If you are just browsing through for an Officiant. You can just stop here, and contact Mitch. Talk about things happening for a reason. Our plan A; Family Member, and B; Friend that we had asked to Officiate our Wedding BOTH backed out 9 days before our Wedding. I frantically spent the night searching for a replacement via social media with no luck since it was too last minute. I sent Mitch a message via Yelp, and he responded within 15 min :) Oh was I relieved. He kept continuous contact with us as the day approached. He was on time, and very professional. My only regret is that I did NOT find him sooner. My Husband, and I wish we could have participated in his Personalized Wedding. But I could not pencil in a meeting within a 9 day time frame :( We can not thank Mitch enough for giving us such a beautiful ceremony!! read more

ForeverInspired - Mitch did an amazing job settling my soon to be Husbands nerves!! - Officiants Near Me - Sacramento, California

1 star My husband and I had a small, casual wedding back in 2022-- a handful of family, one photographer, and us, in the woods. We deliberately chose not to be bridezilla/groomzilla about any of it. That wasn't because the details don't matter -- they clearly matter enormously to a lot of couples, and for good reason -- it was just how we chose to approach our particular day. And thank goodness for that, because it turns out even a low-key wedding wasn't low-stakes enough to get through him unscathed. He arrived 40 minutes late, despite being emailed explicit directions -- location, cross streets, confirmed by him in writing hours earlier. We paid our photographer extra out of pocket to cover the lost time. Mid-conversation about how pretty the trees were, he segued into officiating without telling us he'd started -- we found out afterward that our wedding video is incomplete because he never signaled we were live. My father, my only living parent, and who would have been my only guest at our wedding, was too sick to attend and was counting on that video to see the ceremony. He didn't get to see all of it. We wrote our own vows in advance, and he showed us that he'd pasted them into his nice-looking book..... and then he read none of them, later explaining he'd left the notebook on a rock behind him -- then pronounced us married anyway. He also offers handfasting on his site, with several named knot options; we corresponded with him in detail about which one we wanted. When it came to it he seemed to not really understand what to do with our handfasting cords- and kind of laid it over our hands, and wrapped it once or twice, and declared it good. There was no knot tied in the "tying the knot" bit. For some couples, and for some belief systems, that knot is the actual marriage act, not a nice extra -- so this isn't a small thing to skip. Then there was the paperwork, which was explicitly part of his service. Our marriage certificate went to the wrong county, delaying our certified copy by two weeks and jeopardizing my window to get on my husband's health insurance -- a real cost, not a hypothetical one. When we raised it, he told us we must have submitted it ourselves, despite us handing him a pre-addressed envelope for the correct county. For his version to be true, he'd have had to actively create a different envelope himself. He never once considered the possibility that any part of this was on him. We've decided as a couple to laugh at the absurdity of the incompetence of our "official" who brags so much about himself on his website, and we celebrate having a photographer who took our handfasting cords after the ceremony, looked us in the eyes and said "We're gonna fix this", and took us to a beautiful meadow, where she stood at the edge of the meadow to give us privacy while still getting pictures of us reading our vows to each other. The knot was truly tied, physically and emotionally, and we felt respected by the person celebrating with us. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful parts of our wedding, but it wasn't part of the official recorded ceremony. We're genuinely fine, and rolling our eyes about it now... But if you're a couple who's spent months or years planning a ceremony that means everything to you, I don't think "roll with it" would be an option, and I'd hate for anyone to find that out the hard way. Proceed with real caution. read more

If I could do NO STARS I would. DO NOT HIRE. Unprofessional, unprepared, and an absolute waste of money. Mitch Darnell officiated my daughter's wedding and failed on every single level. First, he was a complete no-show at the rehearsal the day before. When the actual ceremony began, his first move was to walk away from the microphone and stand awkwardly in front of the bride and groom--something I have never seen an officiant do. Worse, he was entirely unprepared and had absolutely nothing to say. He completely ignored the written script and the specific vows the couple had provided to him well in advance. Instead of guiding them, he skipped the traditional exchanges entirely--he never even prompted them with the standard, "I, [Name], take thee, [Name], to be my wedded..." or any variation of the "I dos." Instead, he put them on the spot, forcing them to come up with impromptu vows in front of everyone. While they stumbled initially, their heartfelt, off-the-cuff words ended up being the only redeeming and wonderful part of the ceremony. To make matters worse, I paid him $400, which is an obscenely high rate for someone who didn't even attend the rehearsal and spent less than an hour total on the job. In fact, he was at the wedding for only about 30 minutes total. That brief half-hour even included the signing of the marriage license, which he absurdly incorporated as part of the ceremony itself. I have never seen that done before, and I strongly suspect that because he is a fraud who does not actually know how to officiate weddings, he wanted to use the signing as "ceremony filler." We did not let him and made the signing directly after the ceremony but he was extremely impatient and wanted to leave the venue as soon as possible. Do not hire this man. Avoid him and his company, "Forever Inspired" with web at that name dot net. at ALL costs. He is absolutely worthless as an officiant and ruined what should have been a beautiful, prepared ceremony. The rest of the wedding was great and we are glad he had no hand in any of the festivities afterward. Mitch Darnell is a con-man and a fraud! Do not give this man any of your money. read more

Yesterday, I was in a wedding and the officiant completely ruined what should have been a beautiful ceremony. From the moment he walked up to the arbor, it was obvious he had done zero preparation. He rambled nonstop, spoke incoherently, and frequently made no sense at all. Guests and the entire bridal party were visibly looking around at each other in confusion and disbelief. The ceremony was about 5 mins. At one point, he asked the bride and groom if they had vows prepared, something he absolutely should have clarified long before the ceremony. They had intentionally planned to use traditional vows because they are not comfortable with public speaking, yet he put them on the spot in front of everyone and forced them into an incredibly awkward moment. And he called that moment beautiful. The ceremony itself lacked even the most basic structure. He randomly went off on a tangent about how rings are made, which had absolutely nothing to do with the couple or the significance of marriage. He also continually stepped away from the microphone, making large portions of the ceremony impossible to hear. Honestly, the entire experience was so bizarre and disorganized that multiple people genuinely questioned whether he was under the influence of something. That may sound harsh, but it was truly that bad. To make matters worse, he refused to attend the rehearsal beforehand, which in hindsight explains a lot. He never led the couple through proper vows or even simple "I do" confirmations. He just abruptly had them kiss, signed the marriage license immediately afterward, and practically sprinted out of the venue before anyone could speak to him. It genuinely felt like he knew how terrible the ceremony had been and wanted to escape accountability. Every guest and vendor that was present during the ceremony, talked about how bad he was. It was so bizarre. Never let this man officiate your wedding! Even the wedding coordinator was stunned by how unprofessional and chaotic the entire thing was. For the amount he charges, this level of incompetence is beyond unacceptable. Absolute sham of an officiant. read more

Mitch was Amazing! After our officiant had to cancel for medical reasons we were in desperate need of help. He got back to us very quickly and worked with my sister to insure she was comfortable and happy with his ideas. Sooo many people asked where we had met him and spoke a out how wonderful of a job he did. Thank you Mitch for making my sister and her husband's day so special! read more

Mitch was awesome! I had been in contact with him via email several months prior to my wedding and he was so helpful! Mitch was open to whatever we wanted to do and offered suggestions but wasn't pushy at all. My fiancé and I initially wanted to say our own vows but we ran into a time crunch and had to change to traditional vows kind of at the last minute. This wasn't a problem, Mitch came prepared. We had a few minutes before the ceremony and he asked some questions and then we were ready to roll. He personalized the ceremony to reflect who we are and it was so amazing! I would definitely recommend Mitch to anyone who asks! Thank you for making our day special! read more

We just had the wedding in SF City Hall on May 18th and Mitch was the officiant for our wedding. I would like to say Mitch is perfect and he took a lot of care for us and wanted to give us a special and personalized wedding. My husband and I were really impressed by Mitch's host. As we only had a simple ceremony, I would like to say Mitch was still very responsible and proactive for all of the processes. He came earlier and take care of every guest. If someone asked some recommendations for a perfect officiant, I must say Mitch. Thanks a lot and hope every couple has a perfect ceremony and happy life forever. read more

Mitch was amazing! He made the wedding preparation so much easier because he really got to know my husband and I. He was very knowledgeable with everything an officiant should know and really displayed a true professionalism. Mitch was very accommodating with our meetings and went out of his way to make sure we could all meet and discuss how we wanted the ceremony to go. He asked the right questions and gave us some great advice all while allowing us to pick and choose every detail about the ceremony. My husband and I are extremely happy with how everything went and will definitely highly recommend him for anyone looking of an officiant. Thanks for everything Mitch. read more

Mitch was our wedding officiant i June 2015 but ended up being more like family. From day one he was so welcoming and taught us more about ourselves than we knew. He was so helpful during our wedding rehersal and on the big day. Making sure we were ok and had everything we needed. During the ceremony everyone thought he was a friend of ours because he knew so much about us making our cermony very personable. I would highly recommend Mitch!! You wont regret it. read more

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We just had our wedding in June and we had Mitch as our officiant. He officiated such a beautiful and personalized ceremony! He took the time to get to know us and learn about how we met and was always willing to help during the whole process. He incorporated our love story and the experiences and traits that shaped the each of us, and how that brought us together. We got many compliments from our guests. He's amazing at what he does! read more

Story is complete true! And maybe only people who personally know you are safe but outsiders are not! Lesson learned An I found an amazing officiant! The company that gave me the referral to use you stopped giving you as a referral shortly after due to several of the same complaints. Use at your own risk but I would have a back up officiant better safe then sorry! read more

We can't say enough good things about Mitch, He helped make our wedding day one we will never forget! The personal touches he added to the pre-planning was the best. We highly recommend Mitch and Foreverinspired for your special day! Our wedding turned out better than we could have ever dreamed! Mitch foreverinspired us!! Russ & Kim read more