I read somewhere that premarital counseling is positively correlated to successful marriages. My own opinion of marriage was dubious after witnessing seemingly unhappy marriages and happy divorces all around me. I surveyed many married people about the secrets to their success and always cringed when they responded in a sarcastic manner indicating that their relationship was no longer as glowing as it once was and it was merely a habitual status quo of ennui. I wanted none of that for myself! Finding a premarital counselor proved harder than expected. I asked the Unitarian Temple in Oak Park and the Congregational Church across the street. Neither of them provided the services I sought nor did they offer up any referrals. I found a non-religious organization online that offered something like five sessions and a workbook outlining specific lessons; however, they never returned my calls. That's when I found Celebrate Love Chicago and Jeffrey. Jeffrey and I played a fine game of phone tag that resulted in our first contact being way too exuberant and familiar on my part than his want. I definitely caught him off guard and he seemed skeptical of me. We scheduled our first consultation. I learned from his website that his first consultation was free and also that he had a premarital counseling deal that's $450 for five sessions. We told him we wanted to take advantage of that deal and he agreed. At our second meeting I was disappointed that he sprang on us that our first meeting (the consultation) was included in those five sessions. I quickly learned that Celebrate Love Chicago is a small operation. Although it definitely has it's charm being in Andersonville, having free drinks, samples, and literature in the waiting area, and a therapy dog... Well. I think that Jeffrey runs it all by himself which explains all the phone tag, occasional lost emails, and no formal billing process. It's a lot to handle and I am pretty sympathetic about it all even though I was initially annoyed. We learned a lot about how to format the framework of our relationship from Jeffrey. I won't disclose the points that he taught us but I will say that sometimes our tempers flared when he poked into certain problems. Our relationship is rosy and our disagreements are small. We didn't like it when we would dwell on one of our hiccups when we already considered it resolved. Now we understand Jeffrey's method and we know he was simply using those problem points as an example for his framework. We have found his framework to be extremely helpful and now we observe other couples and think that they need a little Jeffrey in their lives too. Fortunately he gave us plenty of cards to distribute and I've already handed out four! read more

So, the fiance and I hired Jeffrey Sumber to be our officiant and part of the costs require three pre-marital sessions. Since we wanted ours to be non-religious/secular, Jeffrey had asked us to come in so he could get to know us better and help us shape our ceremony to be befitting of us - what a great concept! Our first intro session was FREE (yes, some things in life are free which is very very nice, especially if you're paying for a wedding anyway) and then, he also gave us a 50% discount after four pre-marital sessions with him - we've found his pre-marital sessions are extremely helpful - it's nice to have things laid out in a different manner. He's helping us see past the present and really help us lay out the foundation for our 'culture' together and for our lives together as one. He's also helping overcome little obstacles and something as silly as "why we fight over the center of the bed" - we're very confident in his abilities and look forward to having a beautiful ceremony that is catered to our personalities and our relationship. I highly recommend him as an officiant (if you're going the non-religious route) and a counselor. Plus his office is right next door to Hopleaf and La Donna - another bonus right there, too! With less than three weeks away for the wedding, we're very pleased with the outline of the ceremony and how it's turning out exactly what we could have imagined - it's very personalized to the two of our personality and relationship. I'll edit this after the wedding. EDIT: Our ceremony was fabulous and Jeffrey definitely added quite a bit of personalization and flair to our wedding. He even made a little slipup which was actually really endearing because you could tell that he's spent quite a bit of time with us! Thank you again, Jeffrey!! read more

My husband is a UK citizen and flew to Chicago, my hometown, for our wedding. We were already a bit nervous about the logistics of it all, and when our original officiant canceled on us a week before our date, I had NO idea what I was going to do! I called Jeff after reading some glowing reviews on Yelp! He was incredibly understanding and kind. He offered us a lot of options and I was immediately thrilled with how warm and friendly he was. We eloped in his office, and it was exactly perfect. Even if I had years to plan it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing - most of all, Jeff. His words were incredibly beautiful and really touching. I'm pretty sad we moved overseas afterwards and don't have a chance to see him more often! I can't say enough good things about him. I'd give him 10 stars if I could! read more

Jeffrey was great. From our initial consultation to follow up meetings and back-and-forth emails, Jeffrey was really down-to-earth about our whole wedding, which was basically the vibe we were going for. He really took the time to get to know us and understand our relationship. We were totally comfortable being candid about our relationship and its quirks. By the time we got to the ceremony, it felt like an old friend was marrying us. I was a little skeptical at the rehearsal, when Jeffrey wasn't putting all his cards out on the table. He sort of glossed over some things a bit, and I thought to myself, "it's odd that he's not being more specific about what we're supposed to do/say". But at the ceremony it all made sense! It was such a lovely surprise to hear everything that Jeffrey had prepared for the first time as the ceremony was unfolding. It was like watching a movie, but we were in it! Seriously though, we couldn't have been more pleased with how the ceremony turned out. It was light-hearted and warm, just as we wanted it. Jeffrey put together the perfect words to describe our relationship and our goals for our marriage. He made it so personal and unique to our relationship, no cookie-cutter ceremony template here folks. He also made it interesting for our guests, they were really engaged and felt like they were a part of the ceremony too, which was important to us. Not only is Jeffrey a pro at running a wedding ceremony, he is just such a thoughtful and loving person and really gives so much of himself to the process. Say "I do" to Celebrate Love Chicago! read more

I first met Jeff as a student in his psychology class at National-Louis University. I was immediately struck by his overwhelming passion for his professional commitments and his dedication to his students. After learning more about him, I was delighted to discover that he was not only a phenomenal professor, but an ordained minister. I knew that when the time came to say my "I do's", Jeff would be my go-to guy! Immediately after my engagement, I emailed Jeff to share the good news and also ask if he would do me the great honor of officiating my wedding. Jeff's response was swift and expressed pure joy. At our initial meeting with Jeff, my husband and I were greeted into a caring atmosphere with a warm smile and an open mind. My husband is Roman Catholic and I am Jewish. We had discussed with Jeff, prior to our meeting, that we were hoping to blend our two faiths into our ceremony. He was extremely receptive and served as a wonderful source of guidance throughout the entire ceremony building process. My husband and I had never sat down with a neutral party preceding our marriage counseling sessions with Jeff. We found the entire process to be tremendously rewarding and worth every penny. The sessions allowed us to share our thoughts and feelings regarding our relationship leading up to that point and our hopes for our future as husband and wife. Leading up to the ceremony, my husband and I felt at ease that Jeff would create a ceremony that would be purely "us". Not only were our thoughts confirmed, Jeff soared above and beyond our highest expectations. He illuminated our relationship in a custom ceremony that left us touched and our guests amazed. Thank you Jeff for first entering my life as my professor and continuing on as my mentor, Officiant, and friend! read more

Wow, where do I begin? My husband and I began our search for a wedding officiant with fairly particular stipulations on what we wanted. We wanted someone who was OK with a completely nonreligious ceremony (no mention of god, higher power, etc) because neither of us are religious in the slightest. We wanted someone who was willing to meet with us a few times and get to know us so that the ceremony felt more personal. We wanted someone with very philosophical views on marriage and relationships, and preferably someone who had experience with all different types of unions. Jeffrey delivered on all of our expectations, and also exceeded everything we had imagined. The first time we met with him both of us knew instantly that he was our guy. He was VERY easy to talk to and we met with him 4 separate times for about an hour each session (the first session was free and the other 3 were included in the package we chose). In our sessions he covered every single issue and concern my husband and I were going through at the time; it was amazing and SO professional how Jeffrey knew exactly what to cover and how to approach all the sensitive "pre wedding" issues, all while making us both feel extremely comfortable. On a side note to that; I have had some experience with therapy type sessions in the past, so I was very comfortable in that setting. My husband on the other hand was quite nervous going into the first session, as he had never really been in a situation where he had to express his thoughts/feelings/emotions to someone he wasn't extremely familiar with. He went into the first session a little quiet, and quite reserved. By the time we left Jeffrey's office, my husband was so enthused and thrilled with his experience and he told me in the car on the way home that he felt "so at ease" speaking with Jeffrey, and that we "absolutely made the best choice". I was THRILLED. Our sessions following the first one were SO helpful in the whole process. Jeffrey understood exactly the types of stresses that our impending wedding was causing and addressed everything head on, with great advice and just the right words of wisdom. He always left us with little "homework" assignments that really helped my husband and I communicate calmly and effectively in the last and most stress-filled days before the wedding. The actual ceremony was just gorgeous. It was literally perfect. I really don't like to throw the word "perfect" around a lot, but there's no better way to describe the ceremony that Jeff put together. It was meaningful, beautiful, straight from the heart, and most importantly it was just so "us". It felt like we were getting married by a close friend who had known us for years, instead of someone who we just met a few months prior. There were moments were my husband and I were laughing, and moments where there were tears. After the ceremony all of our family and friends surrounded my husband and I, telling us how touching and perfect it was. Everyone loved Jeff, even the "hard to please" family members (one side is Catholic and one side is Jewish, so it was a tough crowd for a nonreligious ceremony!!!). If you're getting married and looking for the perfect wedding officiant, go with Jeffrey Sumber. If you don't... well, that's just plain nuts. 5 stars, I wish there were 6. :) read more

We first met with Jeffrey about one year before our wedding. He was out of our budget for an officiant but we were having trouble finding a non-religious officiant that we liked. After meeting with Jeffrey we decided it was worth it to shuffle around our budget and spring for the full package including the pre-marital sessions. The pre-marital sessions were great. We talked about things that my then fiance and I hadn't thought to discuss and Jeffrey made everything easy and comfortable (and he has a really cute dog). When planning our ceremony he asked us several questions that we hadn't even thought about (like if the maid of honor carries the ring, where will she put it? And which readings were too long for our hopefully short ceremony) and proved to us that he was very knowledgable and experienced. Jeffrey drove an hour and a half out of the city to our rehearsal the day before our wedding. Before getting started with everything, he pulled me and my fiance aside and talked to us for a minute. He asked how we were feeling and had us talk to each other and just basically helped us slow down and appreciate each other for a second during the craziness. The next day, he again drove an hour and half out to our ceremony. Right before the ceremony, we had a severe thunderstorm come and we had to move everything inside. He again, pulled my fiance and I aside and talked to us. Made sure we were doing ok, gave us some advice and calmed us down. The ceremony was perfect. He used what he had told him in our meetings and made everything very customized and perfect for us. He referenced our personalities and inside jokes and experiences. We got many compliments and he really did a great job of making a very meaningful, but non-religious ceremony. He was also extremely quick with paperwork, and we received our marriage certificate in the mail almost immediately! My husband and I are both very happy with our choice to go with Jeffrey for our officiant. Your officiant can really make or break your special day and Jeffrey was very sensitive to our personal wants and we would both highly recommend him. read more

Jeffrey married us on May 16th at the Chicago Illuminating Company. We opted for the 3 premarital sessions as a way to get to know him better so he could personalize our ceremony. It was kind of expensive but worth every penny. During the 3 sessions we focused on communication and finding balance during the wedding planning period, as well as our vision for our ceremony. We really didn't know what we wanted, and he was very helpful in guiding us through the ceremony planning process. Jeffrey had us complete a "ceremony builder", in which we answered a lot of questions about us and our relationship. This was helpful as it actually forced us to think about the ceremony and the marriage, which is really the whole purpose of the wedding! Jeffrey did an excellent job with our ceremony. The ceremony builder and the 3 sessions really enabled him to know us, and the ceremony he created was very personal. He was able to infer things about us that I don't even remember telling him - I was very impressed. We are not religious and there were no religious references at all, as we had requested. Both of my parents are deceased and he spent a moment honoring and remembering them, which was very important to me. He really listened to what we wanted and included everything we requested: emphasizing love, friendship, respect, trust and community. Our guests were also very impressed by how personal and touching the ceremony was. During the ceremony I felt like Jeffrey was a pillar of strength - when I was becoming emotional or nervous I found comfort and reassurance in him. He is truly a professional and really makes an effort to be supportive and helpful during the planning process. He also personalizes the ceremony and puts a lot of thought into creating the ceremony that suits the couple. Overall I would not hesitate to recommend Jeffrey to anyone who wants an officiant that will create a ceremony with you that really is about you. Ours was perfect and I wouldn't change a thing about it. read more

We were so lucky to have had Jeff as our officiant. No matter what your beliefs, or non beliefs. No matter the uniqueness of your ceremony, Jeff will be able to do it. As a reviewer said before, Jeff found a creative way to incorporate our three year old daughter into the wedding. My husband is native american indian, and Jeff suggested that we honor our daughter with a feather. We both gave her a kiss, and presented the feather to her. It was so emotional, and heartwarming. I dont think there was a dry eye in the audience. Jeff will do exacly what you want, and if you aren't sure how a ceremony is supposed to go, like me, then Jeff will take over and make suggestions. He will customize your wedding to suit you. No ceremony will ever be the same with Jeff. Jeff also traveled all the way from Chicago to Rockford, just for us. Our first meeting was really kind of fun. Cody and I sat down with Jeff and answered a whole bunch of questions. Jeff then came up with an idea for vows, and a ceremony "outline" just based on what he learned of us. It was AWESOME! I barely had to do anything, and when you're stressing, this is a huge help. Although, if you want to be the one to customize your wedding, Jeff would have no problem with that either. He is just so flexible with your wishes, and caters to your needs. Jeff is reliable, friendly, knowledgeable, and willing to work with any challenge. My husband and I will invite Jeff to re-new our vows in a few years, and he will be a special part of our family forever. If I could give 20 stars I would. Dont make the mistake of overlooking this wonderful officiant. read more

My now husband and I always knew we wanted a nondenominational wedding. We both come very different and diverse backgrounds and wanted our wedding to focus on our love and commitment to each other while still honor our families. We opted for the three face-to-face sessions, which I highly recommend. Jeffrey gave us direction and suggestions but still left room for us to customize and really make every piece of our ceremony unique to us as a couple. We also built great rapport during those meetings and by the time our actual wedding came around it felt like we were having a friend officiate. Jeffrey helped us accomplish everything we were hoping and more. Our ceremony was so memorable and I personally am also so grateful for his advice and guidance right before we actually walked down the aisle. His words allowed us to take a deep breathe, check back in with ourselves, look past all the energy and excitement building around us and really be present during our ceremony and vows, reminding us that this is what the whole day was truly about. read more

We got married in June 2010 and had Jeffrey as our officiant. We chose a package that allowed us to meet with Jeffrey several times prior to our ceremony in order to talk about marriage and plan out our ceremony. Jeffrey also came to our rehearsal and was a great leader for the multi-cultural, multi-lingual, and multi-age group of people that we had in our wedding. During our "pre-marital counseling" meetings, Jeffrey gave us useful strategies to use in our marriage now and for the rest of our lives. We made several discoveries about each other and about our relationship by using the tools that he gave us - even after ten years of dating each other. Once it came time to plan out our ceremony, we felt like spending time with Jeffrey definitely helped him get to know us and write a ceremony that fit our personalities. Neither of us is religious, so we asked for a ceremony that was spiritual and special, but without religious concepts. We talked about the general layout of the ceremony and some of the more specific parts, like readings that we wanted to have in it and certain special elements. Jeffrey had great ideas like having a unity of the families part in the ceremony when we gave our parents special gifts. He also took all of our ideas and thoughts and incorporated them into the ceremony. Before the wedding day, we knew enough about the ceremony layout to make us comfortable, but much of what Jeffrey said and our vows were a surprise for us. When we heard everything that Jeffrey incorporated, like our personalities and our history together, it was extremely special and touching. Every element that he included in the ceremony came together to create a beautiful and unique wedding for us! Our guests truly enjoyed the ceremony and told us how wonderful it was after the wedding. Most importantly, we felt like it represented our feelings about each other, about love, and about our future. For any couple considering working with Jeffrey for their wedding, we whole-heartedly recommend him as a wonderful officiant! read more

Working with Jeffrey was one of the best decisions we made during our planning process. We wanted a ceremony that felt familiar to our guests, yet unique and genuinely reflective of us as a couple. Jeffrey expertly helped us craft exactly that. He is easy to work with, detail oriented, an insightful listener, and a warm, gentle soul--exactly what you'd want from a wedding officiant. I'd recommend him to anyone. read more

My fiancé and I were hoping that there would be someone out there who would be willing to marry a Jewish girl and a Lutheran boy. Neither of us are religious, but are pretty spiritual, grown and modern couple, who wanted someone who would "get" us...and there he was. Jeffrey was great from the first email. Super easy to talk to, very organized, a great sense of humor, great advice - in a nutshell, we would recommend Jeffrey to anyone. Thank you Jeffrey for making our day so much more! read more

Jeffrey married us on Jan. 23rd and the experience working with him from start to finish was pretty amazing. The ceremony was perfect. Now that its over and I think back on our counseling sessions and the ceremony builder process I see that he is great at what he does and that he helped both of us quite a bit. Actually, I kinda miss him! I would recommend springing for the 3 pre-marital counseling sessions. We found it helped us become very comfortable with Jeffrey as well as provided us an opportunity to really think about what marriage meant to us. We were pretty clueless walking into his office for the first time. The ceremony builder he provides lays everything out and makes preparing for the ceremony so much less daunting than I thought it would be. We didn't even know the basic components of a ceremony but Jeffrey guided us through it all in a very relaxed way. The day of the wedding Jeffrey was such a calming presence. I observed him take my then-very-nervous-fiance outside for a little chat right before the ceremony which I thought was really cute (and effective). He also repeatedly checked in with me a few days before the wedding to see how I was and assured me everything was set to go. During the ceremony I panicked a bit when I realized, while up in front of everyone, that I lost track of a gift that was supposed to be presented. You would never have known we omitted something last minute the way he seemlessly glossed over that part. I guess all you need to know is that he is professional, kind and every bit worth the money. We had tons of compliments on the ceremony. I heard from multiple people that it was the best ceremony they've ever attended. We were very happy with Jeffrey and if you choose him as an officiant we think you will be too. read more

Throughout the ceremony planning process, Jeffrey provide kind, thoughtful, and creative guidance. We chose to do premarital counseling sessions as part of our ceremony package, which provided a great opportunity for us to explore our relationship and craft a ceremony that fit our personalities and values. Jeffrey was an invaluable resource in helping us create a ceremony that reflected our secular views, but honored our respective Jewish and Christian heritages. Jeffrey always had our best interests in mind, and even on the day of the wedding, took us aside for a quiet moment to reflect on the meaning and significance of the impending ceremony. After the wedding, we received many compliments on the ceremony and Jeffrey. We highly recommend Jeffrey for anyone seeking a unique and personalized wedding ceremony. read more

Jeff was the perfect officiant for our wedding! Since we live in Hawaii a face to face meeting to plan the ceremony was not possible, but Jeff arranged a Skype meeting on-line and worked with us through emails and phone calls to develop a ceremony that truly reflected us. He really took time to find out what our vision was, and combined all the aspects that were important to us seamlessly into the ceremony. He provided great insight on how to include my 10-year old son into the ceremony by adding a family ceremony where we said our vows to him. The ceremony was beautiful, meaningful and I could not have asked for a better officiant! read more

ah, jeffrey. we met him & immediately felt at ease and confident that our considerable search for the perfect officiant was over. he was responsive to our needs as a couple during premartial counseling & worked to understand who we were as individuals and as partners. our sessions were provocative, engaging, moving, & helped solidify what we had built and plan for what we were building. he not only validated us, he challenged us. he giggled with us and talked about music and travel. he shared our harder moments with grace and celebrated our strengths. our conversations ranged from the very specific about how my partner and i move through our days to the more abstract ideas behind a marriage. we gained strategies and vocabulary and conceptual frameworks. i believe our toolkit is well-stocked for all the topsy-turvy wonderfulness of a shared life. and yet, i know we could & can call him at any point in the future & he would be ready to jump to our side again. the link between having jeffrey serve as our premarital counselor and officiant is clear. he learned so much about us and we, in turn, were able to feel known and comfortable with the public presentation of our relationship in jeffrey's hands. he helped us be intentional and thoughtful about our ceremony, honoring what we did and did not need and want. he reminded us to breath. he centered us moments before the whole thing started, and, he high-fived us after our vows (it's on the video!). we have received so, so many compliments on our ceremony from its intimate & personal feel to its joyful celebration of what a love, and our love, can be. it was so deeply personal & moving for us and it's been wonderful to hear people continually respond in such an overwhelmingly gushing way about the ceremony. jeffrey's presence, respect, joy, reverence & irreverence were key to the entirety of the day and we feel honored to count him, now, as a friend. huzzah to jeffrey. huzzah. read more

Where do I begin? Jeffrey absolutely rocks! Often in our home, the words are spoken "What would Jeffrey suggest we do?" :) My husband and I were recently married last month and Jeffrey preformed our non-religious ceremony. He did an outstanding job. We opted for the 3 pre-marital sessions as a way to get to know him and have our ceremony personalized and tailored to us. If you have this option, I would definitely suggest it. As other reviewers have mentioned, we filled out a ceremony builder, he gave us many options of things to include in our ceremony and how we would visualized our day to be. But most importantly, he listened. He truly got to know us, and he truly cares. He really helped us deal with the outside pressures of planning a wedding. He helped us with our communication with one another. I hesitate to use the word counseling, because my husband and I don't and didn't really have pressing issues in our relationship but he helped us realize even more why we love each other and what type of partners we want to be to one another. My husband is a quite man; he keeps many issues tucked away and hardly ever expresses them. With Jeffrey, it was the first time I had ever seen him be able to speak with someone so comfortably about things he kept inside since his childhood and it really helped him. I honestly, can not say enough good things about Jeffrey as a person and his services. He made me feel so relaxed throughout the planning process, the ceremony was amazing and heartfelt and I could not have imagined anyone else performing our ceremony. I felt like my husband and I were standing up on the stage with our close friend. We chose to have 2 more sessions after our first 3 and my husband and I are considering checking in with Jeffrey every few months, 3-4 times a year to make sure we are on the right track. read more