REV. GARRETT A. FOSTER
Celebrant • Writer • Enneagram Guide
More Testimonials
"I had the pleasure of having Garrett Foster in my Weddings certification class at the Celebrant Foundation & Institute. He participated wonderfully and had many creative ideas for his ceremony writing project. He was given information on a fictitious couple and was challenged to write their wedding ceremony. Garrett’s ordering of the ceremony and writing of the ceremony was in a word PERFECT.
I rarely give a perfect score on this assignment, because there are so many elements that have to be included. The ceremony also has to resonate with the spirit of the couple. Garrett fulfilled these requirements with lyrical writing and exacting precision. Lucky will be the couples who choose Garrett to create their unique and beautiful wedding ceremonies!"
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— Milah Martin, Celebrant Foundation & Institute, Master Life-Cycle Celebrant, Chief Inspiration Officer and Faculty Liason
Mila Martin
Lesley and Kevin Tkaczyck
"Garrett was an absolute dream to work with! He made us feel at ease from our very first meeting together and really took the time to get to know both of us. He was persistent but not annoying when we needed reminding about our deadlines to send him information.
"He turned around a beautiful draft of our ceremony quite quickly, and didn't balk one bit when we sadly had to ask him to cut out a lot of it for time. (I so wish we could have kept it all in!!) I cried when I read his first draft, and many of our family were emotional during the ceremony. As a professional writer myself, I was honestly slightly worried about putting our story in someone else's hands and thinking I would nitpick whatever came out.
"Lucky for us, Garrett has true writing talent. He's a master at getting to the heart of your story and sharing it with others in an emotionally compelling way. Our guests raved about the ceremony and even a month later I keep getting told how much they enjoyed it.
"Garrett also took the time to get to know my bridesmaids and has said he will pray for one of them during an upcoming journey. By the end of our wedding he felt like a member of the family. I recommend him without hesitation to anyone looking for a truly personalized, moving and memorable ceremony!"
— Lesley and Kevin Tkaczyck
"We were short on a lot of resources, time, money, etc! We approached Garrett like a hurricane, and he was the calm to our storm. We hit the jackpot with him and are so grateful we were able to secure him.
"The questionnaire he has curated made us stop and think about the real reason for all the stressful planning — that we were celebrating each other and honoring our relationship and the community that has helped us and will continue to believe in us.
"He brought such genuine joy and peace, and very quickly was able to catch up to speed with our love story. We are so thankful and grateful for such a talented, super-quick, professional, loving and kind man to have married us! Thank you!
"P.S. — We have been receiving a lot of compliments about how much people enjoyed our ceremony!!! Thank you!"
— Michelle and Jeff Smadbeck
Michelle and Jeff Smadbeck
"If you want someone who will write your ceremony to reflect the personalities of the Bride and Groom, Garrett is your guy. Garrett wrote a beautiful ceremony for us and we could not have been more pleased. Garrett was professional, on time and pleasant through the whole process. Thank you Garrett!"
— Doug and Tina Lewis
"Our experience with Garrett was absolutely perfect and we couldn’t have asked for a better officiant on our wedding day. When we started the process of picking an officiant we weren’t sure what we were looking for because we aren’t religious but we are spiritual. After our first conversation with Garrett we knew we had found our person. Although we started as strangers, by the end of our ceremony he felt like an old family friend.
"Since we live in Pittsburgh, Garrett took the time to conduct a video chat with us to really get to know us and what we were looking for in a ceremony. He even offered to meet with us at the airport on our way home from a wedding planning trip so that we could meet in person! He really went above and beyond to make sure we felt comfortable and that our wedding ceremony really represented us and our relationship.
"Garrett started constructing our ceremony by asking us what was important to us and what we wanted the feel of the ceremony to be. From there he suggested difference verses and poems and also provided us with a large assortment of pieces for us to review and pick from. Of course we were also welcome to suggest any pieces that we already had in mind. I will say that it was incredibly helpful to have his collection to select from! He also suggested different rituals that could be conducted during the ceremony to help personalize it and really bring everything together. We chose to do a beautiful rose ceremony with our mothers which really helped to make them feel special as well. We also did a sand ceremony which helped to represent our two halves becoming one united front.
"Garrett was extremely easy to work with and helped bring a sense of calm to the what can be a very overwhelming time. He has a very kind and gentle personality that makes him an absolute joy to work with. He presided over our ceremony with a sense of love and care as if he was an old friend. We felt that he truly captured the essence of our fun and loving relationship. He also helped everyone who attended the wedding to feel how important their presence was to us and that was truly priceless. At the end of the day, all I can say is that we recommend Garrett 200%. He is a true professional both as a genuine, kind human being and as an incredible officiant."
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— Rob and Nicole Campbell
Erin Chamberlain (r) / Photo by Randy + Ashley
"The setting was Palm Springs, California; the occasion was the wedding of a dear friend’s daughter. I have had the pleasure of knowing this beautiful young lady for over 24 years and met her fiancé when their romance began in high school. I bore witness to a love affair that was shaped by 10 years of joys and sorrows, trials and triumphs, break-ups and make-ups.
It was with no small amount of astonishment that Celebrant Garrett showed a similar amount of familiarity with this delightful couple. He clearly had spent an extraordinary amount of time and research prior to the celebration getting to know the couples' history, their hopes, wishes and dreams for the future. This was so apparent by the look on the faces of both bride and groom. They were nervous, excited and anxious for sure. But their trust in Garrett to guide them though the evening was obvious.
Garrett showed a wonderful command of the ceremony, fulfilling the individual wishes of the couple and performing his duties to bind the couple in legal union. But what struck me as unique was the intimate nature of the celebration. Every witness was involved in some way. Garrett invoked individual memories of the couple for us all, creating a delightful stroll down memory lane. He asked for our collective support of this new marriage. Garret emphasized for us all both sanctity of this union and the need to nurture the union always. We all felt the involved, important and cherished members of a new team; one I was privileged to join.
Garrett’s creative sermon had a strong and lasting impression on us all. We had a clear and lasting understanding of the commitment of this newly joined couple. A look into the crowd of family and friends around me brought an unexpected realization. Couples, old and new, looked absolutely inspired to “water and feed” their own relationships anew. Without realizing it, Garrett challenged us all to simply be mindful and pay attention to those we love. I’ve never left a wedding celebration feeling more joyous."
— Erin Chamberlain, School Counselor
"We can’t say enough about how great Garrett was to work with. From our initial meeting to the draft of our ceremony to the actual ceremony itself he exceeded all of our expectations. He created a personal and unique ceremony that perfectly described the two of us. We highly recommend Garrett. You will not be disappointed!"
— Robert and Lisa Carville
"My daughter and new husband hired Garrett based on his previous reviews and impressive credentials. The time and thought he put into officiating their ceremony was evident throughout. We especially enjoyed how he took both faiths into account out of respect for everyone, as well as interjected some spirituality. Everything was perfect. In the end, Garrett did a most outstanding job, and I would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone!"
— Doris A.