Michelle Sponseller Celebrant / Officiant

08/04/2026

I saw an article this morning about the shift between millennial and Gen Z wedding culture, the move away from guest lists and price tags that outgrew the couple, toward something smaller and more honest. It got me thinking about a question I hear all the time.

https://www.elle.com/culture/books/a73258725/millennial-vs-gen-z-wedding-culture-essay/

Does a small, budget-friendly wedding "count" as much as a big one?

Yes. Every single time.

I've married couples in backyards with a dozen folding chairs and a potluck reception, and couples in ballrooms with three hundred guests and a five-figure budget. Neither the guest count or the dollar amount ever told me how much two people loved each other. What told me that was the couple in front of me, and the story we built the ceremony around.

Two people or two hundred. Two hundred dollars or fourty thousand. I build the same kind of ceremony either way: personal, honest, and completely yours.

If you're planning something small, in size or in budget, and wondering if it's enough: it is. It always was.

07/31/2026

Rehearsal time! 🥳 💍 💒

07/27/2026

The filing deadlines have now passed, and the candidates who will be on our ballots this August and November are set.

Whatever side of the aisle you stand on, take a moment to appreciate what just happened: neighbors, parents, small business owners, and community members raised their hands and said, "I'll serve." Theodore Roosevelt captured what that decision actually costs better than anyone:

"It is not the critic who counts... The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again... who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."

Every name now on our ballots chose the arena over the sidelines. That takes courage, regardless of party, and it's worth honoring, even (especially) when we disagree.

This is democracy in action, and it's a good thing to witness. Now it's our turn to do our part: get to know who's running, ask questions, and show up in August and November.

Mark your calendars. Democracy only works if we all step into the arena too, even if our version of that is simply casting a ballot.

06/27/2026

Couple today has chosen a unity ritual that is perfect for them, taking a shot of Jameson wh***ey together.

From the ceremony:

“Today….have chosen Jameson.

Which, I’m told, is fitting for a couple of reasons. It’s a wh***ey with a little fire to it. A little warm. A little bite. Which, if you know these two, tracks. They are not a soft, watered-down love. They are the real thing, neat, with no ice.”

“…as you raise these glasses, raise them on purpose.

Drink to the easy days, the lazy Sundays, the quiet mornings, the laughter that doesn’t need a reason.

Drink the hard days, the ones that ask more of you than you thought you had, and find that, together you do.

Drink to the ordinary days, the unremarkable Tuesdays that stacked on top of each each other become a marriage.

And drink to each other. To the person standing across from you right now. To the one you chose, and the one who chooses you back.”

***ey

06/26/2026

Rehearsal time!

06/25/2026

Not every family has a church home anymore. Plenty aren't religious at all, and even those who are may not have a minister who knew their loved one. So when it's time to plan a service, a lot of families hit the same quiet question: who's going to lead it?

That's part of why more funeral homes are starting to work with trained celebrants. A celebrant sits down with the family, listens for the stories that matter, and leads a service that actually sounds like the person who died, religious, secular, or somewhere in between.

The families I work with often say the same thing afterward. They braced for something generic, and instead they got to laugh and cry in the same hour. That's the whole point.

I wrote about how these partnerships work, and what families say once the day is over: celebrantmichelle.com/post/funeral-home-celebrant-partnership

If your family didn't have someone to lead a service, who would you want telling the story?

More families have no church home. Here's how a funeral home celebrant partnership works, what a trained celebrant brings, and what families say after.

06/24/2026

Thank you Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce for the spotlight!

Everyone we meet has a story. From their long-standing career to years of volunteer work to being a loving family member, these attributes shape who they are in life and when they have passed on. These stories are what guided Michelle Sponseller to celebrant work, and it is these stories that contin

06/23/2026

Someone asks you to give the eulogy. You say yes, because you loved them too. Then you sit down to write, and the page just stares back.

If that’s you right now, take a breath. Being asked to speak for someone you’ve lost is one of the heaviest honors there is, and feeling unequal to it usually just means you understand how much it matters.

My new post walks through how to write a eulogy that actually sounds like the person: where to start, a simple shape that holds up, and what to do if you’re too close to the loss to find the words. And if you’d rather not face the blank page alone, that’s exactly the kind of thing I help Central Michigan families with.

Read it here: celebrantmichelle.com/post/how-to-write-a-eulogy

What’s one small detail about someone you loved that brings them right back into the room?

06/18/2026

You might not know how I ended up doing this work.

The short version: I spent more than 20 years in local government, retired in 2024, and went to work at a local funeral home. I sat through a lot of goodbyes there. Too many started with an officiant saying some version of “I didn't know Mary, but...” The dates were right. The person was missing. That's what pulled me into this work.

I wrote a piece about the whole path, where I came from, what I believe a goodbye should do, and why choosing direct cremation never has to mean you've lost your chance to gather. (Yes, even if Uncle Bob's been on the shelf in the closet for a couple of years. It's not too late.)

Read it here: https://www.celebrantmichelle.com/post/meet-michelle-sponseller

What's one small detail about someone you loved that no generic service could ever capture? I'd love to read them below.

Meet Michelle Sponseller, a funeral celebrant serving Central Michigan. Twenty years of service, the path into this work, and what guides every ceremony.

06/16/2026

Some goodbyes are harder to plan than others.

When a loss comes by su***de or overdose, after years of estrangement, or with a family that can't easily sit in the same room, the usual words don't seem to fit. But a meaningful, honest service is still possible. I've led families through each of these, and a difficult death doesn't have to mean a difficult goodbye.

My new post is about holding space for the hardest losses, and how a trained funeral celebrant helps a family tell the truth gently and still honor the whole person.

Read it here: celebrantmichelle.com/post/funeral-after-a-complicated-death

And if you're carrying a loss like this, please know you don't have to carry it alone. A grief counselor, your physician, or a local support group can help, and in the U.S. you can call or text 988 anytime.

Have you ever sat through a goodbye that couldn't hold the whole story? What did you wish had been different?

When a death comes by su***de, overdose, or estrangement, an honest service can still hold it. A Michigan funeral celebrant on saying goodbye after a hard loss.