About us
Benjamin and Teri Martin
It is our privilege, singly or together, to help you honor those milestone events that are truly of the essence.
Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant™
Benjamin Martin
Benjamin Martin is a Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant through the Celebrant Foundation and Institute, now Natural Transitions Institute.
Through the years, Benjamin has shown a talent for crafting inspirational ceremonies and celebrations tailored to the unique needs of his audience. It has been his joy to officiate at such life-changing events as baby namings, graduations, weddings and funerals. Benjamin has been a writer by vocation and avocation for the last 46 years and brings a refined voice and creativity to each service. He recently published Love Songs from the --- Between --.
Benjamin completed his certification as a Life-Cycle Celebrant in 2016, completing each of the certification programs offered: Funerals, Weddings, and Ceremonies Across the Life Cycle.
As an ordained inter-faith minister, Ben meets the requirements for legally officiating marriages in Colorado and most other states.
Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant™
Teri Martin, D.Min
Teri Martin is a Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant through the Celebrant Foundation and Institute, now the Natural Transitions Institute.
Teri has a special gift in crafting ceremonies and formulating rituals that honor those important changes and rites of passage that occur in life, from the joy of birth to the mystery of death. She is a firm believer in the power of ritual and its importance in bringing participants into meaningful connection with the Sacred through the collaborative creation and facilitation of a uniquely designed ceremony. Over the years, Teri has officiated at many baby-naming ceremonies and memorials.
In addition to a certification as a Life-Cycle Celebrant with a special emphasis in ceremonies across the life cycle, Teri has a Master of Liberal Arts from St. John's College and a Doctorate of Ministry from The New Seminary for Inter-faith Studies. Along with officiating at ceremonies, Teri loves to lead Book Circles in conversations around topics of philosophy, literature, and the arts. Teri recently published collection of poems, A Wake of Words.
As an ordained inter-faith minister, Teri meets the requirements for legally officiating marriages in Colorado and most other states.
Our shared story
Teri and Benjamin formed Essential Ceremonies, LLC in April 2016 with the sole purpose of bringing nuanced sacredness and significance to special transitions and important milestones in people's lives. With three children and fifteen grandchildren, they offer seasoned insights and a unique vision for creating tailored ceremonies for families as well as individuals.
Essential Ceremonies, LLC is located in Golden, Colorado, offering ceremonies along Colorado's Front Range and, by special arrangement, on the Western Slope. Benjamin and Teri are open to travel within Colorado and other destinations as appropriate.
What is a Life-Cycle Celebrant™?
A Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant™ is a trained ceremonial guide: part storyteller, part ritualist, part compassionate witness, who understands how ceremony can anchor, uplift, and transform the moments that shape a life. Life-Cycle Celebrants combine a love of meaning-making with rigorous study in ritual, symbolism, and the craft of ceremonial writing and speaking.
Natural Transitions Institute (NTI) trains and empowers celebrants for weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies across the life cycle. Whether a ceremony is secular, spiritual, interfaith or rooted in a specific cultural lineage, Life-Cycle Celebrants collaborate closely with their clients. They listen deeply, gather the "gems" of a person's or couple's story, and design a ceremony that feels personal, intentional, and true. Every element, from the structure to the language to the symbolic gesture, is crafted to honor the moment with clarity, beauty, and emotional resonance.
Life-Cycle Celebrants are ceremony specialists. They are trained in the history and principles of ritual, skilled in asking meaningful questions, and devoted to creating a space where people feel seen, supported, and understood. This attentive, collaborative process is the hallmark of a Life-Cycle Celebrant-crafted wedding, funeral, or other ceremony across the life cycle.
For more information visit Natural Transitions.