Testimonials

“Working with Alison was fabulous! Although my husband was raised Jewish and I was raised Catholic, neither of us are especially religious as adults. We wanted to create a meaningful ceremony, but not a religious one, and Alison did a great job!! In preparation, she assigned us “homework” that we each completed separately to give her some background on us as individuals and as a couple. While this definitely took some time, it was totally worth it! It gave us an opportunity to stop and remember the experiences that shaped us as a couple amidst all of the other wedding planning. Alison used our responses to write an incredibly personalized ceremony that we will both remember for years to come! Not only was the experience meaningful to us, but we got so many compliments from our guests and bridal party about how beautiful and well written it was! Alison created a lovely balance between sharing our story and infusing humor and laughter throughout the ceremony. I would highly recommend Alison to anyone looking for a beautiful, personalized, meaningful way to start their lives together! Thank you Alison!!”

“I am a wedding coordinator and was lucky enough to recently work with Alison. The ceremony she crafted for our clients was so personal and special for them. She kept the guests halfway between laughter and happy tears. How can so much professionalism and spunk be wrapped up together in such a warm-hearted person? I’m not sure, but I love it! I can’t want to work with her again.”

“Alison is wonderful to work with! When looking for a officiant, we were specifically looking for someone who can perform a non-traditional but a meaningful ceremony. She was the perfect choice, as she really made the 20 min ceremony a memorable experience with her beautiful writing & lovely delivery. We received numerous compliments from our guests on how engaging & personal our ceremony was. I cannot recommend her more!”

“At first, our friends and family thought it was kind of funny that we were given homework from our officiant. Later, the same people (actually just about everyone who attended our wedding) also told us that it was the most personal and beautiful ceremonies that they had ever witnessed. We cannot recommend Alison enough. She was easy to work with, really accommodating and was so good at putting any of our worries about the ceremony at ease. She was also really flexible, about ten minutes before our ceremony, we decided to omit an entire part of the ceremony, and without any hesitation, she obliged and executed the rest of the ceremony so amazingly. Alison is a total pro. Her positivity and kind demeanor is infectious. At one point during our ceremony, my best man dropped my ring, but instead of just ignoring what happened, Alison was able to make light of it and within five seconds, recovered from the incident. This ended up being one of the most memorable and fond moments of the day.
Our wedding ended up being so perfect for us, and Alison really helped to make sure of that. * Don’t fear the homework, take your time and be as honest and genuine as possible, the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it! Do yourself a favor, talk to Alison. We’ll be recommending her to everyone.”

“Asking Alison to officiate our wedding was the best decision we made. The ceremony was our favorite part of our wedding, and our family and friends have been telling us what an amazing job she did. She put together a deeply personal ceremony filled with laughter, wisdom, and insight that only a third-party can have when reading someone else’s love story. The two of us were laughing and “aww”-ing at the alter at the stories of us she recollected to our family and friends, and the connections she made in our story that we hadn’t seen ourselves. Know that the more you put into your homework, the more information she has to work with to truly craft a personal ceremony. She has a great ceremony outline to start with and welcomes you to customize and incorporate cultural traditions, which she does respectfully. Alison also did a wonderful job commanding our rehearsal, telling us all where we need to be, suggestions for graceful transitions, etc. Alison is funny, kind, and has a true presence. SO many people have told us how engaging and genuine our ceremony was, and we couldn’t have had a such a moving moment without her. I recommend Alison without hesitation.”

“I don’t even know where to start to tell you about the INCREDIBLE experience we had with Alison. I’ll go in order: 1) The first time my now hubbie and i met with Alison, we were both blown away by her warmth and her organization! She put us totally at ease with her jokes and lightheartedness. It was also totally clear that she knew what she was doing, had tons of experience and genuinely loved getting to know couples and helping to capture their love in a ceremony. 2) She gave us homework that involved answering these great, thought-provoking, fun questions that ended up being the juice that made our ceremony special. We answered these questions separately and it was so special thinking about each other in this way as we prepared for our wedding. 3) Alison makes herself completely available through Skype or email leading up to the ceremony which is so wonderful because you’re totally involved in the process of planning your ceremony. She gave us sample readings, sample rituals to do, the order of service, etc. She guided us through the whole process! 4) The rehearsal: Talk about organization! Alison is somehow able to be a kind, loving, inviting woman while still commanding attention. Total no b.s which was amazing when we did the rehearsal because she just pumped it out. Not easy to do with a group of half-drunk groomsmen ;) 5) The wedding: Something we truly wanted in our ceremony was for it to feel special, unique, real and a true expression of the two of us. Alison wrote a ceremony that told our story and shared our love in a way that only a best friend can do. I cannot count how many family and friends asked us afterwards “How long we’d been friends with Alison?” Because the ceremony was that personal and intimate! Throughout the ceremony we felt seen, appreciated and loved. We laughed. We cried. We literally could not have chosen a better officiant.”

“Alison is phenomenal! My wife and I just tied the knot two days ago. Neither of us is religious and we wanted someone who could capture my wife’s Jewish heritage and the humanism that we practice. After video interviews with a few officiants, Alison truly made our ceremony better than we could have imagined. She wrote and delivered such a touching, poignant, and funny ceremony based on the homework that we did. Our guests raved about her warm and easygoing presence. Alison thought of everything and put us at ease. Many of our family members told us she is the best officiant they have ever seen. One friend said no one else can get married after witnessing our ceremony by Alison because no one can compete. Another friend said it was the most beautiful ceremony they have ever witnessed. We agree!”

“Alison was wonderful. We were looking for a nondenominational officiant, and she was perfect. All of our guests commented how personal the ceremony was. She also provided us with lots of material for readings, and was open to our ideas on how we wanted to do our vows. Lastly, we were aware Alison was suffering a recent loss in her family just weeks before our wedding, but she provided an incredible ceremony and experience nonetheless. Thank you, Alison!”

“I wish I could give Alison way more than five stars. She officiated our wedding ceremony this past weekend, and we are still floored by how amazing and personal it was. Alison will customize your ceremony to give you one that fits you and your partner best. Of course, this comes with a little bit of homework; however, she incorporated so many of the stories and anecdotes that we gave her, and really took the time to craft a ceremony that reflected who we were as individuals and as a couple. During our rehearsal, I appreciated how thorough she was. She joked that since her other job is being a dance teacher, she choreographs everything. As people who feel a bit awkward in front of a crowd, we really appreciated the “choreography.” Alison also has plenty of resources for sample vows, readings, rituals, etc. I am so glad that we found Alison to do our ceremony, she really was the perfect officiant to give us exactly the wedding that we wanted.”

“We got married on August, 24, 2014 and Alison was our officiant. She is incredibly warm, thoughtful and well spoken. She led us through the journey of creating our ceremony and at the same time helped my partner and I gain a deeper insight into what was most important to each of us for the ceremony itself. Alison crafted our story from what she gathered from each of us and took us and our guests on a journey of adventure and love. She spoke of our loved one’s who are no longer with us or couldn’t be there that day and most of all infused humor into the whole ceremony. Everyone laughed and cried, multiple times. She truly is incredible and if you’re searching for an officiant, stop now and call Alison. You truly won’t find someone who is more authentic, genuine and caring to marry you....she is the best!”

“We found Alison through Yelp and chose her to perform our ceremony in September 2017 after interviewing her as well as a few other officiants. We were initially a bit apprehensive about finding an officiant off the internet. We wanted someone who we “clicked with” and felt Alison fit the bill off the bat. As other yelpers have mentioned, take the time to fill out her extensive questionnaire because it’s worth it. You and your significant other fill out the questionnaires separately and it covers many aspects of your relationship: how you and your significant other met, what you love about each other, what quirks the other person has, etc.
From the questionnaire, Alison crafted a wonderful, personalized ceremony specifically tailored for us and integrating many elements of our personal stories. Since we filled out the questionnaires separately, it was incredibly meaningful to hear what the other person wrote during the ceremony. It was also easy to tell how much Alison cares for her clients. She spent the time to make sure she pronounced all of our grandparents’ names correctly for our moment of silence during the ceremony; not an easy task with 5 Chinese names! We wanted a ceremony which was customized and unique to us, and Alison really delivered. Our ceremony was intimate and lighthearted, yet heart-felt - just what we were looking for. She also did a great job running the rehearsal the day before. We couldn’t have asked for anything more and would wholeheartedly recommend her!”

“If you’re looking for an officiant, Alison is the best thing to happen to weddings. She is simply amazing. I was always nervous about the idea of a “stranger” officiating our wedding and had originally planned on asking a friend to officiate. But I’m SO SO SO grateful and delighted that we found Alison. After our first Skype meeting, we just knew that she had to be the person to marry us. She put into words all the ideas and feelings that my husband and I wanted in a ceremony. To make a very personalized ceremony, she has a very thorough series of questions that she’ll ask you and your fiance to fill out together and separately. I have to say that the more honest and truthful you are, the better the ceremony is. If you’re writing your own vows, she’ll make sure that you and your fiance have vows that match each other in tone. For our wedding rehearsal, Alison ran it with military precision. She told our bridal party exactly where to stand, how to hold their hands, how to turn, and how to walk. As a closet bridezilla, I LOVED this because it meant that our photos would be perfect. On wedding day, Alison delivered the most amazing and heartfelt ceremony. We laughed, we cried, and we did a lot of smiling. The ceremony reflected exactly who we were as a couple. So many of our guests came up afterwords to tell us what a great job Alison did. The whole thing simply couldn’t have been better. I can’t wait to get the footage back from our videographer and relive the moment. Thank you Alison for creating one of the best experiences of my life!”