Millissa is a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant and ordained Minister in Rhode Island who specializes in writing and performing handcrafted, personalized wedding ceremonies. She is trained by The Celebrant Foundation & Institute in the art and history of ceremony creation and performance. Millissa is dedicated to using ceremony to mark the milestones and transitions in the lives of individuals, couples, families, her community, and organizations.
She is a professional officiant who creates and performs ceremonies that reflect the clients beliefs, values, and traditions—not her own. Whether non-denominational, intercultural, interfaith, secular, humanist, or any other value, tradition, or belief... Millissa's goal is always to create & perform a ceremony that will live in the hearts of her clients forever.
Millissa on her call to Celebrancy:
My love of ceremony and ritual runs deep, and my call to Celebrancy was so strong, and so loud, that I would have had to close my eyes and turn my back in order to ignore it.
Ceremonies are the living poetry of our lives, enriching our human experience and bringing us deeper meaning. When we are engaged in ceremony, whether we are witnessing or are a part of, it is a time for our souls to connect. In our fast paced world, it is a time that allows us to breathe, to reflect on love and life, and to let our spirits dance with the souls of our loved ones; our families and friends, those we consider our community. It is a time to listen to one another’s stories; to hear and be heard.
Putting our love into words is one of the greatest acts of expression. When I create a ceremony my heart is open and I become a vessel for love and truth to express itself. Ceremonies tell the stories of our lives, be it a joyful or sorrowful story. Our stories all long to be told, and more importantly, our stories long to be heard. For what is this life if not witnessed and acknowledged? When we celebrate our life passages—a new moon, a new love, a life coming into this world—a life leaving this world, we allow ourselves the attention our soul’s desire; the recognition of our life experiences brings deep satisfaction in the knowing that our lives are meaningful.
There is a deep need for more ceremony and meaningful celebration in our lives. Life truly flies by, and in the end we will all want to look back and feel that our life was meaningful; that we were mindful of our blessings, that we had a rich experience. Becoming a Celebrant, helping others to create ceremonies to celebrate those blessings, has been a homecoming for me. To mark with ceremony and ritual is to enrich our lives and raise our consciousness.
When I look back on my life experiences, it is clear that before I became a Life-Cycle Celebrant, I had already traveled a journey rich with celebration and ritual.
I’ve always loved to gather women to celebrate the evolution of spirit. I feel supported by the women I call my sisters and cherish the time we spend gathering and doing our soul work together, in the way of listening and asking. Asking, and caring for one another’s spirits, in an effort to lift one another up to our highest potential. Over the years we have gathered to celebrate birthdays, to mourn loved ones, to celebrate marriages, to support our efforts in motherhood, to celebrate a change of season, to support a sister going through divorce, to celebrate a new moon, to recognize our struggles, to celebrate holidays, to hear each other, to express our creativity, and to simply bear witness. All of these gatherings have, in a way, been ceremonial, and they have always felt like some of the most important experiences of my life.
My first calling to Celebrancy was about 25 years ago when my grandfather passed. I had hired a minister friend to perform his memorial service and ended up helping to write and conduct the eulogy. It was my first taste of this deeply personal and meaningful work.
It wouldn’t be too many years, weddings, and funerals later, that my own mother would tragically and unexpectedly die at the young age of 49. My sister, brother, and I were called to the biggest duty of our lives…to memorialize our mother. I felt like the more meaningful the ceremony was, the more okay we would be. The healthier our mourning process would be. If we remembered well, and acknowledged the meaning of her life; if we put words to it, somehow it would help us to heal. Somehow, it would help to bridge the gap between shock and sorrow. And it did. It helped to guide us to the other side of grief.
This experience had changed me. I realized that remembering well could indeed have a profound effect on the mourning process. I also realized that memorializing another human is sacred, important, life changing, and humbling work. A seed had been planted.
I went on to create my own wedding ceremony, unique with my bridal party carrying prayer flags in lieu of flowers, and incorporating a blessing for my sister to become the ‘guide-mother’ of our 1 year old daughter. I knew then, that I was being called. I was feeling the pull to help others create meaningful ceremonies in their lives. That was 2006, but it wouldn’t be until the death of my little brother almost seven years later that the call became so loud, and so intense that I could no longer ignore it, or put it on hold.
With over 25 years of soul/ inner/ spiritual work under my belt, it was never a question of why this work. But, why was it finally time? At 40 years old, I was feeling that my life was at a critical turning point. I could continue raising my family, and contributing in ways that felt almost enough. Or I could answer the call to be my highest self; to do work that would contribute to more of humanity. To do work that would elevate my existence, while making a difference in the lives of others.
The fact that my youngest child was starting school full time, in conjunction with the fact that my little brother had passed away 6 short months earlier were both the driving force behind ‘now’. I told myself; NOW is the time.
When I wrote my brother’s entire memorial service and eulogy (officiated by another minister friend), I became that vessel I referred to earlier. The whole thing flowed through me. The writing was effortless. The song choices and poetry choices came with ease. The experience only validated what I already knew. Celebrancy is my calling; my heart and soul's work. And when family and friends continued to tell me, that they had never experienced a memorial like that, that they couldn’t believe how well the officiant knew our brother, and portrayed the meaning of his life, and what an amazing tribute to his life it was, and how healing the service was, it only deepened my knowingness and furthered my desire to do the very special work of a Celebrant.
They say when you are in your dharma, time seems to stand still, you experience joy and the work flows through you, and that...is exactly how I feel when I am creating a ceremony.
Ceremonies are the living poetry of our lives, enriching our human experience and bringing us deeper meaning. When we are engaged in ceremony, whether we are witnessing or are a part of, it is a time for our souls to connect. In our fast paced world, it is a time that allows us to breathe, to reflect on love and life, and to let our spirits dance with the souls of our loved ones; our families and friends, those we consider our community. It is a time to listen to one another’s stories; to hear and be heard.
Putting our love into words is one of the greatest acts of expression. When I create a ceremony my heart is open and I become a vessel for love and truth to express itself. Ceremonies tell the stories of our lives, be it a joyful or sorrowful story. Our stories all long to be told, and more importantly, our stories long to be heard. For what is this life if not witnessed and acknowledged? When we celebrate our life passages—a new moon, a new love, a life coming into this world—a life leaving this world, we allow ourselves the attention our soul’s desire; the recognition of our life experiences brings deep satisfaction in the knowing that our lives are meaningful.
There is a deep need for more ceremony and meaningful celebration in our lives. Life truly flies by, and in the end we will all want to look back and feel that our life was meaningful; that we were mindful of our blessings, that we had a rich experience. Becoming a Celebrant, helping others to create ceremonies to celebrate those blessings, has been a homecoming for me. To mark with ceremony and ritual is to enrich our lives and raise our consciousness.
When I look back on my life experiences, it is clear that before I became a Life-Cycle Celebrant, I had already traveled a journey rich with celebration and ritual.
I’ve always loved to gather women to celebrate the evolution of spirit. I feel supported by the women I call my sisters and cherish the time we spend gathering and doing our soul work together, in the way of listening and asking. Asking, and caring for one another’s spirits, in an effort to lift one another up to our highest potential. Over the years we have gathered to celebrate birthdays, to mourn loved ones, to celebrate marriages, to support our efforts in motherhood, to celebrate a change of season, to support a sister going through divorce, to celebrate a new moon, to recognize our struggles, to celebrate holidays, to hear each other, to express our creativity, and to simply bear witness. All of these gatherings have, in a way, been ceremonial, and they have always felt like some of the most important experiences of my life.
My first calling to Celebrancy was about 25 years ago when my grandfather passed. I had hired a minister friend to perform his memorial service and ended up helping to write and conduct the eulogy. It was my first taste of this deeply personal and meaningful work.
It wouldn’t be too many years, weddings, and funerals later, that my own mother would tragically and unexpectedly die at the young age of 49. My sister, brother, and I were called to the biggest duty of our lives…to memorialize our mother. I felt like the more meaningful the ceremony was, the more okay we would be. The healthier our mourning process would be. If we remembered well, and acknowledged the meaning of her life; if we put words to it, somehow it would help us to heal. Somehow, it would help to bridge the gap between shock and sorrow. And it did. It helped to guide us to the other side of grief.
This experience had changed me. I realized that remembering well could indeed have a profound effect on the mourning process. I also realized that memorializing another human is sacred, important, life changing, and humbling work. A seed had been planted.
I went on to create my own wedding ceremony, unique with my bridal party carrying prayer flags in lieu of flowers, and incorporating a blessing for my sister to become the ‘guide-mother’ of our 1 year old daughter. I knew then, that I was being called. I was feeling the pull to help others create meaningful ceremonies in their lives. That was 2006, but it wouldn’t be until the death of my little brother almost seven years later that the call became so loud, and so intense that I could no longer ignore it, or put it on hold.
With over 25 years of soul/ inner/ spiritual work under my belt, it was never a question of why this work. But, why was it finally time? At 40 years old, I was feeling that my life was at a critical turning point. I could continue raising my family, and contributing in ways that felt almost enough. Or I could answer the call to be my highest self; to do work that would contribute to more of humanity. To do work that would elevate my existence, while making a difference in the lives of others.
The fact that my youngest child was starting school full time, in conjunction with the fact that my little brother had passed away 6 short months earlier were both the driving force behind ‘now’. I told myself; NOW is the time.
When I wrote my brother’s entire memorial service and eulogy (officiated by another minister friend), I became that vessel I referred to earlier. The whole thing flowed through me. The writing was effortless. The song choices and poetry choices came with ease. The experience only validated what I already knew. Celebrancy is my calling; my heart and soul's work. And when family and friends continued to tell me, that they had never experienced a memorial like that, that they couldn’t believe how well the officiant knew our brother, and portrayed the meaning of his life, and what an amazing tribute to his life it was, and how healing the service was, it only deepened my knowingness and furthered my desire to do the very special work of a Celebrant.
They say when you are in your dharma, time seems to stand still, you experience joy and the work flows through you, and that...is exactly how I feel when I am creating a ceremony.
Photo on this page courtesy of Berryphotos.com