Lyssabeth's Wedding Officiant Maureen Thomson

Shortly thereafter, I obtained my ordination through the Universal Life Church and began performing the ceremonies myself. In 2008, my husband Jeremy and I sold the Victorian to make way for the next adventure in our lives. My wonderful staff of wedding officiants has grown over the years and we are now privileged to perform weddings throughout Colorado and Oregon, as well as in the San Francisco Bay Area of California and in Monterey, California.

When my daughter was in kindergarten, she completed a project that was entitled "The Most Important Thing About Me". It was a great idea, because it taught the kids to really sift through the many facets of their lives and produce one "best" thing. I guess if I had to tell you the "most important thing about me" in regard to my role as the owner of Lyssabeth's Wedding Officiants, it would be that I am passionate about my work. I love what I do and it shows in the quality of the work that Lyssabeth's offers. I love the creativity that our officiants get to express through a wonderful and innovative ceremony; I love getting to know new people, learning about them and their "stories" and how those can be incorporated into a memorable ceremony.

I take particular delight in trying new things for ceremonies and sharing ideas that have worked for other couples. There is simply no better "job" than working with a couple to create an intimate, unique and memorable wedding day experience.

The development of Lyssabeth's Wedding Officiants is a continual evolving story. In 2001, with a degree in Social Work and a background in fundraising, marketing and event coordination, I became passionate about self-employment (my own and other people's!). So, I took my talents for writing, public speaking, organizing, creativity, and event coordination. and began looking for a new direction in which to channel them. As usually happens when I go looking for opportunity, it found me in the form of a gorgeous, but somewhat dilapidated old Victorian house in Denver, Colorado. I bought the house, restored the downstairs to its glorious 1892 splendor and opened our doors to host small weddings.

My spiritual philosophy is to respect all beliefs and religious values as long as they do no harm to others. I am most fortunate to have met so many individuals with diverse beliefs and I have learned much along the way!

In addition to my friends and family, my other passions include reading, hiking, cooking, entrepreneurship, biking, enjoying the ocean, traveling, and anything to do with the written or spoken expression of the English language (which lends itself to a very annoying insistence on proper grammar, punctuation and spelling in written ceremonies, so I'll beg your indulgence in advance).

As Lyssabeth's has grown, I have had the privilege of adding delightful and creative staff to write, perform and photograph ceremonies. I couldn't manage without their wonderful talent and enthusiasm. (Note: you can read about them to by going to the Lyssabeth's website for your area. Visit our home page for those links.) We now serve California, Oregon and Colorado.

Other things about me that are also "most important" are that I grew up in Rhode Island, but have managed to lose most of the accent. I moved to Colorado in 1995 and then to the Oregon Coast in 2009. I have two daughters--after whom the business is named--Bethany (28) and Alyssa (24), and a stepdaughter, Ariela (23) who, along with granddaughter Kaydi, never cease to amaze me. I have been blessed to find the love of my life, my husband, Jeremy, who enthusiastically supports me in everything I do.

Maureen's Crew: Jason, Bethany, Alyssa, Joel, Maureen & Jeremy. Kaydi is in front. My beautiful stepdaughter, Ariela could not make it to Alyssa's wedding, above, as she is stationed in Iraq. That's her photo, left.)

Lyssabeth's Wedding Officiants About Maureen Thomson