She married us in the summer of 2013. It was so hot but our ceremony was so beautiful and personal. We are forever grateful today.

Multiple guests raved about how moving and special our wedding ceremony was. Starlene provided beautiful words of wisdom that hit home for us and our families. Not to mention, our consultation session was basically a pre-marital counseling session! Starlene is kind, professional, and responsive. Hiring her was one of the best decisions that we made. read more

I initially emailed DC Marriage Knot. No response to the email after a day or so (no big deal, it's close to the holidays), so I called and left a message. She then called me, which I missed, and then I called her back and missed her. She called back the next morning (which I missed) and then I called her back an hour later. The conversation started off pretty rude. She said something along the lines of, "Well, I have been trying to get in touch with you," and something about how she couldn't work my voicemail despite the fact that my voicemail is fully functional and I received one successfully the day before. She said, "I thought, wow he must be a busy man," in kind of a sarcastic tone. Rude, especially given the fact that it was hard to get in touch with her at first, and I was nothing but friendly and chipper in all my communications. Not to mention that I was a potential customer. The entire call she made it seem like I was annoying her. I asked her, "Do you do wedding photography?" (her website says she offers this) and she said, "No, if I have to have my finger exposed to click the shutter, my finger will get cold." (We wanted to get married New Year's Eve day outdoors because of COVID.) She literally said that almost word-for-word, as hilarious and ridiculous as it sounds. You could not make that up. At that point, I said, "Oh, we'll just go with someone who can take photos." (Nicely I might add, I was not snooty at all. I could just tell she was not a gracious person so I was trying to let her down gently.) She then backpedaled a little and said, "Oh, no, I could still do the ceremony," trying to win back our business. At which point I reminded her, "Well, you would need to walk for 30 minutes to get to the site, perform the ceremony, and then walk 30 minutes back." (The site we chose is not super far from downtown DC, not in a remote area or anything like that. It's near a waterfall on the Potomac that takes some light walking on a flat path to get to.) She then backpedaled again and said she wasn't interested because she might get too cold, thanked me for my interest in a fake way, and that was it. A marriage ceremony, even an elopement, should be all about the two folks tying the knot, not about putting the officiant's comfort on a silver platter. Nowhere on her website does it say anything about not doing outdoor winter weddings. The website portrays her as totally flexible, which baffles me as she came into our phone call totally ready to shoot down all the reasonable requests I had. Thank goodness she turned us down. God knows she might have been making snide comments about how cold it was on our special day (DC rarely gets below 40-45 degrees in the winter - far from the arctic tundra you might have expected given the big deal she made out of it). The objections were laughable. My fiance and I were dumbstruck. Her poor cold finger pressing the shutter! A real professional would have said, "Yes, if this is what you want, I'll make it work! I will grab my gloves and adapt." Which is exactly what the next officiant we called did. I'm leaving this review because she has mostly positive reviews and I wanted to let other couples know the experience we had reaching out to this business. She was haughty, presumptuous, and flat-out rude. Our request was not unreasonable, but she made us feel crazy for wanting to spend an hour outdoors in 45 degree weather. There's this crazy thing called... a coat and gloves? An hour later I had a delightful conversation with another local officiant who is so excited to be part of our special day, even if she has to stand out in the "tundra." (Again, it probably won't even be cold! It's two weeks away! And if it is raining or cold, we'll find another date, which is what we would have done with DC Marriage Knot if given the feeling she was excited to work with us or willing to be flexible.) There are plenty of better officiants out there. You deserve someone who will put your needs first, not treat you like a burden and act like they are doing you a favor, especially given the money you will pay them. I'm glad so many folks have had a positive experience with her but I imagine there are a lot of others who have had a similar experience to ours who haven't taken the time to leave a review. So here you go. Since you asked for advice from your other negative reviewer, here it is. Don't treat potential customers so rudely. Maybe you do enough business that being haughty to one eloping couple interested in your cheapest package and not booking them isn't a big deal. That doesn't make it right. DC elopers, keep looking. read more

So perfect! Rev. Starlene was exactly what we were looking for. She was great to work with and would highly recommend her to anyone looking to have a custom wedding from a great officiant. read more

We wanted a ceremony where it was just the two of us & Rev Starlene Joyner Burns was able to deliver just that. It didn't take too long and we were comfortable in our own clothes. She even said it would've been okay to have our dogs with us. I was so happy with her and look forward to telling my friends about her services! read more

We decided to get married last minute. Have a private ceremony before our big day. We called Rev Burns and she was very friendly and informative. With a short notice (3 days) she met us at a public park and the experience was very professional. Thank you again Rev Burns! read more

Rev. Burns officiated our simple civil ceremony on September 7, 2018 at the DC War Memorial. She provided a script ahead of time that we were encouraged to edit as desired. She incorporated our edits without question and suggested the placement of two poems that we wished to be read during the ceremony. I spoke with Rev. Burns one time and we met her as a couple the week before the ceremony. She was punctual to our meeting and to the ceremony. She has a great sense of humor and style! The ceremony turned out just as we had planned and it was just what we had intended. Rev. Burns took care of all the official paperwork afterwords. I would highly recommend Rev. Burns. read more

Reverend Burns was absolutely amazing. Not only did she help us to craft a beautiful ceremony, but she was phenomenal to work with and the guests even commented on how great she was afterwards. You can't go wrong with her. Highly recommended! read more

Through luck or fate, we found Rev Burns and could not have been happier. She was accessible, available to meet with us, either in person or via Skype and listened to the kind of ceremony we wanted to have. Due to the government shutdown, our venue was closed but we were able to secure a new one at the last minute. She adapted and had no problem performing the ceremony at the new venue. She created a personalized ceremony for us and allowed us the opportunity to tweak it so it truly became ours. She was wonderful at the ceremony and we couldn't have asked for a better officiant. read more

Wanted to get married with my girlfriend as soon as possible and the courthouse services were backed up for 2 months. I first reached out to Starlene on a Tuesday and that very weekend we were married. Her services are quick, detail-oriented and patient, I highly recommend. read more

Rev Burns is amazing! My wife and I traveled from Austin to D.C. to get married. Rev Burns was so patient and informative with all of our question and phone calls. She even did the leg work to apply for our marriage license which really helped us out. She recommended the most beautiful place and we were married under cherry blossoms! The service she gave was so beautiful and we will never forget the moment she said "you may kiss your wife". She was fun, bubbly and professional all at the same time. I would recommend her to anyone and if anyone has question about her service please feel free to message me on yelp! read more

Rev. Burns was an absolute joy to have as our wedding officiant! She was kind, friendly, and flexible throughout our planning process and wedding. All our meetings were great; she is so personable and really tries to get to know the two of you as a couple. She guided us through our ceremony script and custom tailored it to what made us comfortable. She was also easy to reach, whether it was by phone, email, or Skype, and went with the flow on our wedding day. She is an amazing speaker and I couldn't have asked for a better ceremony! Simply by talking to her in one conversation you would know that she is highly experienced and completely professional -- I would highly recommend her to all brides and grooms. read more

Hiring Starlene was a great decision. She took care of all of the paperwork which took a load off our minds. She even gave us many suggestions for our wedding script and ways to customize it. She was very professional and I could recommend her 100%. Wedding - 12-11-13 read more

Rev Burns is he absolute best.... She saw me and my fiancé (now husband) from the time of engagement until the time we said I do and all of the craziness in between! Trust me it was craziness and she went over and beyond to minimize the craziness and get us back to loving each other and planning our wedding!! She is truly an angel and folks would be crazy to bypass her as their officiant! read more

We had a TERRIBLE experience with DC Marriage Knot. We paid $500 for the White Ribbon Ceremony Package and none of our expectations, per our contract, were met. Her communication was terrible, I frequently had to follow up and re-send emails to get a response, and her responses were always short and curt which made me feel like a nuisance. Not once did she offer to meet with us or even video chat (which we were entitled to per contract) despite my request for an in-person meeting which was ignored. She made absolutely no effort to get to know anything about us as a couple and I'm certain that she did not know who I was every time I contacted her. She sent a questionnaire that we meticulously filled out but it was evident that she did not read it. Once I sent her our ceremony selections, she sent us back a ceremony draft that did not have a SINGLE one of our selections in, it was a disaster. When it was finally corrected, I emailed her about an error that I had made in one of the selections. I do not how many times I told her that we were doing a non-religious ceremony and the vow selection was all about God. She responded saying she couldn't understand why the whole ceremony was secular but "God took center stage in the vows." Why on earth she wouldn't have just asked me about it is beyond me. We lost all confidence in the DC Marriage Knot and are extremely disappointed with how our ceremony was handled. We ended up pushing our wedding to a new date on which she was not available, so we were able to terminate the contract and I'M SO GLAD we were able to have someone else officiate because the experience with her was so negative and did not want her there. read more

Rev. Starlene Joyner Burns Officiated our wedding and we couldn't be any Happier! She returned my call within an hour of sending out a message. We were able to work through email and phone the whole way through. Though, we we wished we had gotten a chance to meet with her before our wedding and get to know her better. Our ceremony was filled with all the wonderful words of tradition and love and we highly recommend her for Your Wedding! Patrick & Dale read more

Rev Burns officiated my wedding. She was absolutely amazing! She was so much fun and she really personalized our ceremony. We had no clue what kind of ceremony we wanted or where to begin. She brought a ton of ideas to the table, but didn't force anything on us. She edited and re-edited our ceremony quite a few times until we got it just right. She was absolutely perfect in every way and made our wedding a total success. Thanks Rev. Burns! -Jay & Maggie Hodges read more

Absolutely amazing! Could not have asked for a better officiant. Rev. Burns words were moving and sincere. High regards from all our guests. Definitely worth recommending! -Bride read more

I am so glad we decided to go with Rev. Burns for our ceremony (8/5/16). I initially contacted Rev. Starlene Burns back in February shortly after proposing to my now wife. I read wonderful reviews on Yelp and decided to request a quote. Rev. Burns replied within an hour. Starlene explained that she is available via Skype, email, telephone, and in person. She was very professional and friendly. She answered all of our questions and even provided recommendations. She explained the importance of parking at the venue (downtown) due to baseball games and traffic jams- things that never crossed our mind. We placed our wedding plans on hold for some time. Fast forward to June- we contacted Rev. Burns and explained that we would like to move forward with her. We immediately picked up where we left off- no questions asked. Rev. Burns sent us a useful questionnaire inquiring about our love story, individual preferences, and specific wedding details. Starlene provided a helpful link to her website, which answered many of our questions. It also set the expectations for the days leading up to and wedding day. Let's fast forward to wedding day on 8/5/16. My bride was getting dressed in the bridal suite when I entered the venue. Rev. Burns greeted me with a warm welcome and hug. This set the tone for the evening. I explained that I had no idea what to do and how everything should go due to my nervousness. She kindly told me step-by- step what should take place and reassured me that everything would be fine. Although Rev. Burns had emailed a copy of the ceremony draft- that draft did NO JUSTICE to how she spoke to our AND our guest's hearts. Not just the words, but also the tone(s) she used. She spoke with so much passion. Our ceremony was truly amazing and we cannot thank Rev. Burns enough. Our guests are still saying how wonderful Rev. Burns was and they want her at their wedding. Starlene held the key to make our fairytale a reality. If you are looking for a compassionate, friendly, funny, down to earth, and knowledgeable officiant- Look no further and contact Rev. Burns RIGHT NOW read more

Rev. Burns was amazing. She took the time to get to know my husband and I, and I feel like she really nailed it with the ceremony. It fit perfectly with what we were looking for, and she definitely went above and beyond. We felt so comfortable working with her, and was very patient with us through the entire planning process. HIGHLY RECOMMEND! read more