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WEDDING OFFICIANTS/MINISTERS

Sarah de la Fuente, BA, MPAff
Wedding Officiant

A native Texan, Sarah was born in Dallas, high-tailed it to Houston at 6 weeks old (well, ok, her parents moved), and landed in her beloved Austin in 1988, where she has resided ever since.  She is a graduate of St. Agnes Academy and The University of Texas, and she has a master’s degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs.  In addition to her non-denominational license and ordination, she is a deacon in the Presbyterian Church, and has served as the Director of Volunteer Services for a local congregation.  She adores historical fiction, T.S. Eliot’s “Journey of the Magi,” swimming, a good sense of humor, and a small cabin get-away outside of Canyon Lake, Texas.  Sam makes her cycle while they talk about weddings, and so she is learning to love her bike, too. 

Having officiated at hundreds of weddings for couples of every imaginable spiritual background, Sarah believes that a diversity of opinions, cultures, spirituality, politics, and tastes may sometimes challenge a marriage, but also offer an opportunity for deeply meaningful relationships and personal enrichment.

Sarah lives her beliefs daily, being married since 1994 to Joe, her best friend.  Together, their greatest treasures are their two children, and the marriage they’ve worked hard to cultivate.

Sam Riccobene
Associate Pastor of Congregational Care and Small Group Development

Sam was born in Arkansas, educated in Texas, and after pastoring in Pennsylvania and Oklahoma, moved back to Austin. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister, and currently serves in an Associate Pastor role for a local congregation. Sam and Gretta, together for 35 years, love to cook, party, hike, camp, and travel to fun places like Belize. “We are blessed to live here in Austin with all of our children and grandchildren. Besides my family, my other passion is cycling. I am proud to say that I have ridden in the past three Hill Country Ride for AIDS,” says Sam.

Spurred by a lifelong love of the outdoors and, more broadly, the planet, Sam states, “Much of my joy in recent years has come from the conscious practice of a simpler, greener lifestyle.” A member of the local Advisory Board for the Institute of Interfaith Dialog, Sam has actively participated in local interfaith activities. He was honored in Fall 2007, as a keynote speaker at the Iftar ”Ramadan Fast Breaking” dinner at the Hyatt Hotel on Lake Lady Bird. Sam has also recently traveled to Turkey and Tajikistan in an effort to promote cross-cultural and religious understanding.

So, whether at home in Austin with local commitments or his clients’ weddings, or on an international level, Sam delights in weaving culture, religion, ideas, and opinions together for richer marriages, and a better world.