About Us
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?
Daring Celebrations & Ceremonies opened for business on March 2, 2016. Owner, Lynda "LD" Daring is naturally intuitive, warmly authentic, and emotionally intelligent. With a love for couples in love, and a well-honed business acumen, LD has reimagined, and re-created the process of selecting and working with a professional wedding officiant so that it is easy, stress-free, and fun for couples!
LD is the rare person whose business perspective is in full alignment with her heart space. As such, she personally coaches each officiant, developing a team of incredibly talented, fun-loving, and spirited women who remain honored to co-create and officiate each ceremony.
Who We Are
LD Daring (2011-present) and Daring Celebrations & Ceremonies, LLC have collectively married more than 700 couples in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
LD, Jennifer, Marjorie, Carol, and Jenn are a collection of women whose warmth and humor are matched only by their dedication, experience, professionalism, wisdom, and empathy. Each officiant brings their own sense of style, creativity, and energy to every ceremony they write and deliver.
Collectively, they are a group that believes that words and rituals matter and they continue to inspire, and be inspired by, the couples whom they serve.
PEOPLE - PROCESSES - PROFESSIONALISM
PEOPLE
It's always the people that make the difference no matter what! DC&C officiants stand out in today's competitive, wedding industry landscape.
PROCESSES
From the initial "Meet and Greet" to receding up the aisle, the process is incredibly smooth, and you are involved in every step of the way--working closely with your officiant.
Each officiant invests about 25 hours on the average, working with every couple-giving them their undivided attention with unlimited emails, phone calls, virtual meetings, and text messages.
PROFESSIONALISM
DC&C and its team of officiants are the pinnacles of professionalism. Frequent communication, fair prices, and a fierce dedication to co-creating memorable ceremonies are just of few of their core values.
Working in tandem with other wedding professionals is critical to maintaining the integrity and setting a shining example.
Since 2016, our couples have consecutively voted DC&C as the Couples' Choice for WeddingWire.
what people say
"Lynda is ridiculously, indescribably amazing.
Literally, she was the most important part of our entire ceremony - we could not have done it without her! She dropped into a crazy, stressed out day (with pop-up thunder- and hail-storms, no less!!) and got us to pause, be in the moment, and really experience our ceremony together. Her genuine enthusiasm and care for you starts during your planning meetings and stays throughout the whole process, so you feel like you've made a new friend by the wedding day! Her ceremony address was exactly on point for what we wanted, and her delivery made it sound like she'd known us her whole life. If you're looking for someone to put the love back into your wedding day, I cannot give you any stronger recommendation than to reach out to Lynda ASAP! We would never have wanted anyone else to be our officiant - she's the perfect choice!"
Libby & Jerry, May 2021
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE
Meet the Team
Lynda "LD" Daring, Owner
LD is inspired by the people in her life! Her natural humorous personality is met with an intense sincerity that is immediately noted by the people she touches.
LD answered to a higher calling as a Life Celebrant since 2011. She helps others express themselves through her as she leads them through the loss of a loved one with ceremonies and rituals. Today, LD continues her calling, for which she officiates an average of 70 life celebrations (funerals) each year.
Shortly after LD became active with families and grief, she expanded her desire to use ceremony and rituals as an associate ceremony officiant, where she trained and officiated weddings, for five years, under the guidance and tutelage of Rev. Laura C. Cannon out of Ellicott City, MD.
One of LD's greatest joys is listening to the hearts of those she serves in either capacity. Her innate ability to capture personalities and retell their story leaves those in the room astounded that she hasn't known them for years! Occasionally, she gets requests to perform a baby blessing for her former couples when they become parents. Bringing others through the Cycle of Life is positively LD's sole purpose in this universe.
LD holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Behavioral Science from Wilmington University in New Castle, Delaware.
Music plays a huge role in LD's life.She was the lead singer in a rock band many moons ago! That is how she met her husband Brian (who is a professional bass player in a classic rock band in Delaware). Two weeks after they dated, he proposed, and one year later, they married!
LD, Brian, their son Kenny, and his fiancé, Amanda, reside in Newark, Delaware. They spend as much free time as possible visiting extended family and enjoying the great state of Maine. Boston Terrier pups are the family fur babies, Cici & Teddy. Pick any crispy-cool fall evening, and you'll find the Daring's hanging around the backyard fire pit, engaged in challenging chats and laughing their butts off! "We attract such fun people! ", LD says with a grin.
Jennifer Levy
Jennifer believes in the power of words, symbols, and rituals, especially when connected to experiences serving to enhance personal growth and deepen ties with others. As a life-long educator in interpersonal communication, she loves to see the "eureka" moment in people's eyes as they realize new ways of expressing themselves more authentically in their personal and professional relationships. Her colleagues and friends describe her as warm, funny, empathic, and joyful. Jennifer's easy way with people, good humor, excellent writing ability, and public speaking skills allow her to make meaningful connections with all types of couples to perform memorable and meaningful ceremonies.
In addition to her work as a professional wedding officiant, Jennifer puts her Master of Arts degree in Speech Communication and 30 years of experience as a writer, instructional designer, facilitator, and consultant to good use working from home as the Program Development Manager/Senior Instructional Designer for Kettering University in Flint, Michigan.
In her free time, you might find her reading biographies about musicians, listening to podcasts about psychology, spirituality, communication, and mindfulness, or playing guitar.
She has seen her favorite artist/band in concert, Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac more than 30 times since 1982 and has a tattoo of their penguin mascot!
Jennifer, and her wife Jane, live in Clayton, NJ with their cat Roxy, and a Bullboxer named Bradley Cooper.
"Daring Celebrations and Ceremonies, specifically Lynda Daring and Jennifer Levy, are the best in the business.
Lynda welcomed us warmly into her home for an introductory meeting and by the time we left the decision was clear that we we're going to be hiring her for our ceremony. Jennifer Levy was our officiant and did a fantastic job! We always had an open line of communication and she worked with us to tailor our wedding vows in a way that worked perfectly for us. I would highly recommend anyone looking for an officiant to look no further than LD and her partners."
Brian & Theresa,
September 2019. The Hotel DuPont, Wilmington, DE
Marjorie Mundy
Marjorie is a natural intuitive who utilizes her ability to recognize and encourage others to see their personal worth and gifts. She chooses to live her life with positivity and hopeful expectations and does her best to sprinkle these wherever she goes! Being deeply connected to nature's energy, she strives to be environmentally conscious in her life habits and loves to repurpose, recycle, and reuse at every opportunity. As a wife, mother and grandmother, Marjorie feels it is essential to continually grow as an individual and to be a healthy example to all in her life.
Marjorie has a diverse and long career in business operations and management, but her focus was always on developing her teams individually and as a unit, while making the customer's needs her top priority. Her successes have come as a result of hard work, common sense, and attention to the needs of others. It is her friendly, empathic nature that enables others to comfortably open up to her.
Her professional relationship with "LD", quickly became a dear friendship that afforded Marjorie the opportunity to utilize her gifts for couples in one of their most intimate life moments. It is a joy and humble honor to serve all couples with love and humor by creating a personalized service that tells their unique love story in a way that is carefully crafted to meet their hearts desires. Blessed to live at the beach, Marjorie enjoys sunshine but also loves reading, learning, biking, light hiking, playing games of all sorts and enjoying the gift of time spent in the company of her family and friends.
"Marjorie and Daring Celebrations went above and beyond to make our day special.
Finding an officiant was actually the last item on our checklist and we only had two months before the wedding to do so. When we contacted LD, she was so understanding and met us in the middle. She referred us to her associate Marjorie who became our officiant and let me just say, Marjorie was absolutely amazing. We loved the energy we received with LD and when she told us Marjorie would fit us perfectly, she hit the nail on the head. Meeting her felt like we had known her for years. The conversation flowed endlessly and she really got to know us in such a brief amount of time. She walked us through every step of the ceremony and answered any and all questions we had. If we needed to make changes to anything, she was always so accommodating. The ceremony itself was absolutely stunning. She gave the most amazingly beautiful marriage address we could have ever asked for. It really encompassed everything we wanted to convey and more. Having Marjorie as our officiant was one of the biggest blessings and I can not sing her praises enough. Her professionalism and personable nature made us feel so much more at ease when trying to plan all the details. When looking for an officiant who is going to really capture the detail of you and your loved one, who’s passionate about their work and exceptionally caring and personable, Daring Celebrations and Ceremonies every time!
LAURA & THIAGO,
APRIL 2022, DEERFIELD, NEWARK, DE
Carol Scott
Carol is a dreamer-a lover of life and people- a wife, mother, and friend. "I am an exceptionally imperfect woman who embraces differences. I am a listener, a talker, and a thinker."
A successful 20+ year career in technology has afforded Carol the opportunity to work together with ALL types of people. Her experiences have taught her that people all want to love and be loved.
"LD entered my life as the officiant for my husband's and my small wedding at our home. During our very first phone conversion, she radiated kindness, sincerity, and a genuine love for her craft. Her aura was contagious. So contagious, that I merged with her vibe as she took me under her wing on the road to acquire the credentials to become a part of her team. Her guidance has been immeasurable."
Music has been a constant great friend of Carol's throughout her life. Wherever there is music, life is better! She has a special fondness for old-school Hip Hop and R&B music. Carol isn't a stranger to the wedding world. She has enjoyed being able to share her vocal gifts as a soloist at many weddings since she was a child. "What an honor it has been to contribute to memories of love and joy!"
It has been a natural progression for Carol to land with the DC&C team as a wedding officiant for these love-filled events. "I'm sincerely humbled and grateful to be able to do what makes me deep-down-in-my-heart happy."
Jenn Pollitt Hill
Jenn approaches the world with a sense of joy and curiosity and treasures the moments that speak to us of love and beauty and connection. Performing wedding ceremonies is an intentional way of celebrating the very best that life has to offer, and she believes that ritual should always be an expression of our full, unique selves.
Jenn holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and has spent more than twenty-five years working through nonprofits to address social justice issues. Her career has taught her about the profound impact that one person can have on another and the importance of community in our lives. She is reminded daily about the opportunities we have to craft our own tomorrows and how critical it is to honor all the steps along the journey.
On a free day, you might catch Jenn swinging in her hammock (maybe with a book, more likely napping), taking a long walk or watching a movie - popcorn required. She likes to spend her time with her husband and two boys eating delicious food or sampling yummy cocktails with her crew of women friends. Warm hugs, laughing until your stomach hurts and sharing your true feelings are the mark of a good day!
"Incredible!"
Choosing Daring Celebrations & Ceremonies for our ceremony was the best decision we could have made! Not only was Jenn super personable she made us feel so comfortable and like we knew her our entire lives! If you are looking for an officiant this is the right place to be! Communication was beyond what we could ever have asked for.
MARANNE & BRETT,
OCTOBER 2022, THOUSAND ACRE FARM, MIDDLETOWN, DE
CREDENTIALS
DC&C officiants are ordained and authorized to solemnize marriage ceremonies through the American Marriage Ministries
American Marriage Ministries, Seattle, WA
