Since HTML websites are becoming obsolete, we have
migrated onto a WordPress platform. In addition, we have changed our name
to
The DC Marriage Knot by SJB Ministires LLC. Please join us at
The DC Marriage Knot and check out the changes we have made.
Whether you're jumping the broom, lighting the
unity candle, tasting the four elements, exchanging rings, reciting vows, or blending sand; you
will be performing a ritual that states
your intentions to become one in the partnership of marriage.
Love, understanding, respect,
compassion, openness and receptivity; will be the mortar that will hold
everything dear to you in place and close.
Therefore, I
will work with you to create a uniquely special wedding ceremony that reflects
who you are today and who you will grow to be in the future.
No matter your religious background, I
have been trained to respect it. I have served a diverse group for
many years (religious, agnostics, spiritual, etc.). Therefore, your
ceremony can reflect your beliefs.
Christian
Nondenominational
Interfaith
Spiritual
Civil
Commitment
Vow
Renewal
As a traveling minister, I
will come
to your wedding site. Your site can be a home, garden,
park, banquet hall, country club, ballroom, hotel, pier, restaurant,
yacht, etc.
Letting me know where
your ceremony is located, when it is held, and
how to get there; puts me at the right place at the right time.
Elopements
- Small - Large
Weddings
$435
(Within
the Washington DC & Baltimore City Areas)
$435
to $895 (Outside
the DC Metropolitan Area)
Rehearsals
(same venue as wedding)
$150
(Within the
Washington DC & Baltimore City Areas)
Upon
booking your regular wedding with me, you will receive a free wedding
ceremony workbook with sample ceremonies, rituals, and beautiful
readings. In addition, you will receive a personalized draft
ceremony, and a premarital questionnaire.
There is a $100 nonrefundable deposit
required to secure my services for your wedding day. This
deposit is subtracted from the total cost.
The
above fees are based on writing and revising the ceremony,
traveling to and from the wedding site, rehearsal attendance, wedding party direction and coordination, my time corresponding
with you, filing the county marriage license, officiating the ceremony,
and other
logistics. If applicable, a holiday
wedding fee of $60 will be added to the base cost.
Please
Note: All ceremonies require a valid marriage license or original marriage
certificate (for previously married couples) that must be
presented to me prior to my officiating the wedding ceremony. For
marriage
licensing procedures, please check with the marriage bureau of the
circuit court in the jurisdiction in which you are planning to get married, or
click the above link.
The wedding ritual is
full of creativity and power. I have performed the marriage
ceremony of many couples who have incorporated two rituals in their ceremony.
Jumping the broom is just one of them, while the others are the lighting
of the unity candle, sand pouring, or tasting the four elements.
So be creative and
bring rituals from your culture into your ceremony and combine them with
other well known ones. This way your ceremony will have that
special flavor that you want to achieve.
As a minister of
spiritual science it will be my job to ensure that the rituals are
perform correctly. So allow me the opportunity to guide you,
instead of you being guided by your own instincts or by the actions of
others.
Jumping the broom is a ritual that goes back
in time. Its history is replete with the desire to marry freely
without the fear of forced separation. Now it is a ritual that reminds many African American
of the hardship of the past and the overcoming of obstacles into a
world of freedom.
Today,
many African Americans have chosen to incorporate the jumping the broom
ritual into their marriage ceremony. They do it with the
intentions of bringing joy, happiness, prosperity, creativity, success,
harmony with others, and a vision for equality into their
life.
This ritual is all about transformation; the changing of
old into the new. It is one of my favorite wedding rituals because of
its ancestral roots and its deep hidden meaning.
Rituals should
not be taken lightly, because they have a divine and profound purpose
for creating ones desires.
The manifested desires (freedom and equality) you see today,
were created by the ancestors of yesterday.
In some Black weddings
(when the guests abound from many races) couples are choosing to omit
the history of the ritual. They just want to jump the broom as a way of
participating with their historical roots.
This is not the case
when the guests are predominately Black, with just a little flavor of Caucasian
mix amongst them. In such African American weddings, the history
of the ritual is shared openly and the participation in it is honored by
all.
The history of slavery should not
bring shame to any Black American. When African Americans
hide their history from their white counterparts (at some Black weddings), they do it out of
respect for the fragility of human emotions and lasting friendships.
As American, we know
that our ancestral past is replete with the sadness of the times.
While living the American dream, our goal is to continue
rising to the light of divine love and demonstrating our connection with
all, regardless of race or sexual orientation.
I
am, Reverend
Starlene Joyner Burns a
nondenominational - interfaith minister, marriage equality supporter, DC wedding officiant (known as wedding minister
and
wedding celebrant) and pre-wedding coach. In addition, I am
the founder and director of SJB Ministries LLC. And I am currently
a
minister in good standing at The National Spiritual Science Center (NSSC) in Washington
DC.
And while on a ministerial track, I studied
four consecutive years at NSSC and upon graduation, I chose to be an ordained minister of
Spiritual Science.
Prior to that I was ordained in the
Christian faith. With more than six years of experience, I am
prepared for the responsibility of an interfaith - nondenominational
minister.
In addition, I received
further training in the administration of the holy sacraments by a well
known minister. My other responsibilities
include
baptisms, baby blessings and dedications, funerals (including pets) and memorials,
and other rites of passage. I am compassionate,
ethical, and professional. As a DC officiant,
I will work hard with you to ensure that your ceremony is
memorable.
Finally, I am registered and authorized to
perform weddings in Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia. The territory in which I will be offering my
services are: all of the Washington DC Metropolitan area,
Prince Georges County, Montgomery County MD, Arlington County Virginia,
Loudoun County VA, Fairfax County Virginia, and Alexandria Virginia.
And
I
will extend my services to; parts of Southern Maryland, Calvert County,
Charles County, Howard County Maryland, Anne Arundel County Maryland,
Frederick County MD, Carroll County Maryland, Baltimore County MD, and
Baltimore City Maryland.
Meeting (Initial Consultation)
Once we have agreed on a meeting date and time; kindly confirm it with
me the day before or the morning (after 10:00 am) of our meeting. This way I will know that you are sincere about your
wedding plans and meeting with me. If I do not hear from you, I will
assume that you are no longer interested in my services.
All meetings are held at Panera Bread in the Vista Gardens Marketplace: 10531 Martin
Luther King Jr. Highway, Bowie, MD 20720. The shopping center is
adjacent to my community.
And there are
times when I hold meetings in my home or via Skype.
If you would like to reserve my services at the end of our meeting, you will
need and a $100 cash deposit. Checks and money orders are also
accepted.
Traveling the highways
of Maryland,
Northern Virginia, & Washington DC to serve the needs of
a diverse spiritual community
All
Faiths, All Weddings, All Ethnicities
Rev. SJ Burns is listed on
many websites under: DC Officiants, Washington DC Wedding
Ministers, DC Wedding Officiants, Justice of the Peace, Marriage Celebrant,
Interfaith Wedding Ministers, Nondenominational Wedding Officiants, Maryland Officiants, MD Officiant,
Maryland Wedding
Ministers,
MD Wedding Officiants, Baltimore Officiants, VA Officiants, Virginia Wedding Ministers,
Virginia Celebrants, and Clergy.
Rev. Burns (your
minister on call and resident MD Officiant) loves performing
Maryland Weddings, DC Weddings, Baltimore Weddings, Virginia
Weddings, Civil Weddings, Interfaith Weddings, Nondenominational Weddings,
Nonreligious Weddings, Integrated Weddings, Interracial
Weddings, Commitment Ceremonies, Elopements and Washington DC
Weddings. She travels
up and down the highways from Bowie to Baltimore, Glen
Burnie, Columbia, Annapolis, Silver Spring, Gaithersburg,
Rockville, Alexandria, Fairfax, and Washington, DC
fulfilling the needs of those who call.
$435
(Within
the Washington DC & Baltimore City Areas)
