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Contemporary Catholics Reviews

Contemporary Catholics

Contemporary Catholics

McHenry, IL
5.0 out of 5 rating, 69 Reviews
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Reviews

5.0 out of 5 rating
69 Reviews
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97% Recommended by couples

Awards

69
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2017 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2016 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2015 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2014 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2013 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2012 Winner
WeddingWire Couples' Choice Awards 2011 Winner
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    Kate H. Sent on 11/04/2022
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    Perfect fit.

    Everyone loved Fr. Jim. It was the perfect way to have the ceremony we wanted while not being able to logistically marry in a church. He was great to meet with, lots of help with the ceremony needs, and beautiful, heartfelt ceremony!

    Contemporary Catholics's reply:

    Thank you Kate and Miguel. It was a pleasure and honor to celebrate your wedding with you. May your marriage be as joyous as your wedding.
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    Yasmin N. Sent on 07/18/2022
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    Definitely my favorite part of my wedding

    We wanted a ceremony that was outside, included the Mexican traditions and bilingual. Father James made it all possible. He’s very responsive from the beginning, and had a timeline of everything weeks before the wedding. He was able to do some readings in spanish and explained all of the traditions to my husbands family. Everyone at the wedding loved him and said the ceremony was the best part. He made my husband and I feel comfortable and made it such a special day!

    Contemporary Catholics's reply:

    Peace Yasmin and Philip!

    It was a pleasure to be part of your wedding!

    Thank you for your feedback, I greatly appreciate it! Hope you have a wonderful marriage

    Best,

    Fr Jim
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    Melissa Sent on 10/24/2013
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    Father Jim made our special day so memorable. The first meeting we had with him he made us feel comfortable and guided us through the whole process. He had the right amount of religion and humor during the ceramony. Guests loved him!!! Thank you Father Jim!!!
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  • Brianne
    Brie Sent on 01/28/2020
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    You CAN get married outside and be Catholic

    Without sounding like a cliché, Father Jim was a Godsend to us! My (now) husband and I, are both of Christian faith; however during the planning process it became clear that a ceremony blessed by the Catholic Church would be critical to our family. From the first time we video chatted, we knew that Father Jim would alleviate so many fears, anxieties, and unknowns, of our special day. Like so many couples, there were so many details that we just ‘didn’t know’ and were overwhelmed to make decisions about. What we DID know (and were confident in) was having an outdoor ceremony, where we could feel close to nature, God, our families/friends, and most importantly each other. Father Jim had our back through the entire process. He showed compassion and understanding that our wishes did not line up with traditional Catholic expectations. He also reminded us of why we were getting married in the first place! We had love in our hearts for each other, a deep respect and love for our Lord, and a desire to live our marriage according to his teachings. One of the kindest ways he let us show our individuality in our ceremony, was by incorporating my Celtic heritage in a hand fasting ceremony and Irish blessing. It meant the world to our mothers and grandmother to be involved. Our family and friends are still commenting on how “us” the ceremony was, and how funny our officiant was!! We cannot thank you enough for being so flexible and working with our crazy wedding schedule to not only put our parents at ease, but to make our day as stress free as possible! Thank you for your blessings and for accepting us with open arms. Brianne & Mike

    Contemporary Catholics's reply:

    Peace Brianne and Mike! Thank you for your kind words, they mean a great deal. I try to make every couple feel like they are special to me and make their wedding day a memorable experience. More importantly I trust that your marriage will be one filled with sustaining love through the challenging and god times. Peace!Fr Jim
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    Ivana Sent on 09/05/2018
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    Father Jim is the best! Don't hesitate a second to contact him. We had so many guests tell us how much they enjoyed the ceremony. Father Jim is kind, professional and easy to work with. Like many others mentioned, you get a feeling like you've known him forever. His message was very powerful, yet delivered with a humorous touch to it. Everyone loved it! Father Jim truly made our wedding special. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
  • User3478183 Sent on 05/09/2018
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    Father Jim is simply the best. He took the time to get to know the bride and groom. He added the right amount of humor and kept the ceremony interesting and kept the crowd engaged while making it very meaningful. It was a great balance.
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    Kim Sent on 08/24/2017
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    Father Jim was amazing! We received numerous comments from our guests saying how much they enjoyed the ceremony. He made it a wonderful and memorable experience!
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    Lauren Sent on 11/02/2016
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    With Father Jim already booked for our date, we were pointed in the direction of Father Bill. Father Bill ended up being the perfect officiant for our Wedding! From our first meeting with him, we enjoyed talking and sharing stories with him. I come from a very Catholic family but my now-husband is a non-Catholic. In order to get married in a Catholic church, he would have to go through all the sacraments. Not wanting to force him into doing that, we found Father Bill who was still able to perform the traditional Catholic Wedding ceremony I wanted but without the restrictions of the church. His homily was beautiful & he even presented us with a small but beautiful/meaningful gift at the ceremony. Both of our families (and of course us) enjoyed his ceremony very much. I would highly recommend him! Also, he reminds you that he is always there to talk to even after marriage to help you in building a stronger relationship. Very kind & funny man.
  • User2709855 Sent on 08/02/2016
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    I cannot begin to say how HAPPY I was to have found Fr. Jim to be our officiant for our wedding last month. After our first meeting (which lasted 2 hours!) to our wedding day, Fr. Jim is someone who just makes you feel at ease and is a truly special person. He did an exceptional job with our wedding ceremony, and we were so happy to have found a Catholic priest for our outdoor wedding. We received so many compliments after the ceremony and people thought that he had been my childhood priest and had known us for years based on how he spoke and how personal he made his homily, etc.
    They also have a very easy to use website, where we were able to customize and choose how we wanted to say our vows, the wording for certain blessings, and select our readings. Overall, Fr. Jim made our wedding day very special and I will forever be grateful for that.

    Contemporary Catholics's reply:

    Peace! Thanks for your kind words, it was a pleasure celebrating your wedding with you. Peace! Fr Jim
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    Alyssa Sent on 06/24/2016
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    Father Jim was a big hit at our wedding. We received so many positive comments from our family and friends about him. In the months before the wedding, we sat down with him at a local Panera and really got to know each other. My husband was raised going to Protestant churches down south. I was raised Catholic. He told us that we should strive to hug each other at least six times a day – good advice which we’ve tried to follow ever since. He spoke to us a lot about the challenges of marriage and the importance of always striving to remain connected emotionally as we both continue to grow as people. In regard to the ceremony itself, his approach was traditional, yet conversational – fun yet, still formal. Overall, we really enjoyed having Father Jim as our officiant and would recommend him to other couples who are tying the knot!
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    Gabrielle Sent on 06/10/2016
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    Father Jim was an absolute pleasure. We were so happy to have him as our officiant. We had one Skype session with him several months prior to the wedding to talk about marriage, our service, and all the details. He is definitely a seasoned expert at all things pertaining to wedding ceremonies. On the day of the wedding, he arrived about an hour prior to the ceremony, walked us through the steps again, and put us at ease. His personable and humorous demeanor immediately made everyone comfortable and we are still getting comments from our guests about how much they loved his homily. Couples from ages 25 to 85 found pearls of wisdom in his words. Thank you again, Father Jim, for an amazing experience.
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    Tracey Sent on 06/09/2016
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    There is no question... Father Jim is amazing! The day we met him, we couldn't stop smiling, laughing, and learning! He makes you feel so comfortable and want to talk to him for hours. We knew we had to book him for our wedding then and there. He made our day even more beautiful and special than we could have imagined. Everyone is still talking about how much they loved him and how beautiful our ceremony was. He held everyone's attention. If you are looking for someone inspiring, funny, and wonderful, look no further. Thank you Father Jim for your amazing service. My husband and I couldn't be happier.
  • User2640913 Sent on 06/09/2016
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    Father Jim was the perfect officiant for our wedding. All of our guests raved about him after the ceremony was over. From our first meeting until the actual ceremony, he was professional and helpful.
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    Samantha Sent on 06/23/2016
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    We are so glad we chose Father Jim as our wedding officiant. He was is incredibly warm and welcoming and so easy to work with. Our ceremony turned out perfect and was exactly what we had envisioned for our wedding. Our guests thought he we had known him for ages! Even our relatives who gave us some slack for not getting married in a church were raving about him and even recommended him to another family friend!

    Contemporary Catholics's reply:

    Peace! Thanks for the kind words. Enjoy your marriage and don't forget to hug and take the time to share your feelings so you can grow more deeply in love every day. Peace! Fr Jim
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    Colm Sent on 07/14/2016
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    Father Jim was absolutely excellent. It was a pleasure dealing with him and he really put our minds at ease on the day. I would definitely recommend using him.
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    Laura Sent on 06/28/2015
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    My fiance and I wanted to be married by a catholic priest but not in the church. We heard of Contemporary Catholics from a family friend and I am so glad we reached out to them. We submitted a request and within a day or so, Father Jim emailed us back and we eventually made a skype call together to get to know each other. I am so glad we were able to secure Father Jim as our celebrant - he is such a pleasure to speak with and as an added bonus, he's so funny - he makes talking about marriage a wonderful conversation. I would highly recommend Father Jim to others.
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    Jessica Sent on 11/20/2015
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    Father Jim made our wedding ceremony one to remember! I think it's very unusual for people to comment on how great the officiant is, but that's all we heard after the ceremony. Father Jim did a great job combining tradition, humor and charm! Our outdoor wedding ceremony was everything we wanted. Highly recommend Father Jim and Contemporary Catholics!
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    Sonia Sent on 12/31/2015
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    Father Jim was easygoing, pleasant, and funny from on our first meeting to the wedding day. He was very accommodating to doing a bilingual ceremony. Everyone absolutely loved his sermon. He is a nice blend of being serious and lightheartedness.
  • User2249170 Sent on 07/30/2015
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    Father Jim Balija was our wedding officiant. He was accommodating to our out of state needs and made time to email and skype with us as needed. Our wedding ceremony was well done as he kept our guests engaged and symbolized the meaning for the day. Father Jim speaks from his heart.
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    Julianne Sent on 06/06/2015
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    “Awesome!” “Amazing!” “Fantastic!” just some of the words our guests used to describe Father Jim. When my husband and I were looking for a priest, it was important to us to find someone who would perform a Catholic ceremony outside. I found Father Jim online and his reviews were great, so we reached out to him to schedule a meeting. When we met with him, we found him incredibly engaging. He touched on everything that was important to us, made us laugh and we felt comfortable right away. By the end of our meeting, we couldn’t imagine anyone else presiding over our ceremony. During the year of planning, we communicated via email and Father Jim was always responsive and helpful. He guided us through the process with no problem. On the day of our ceremony, Father Jim set the upbeat pace for the rest of the night. His words were genuine, touching, full of love, and he had everyone laughing. He let us incorporate family and friends into the ceremony which made it extra special to us.
    Father Jim brought something special to our wedding day. His words have stayed with us and many of our guests. Three weeks later, we are still receiving compliments on the ceremony. We couldn’t be happier that Father Jim presided over our ceremony. He was wonderful! We would recommend without hesitation. Thank you, Father Jim!!
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    Michelle Sent on 06/30/2015
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    Father Jim married my husband and I in April and we couldn't have been happier with our ceremony. Our guests were beyond impressed with how much Father Jim's advice applies not just to newlyweds, but to any couple. His homily provided truly practical and realistic advice about the hard work that goes into any successful marriage. Everyone in the room laughed, shed tears of happiness and left the ceremony feeling that they had never been to one quite like ours. Guests still tell us that Father Jim was amazing, so he was clearly a memorable part of our day. If you are looking to maintain the religious aspects of a church wedding, but want to enjoy your ceremony at your venue, Father Jim is definitely the way to go!! We have already recommended him to two engaged couples who have booked him for their special day!!

    Contemporary Catholics's reply:

    Peace! Thank you for the kind words, they are much appreciated. One of my goals is to not only help the couple on their wedding day but to also encourage all coupes to look into their marriages to enhance them. May you enjoy all God's blessings in abundance!
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    Kylah Sent on 07/04/2015
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    Amazing in every way, couldn't have asked for more! His unique combination of traditional and modern, humor and seriousness, and ultimate relatedness are unmatched! All our guests asked us where we found him because he was so awesome!
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    Ally Sent on 05/08/2015
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    I know I might be biased because it was my own wedding, but Father Jim was absolutely the best officiant I have ever met! His homily was wonderful and was perfect for newlyweds as well as those that have been married for 40 years! I can't believe how many people are still telling me (3 months later) how much they enjoyed our ceremony!
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    Jana Sent on 12/16/2014
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    I couldn't have been more happy with Father Jim. When we first met him we instantly felt at ease and so comfortable with him. He was there during our planning to offer advice and suggestions and was always available to is. The ceremony was everything we wanted and we got so many compliments from our guests. Call Father Jim you will not be disappointed!
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    Jeanine Sent on 10/21/2014
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    I can't say enough wonderful words about Father Jim! My husband and I have different beliefs, so when it came time to plan our wedding it was tricky—I wanted a catholic service, but he didn't want to do a church wedding. After finding Father Jim's website, I felt like he might be just who we needed—and after we met with him, we knew right away he would deliver a ceremony meaningful for us both! His insights on marriage are so in line in what we feel in our hearts, and he has just the right touch of humor added into his delivery. Nearly every single guest—no matter what their background, asked me where I found him because they thought he was wonderful & his words hit home for many. And as a professional, Father Jim was one of the most reliable—and calming!—vendors that I dealt with every step of the way. We couldn't be happier we found him!

    Contemporary Catholics's reply:

    Peace! Thanks for your kind words, it was a pleasure celebrating your wedding with you. May you enjoy all God's blessings in abundance through your married life! Fr Jim
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