Making it official
Officiants help couples tie the knot with love and a few tears
Ken Berckes, a school counselor by day, began officiating weddings after he earned an online certification to marry couples. Here, he officiates the October wedding of Mike and Evie Shamoon of Bakersfield.
By Philip Guiry
F
or many people in Bakersfield, getting to the church on time is no longer a requirement for saying, “I do.” Many nuptials are performed year round in non-traditional spaces by non-traditional officiants. For many years, unless you found yourself adrift at sea with a ship captain and a marriage license, religious leaders were the main tiers of the knots that bound couples together. Nowadays, some couples around the country are looking for less traditional options. There are many reasons for walking down an aisle outside the chapel. And there are many websites that offer the certification needed to become a wedding officiant, making it easy for anyone to get the job done. One local dot com ceremony conductor is Ken Berckes, who has been presiding over weddings since 2007. A missing minister for his niece’s wedding at the Noriega House prompted a call to Berckes, who is also a licensed marriage and family therapist. He explained that while he could be of service to the couple before or after the ceremony, he wasn’t legally able to help them bridge that critical moment. Later
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Bakersfield Life Magazine
January 2015
that night, he logged onto a website that offered officiant certification and became a certified officiant in about 10 minutes through Universal Life Church. For Rev. Yvonne Brassfield, the stress of planning her own wedding was the starting point for her journey to the administration end of the aisle. Lacking a church in Bakersfield, and wanting a quiet backyard ceremony, Brassfield and her fiance, Kurt, ran through a gamut of ideas, including a trip to the county clerk’s office or Vegas. Luckily, Brassfield worked in the court system and was able to procure a judge for the big day. Shortly afterward, she was ordained as a non-denominational minister through the National Association of Christian Ministers and became a full-time officiant, hoping to help couples avoid the stress of planning their own ceremonies. Brassfield said she has performed hundreds of weddings since she started her business, Weddings on Wings, in 2006. Both Berckes and Brassfield said that meeting the couple is their favorite part of being an officiant at a wedding. They enjoy getting to know the couple and learning their story, helping to navigate the stressful planning stages and being an