Every kinship system has a rite for this. Yours should be exactly yours.
Kindred Rites is led by Karla C. Santander, an independent wedding officiant trained in anthropology and human biology — a background built on years spent studying how people across every culture mark the moment two lives become one. She writes and performs that moment for couples, legally accredited to make it official.
- B.A., Human Biology & Anthropology, Washington State University
- Accrediting Institution: Universal Life Church Ministries
One degree that turned out to be a long study of love.
Karla's Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology & Anthropology from Washington State University showed her that marriage is one of the oldest and most universal human institutions, and one of the most varied. It's where she learned why pair-bonding, ritual, and belonging matter to us at a level deeper than custom. That's why she doesn't approach a wedding with a script. She approaches it as a field researcher approaches a culture: with curiosity, respect, and zero assumptions about what a ceremony "should" look like.
Her approach isn't to perform a tradition at you. It's to find the one that's actually yours, and help you say it out loud.
Kindred Rites has the legal authority to solemnize your marriage through an ordination from the non-denominational Universal Life Church, whose stated purpose is to offer "the religious freedom to become an ordained minister and practice their beliefs." Ministers ordained through the ULC are encouraged to take charge of their own spiritual lives and do good in their communities. Accreditation carries no doctrine of its own, so your ceremony holds only what you want it to hold: a full religious tradition, a blend of two, or none at all.
Everyone's rite is a rite.
Kindred Rites officiates weddings for people of every faith, and of none — and for couples of every configuration. A traditional ceremony between a man and a woman gets the same care, the same craft, and the same standing in this practice as a ceremony for two men, two women, or partners outside the gender binary. Nobody is treated as a special case.
Religious & interfaith
Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Indigenous, folk, or a considered blend of two family traditions — Kindred Rites researches the elements that matter most and integrates them with care, not caricature.
Secular & humanist
No scripture, no deity, no borrowed language. A ceremony built entirely from your relationship, your values, and the people who shaped you.
Traditional
A classic ceremony between a man and a woman, done with warmth and gravity — no reinvention required unless you want one.
LGBTQ+ ceremonies
Full-throated, unhedged support for marriages within the LGBTQ+ community. Your ceremony will never be treated as an edge case or an adaptation of a "default."
Ceremonies, built around who's actually getting married.
Every ceremony starts from the same blank page and the same set of questions about you. What changes is the shape it grows into.
Traditional Ceremonies
A classic, timeless ceremony for a man and a woman — vows, exchange, pronouncement, done with warmth and gravity.
Interfaith & Multicultural
Two families, two traditions, one ceremony that honors both without flattening either.
Secular & Humanist
No religious framework required — a ceremony grounded entirely in your relationship and your words.
LGBTQ+ Ceremonies
Marriages within the LGBTQ+ community, officiated with the same craft and standing as any other — never an afterthought.
Elopements & Micro-Weddings
Small, intimate, and legally binding — a full ceremony scaled to a guest list of two or twenty.
Vow Renewals
For couples marking a milestone, or simply choosing each other again, out loud, in front of people.
Ceremonies with Kindred Rites start at $500.
That starting point covers a fully custom ceremony: consultation, a script written from scratch, and the day-of performance. Where a ceremony lands from there depends mainly on location and how much research and customization it calls for.
Standard Ceremony
Consultation, a fully custom-written script, and day-of officiating within the greater Portland area.
Extended Ceremony
Everything in Standard, plus travel elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest and additional time for interfaith or multicultural elements.
Custom Ceremony
Overnight travel, multi-day logistics, or an especially involved, multi-tradition ceremony — priced after a conversation about what's involved.
Cost shouldn't be the reason a couple doesn't get the ceremony they want. Sliding-scale and reduced-rate options are available for couples facing financial hardship — mention it when you reach out, and it becomes part of the conversation, not a barrier to it.
Nearly every human culture marks a marriage the same six ways.
What differs is what fills each step. Below is the structure Kindred Rites starts from — and how it flexes depending on who's standing in front of it.
This is a starting map, not a template — plenty of ceremonies drop a step, reorder one, or invent a seventh entirely. That part's up to you.
From first message to "I now pronounce you."
Inquiries are best submitted at least a month before the wedding date, which leaves room for a fully custom ceremony. Kindred Rites is still glad to take on last-minute bookings and elopements — later inquiries just may not have time for the full customization process.
Things people usually ask before booking.
Is a marriage you perform legally valid?
Karla's accrediting ordination — through the Universal Life Church — is recognized for solemnizing marriage in most U.S. states. Requirements like registering the officiant or filing paperwork vary by state and even county, so she confirms the exact steps for each couple's specific location as part of planning the ceremony.
Do you require any religious content?
No. Some couples want a fully religious ceremony, some want none at all, and most want something in between. Kindred Rites follows the couple's lead, not the other way around.
Will you officiate for same-sex couples?
Yes, without hesitation or asterisk. LGBTQ+ ceremonies get the same care, craft, and enthusiasm as any other wedding on the calendar.
Can we write our own vows?
Absolutely — and Kindred Rites can help shape them if you want a second set of eyes. Traditional vows are also available for couples who'd rather not write their own.
How far will you travel?
Kindred Rites is based in Portland and serves all of Oregon and Washington, with the Pacific Northwest as home turf. Traveling further? Share the location when reaching out and Kindred Rites will confirm what's involved.
Tell Kindred Rites about the two of you.
The best first message is a short one: names, date, location, and one sentence about what kind of ceremony you're picturing. Kindred Rites will take it from there.