Ellen M Dague

I really can’t believe Alexandria city advertises Ms. Dague as an officiant for wedding ceremonies. She seems to have zero interest in doing them. I called in August, she said it was very early to book something with her. Which is understandable… I was told to call back the beginning of September. I’ve called almost ten times without even a call back. If she’s booked, I understand. But have the decency to call someone back and let them know. I couldn’t bare to give 1 star, because that’s rude on my part as I have no clue how she actually is as a lawyer or officiant. If you go with one of the three lawyers from the City’s list, go with Dennis. At least he answers calls and is upfront with people.

As a GAL Ms. Dague will pick a parent and blindly act as pro bono counsel for that parent without really defending the best interest of the child. She refused to speak to the other parent and the other parent’s counsel. How is that in a child’s best interest? A judge relieved her from a case because of her unethical conduct.

Clearly a better wedding officiant than she is a Guardian ad litem. NEVER put the interests of your child in these hands. Have not ever seen quite as much bias and lack of interest on the part of someone who is supposed to be a child advocate… shame on you — stick to wedding officiating where you can’t do any REAL damage!

I chose Ellen M. Dague based on the previous review so thank you very much MacRae O. You were very helpful!
I loved every minute of our ceremony. Ellen was very nice. She kept making jokes and made us all feel relaxed. I was afraid that because it’s a civil ceremony, it might be very short and not as official as it should be. But the speech and the vows were very sweet and memorable. Thank you, Ellen, for helping to make our day so special!!!

When you apply for a marriage license at the Courthouse in Alexandria and tell them you’d like a list of marriage officiants authorized by the city to perform civil ceremonies, two things happen:
One, you get a funny look that conveys, «What kind of crackhead wants a quick, civil ceremony without a poofy dress and readings from ‘The Prophet’???»
And two, you get a list of 8 or so officiants. Names, addresses, phone numbers. That’s it. No way to tell anything about these dudes. Googling reveals very little. Unilocaling reveals even less. How to pick?
Well, randomly. And it was a random set of events which found us on the doorstep of Ellen’s office on Monday evening so she could perform our wedding ceremony. I was so nervous, because we had just sort of landed on her and I had no idea what to expect. So I was really happy and pleased when she greeted us – she was warm, open, a bit zany, and very funny. She put us and our families right at ease.
Her office was a pleasant surprise, too: an old brick row house (OK, technically detached) at the western edge of Old Town. Rather than a cold and impersonal conference room, she married us in the little, Colonial-​style law library surrounded by beautifully bound books, old portraits of Lincoln, and faded copies of the Declaration of Independence. And the vows she selected to read were really lovely and lyrical without being cheesy or sappy.
SIGH. OF. RELIEF.
And then I sat down and Unilocaled her for the rest of you Alexandrians who need guidance picking your civil ceremony marriage celebrant… no? Just me?