Kettle Creek Weddings is a well-known, well-loved name for many brides across Ontario and in the local area. They specialize in performing wedding ceremonies that are made from scratch by their brides and grooms, and giving the flexible, personal approach that couples want.

Staff at The Ring met with the owners of several regional offices of Kettle Creek Weddings, including Martti and Trish Pajunen of the local Waterloo Region office. With their recently expanded team of officiants, the Waterloo Region office performs over 150 ceremonies each year and they bring their attention to detail and commitment to each one. In a recent interview, we could see Martti and Trish's excitement and passion for connecting with couples during such a special event in their lives. They're clearly dedicated to helping each one plan the ceremony that reflects their personalities - especially with their convenient website. Let us tell you more...

About Kettle Creek Weddings' Founders

Kettle Creek Weddings was originally founded by Wayne Prevett and his wife, Rosanne, in 1998. In 2003, they took their wedding ceremony business to a more official level. Wayne has been marrying couples for over twenty years - he started Kettle Creek Weddings to fill a need for personalized wedding ceremonies that put the bride and groom at the lead of their own heartfelt vows, and "to see lives transformed."

Between all of their Officiants, Kettle Creek's Waterloo office marries over 150 couples per year. "We know more great love stories than anyone else in the industry, more than Hollywood can dream of," says Wayne, adding, "that's why we do it." Rosanne agrees, "We're complete strangers who are invited into a family for their greatest life celebration. It's very humbling and gratifying at the same time." Wayne and Rosanne's home, office, website (and even their Facebook pages) are filled to the brim with photos of their latest wedding ceremonies - all of which are inspiring.

Wayne and Rosanne also have a not-for-profit organization called Celebrating Life that specializes in helping you do just that - celebrate life. They offer baby celebration ceremonies, coming of age ceremonies for adolescents, wedding ceremonies and marriage coaching, memorial and funeral services, resources to help strengthen your life and a charity called Prepare a Child for Life.

About Waterloo's Kettle Creek Weddings

Martti Pajunen has been marrying couples for over twenty years, the last four of which he's done through his role as an owner of the Waterloo Region office of Kettle Creek Weddings. When interviewing Martti and his wife Trish, staff at The Ring could see how easily they would fit into the role of connecting with couples and performing wedding ceremonies that reflect both their values and their future. "We LOVE it!" they say, "connecting with the couple right there in the middle of such an intimate time of their lives."

Janith & Emily Karunaratne told staff at The Ring that the biggest reason they decided to go with Kettle Creek Weddings was that they felt like they wouldn't have to worry about anything. "Everything was taken care of and that took a lot of stress off us. Martti and Trish were very pleasant to talk to... Always energetic and very helpful throughout the process."

Unlike several of the other Officiants Janith and Emily had looked into for their January 2008 wedding, Kettle Creek also gave them the option of not doing a rehearsal. "Everything went great on the wedding day. Martti had prepared the whole wedding procedure like a script in advance, and emailed it to Emily and I," Janith told The Ring. The couple also attended a marriage preparation course with Martti, and they highly recommend it to others getting married. "It's a lot of fun."

Martti and Trish share both a business and a twenty-three year marriage. They have three children together and tell us, "We love being there at one of the most intimate times helping couples celebrate the happiest moment of their life." Both Martti and Trish are well spoken and trained in public speaking. They're as comfortable speaking in front of six people as they are in front of six hundred. Officiating weddings with Kettle Creek is Martti and Trish's full time job, which means you'll always get someone on the phone if you call with a question or if you email for help.

To meet the demands of the couples who come to Kettle Creek Weddings, Martti and Trish have thirteen (and counting) Officiants in the area that they work with. "Each Officiant has an average of two wedding ceremonies per Saturday," says Martti, though couples are invited to request any specific Officiant they'd like. Team growth has been Kettle Creek's biggest achievement over the past twelve months, according to Martti and Trish. With more officiants in more areas they say they can be a part of more marriage celebrations.

They add that they've learned to always be prepared as you only get one shot at a wedding ceremony so they want to make sure that it's great. "Everything we do will be remembered," say Martti and Trish.

This year, the Waterloo office will be doing the Ambush Wedding with Y108 (a radio station from Hamilton) in March. This means that each Friday in March, they will show up and marry a couple - ambush style.

Don't let the name fool you - while the Waterloo office of Kettle Creek Weddings serves K-W, they also officiate for areas in and around Orangeville, Stratford, Woodstock, Mitchell, Brantford, Cambridge, and more - pretty much all of Central Ontario!

Weddings from scratch

Kettle Creek Weddings was originally designed to fill a need for flexibility in the marriage ceremony. "It's your day, it's your ceremony, it's your choice... The entire ceremony is designed by you."

Kettle Creek says there are actually only three parts to any ceremony that are required to make a wedding legal; the vows, the declaration, and of course, the signing of the marriage license. At the time of our interview, one of the KCW Officiants was in the midst of planning to perform a fairytale ceremony for a fairytale wedding... literally. "The wedding party and all of the guests will be dressed up as fairytale characters!"

Aside from the three mandatory parts of the ceremony, Kettle Creek Weddings' Officiants say you can change the ceremony order, content and any other particulars that you like. "It's important that the bride and groom are able to personalize and customize their ceremony. It should reflect the people that they are." By allowing their couples to have as much involvement in the creation of their own ceremonies as possible, the Kettle Creek Weddings' name has continued to grow in popularity over the past seven years.

Just to give you an example of some of the unique ceremonies that Kettle Creek has been a part of, Trish told us that her favourite wedding from 2008 was one where, after the bride and groom exchanged vows, the groom and the bride's daughter exchanged vows. "The little girl was very calm and cool about the whole thing until they were all done. Then she jumped into the groom's arms and wrapped her arms tight around his neck and said, 'I love you, Daddy.' It was an amazing moment."

Martti also officiated at a Medieval themed wedding where the couple planned every single detail to reflect the theme. "The couple had a chapel built on their property to have the ceremony. They had coats of arms along the aisle. There were different tents where you could participate in different medieval activities, including axe throwing," explains Martti. Even most of the guests were fully dressed in medieval attire along with the piper, harpist and officiant. Martti and the bride and groom structured the ceremony in King James English so that it flowed with the day.

To further help you along, Kettle Creek has amassed an enormous database of ceremony resources and ideas on their website, covering all areas of your ceremony - from vow samples for different types of families to romantic readings and unity candle or sand ceremony traditions. This is perfect for couples in today's wedding industry as Martti and Trish noted that most couples who come to them are in their mid to late twenties and want to do all of their wedding planning online. "Which is why we love The Ring and why brides love us," says Trish. "We can help them arrange everything through email and online. They can plan their entire ceremony through the extensive options available on the Kettle Creek website."

Kettle Creek Weddings has performed weddings for a variety of religions and cultures. One Officiant explained, "I preformed a ceremony for a Vietnamese couple. There was a teenage boy translating for me since he was the only person who spoke English. But it was lovely and we stayed to eat with them as is their custom. It was a privilege to be invited into their lives."

But that's not to say that your ceremony has to be religious, or even spiritual. Kettle Creek says they're breaking through the stereotypes that officiants and celebrants are all about religion and forcing their beliefs and religion on you. Which is why Kettle Creek gives you the option of having as much of a spiritual component as you're comfortable with.

Prices & packages

Wedding ceremonies at Kettle Creek vary in price and options. The Elopement Package (a.k.a. the "we just want to get married" package) was designed by Kettle Creek Weddings for weddings without the fuss – which are usually second marriages and couples who are getting married in another country (but want to take care of the legal details before they leave). Regardless of the size or location, every ceremony is still a very emotional and moving experience. Founder, Wayne, told us a story about a couple who, after fifteen years together, called him to see if he would marry them. He said the husband got off his tractor, came in from his fields and told his wife, "I want to marry you today." So they got married that day, thanks to Kettle Creek Weddings. This is the least expensive (and increasingly more popular) package at Kettle Creek and costs $175, paid in full at the time of booking.

Recently, Kettle Creek added an Essential Wedding package, which comes with one meeting and three choices for your ceremony. This package is not available on Saturdays from May through October and rings in at $325 with the full amount due at the time of booking.

The Elegant Package, which includes two meetings and full website access with unlimited ceremony choices, is $375 with a deposit of $200 due to book your date. The balance of $175 is due two weeks before your wedding.

You can also have rehearsals included in your ceremony with the Elite Package for $475. Or, add a Wedding Day Coordinator for your day-of coordination needs (up to ten hours) with the Elite "Plus" Package for $1,175.

Officiants at Kettle Creek Weddings will be the first to admit that rehearsals are often unnecessary. "We try to accommodate rehearsal requests; however, we're at your ceremony site at least thirty minutes ahead of the wedding to help coordinate everyone." The cost for a Kettle Creek Weddings Officiant to attend your rehearsal is $125.

They also offer a Pre-Marital Preparation Course for $375. During the course you cover important areas such as conflict resolution skills, financial issues, intimacy & sexuality, values & beliefs, and goals (personal, couple & family). Five one-hour sessions at customized times and dates cover what you need to know and should think about before getting married. Martti and Trish offer the pre-marriage counseling with the philosophy that, "We fall in love through communication; we fall out of love through lack of communication." That said, it's not necessary to take them up on the offer in order to have them perform your wedding ceremony. They keep counseling as an option for couples who ask - and they told us that over 100,000 couples have asked!

Recently, Kettle Creek has added two members to their team who are certified for the 'Prepare and Enrich' course. "It’s the number one marriage preparation course in the world," says Martti. "It is scientifically based and studies the eleven areas of compatibility." He adds that the course is ideal for couples who are getting married, and even for couples who have been married for awhile but want to work on their relationship.

*All prices are subject to applicable taxes.

Hallmarks of Kettle Creek Weddings

There is a moment during every Kettle Creek wedding that is referred to as the Motivational Moment. This is the time when your Officiant will speak directly to you - speaking about what is important and relevant to you and your marriage. They speak from their hearts, primarily to the couple, but also to everyone in attendance. "Your guests are present on your wedding day because they believe in love, and weddings remind us of how wonderful love and intimacy is." For Janith and Emily, this was one of their favourite memories surrounding their wedding ceremony, "It was a fantastic, feel-good speech which had everyone smiling at the end... It was the best thing about our ceremony..."

Humour is another hallmark of Kettle Creek Weddings. "Your wedding ceremony should be warm, not stiff. It's a celebration... we like to breathe life into the ceremony when we can."

Having met several husband-wife couples who are, or have been, owners of a Kettle Creek Weddings regional office, it has been easy for staff at The Ring to see that weddings are a passion for them, not a job. They seem to truly love what they do, taking pride in providing services that are high in quality and heartfelt in nature. And we're sure that this helps brides feel more confident in trusting Kettle Creek's services - something that Martti and Trish say brides often mention. "Brides don't want to be telling us what needs to be done."

Kettle Creek Weddings' Officiants say they have no set rules in relation to your other wedding professionals. "We always ask the photographer where they want us to stand during the kiss." They admit this is likely one of the reasons Kettle Creek is so often referred and preferred by other local wedding professionals. In return, they often refer to their own extensive Rolodex of top quality vendors when asked for recommendations. And with several years in the business now, they say that they're becoming quite the wedding experts and are beginning to know most of the people in the business.

Good to know

All Kettle Creek Weddings' Officiants are ordained ministers, legally licensed to perform marriages. Most Officiants also have seminary training and many have pastoral experience. That said, they respect your beliefs first and foremost. Officiants at Kettle Creek understand the magnitude of their role in the day. "Your Officiant is the least expensive part of your day, yet the whole day is about the ceremony. Without us, it's just an expensive party."

Kettle Creek Weddings marries couples seven days a week, any time of the day. That said, they recommend booking your Officiant at the same time as you book your ceremony location. "Book us as soon as you know that you would like us to be your Officiants. Everything else can usually come after," Trish told us.

To meet demand, most KCW Officiants perform an average of two wedding ceremonies per day. On popular or trend-driven dates (such as 07/07/07), more may be taken on so as not to have to turn down couples who have their hearts set on Kettle Creek.

Trish and Martti have room for small ceremonies in the living room of their lovely home. Every Officiant shows up for your wedding dressed professionally. However, they can accommodate special requests such as casual attire.

Walking you through your wedding

In your first meeting (or only meeting if you've booked the Essential Package) with Kettle Creek Weddings, whether it be with Martti or Trish or one of their other Officiants, a lot can happen. You will talk a lot about your own love story and what you visualize for your ceremony. For your reference, you'll briefly review the client resource section of the Kettle Creek Weddings website and take a username and password away with you so you have access from home as well.

As the bride and groom, you're the focus of your wedding ceremony. Kettle Creek Weddings supplies you with a ceremony planning guide that helps you to wrap your head around the sentiment, flexibility, and options involved in planning your personalized wedding ceremony.

If you've booked Kettle Creek's Elegant Package, you get a second meeting where you'll review the content of your day and walk through the ceremony. They consider themselves to be there for you, helping in any way they can to make sure that your day runs smoothly. By the time the wedding day arrives, Martti and Trish say they always have a full script worked out, one that was created by the bride and groom. "We won't be swayed from your plans and arrangements by your guests or parents. We always stick to your plan and act as your advocate in all things."

First steps towards your personalized ceremony

Kettle Creek Officiants love to meet their couples in person for an initial consultation. You can make an appointment by calling 519-584-2993 or 1-866-886-8863 Monday to Friday, 9 am to 9 pm or emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it anytime. You can even book Kettle Creek Weddings online! Check out their 'Book Online' form at www.kcwwaterlooregion.com.