful, and powerful, and so captured who the two of them are.

As for something personal that makes me happy and fulfilled, well, it seems awfully cliché, but it is also so very true: raising my sweet four year old child.  Becoming a mother blew my mind and cracked my heart wide open.  I am forever grateful to this wise, joyful soul who decided to share its life journey with me.

Valley Wed is a curated style of wedding show; one that focuses on real relationships with the best wedding vendors the Pioneer Valley has to offer.  We want to connect you with the top wedding professionals in Western Massachusetts to help you plan one of the most important days of your life. 

November 1st   12-4pm   Quonquont Farm

Yes!  It’s of me and my *almost* husband embracing during our wedding ceremony. We made the unconventional choice to stand together, rather than having the officiant in the middle between us.  I think it allowed us to experience the ceremony together…to feel really connected with each other and our guests throughout the entire ceremony.

I always remind my couples to “live their relationship” on their wedding day – to touch, hold hands, kiss, make lots of eye contact, take deep breaths…  It may sound simple but if you've had a wedding, you know how important that is to remember. In our case, nothing could have made my own advice easier to follow than being together, side by side.

If I had it to do over, I would worry a lot less.  The zipper on my dress broke at the last minute and so I literally had to be sewn into my gown.  Then the ceremony had to start about 45 minutes late so that pushed the dinner back, which shortened the music, etc. 

I spent way too much time worrying our guests would be bored and starving, that we wouldn’t have enough time to dance…and then, of course, thinking about how much money we’d spent on each of those elements which were now different than we’d planned. I wish I'd been able to let it go.  Everyone was just happy to be celebrating with us.

I would keep our ceremony exactly the same.  It was my favorite part of our wedding; the part I remember best because it was the part I was most present for. It was long – probably close to an hour – but it had so many elements that were very important to us and we designed it in a way that was engaging to people.  Many, many of our guests told us it was the most beautiful wedding they’d ever been to.

[Check it out Rev. Hannah's wedding on Style Me Pretty!]

There are so many moments.  When I first meet with a couple they invariably tell me they don’t know what they want for their ceremony but within a short conversation, they’re getting excited about ideas and beginning to really envision their day.  It feels amazing to help facilitate that process.

I like doing wedding rehearsals because couples are often more relaxed and receptive to each other.  The "big day" nerves aren’t there yet.  I think my most favorite moment has to be witnessing a couple exchange their wedding vows. It’s hard to describe how meaningful it is to stand beside them as they declare such loving and powerful words.  It’s an honor to bear witness to such a significant moment.

I love getting to know people.  It is pretty incredible to be let in to someone’s inner world and to see inside their life and relationship.  To be entrusted with telling their story and conveying the love they have for each other, their hopes and dreams, and to create the space for such a momentous event…it’s an exceptional responsibility and one I absolutely love!

At 18 I was on a cross-country road trip, going all the way from Massachusetts to Alaska.   I remember feeling this sense of wide-open possibility and purpose yet to be revealed.  But there was also a ragged sense of angst there, too.

Now I would tell myself that things unfold in their own time, in their own way.  My advice would be to enjoy each experience, moment-to-moment, rather than looking into the future for the “What if?” or “What next?”  I think that’s one of the best things I bring to my couples from my own life experiences: the encouragement and space to be truly present with their whole selves on their wedding day.