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Whether you're jumping the broom, lighting the unity candle, tasting the four elements, exchanging rings, or blending sand; you will be performing a ritual that states your intentions to become one in the partnership of marriage. 

 

Once this partnership is complete, you will begin to demonstrate your ability to stand fast in that relationship no matter what emotions may surface. 

 

Love, understanding, respect, compassion, openness and receptivity; will be the mortar that will hold everything dear to you in place and close.  When faced with challenges, each of you will be the strength of the other. 

 

I will work with you to create a uniquely special wedding ceremony that reflects who you are today and who you will grow to be in the future as a couple.  

 

No matter what your religious background is, I have been trained to respect it.  Because all religions follow the same path.  That path leads to establishing a relationship with God.

 

Christian

Nondenominational

Interfaith

Spiritual 

Civil

Commitment

Vow Renewal

As a traveling minister, I will come to your wedding site.  Your site can be a home, garden, park, banquet hall, country club, ballroom, hotel, pier, restaurant, yacht, etc.

Letting me know where your ceremony is located, when it is held, and how to get there; puts me at the right place at the right time.

 

 

Elopements - Small - Large Weddings

 

$365 to $525 (Within the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area)

$365 to $705 (Outside the DC Metro Area)

 

Upon booking your wedding with me, you will receive a free wedding ceremony workbook with sample ceremonies, rituals, and beautiful readings.  In addition, you will receive a personalized draft ceremony, and a premarital questionnaire.  There is a $50 nonrefundable deposit required to secure my services for your wedding day.  This deposit is subtracted from the total cost.

 

The above fees are based on wedding size, writing and revising the ceremony, traveling to and from the wedding site, rehearsal (inclusive for medium & large weddings), wedding party direction and coordination, my time corresponding with you, officiating the ceremony, filing the county marriage license, and (if applicable) a holiday wedding fee ($60 is added to the base cost). 

 

Please Note:  All ceremonies require a valid marriage license or original marriage certificate (for previously married couples) that must be presented to me prior to my officiating the wedding ceremony. For marriage licensing procedures, please check with the marriage bureau of the circuit court in the jurisdiction in which you are planning to get married, or click the above link.

 

 

Quick Weddings (Sweetheart Ceremony)

For details, click the rose

 

If you are looking for an alternative to a courthouse wedding, the sweetheart ceremony may be for you.   

 

This package requires a valid Prince George's County marriage license. 

 

 

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Premarital coaching is available, but not required.  For more information, kindly click the link above.

 

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The wedding ritual is full of creativity and power.   I have married many African American couples who chose to have two rituals in their ceremony.  Jumping the broom is just one of them, while the others are the lighting of the unity candle, sand pouring, or tasting the four elements.  

 

So be creative and bring rituals from your culture into your ceremony and combine them with other well known ones.   This way your ceremony will have that special flavor that you want to achieve.  

 

As a minister of spiritual science it will be my job to ensure that the rituals are perform correctly.  So allow me the opportunity to guide you, instead of you being guided by your own instincts or by the actions of others.

 

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 Jumping the broom is a ritual that goes back in time.  Its history is replete with the desire to marry freely without the fear of forced separation.  Now it is a ritual that reminds many African American of the hardship of past times and the overcoming of obstacles into a world created by desire and actions of a free spirit. 

Today, many African Americans have chosen to incorporate the jumping the broom ritual into their marriage ceremony.  They do it with the intentions of bringing joy, happiness, prosperity, creativity, success, harmony with others, and a vision for equality into their new life. 

This ritual is all about transformation; the changing of old into the new. It is one of my favorite wedding rituals because of its ancestral roots and its deep hidden meaning.  Rituals should not be taken lightly, because they have a divine and profound purpose for creating ones desires.  The manifested desires you see today were created by the ancestors of yesterday.  

 

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In some Black weddings (when the guests abound from many races) couples are choosing to omit the history of the ritual from being shared.  They just want to jump the broom as a way of participating with their historical roots.  

This is not the case when the guests are predominately Black, with just a little flavor of Caucasian mix amongst them.  In such African American weddings, the history of the ritual is shared openly and the participation in it is honored by all.

The history of slavery should not bring shame to any Black American.  When African Americans hide their history from their white counterparts (at some Black weddings), they do it out of respect for the fragility of human emotions and lasting friendships.   

As American, we know that our ancestral past is replete with the sadness of the times.  While living the American dream of our ancestors, our goal is to continue rising to the light of divine love with God leading the way.

 

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I am, Reverend Starlene Joyner Burns a Nondenominational - Interfaith minister, DC wedding officiant (known as wedding minister and wedding celebrant) and wedding coach.  In addition, I am the founder and director of SJB Ministries LLC; and I am an active minister at The National Spiritual Science Center (NSSC) in Washington DC. 

 

I studied four consecutive years at NSSC to become an ordained minister of Spiritual Science.  Prior to that I was ordained in the Christian faith.  With more than six years of experience, I am prepared for the responsibility of an interfaith - nondenominational minister. 

 

In addition, I received further training in the administration of the holy sacraments.  My other responsibilities include baptisms, baby blessings and dedications, funerals (including pets) and memorials, and other rites of passage.     I am compassionate, ethical, and professional.  As a DC officiant, I will work hard with you to ensure that your ceremony is memorable.

 

I am registered to perform weddings in Washington DC and Virginia.  As a licensed minister of a religious organization, I am authorized to perform weddings in Maryland.

 

The territory in which I will be offering my services  are:  all of the Washington DC Metropolitan area, Prince Georges County, Montgomery County MD, Arlington County Virginia, Loudoun County VA, Fairfax County Virginia, and Alexandria Virginia.

 

Finally, I will extend my services to; parts of Southern Maryland, Calvert County, Charles County, Howard County Maryland, Anne Arundel County Maryland, Frederick County MD, Carroll County Maryland, Baltimore County MD, and Baltimore City Maryland. 

 

 

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Please call

Monday - Sunday

10:00 am - 9:00 pm

to check my availability for your wedding.

202.253.3629

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Chapel of Love Ceremonies 

 Reverend Starlene Joyner Burns 

DC Officiant and  Minister 

4722 Morning Glory Trail

Bowie, MD 20720

202.253.3629

revsjb@comcast.net

African American Weddings -  Black Weddings  

Serving MD, Northern VA, and Washington DC