Keith and I are grateful to have met Joyce as we prepared for our marriage. We were looking for an officiant who presented with sincerity, warmth, and a sense of humor. Joyce was perfect. She brought a genuine, sensitive approach to her role as an officiant and we are grateful that she oversaw our ceremony. Joyce was professional, offered guidance, and provided us with gentle reminders. She was the perfect officiant and we offer her our highest recommendation.

From the first moment that we spoke with Joyce, we were sure that she was the one for our wedding. Joyce has an amazing energy and spirit about her that made us smile quickly and also provided us with full confidence that she would be able to provide the perfect balance of sincerity and spunk for our ceremony. While in the planning stages, Joyce was very responsive, accommodating, informative, and personable. We never felt like "just another couple" to her and that feeling conveyed on the wedding day as well. Our guests raved about her and many said that it seemed as though she had known us for a long time. I cannot recommend this woman enough. Hire her; you will be glad that you did! ...Erin

Joyce Hilbery was the perfect officiant for my daughter's wedding. Her calm nature and professionalism were the perfect combination to calm nerves and keep everyone on the same page. The ceremony was warm, loving and memorable due to Joyce's choice of format and wording. She added some light hearted moments that kept with the reverence of the occasion while adding smiles on the faces of all who attended. It was perfect! Her lilting Scottish accent makes even the most ordinary words sound enchanting! And then there are her shoes.......an officiant gown is a somber garment yet Joyce added her personality with floral patterned heels. Highly recommend Joyce Hilbery to any couple!!!!

Hi Joyce,

Attached please find a beautiful photo of my daughter, Caroline Wexler, her new husband, Steven Orrence, and yourself at their wedding at ThorpWood on 10/11/2014.

I hope this message finds you well!

Thank you for all of your efforts and guidance you gave to our family on this happy day.  We could not have done it without you!

Sincerely,
Catherine Clugston, Caroline Wexler, and Steven Orrence

Reverend Hilbery has a wonderful personality and was the perfect fit for our ceremony. We wanted a medieval themed wedding with a handfasting ceremony and several people had already turned us down for numerous reasons. She was as excited as we were about the idea of the handfasting. She was very responsive to all my emails and was very thorough. We were very appreciative that she worked with us in writing our own ceremony as well. She made sure everything was going to run smoothly from beginning to end.

Wedding: 09/14/2014

Nick

Joyce conducted the ceremony for my wife and me in September, and neither my wife nor I could have been any happier with her services. When we first began looking for officiants we had no opinions in mind and were merely choosing based on price and availability. I DO NOT recommend going this route yourselves. We were extremely fortunate to run across Joyce, but after having her for our wedding I realize how important choosing an officiant really is. That said, you can stop your research now and just choose Joyce, because you'll get the best result. She was wonderfully efficient, and very flexible in appearing last-minute to help us with our rehearsal. Without her we would have been at the mercy of the event staff, and wouldn't have had the wedding we wanted.

Joyce has a great personality, and made the entire process fun and exciting for us. She genuinely seemed concerned with helping us have the service we wanted, and she took a no-nonsense approach to making sure that event staff and others didn't horn in on our own choices.

At the end of the day, Joyce was simply a joy to work with. She has a great sense of humor, but is serious when and where she needs to be. We were very happy to be able to invite her to our reception afterward, and pleased that she accepted. She is the total package, and her rates are very reasonable. And she's got a wonderful Scottish accent to boot! You can't go wrong choosing her!

Emily

Wedding: 24 Oct 2014

Joyce was an absolute pleasure to work with from start to finish! She came VERY highly recommended by several other professionals in the industry, and now we know why. Her services are second to none, and I couldn't imagine how our day could have been any better! Joyce is extremely quick to respond to all of my questions/concerns via e-mail and telephone (which is impressive considering during the beginning of our planning she was in another country!) and on the day of our wedding she was flawless. I got several compliments from friends/family members in attendance, even a close friend who is single took her business card because when he finds "the one" he wants Joyce performing the ceremony!

I would HIGHLY recommend MDDC Weddings to any friend or family member. Joyce is elegant, polite, professional, and just the best in her industry!

Quality of Service: 5.0, Responsiveness: 5.0, Professionalism: 5.0, Value: 5.0, Flexibility: 5.0

Kathryn
Wedding: 19 Oct 2014

Joyce was so wonderful to work with for our wedding. We didn't want to drag the whole wedding process out by a year, so we put everything together in about 4 months but finding an officiant was one of the last items on my list, and I was worried about finding someone we both liked. I had already read reviews for Joyce and I didn't think we'd be lucky enough to have her still be available. We decided it was fate that she was available (being on a Sunday versus Saturday probably helped). She was so responsive to my numerous and varied emails throughout the process. Joyce is very personable and we liked her the instant we met her. The closer it got to the event I was getting more nervous about the flow of the ceremony, and Joyce took the time to meet with me the week of and go through everything. The day of I was a bit scattered, but she made sure to check on me before, during, and after the ceremony. Joyce has a rare quality of being organized and efficient, but still incredibly warm and calming at the same time. I am so glad we chose her to perform the ceremony for our wedding. We will never forget it

Rachel

Joyce was absolutely wonderful to work with! Her infectious personality made everything with the rehearsal walk through so much fun! Everyone in my family and bridal party thought she was so professional and easy to work with. She performed our wedding day ceremony beautifully and helped eased my anxiety. Joyce also provided my husband and I with a great copy of our wedding vows for keep sake. We couldn't have picked a better Reverend to preside over our wedding!

Trev and Lyn
Wedding: 09/21/2014

Joyce was absolutely amazing. Her personality made the entire thing special for not only us but our family and friends as well. So often afterward we would get "Where did you find her?-She was great!" We truly believe that no other could have made our wedding go as smoothly and wonderfully as Joyce. She has a very light and calm presence, and she is SO funny to boot! Normally, we are both very worrisome and anxious people, but with Joyce at the helm all of that went out of the window. It’s no secret that Joyce comes highly recommended from the word of Trev and Lyn Horsey. Thanks again Joyce!

-Trev and Lyn , Married on September 21 2014 at Linganore Winecellars Mt. Airy MD.

Rob and KT
Wedding: 06/27/2014

When we were searching for an officiant fit was very important to us. Joyce was the perfect fit for our wedding and brought a level of professionalism and fun that we did not see from other officiants. Joyce's attitude, presentation, and humor made our special day even more special. We would highly recommend Joyce to anyone in search of an Officiant.

Melinda and Darrell
Wedding: 09/03/2011

My husband and I met Joyce a few months before our wedding and immediately fell in love! Joyce has an incredibly wonderful presence about her that is warm, welcoming, engaging and fun. She clearly talked us through the process, stopping to take any questions along the way. She was attentive and responsive. The last thing I had to worry about amidst all the other wedding planning was anything having to do with Joyce. She took care of all the paperwork and sent us a pack from which we very easily assembled our wedding ceremony and vows. She was incredibly wonderful to work with and was kind enough to even join our reception, a must from this fun spirited lady who adds so much to a party! We are so fortunate that the relationship didn't stop there, we still keep in touch with Joyce and consider her an extended part of our family~how many people get to say that about the person that married them? I hope that you are lucky enough to have Joyce officiate your wedding, you will be SO happy that you did!

Wedding: Recently Married

We can't say enough about the beautiful wedding ceremony that Joyce helped us create! From our first communication with Joyce right through the ceremony and beyond, it was a pleasure working with her.

Wedding: 10/31/2014

Joyce has been a really amaizing officiant, extremly kind and passionate about her role in such an important day and making her absolute best for the groom and bride to be happy and feel really good.

My husband and I are leaving in Luxembourg and got married in October in Washington DC. We wanted a ceremony with a celebratory vibe and Joyce definitely delivered it above perfection for us and our guests coming from different continents.
She helped step us through the ceremony decisions, came very early the day of the ceremony and has been the little angel around making sure that everything was in line with our desires.

Joyce is simply a blessing and we will never forget how fantastic she made our big day!

When my husband (then-fiance) and I decided to hold our wedding in another state, we believed finding a wedding officiant would be our biggest hurdle.  The folks at the courthouse were certainly no help, but luckily we found WeddingWire.  We didn’t even know the term “wedding officiant” when we started down this path, but then we met Joyce Hilbery and all of our fears were erased!

Joyce responded to an email very quickly, and then we chatted with her on the phone and we were hopeful that this was going to be a good fit.  We agreed to meet in person, and we knew right away that Joyce was the one!  Joyce answered all of our questions, and then asked us more questions we hadn’t even considered!  When we needed ideas, she kindly shared some of the spectacular celebrations others have used in their ceremonies.  She even went so far as to ask if we needed help in other areas of the wedding  planning (and thank goodness she did, because we were having a hard time with our limited resources in that region)!  Joyce not only made suggestions for us, she placed some calls to her colleagues to get the ball rolling.

Joyce was very responsive to every phone call and email from us, and that means a lot when you’re in the planning stage.  We quickly learned that not all vendors are created equal!   Joyce’s joyous sense of humour was an added blessing and so greatly appreciated.

Joyce’s website has some recommendations for the ceremony, including poems many like.  We used those suggestions to write our ceremony just the way we wanted it.  We customized it for us.  We received many compliments from guests.  Even our DJ said it was the most beautiful ceremony he has witnessed – and we know he has attended a lot of weddings – so many thanks to Joyce for making our day all we wanted it to be, and exactly the way we wanted it to be!

Joyce arrived on time and quickly got us organized and calm on the big day.  She did an excellent job, and everything went as planned.  She was a real trooper for coming out on a 90-degree day to marry us in the blazing hot sun.

If you’re reading this review, I hope you’ll call Joyce and chat with her for a bit.  If her beautiful Scottish accent doesn’t win you over, her professionalism will.  Give her a ring.  You’ll be glad you did.

Good Morning!

I want to take a few minutes to personally THANK YOU for your contribution in making Erin and Reno's wedding a beautiful day that they shall never forget.

Until the next event...

Have a BEAUTIFUL day!

Erika

Erika A. Darden
Founder/CEO
Erika Darden Events

Luxury Event Design & Planning

erika@erikadarden.com

Erin and Reno

Wedding: 10/04/2014

Joyce Hilbery is an outstanding officiant. She offers incredible insight in terms of wedding vows and pay particular attention to the most important and meaningful details of your wedding ceremony. Her attentiveness, attention to detail and commitment to ensuring that your day is the most memorable and special is parallel to none other - we highly recommend Joyce for any wedding celebration.

Joyce married us in an intimate celebration at the Jefferson Memorial this June. As a gay couple living out of town, we wanted a small Christian ceremony that reflected on our love and commitment in Our Nation's Capital. We also wanted the small group of friends that we invited to feel part of the ceremony -- we had one close friend sing a cappella and a couple of others do readings that we chose. Joyce worked with us by providing a template for our ceremony and gave us good ideas to customize it. We wanted the ceremony to be short and sweet. She showed up on time to the ceremony, helped calm our nerves, and was a true delight! The ceremony was a great reflection on our love, our family and friends, God, and freedom. She also helped us order one of the most beautiful June days we could have imagined! Thank you again, Joyce.

All the best,
J & G

Long and I wanted to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for performing our ceremony. It was so much fun working with you, and you made us feel at ease. Things were hectic before the ceremony, and we are so grateful you were there to help straighten things out! I think we did pretty well considering there was no rehearsal!

Again, we thank you so much for everything and will definitely know who to recommend if anyone is ever looking for an officiant!

All the best,
-Nga & Long

We think it was a perfect day all around and you were a large part of it. So much fun having you stay with us through the lunch and festivities. We certainly made the correct choice of an officiant!

Thanks so much for all you did for us and if we can help you with references, etc. just let us know.

I hope you made it home ok on Sunday and have now received the pictures through email! I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for presiding at our wedding and can't tell you how much I appreciate what you did for us. From the moment we chatted on FaceTime to meeting and chatting before the occasion on the boat, I knew we would be a good connection. Your warmth, friendliness, honesty and just fun personality fit in so perfectly to what we wanted. Drama free was our motto and you delivered. What I enjoyed most was that we could make your brief stay with us fun, exciting and memorable, and you having dinner and partying with us was a complete scream that we will never forget. You seldom meet people so quickly that you just click with and especially in high tension times like marriage, but click is an understatement, you were the perfect choice for us and we are indebted to you for your delivery and execution and just being you! We enjoyed having you and will never forget the time we shared...especially in the cabin...lol! I wouldn't trade a thing about the entire occasion! You were special! thanks again

Gregg

Andrew and I can't thank you enough for making our ceremony so special! Our guests have been raving about you!

Again, thank you so much! You were absolutely fantastic!

Thank you so much for coming and making Jason and Tiffany's Wedding day so wonderful and blessed and thank you for being so patient with us I know things got a little crazy here but we made it through. I am sending you a picture of you and the couple hope you like it. Thanks again so much and the ceremony was wonderful.

Take care and thank you again !

We consider ourselves lucky to have found Joyce Hilbery. As soon as we met her, we were both so excited and knew she would provide exactly what we had envisioned for our wedding day ceremony. Joyce was very adamant about letting us set the tone for what we wanted and was patient in answering all of our questions. We were able to select all of the readings as well as our vows from a list she provided and she even tweaked the readings to better fit our relationship. Joyce was prompt the morning of the wedding & her bright spirit showed throughout the ceremony. I've had many family members and friends tell us how wonderful she was and asking us, "WHERE DID YOU FIND HER!?!". We are appreciative of all her work and preparation for one of the most important days of our lives. We would recommend Joyce Hilbery to anyone who wanted a genuine officiant who provides excellent service.

From the moment I called Joyce on the telephone, she and I had an immediate bond and I told my husband I love her, I love her, I love her; lets hire her before someone else gets her. After just one meeting we BOTH knew that Joyce had everything it was going to take to make our special day truly special. When it came time for the writing of our vows Jeff and I had no clue where to start and were scared to death we would mess it up, Joyce once again came to the rescue and helped us choose which vows were good for us and reflected our values and beliefs. Joyce really helped us get it together and have the BEST DAY OF OUR LIVES. I will never forget the day of our wedding standing up in my parent’s room waiting to walk down the aisle, my mind racing my heart pounding and family chaos everywhere and Joyce coming into the room with a big smile on her face and words of comfort that totally relaxed me and prepared me to do “the walk”. Words cannot express the lasting impression Joyce has made for Jeff and I. If you want someone who will go above and beyond her call of duty then consider yourself lucky to have Joyce, she will not let you down!