I gave Rev. Phil 5 stars because he truly deserves every single one of them. I found Rev. Phil on google as one of the first hits. I did my job and did some calling around and found out different prices and services that are out there. After calling Rev. Phil, and learning about his prices, I was very hesitant to call back to schedule the first meeting. Rev. Phil was the last vendor we had to book, and at that point we were on a tight budget. However, I went on his website (as Rev. Phil recommended) and reviewed many reviews and videos, which all described choosing Rev. Phil as one of their best investments with regards to their wedding preparation. As such, my husband and I met Rev. Phil the following week. After our initial meeting, and after talking to Rev. Phil in person, we did not hesitate to book him right away during our first meeting. Rev. Phil was a great part of our wedding preparation. He walked us step by step through our wedding ceremony. Before talking to Rev. Phil I thought wedding ceremonies are meant to be quick, boring and the only interesting part is the "I Do" part. However, Rev. Phil completely changed my perspective on wedding ceremony. He made our wedding ceremony the best part of our wedding. He met with us to discuss how we met and he put together a wonderful and very detailed story of our love story. He made our ceremony personalized by involving the audience and our wedding party. He made everyone laugh and cry and everyone talked about our wedding ceremony for many weeks following our wedding. Aside from making our ceremony very unique and personalized, he managed and coordinated the whole thing. My husband and I did not have to worry about a thing, as he communicated with the DJ, photographers, and videographers to know what to expect. He forwarded script of our wedding ceremony to the DJ so he knew when exactly to play what music. He also set up everything before the ceremony and made our lives so much easier on our wedding day. I want to thank Rev. Phil from the bottom of my heart because he made our special day even more special. He truly was the most essential part of our wedding day and I would recommend Rev. Phil to each and every one of you. As a matter of fact I suggested Rev. Phil to be on the recommended vendor list at the country club where we got married. And please do not turn Rev. Phil down because you may think he is outside of your budget. Trust me, I was this close to not calling him. He earned every penny we spent for his services. He puts in a lot of hard work and effort to manage such a wonderful wedding ceremony. Just meet with Rev. Phil in person and you will know what I am talking about! read more

Reverend Phil was one of the first vendors we booked and he set the tone for the rest of our wedding planning. From the moment we met him, we both felt like he understood us and got our vibe. And, the man knows his way around a wedding! He talked us through everything and gave us a lot of great ideas. He spent a good amount of time with us and really put us at ease with all the ceremony planning. We knew right away that he was who we wanted to officiate our ceremony. We quickly booked him, and though he is more expensive than some of the other officiants we looked at, we had a strong feeling that it would be worth it. We were so right! A few months later, we met up with Reverend Phil again to tell him our love story. We spent two and a half hours telling him how we met, how we got engaged, and all the fun stuff in between. He took copious notes the whole time and then gave us more tips on ceremony planning and even a great pre-marital counseling book! A month or so before the wedding, he sent us a script of the ceremony for our review. We answered his questions, worked on selecting readings and vows that meant the most to us, and wrote comments and corrections. We ended up with a great script that we both were so excited to hear come to life! He was excellent at the rehearsal - he guided us all through the whole ceremony without giving away any of the little secrets we had planned. He was very efficient but still very personable and fun. Our wedding ceremony was absolutely perfect. Reverend Phil was so organized - he worked with our vendors to make sure everything was ready to go and then came to check in with us and our readers to make sure WE were ready too. The highlight of the ceremony was how we told our love story and revealed the things we love most about each other (secretly confided in him before the ceremony so that our wedding was the first time we each heard them). He has perfect comedic timing - he had everyone laughing out loud at how we met and got engaged. He also knows when to take things seriously - I cried like a baby through our vows and I heard later that I definitely was not the only one. All in all, it was an absolutely beautiful ceremony - funny, sweet, emotional, and lovely. I am SO glad we picked Reverend Phil. If you are on the fence, he is WORTH IT! read more

When I was searching for a minister, I spent an hour and a half trying to find a bad review of Rev. Phil. I was very skeptical of using a minsiter I'd found online, but being able to see Rev. Phil's videos helped a lot, and he was very willing to talk with me on the phone and explain his style. He made me feel very comfortable and was professional the entire time. He met with me and my fiancé and got all the details banged out, even though we spent more time than we initially planned. His experience and professionalism ensured the wedding went very smoothly; and it was awesome that we could read through our entire ceremony beforehand. He made sure every detail was covered, was willing to try new things and work with our preferences and opinions, and really made sure that the wedding came out stellar. He asked that we respect his religious background but did not force it upon us. Our ceremony was not really religious, but he still gave it the feel of a momentous, all-encompassing event and made us feel really special. He had us laughing, smiling, and we had TONS of people come up to us afterward and comment on how much they loved the ceremony. We had very religious people at our wedding as well as athiests, young and old, and everyone loved it. He was always kind and professional and respectful and worked closely with our other vendors to make sure every moment was right. I was so hesistant to use some dude I found online, but I'm so happy we chose him, because he really helped make the day run smoothly. More than anything, though, he helped us create a great ceremony, gave us the freedom to help craft it while guiding us on points that he knew from experience would help make it better. With him I was always confident that I'd have a great ceremony, and I was right. He's personable, professional, and I have no doubt he will give others the same attention, respect and beautiful wedding that he gave us. The ceremony was just awesome. Devout or agnostic, big cathedral or secular banquet hall, he'll craft you a wedding that really "feels" like you. read more

If you are still searching for an officiant for your wedding look no further!! When my husband and I were looking for someone to marry us we didn't know where to start. My background is Catholic and my husband's is Christian so we were unsure whether to lean towards a pastor or priest but each of us not looking to convert the other- Reverend Phil was our perfect solution! We were able to quickly book an appointment to meet with him in person to talk about what type of ceremony we wanted and booked him on the spot! Rev. Phil made both of us feel comfortable being from different backgrounds and was veryyyyy accommodating to our needs and wants for how religious to make our ceremony. Another plus was that he was ALWAYS easy to get ahold of whether it was email or text and he always responded quickly (which was super important to me as a planning bride!). We also met again in person closer to the big day to go over all of the ceremony details and fine tune EVERYTHING! I had absolutely nothing to worry about and could rest easy the days before the wedding because Rev. Phil had it all under control. What makes Rev. Phil worth every penny is how personal he makes your ceremony. Our wedding made people laugh, cry, and was so unique and memorable! Rev. Phil gets to know so much about the two of you as a couple during the planning session and vice versa that it feels as if someone you've know for years is the one who is marrying you and the love of your life! Our ceremony was personal and unique to US! To this day we still have guests raving about how memorable it was! My husband and I would highly recommend Rev. Phil to all of our friends, family, and strangers! PS- I would also highly recommend purchasing the marriage workbooks that Rev. Phil offers! Since you don't have to take any marriage classes going this route it was important to us to have something we could work on just the two of us on our own time. They were actually pretty fun to do together too! read more

If you want your wedding ceremony to be amazing and perfect, do this one thing: hire Reverend Phil to officiate. Here's why: 1. He is EXTREMELY organized. He will go over every last detail with you during your planning session, and sends a completed script before the wedding, so you know exactly what will be said ahead of time. (With the exception of your secret things you love about each other- It was so fun to hear those for the first time at the ceremony!). 2. He is funny, personable, and a great storyteller. He will tell your love story in a way that even you will be laughing. The guests at our ceremony were roaring with laughter, which eased my nerves as I was standing at the alter in front of over 100 people! 3. People will remember your ceremony. How many weddings have you been to where the reception is what guests remember, versus the actual ceremony (the reason everyone is there)? Rev. Phil officiated a friend's wedding, and I was in awe at how great their ceremony was. It was hands down the best ceremony I had been to! As soon as I started planning my wedding, I knew we had to meet with him. We have received endless compliments on our ceremony and how great Rev. Phil was. A note about cost- he does charge more than what is considered average for an officiant, however, it's completely worth it. We had not originally budgeted for this - but after meeting with Rev. Phil, we knew we had to make it happen. We decided to cut back on some things (we did not have wedding favors, programs, or welcome baskets) because we felt it was more important to have a meaningful ceremony than all the "frills". So glad we did!! You will not be disappointed if you hire Rev. Phil. It was by far, the BEST decision we made about our wedding. Your guests will laugh, cry, and truly be part of the ceremony. The first thing I ask when someone I know gets engaged is "Do you have an officiant yet?" because I want everyone to have as amazing of a wedding as I did! read more

Epic Wedding Ceremony! I could not be more happy with our decision to have Rev. Phil do our ceremony. It is no secret your guests are looking forward to the reception but it is so important to invest in the ceremony. I mean, this IS the Wedding! The reception is the after party. This is the moment you will remember for the rest of your lives. If you want a meaningful ceremony that will tell YOUR story this is the officiant for you! The way Rev. Phil spoke of us made us feel like he knew us for years. He is fun yet sincere and is so charismatic!!! I am so used to wedding ceremonies where you look out and see sparse seating and only a few groups close relatives and friends show up... we have over 140 people show up for our ceremony! I have never gotten so many compliments in my life and it was about the ceremony! There was not a dry eye in the crowd and everyone was laughing at one point of another. Everyone agreed it was so powerful and not boring at all! Everyone told us how happy they were that they came to the ceremony and were able to be apart of such an amazing moment! When I first read reviews about Rev. Phil they were all amazing but I was worried I would not be able to afford it as so many people wrote that his services are more expensive than the average. I am here to reassure you. Yes, it is more expensive but soooo worth it and Rev. Phil is willing to work out a payment plan with you which makes it very do-able even on a limited budget like mine. Believe me, this is definitely an investment you are going to want to make, and yes it is more than the average but it is so worth it!!! read more

Rev. Phil was absolutely AMAZING! He was the best and super organized which was a HUGE plus for me. He did our ceremony just a couple of weeks ago (June 9). We found him through some Google searching and then saw all of the positive reviews on WeddingWire so we decided to contact him and schedule a meeting. We knew we didn't want to have an ordinary ceremony and since we are not very religious we wanted to find someone who did a little something different. Rev. Phil did exactly that! We met with him and booked him immediately. DO NOT let the fact that you don't know his price right of the bat deter you from meeting him. It is a little more than what you might see with other officiants but it is 100% worth it. We didn't even think about the price because we knew that he would make our wedding ceremony special and you can't put a price on that. He was great to work with and responded to emails in a timely fashion. By the time our wedding rolled around, we had multiple emails going back and forth with our ceremony script and we were confident and didn't have to worry about anything going into our wedding. The ceremony was amazing and Rev. Phil made it so much more special by sharing our love story and giving us the ceremony we wanted. We would definitely recommend him to anyone looking for an officiant and who wants something unique and different for their ceremony. Our guests were engaged, laughing and were not bored throughout the ceremony at all. It was exactly what we wanted and if you are looking for an officiant for your wedding, then Rev. Phil is the BEST choice!! read more

We recently got married and used Rev. Phil as our officiant. He was very accommodating, meticulous, and detail oriented during the planning process. He responds quickly to any and all questions, comments, and concerns. You will never feel in the dark or out of the loop. He let's you customize your ceremony to your liking. He will even let you be creative during your unity ceremony. We chose to do a sand ceremony, but he offers to do beer, wine, or margarita unity ceremonies. Or you can do a candle unity ceremony. If our wedding was closer to home, I would have chosen to do a tree unity ceremony. That's where each participant adds dirt to a potted sapling or baby tree. He is a salesman who knows how to market himself which is part of the reason why he is so successful. We received several complements and even got an "I didn't know that" from the father of the groom! Over all it was a great experience. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing! Our ceremony set the tone for a perfect evening. He told our love story and even shared our secret love for each other. You won't regret hiring him to be a part of your big day. I can assure you that he is as good as the reviews say. Worth every penny. If you're on the fence on whether or not to hire him, think back on any wedding ceremony you've ever been to. How memorable was it? Fainting members of the wedding party don't count! I promise he will make your ceremony the most unforgettable ceremony anyone (including yourself) has ever attended. Rev. Phil, I can't thank you enough for a special evening. read more

Sometimes I think when the planning gets going for a wedding we can lose sight of the most important part of the whole thing, the ceremony. When we began our search for someone to officiate the ceremony we knew we wanted it to be someone who could truly tell our story and make our guests laugh and see how much we loved each other. After meeting Reverend Phil we knew there was no question or concerns when choosing him and we booked him on the spot. When it came to our planning session he took 3 hours to meet with us on short notice when we came into town one weekend last minute. He listened to us tell our love story and got to know us as a couple and sincerely showed an interest. From there, the final product was sent over to us in stages and finally revealed on the big day. Our guests cried, laughed,smiled and were sincerely invested in our ceremony from beginning to end. Several of our guests expressed to my husband and I how amazing it was and how different and unique the ceremony was to any other they had been to. I still have people telling me how much they enjoyed it and asking me about Reverend Phil as they'd love to recommend him to other couples. Thank you Phil for not only being a part of our journey to the big day but being there from start to finish on the day of, even joining us at the reception to help us celebrate being married. You will forever hold a special place in our lives and we will be eternally grateful to you for exceeding all expectations we ever had and making our day truly one we will forever remember. read more

Rev. Phil was amazing! Our ceremony was absolutely fantastic! After the stress of looking at several venues, going to the church, trying to find a pastor with an available date - we found Rev. Phil...from there it was smooth sailing! He is very knowledgeable, timely, friendly, caring, and respectful of your desires as a couple for your ceremony while guiding you in the right direction from his experience :) After all, most brides are new to the process and we need some direction! He also directed our bridal party and family well so everyone was at ease and knew what they were doing. Our guest were very impressed with our ceremony, some saying that it was the best - most entertaining - ceremony they have been too. They were engaged and listening during the ceremony, laughing through our love story and engagement story. My brother-in-law said it was the coolest wedding ceremony he had been too, and several family members and friends thought it was awesome that we shared how we met, fell in love and got engaged as there are many parts they didn't know. Friends that were a part of the process or remember us falling in love, it made them feel special and more included in the ceremony. It was certainly worth the cost. Yes, it was more than we had originally budgeted but so worth it. Plus, the ceremony is not the part to go cheap...after all, that is the most important part of your entire day. If you want a wedding ceremony that is special, engaging, and something people will remember 10+ years from now...share your story! read more

Booking Reverend Phil as our officiant was a great decision. While we knew we weren't going to have a religious ceremony, I wanted to have a ceremony that was meaningful and personalized to us, and Rev. Phil helped us to craft exactly what we wanted. We had universally very positive reviews from our guests, and we were extremely happy with his ability to put together our "love story" that had everyone laughing and crying. Don't get sticker shock when you see his pricing, you're really getting way more than just someone who is going to show up and marry you. By the time our ceremony rolled around, I was referring to him as our ceremony coordinator, because that is what he was. He worked with all of our other vendors, especially the venue, our DJ, and our Stringed Trio, to make sure they were all aware of what he needed from them in order for the ceremony to run smoothly. His attention to detail is unrivaled, and with his experience he was able to work with us to tweak our ceremony until it was exactly what we wanted. At our rehearsal, he also worked with everyone in our wedding party, showing them what they need to do so that the photographers could get the best pictures, which I can appreciate now that I have my pictures and can recognize that the quality of the pictures was definitely improved by his advice. If you have wiggle room in your budget, you won't regret booking Rev. Phil because honestly you'll be happier with a better, meaningful, less stressful ceremony than with something else more superficial. read more

I strongly and sincerely recommend Rev. Mark Engel for a wedding. Not just for any wedding...for those truly serious about their future marriage and who want to not only include their love story in their ceremony but most importantly God in their ceremony and lives. My now husband and I ran into an issue with our current church and we were forced to scramble for anyone who could help lead our ceremony. We met with Rev Mark and were comfortable from the beginning. The quality of your officiant for your ceremony is reflected in their own marriage...he adores his wife. We were relieved that an outside Rev. connected with us and our faith. He helped us prepare beforehand with a useful guide and also offered us pre-marital counseling books! A GREAT investment especially considering we were church-less at the time. He also provided us with our complete script at the end of the ceremony. The ceremony was BEAUTIFUL!!! He not only married my husband and I but he drew in everyone else in the chapel to think about their own marriage and love. The hilarious telling of our love story and the disclosure of what we love about each other was beyond amazing! There are no words to describe our ceremony! Rev Mark is extremely organized, passionate about his faith and dedicated to whoever puts their trust in him. We did not go through with having our ceremony at our church for a reason - I could not imagine anything better! Thank you, Rev Mark! Thank you for being a wonderful piece of the foundation for our marriage. read more

Hubby and I have been married for almost two years now and not only us, but our wedding guests STILL talk about how great our wedding ceremony was! We couldn't have done it without Rev. Phil! He is THE MOST wonderful, caring man! We were so impressed by how he handled everything about our ceremony from the first meeting to beyond the "I do's". The ceremony planning was completely stress free: he took care of everything! He even stayed for the reception and all of our guests just loved him! I read every review I could find about him and couldn't find one negative comment! Although we were impressed, we balked at his prices at first. But then we thought, "You know, the ceremony is the most important part of our wedding and we want it to be super special and memorable." Upon meeting with Rev. Phil, we could tell that's exactly what we would get. We were so comforted that Rev. Phil understood our religious views and that he went many extra miles to make sure our ceremony reflected that and everything else that was "us ". The script Rev. Phil used allowed for our story to be told in a way that was charming, heartfelt, and memorable. It was so special that Rev. Phil included all those little things in the ceremony that we couldn't even begin to think of. And it was those little things that made all the difference between an average ceremony and a SPECTACULAR ceremony! I promise you: if you choose Rev. Phil to officiate your wedding, you will NOT be disappointed! :) read more

Hubby and I have been married for almost two years now and not only us, but our wedding guests STILL talk about how great our wedding ceremony was! We couldn't have done it without Rev. Phil! He is THE MOST wonderful, caring man! We were so impressed by how he handled everything about our ceremony from the first meeting to beyond the "I do's". The ceremony planning was completely stress free: he took care of everything! He even stayed for the reception and all of our guests just loved him! I read every review I could find about him and couldn't find one negative comment! Although we were impressed, we balked at his prices at first. But then we thought, "You know, the ceremony is the most important part of our wedding and we want it to be super special and memorable." Upon meeting with Rev. Phil, we could tell that's exactly what we would get. We were so comforted that Rev. Phil understood our religious views and that he went many extra miles to make sure our ceremony reflected that and everything else that was "us ". The script Rev. Phil used allowed for our story to be told in a way that was charming, heartfelt, and memorable. It was so special that Rev. Phil included all those little things in the ceremony that we couldn't even begin to think of. And it was those little things that made all the difference between an average ceremony and a SPECTACULAR ceremony! I promise you: if you choose Rev. Phil to officiate your wedding, you will NOT be disappointed! :) read more

Our wedding planner recommended Rev. Phil after we had some trouble finding someone to officiate our Catholic/Jewish outdoor ceremony. Both my new husband and I wanted to celebrate our cultures and honor our family heritage. We had some ideas of what we wanted but did not want to have a ceremony like most that we had attended. We considered having our brothers officiate for us, to represent our families, but decided against that. We went to meet Rev. Phil and really enjoyed meeting him. He spent time connecting with us and seemed to be what we were looking for. However he was out of our budget. After consideration, we decided to go for it, and I am so glad we did. If we had used our brothers, I have no idea how I would have planned and executed a ceremony. Rev. Phil was more than organized. He also took time to make sure he pronounced and explained our traditions correctly. He orchestrated every detail up until the the rehearsal. He directed our enormous bridal party with ease. I knew we were in good hands. At the actual ceremony, everyone laughed and got to know us. Countless people came up to us and still comment to us now about how personalized and entertaining our ceremony was. All the while both the Catholic and Jewish families were pleased and felt that our ceremony represented both sides well. If you are considering Rev. Phil, I whole-heartedly encourage you to use him. You'll be glad you did! read more

Rev. Phil was an essential piece to our wedding that we wouldn't have even known we were missing. From organizing the ceremony, providing a complete script, and giving fantastic attention to detail for the perfect photos, our wedding would not have been complete without him. We received an overwhelming amount of compliments on how great of a job Rev. Phil did during the ceremony. We met Rev. Phil a few months before our wedding, but during the ceremony it appeared as though he had known us for years. His constant contact with us leading up to the wedding, hours of his time per week, made both of us feel confident that the ceremony would be one we cherish forever. Rev. Phil's ability to capture the audience's heart and bring tears of laughter and joy to us and our guests was a key reason we one hundred percent would recommend him to any couple looking for that extra special touch on their day. When we first met with Rev. Phil the pricing was more than "The Knot" told us to budget for an officiant. However, after reading reviews on our own time, meeting and talking with him in person, it made our decision that much easier. His years of experience doing weddings almost every single weekend makes it almost relaxing to talk to him. We put our trust in someone we did not know to make our day special, and we were not disappointed. If we had to go back and do it all over again, that is one decision we would not change. read more

Wow! Our ceremony was amazing, it turned out even better than we expected. Rev. Phil made it so personal to us and he even tied in some Jewish traditions since my husband is Jewish. We got to see and make changes to our ceremony script so that it would be exactly how we wanted it. We did a rehearsal the day of quickly before the ceremony and he was right to the point! Everyone knew what to do once he went through everything. The ceremony was beautiful; people laughed, people cried, people paid attention! Ceremonies can get long and boring and many of them sound the same...well, not ours! People told us how sweet and personal it was and people who didn't know us as well as a couple said they loved hearing about our story and the personal things about us. We did not intend on spending this amount on an officiate. It sounded like way too much. However, after meeting with Rev. Phil, we decided that if were willing to spend so much money on flowers, the bar, and all those others things, why not spend a little more on the part that the day is all about - the actual ceremony! I'm so glad that we decided to go over budget when it came to who married us and directed the whole ceremony. He set everything up, which was helpful because we had no idea how to do that. He did an amazing job and we highly recommend him for ANY wedding! Totally worth it! read more

Planning a wedding can feel stressful, unorganized, and chaotic. There are deadlines to meet, vendors to choose, outfits to pick out, and your fiancé to keep sane. Luckily I had Rev. Phil on my side. His professionalism and organization kept us on track with the whole way through, we knew what to expect from him and what he expected from us. He sent us friendly reminders through out our planning so we weren't overwhelmed when out script was due. If I remember correctly he offers two different tiers to fit peoples budgets, I am unsure of how the basic package is, but I will say you get what you pay for, and Rev. Phil by far exceeded our expectations. Our family and friends were in awe of the experience. Rev. Phil planned a few special items to include in the service, for that he needed us to give him a few interesting details of our lives up to that point. At first we thought our story was boring and nothing our family would want to hear. But by the end of the service all of our second cousins, parents friends from high school, and wedding crashers who came to the wedding to flirt with bridesmaids and have free drinks, felt like they have known us forever and understood why I had to make her my wife. Amongst all of our vendor, our experience with Rev Phil was far above the rest. read more

We hired Rev Phil this summer to officiate our wedding. We wanted a ceremony that would be memorable and tailored to us. We have been to many weddings. While all were beautiful and full of love, people only seemed to speak of the brides wedding dress, or the flowers etc. Rarely about the ceremony or officiant. Then it was all about the reception. Well that changed for our ceremony! Rev Phil delivered a ceremony that was like none other. The tears of joy and laughter that filled the room was amazing. It has been months since the wedding and guests are still talking about it. We had people that could not attend ask us for a video since they heard so many wonderful things about it. He added little touches that were so wonderful. All based on discussions we had during meetings. Email,call,text or in person he was so attentive. He listened to every single thing we did or did not want. He was also our wedding planner. The unity ceremony, the music cues, suggested readings and special touches were so us and so perfect. You can tell he truly enjoys to see people in love and be a part of their day. We told him initially we wanted to share "us" with our guests at our ceremony. He did just that. Thank you Rev Phil. Thank you so very much. read more