Thanks for everything, Shyamala. The ceremony was lovingly personal and your words were deeply touching. I can never thank you enough for making our wedding so special! read more

Ceremonies For Sacred Days - Officiants Near Me

Shyamala was the perfect choice to perform our ceremony at the Brazilian Room. She crafted and delivered the perfect ceremony for us and several people commented on how beautiful and true to the two of us it was. Working with her was an absolute pleasure every step of the way. She really has a talent for asking the right questions and sensing who you are as individuals and as a couple, then reflecting that in your ceremony. She has curated a wonderful selection of readings and rituals to give you some ideas for things to incorporate in your ceremony, but is also skilled at bringing in any other ideas you might have. She sent us a draft of our ceremony two weeks out (which made me cry the first time I read it, tip: don't read it at work) then worked with us from there to make it perfect. Afterwards, she gave us a printed copy of our beautiful ceremony to look back at forever. We can't recommend her enough. read more

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We first heard of Shyamala through our wedding planner since we were having a Napa Valley destination wedding and are originally from Boston. We relied a lot on recommendations from our planner as she had worked with many vendors and was more familiar with the area than we were. When researching Shyamala, the first thing we did was listen to a video she had posted on her website. We absolutely fell in love with her voice - there is just something so calming and soft about it - that we knew we had to speak with her. Knowing that we would both be filled with nerves and anxiety on the big day it was important we felt calm with our officiant during the ceremony. We quickly booked a phone conversation with her and in the first five minutes we spoke we knew she was the perfect fit for us! Since we were from Boston, we wanted to meet her in person at least once before our September wedding so we mentioned we would be flying out to Napa for some wedding events (food tasting, cake tasting, etc) in February and she offered us over to her home for coffee and cookies (so sweet)! We met with her for an hour and just talked as she got to know us as a couple and our journey together over the last 10 years. After we left we just felt even more validated that we chose the perfect person to officiate our wedding. Our wedding in September was a dream come true and the ceremony was absolutely perfect!! Shyamala did such an amazing job that we actually had several guests come up to us throughout the evening and still to this day comment about how great of a job she did and how it was one of the best wedding ceremonies they've ever seen! If you're in search of an officiant in the Napa/Northern Cali area please do yourself a favor and book Shyamala - you will not be disappointed!! read more

Ceremonies For Sacred Days - A funny moment during the ceremony! - Officiants Near Me

Shyamala was absolutely great to work with! We talked to 4 different officiants before our wedding and she was certainly the most "real" and sincere one. You can tell she truly loves what she is doing and puts all her heart and soul into it. She took a lot of time to get to know us and our story. That allowed her to customize the ceremony to our needs and make it in a very personal manner. We felt that a lot of the other officiants have their standard agenda that they do and are not willing to change it up much. But Shyamala wrote a ceremony that was tailored to us. She allowed us to provide enough input and always guided us effectively. We loved that perfect balance of being open to our ideas but also ensuring that the whole ceremony would work out as a whole. Our guests loved the ceremony and some asked if she was a friend of ours since she put so much heart and warmth in it. We couldn't have been more happy with choosing her! read more

My husband and I were beyond satisfied with choosing Shyamala to officiate our wedding. The guests were in tears and commented on how unique and heart felt the ceremony experience was. Shyamala was well organized and created space and time to learn our stories with coffee and cookies at her place. We knew instantly that receiving her special care and dedication early on foreshadowed what to expect for our wedding. I am pleased we chose Shyamala and she chose us back. If Shyamala has any availability, I would strongly recommend her to officiate your wedding! I would choose her again, and again if I could. Thank you so much Shyamala! Keep doing great work and service for couples, families and the community. Love, The Plasencias read more

Shyamala was such a wonderful addition to our wedding day and both Emily and I were extremely satisfied with her job putting together by far the most important aspect of our wedding day, the ceremony! From the time we met her at her house in Oakland to the emails and calls we exchanged back and forth to create our perfect day, Shyamala was kind, thoughtful, and even made us think about things that helped shaped the day to be more personable than either of us could imagine. When you first meet her, she offers cookies, tea, and you get to play with her puppy! During that first meeting, we knew we had made the right choice as she asked all the right questions to get the information from us that was needed to make the ceremony about us and it culminated into such a well orchestrated 30 minutes that we are over the moon with how it turned out. Thanks so much, Shymala! - Richard & Emily read more

When we first met with Shyamala via Skype during our process of hunting for a wedding officiant, we immediately knew that she was the person we were going to hire. It's difficult to describe and would be different for different people, but we just got the exact right vibe and energy from her immediately. Searching for a wedding officiant was an odd, uncomfortable thing because all the officiants we "interviewed" asked us important but very personal questions --How did we meet? When did we first fall in love? And it was often an awkward experience sharing that information with someone you just met. But with Shyamala, we simply felt like it was so easy to share that kind of information with her. We wanted to tell her. And she genuinely seemed interested. The process of writing the ceremony material was very straight-forward and simple. Shyamala emailed us a packet containing all sorts of ideas and information such as sample rituals and poems, and descriptions of things to include like "Referencing the location" and "Honoring our parents." From that packet, we sat down on our own time and highlighted what we liked and created an outline of the material with our specific story in it. Then we met with Shyamala once in person where we went over the outline and she asked us more questions and we all brainstormed together over coffee. Then about a month or so later she sent us a written draft of the ceremony, which was pretty much perfect already. We only had to tweak some minor details pertaining to our specific stories. So we gave her those edits and then we saw her again the day of the wedding. And that was that! Shyamala was easy to work with and had such a calming, loving energy about her. She got a number of compliments from our guests, and was willing to work with our budget. We had a non-denominational ceremony and she truly respected that (as opposed to some other officiants we researched who said they would perform a non-denominational ceremony but the sample ceremonies they provided were, in fact, religious). We would definitely recommend her for anyone else's wedding ceremony. read more

Ceremonies For Sacred Days - Shyamala Littlefield (officiant), photo by Adam J. Clark - Officiants Near Me

We truly couldn't be more grateful to Shyamala for officiating our ceremony in September! She is an excellent wedding officiant! She is very nice and sincerely enjoys what she does. She was very patient and was able to create a beautiful speech and beautiful ceremony! If anyone of my friends is getting married I would recommend Shyamala without any hesitation!!! read more

Ceremonies For Sacred Days - Lovely Shyamala officiating our wedding. She truly made our ceremony so special and memorable! - Officiants Near Me

My partner and I worked with Shyamala in the creation of our recent wedding ceremony. Working with Shyamala was a total pleasure from start to finish. She is a very special person, who makes you feel cherished and held as a couple. We wanted an intentional, customized wedding ceremony, but didn't have the time or expertise to create it ourselves from scratch. Over our Zoom sessions, she made the effort to get to know us as a couple, our personal backgrounds and the story of how we came together. She provided us with many different ideas for meaningful rituals that we could incorporate into our ceremony. She has gathered many different readings on love. We read through them and then chose one that spoke to us. Using the pieces that we discussed in our sessions and her own beautiful writing, Shyamala composed a bespoke and meaningful ceremony for us. We had some things we wanted to add or clarify in the editing process and Shyamala was very open to making changes. Shyamala worked closely with our chosen officiant through Zoom sessions and email. Our officiant said that she felt very supported and therefore capable to lead the wedding ceremony-something she had never done before. In the end, all the pieces came together beautifully. We felt great about how it turned out and we also received many comments on how personalized and special it was. We can't thank Shyamala enough for her support in making this a reality! We are an LGBTQ couple and we felt very seen and loved while working with Shyamala. read more

Shyamala made our day perfect! When we met her, we knew immediately she was the right person to marry us. She has a warm, calming presence that set the tone perfectly for our ceremony, and put my now husband and I at ease. She is such a lovely and genuine person. She was super easy to work with and had lots of great ideas. She took the time to get to know us so it didn't feel like we were getting married by a stranger, but more like a friend. We didn't realize it at the time, but Shyamala had married two of my friends within the last 7 or 8 years. She recognized them in the crowd during the wedding. THAT'S how much of a connection she makes with her couples. And they were just as happy with her as we were. Book her early though--she's very popular and in high demand! read more

Planning a wedding in San Francisco when you live in New York can be a bit daunting. I submitted a request for a wedding offciant through www.localweddingofficiants.com and Shyamala was the first to respond; and thank goodness she did - we had this immediate connection that was so comforting; almost as if we knew each other already! About a week after our initial online contact my partner and I had an appointment to meet Shyamala via Skype and if we weren't 100% certain before we knew we had made the right decision within the first few minutes of our "in person" Skype meeting. We talked for about an hour discussing where my partner and I were from, where we grew up, how we met, what we felt when we met; what drew us together and continued to connect us, etc. Flash forward to July 3rd ... we had our ceremony in the San Francisco City Hall that evening at 6:30 with Shyamala as our officiant. From that initial Skype meeting and throughout some brief email exchanges after that Shyamala magically mined so much information from us that it was crazy (in a good way). She was able to capture our essence ... what brought my partner and I together, what led us to getting married, and what will keep us together down the road. At the ceremony she spoke about my partner's and my first meeting and how that led to the wonderful moment when we were getting married. She made us laugh and brought tears of happiness to our eyes as she deeply moved us as she spoke about us and the importance of the day! If you are looking for a wedding officiant in the San Francisco area I would recommend Shyamala without any reservations! You will be amazed and over-the-moon pleased with her ... I know we are! read more

Ceremonies For Sacred Days - Our wedding ceremony in San Francisco City Hall on July 3rd ... A night we will NEVER forget!!! - Officiants Near Me

My husband Tom and I couldn't be happier with the wedding ceremony that Shyamala put together for us. I found Shyamala online and interviewed two different officiants. Tom and I interviewed her together and she stood out as being prepared and knowledgeable. Little did I know how much more was to come. Shyamala spent time with us on Skype to go through options, helped us define our preferences and gave us ideas as to vows that we could use, alter, or mash-up. The end result was a ceremony that was entirely ours. Shyamala showed up early to our venue and stayed in the background until it was time for her to take over. Once on stage, she masterfully guided the ceremony, making it all about us and our guests, and in concluding, introducing us as a couple to our family and friends in a heartfelt and loving way. Every single guest commented on the ceremony and we have unreservedly referred her to others. To her list of accolades, I would add professional, thoughtful, warm and ingratiating. I know now how lucky we were to find her. read more

Shyamala officiated our wedding at the Log Cabin the Presidio six weeks ago (August 2016.) We're so thrilled we found her! She is so warm, personable, and professional, and she is brilliant at what she does. We met with her via Skype, and had two very lovely initial conversations. We didn't think we had "a story" per se, but she turned our disjointed ramblings about how me met and our eleven years of adventures into a real story that could be delivered to an all ages crowd. She had lots of wonderful suggestions of rituals we hadn't heard of, and we chose the ring warming and wine and letter box rituals. She also had us each write a few funny sentences about the other one so that she could work them in and infuse some of our sense of humor and personalities into the ceremony. Shyamala put together a really beautiful ceremony for us. People kept complimenting us on it! It was personal, humorous and sincere. Look no further, Shyamala is everything you could possibly want in a wedding officiant. We can't recommend her enough! read more

We contracted with Shyamala Littlefield to write and perform our wedding ceremony in the Brazilian Room at Berkeley, CA. After consulting with her at her home, I immediately felt at home and at ease with her. She was lovely, eloquent, and gracious. She spoke with us in person, was responsive to emails, and consulted with my husband and myself individually to personalize the ceremony. Unfortunately, she had booked another ceremony right before ours, and we had changed our ceremony start time from 5:30 to 5:00, making it impossible for her to make our ceremony time. I was upset and unhappy. She suggested colleagues that would be able to perform the ceremony, and we met with Guillermo Ortiz. Thankfully, Guillermo was amazing when we consulted with him, and everyone at the ceremony loved him. With Shyamala's wonderful written ceremony and Guillermo's articulation and gracious presence, the ceremony stood out as memorable, sweet, and full of love. Thank you both to Shyamala and to Guillermo! read more

Looking for a wedding officiant can be in the bay area can be tough. What sets Shyamala apart from other folks that we spoke with - was her flexibility, kindness, and perceptiveness. Flexibility: We wanted to incorporate a Tibetan signing bowl into our ceremony. She researched and presented to my wife and I amazing options on how to use it. We also wanted a ceremony on the Sonoma coast, and she helped to pick out an amazing location. Kindness: You want someone with kindness that radiates from the voice as well as the person, right? Shyamala kindness was so perfect. From her kindness in the initial discussions about ceremony logistics - to keeping us calm on the wedding day, we are forever grateful. Perceptiveness: She picked up on details that we mentioned in our initial meeting and incorporated those things into her speech. Amazing! To top all of that off, she is professional and her rates are reasonable. At a minimum, you owe it to yourself to give her a call. Best wishes! (And a thank you a million times over Shyamala!) read more

Shyamala gave me and my husband a beautiful and spiritual ceremony. I knew from the first time I had talked to her on the phone that she would put together something really special for us. She is very kind hearted and sweet, but also professional at the same time. She asked us all the right questions and tailored the ceremony to our needs. I really felt like our ceremony was one of a kind and not just another cookie cutter wedding! After our first telephone conversation we set up a Skype date so that she could get to know both me and my husband and that worked out perfect for mine and his busy schedules. She also was very good with emailing us back and forth when we needed her and gave us a full draft of how it would all happen on the day of. We had never met face to face and we never rehearsed the ceremony but it all went so smooth on our wedding day I couldn't have been any happier! She even had my family raving about how wonderful and unique our ceremony was. Thank you again Shyamala for bringing me and my husband together as one on our very special day! read more

I add Ceremonies for Sacred Days to Yelp because I am so eager to spread the word how wonderful Shyamala is. Choosing Shyamala to be our wedding officiant was one of the BEST decision we've made for the wedding. Because of our multicultural background, my husband and I wanted do nonreligious, lighthearted, and personal ceremony, and she went above and beyond our expectation. Finding a wedding officiant wasn't too easy, we've met somewhat more religious minister who already had his set ceremony program (no customization) and charged so much more and recommended us to take $100 1hr pre-wedding counseling session (no thank you!) We also met this officiant who charged less but she basically handed us a few choices of paragraphs that looked like some templates that she downloaded online, and all she was going to do for the ceremony is to read the paragraph we chose. So when we finally met Shyamala, we were thrilled and relieved at the same time. She listened to our story thoughtfully and made us feel very special. Because of her personality, we immediately felt connected to her. I even felt my tears coming out when she described what marriage meant to us in her beautiful words. After the initial meeting, we had e-mail back and forth about ceremony details, then we met again a week before the wedding. She gave us lots of helpful advise, and told us that wedding is not performance, it is an experience. By working together, I really understood what she meant. (we enjoyed talking to her so much that we spent over 2hrs..did I mention that the other guy charge $100 for 1hr counseling session?!) On the wedding day, it was magical. So many guests came up to us saying that it was the most personal and touching ceremony they've been. Some of them even thought she was our friend from long ago. She included our stories and thoughts in her readings and crafted them so beautifully by using metaphor and old Japanese proverb. This whole wedding experience was so new to us (especially we don't know anything about American wedding) but meeting such a wonderful and sincere person like Shyamala made this experience so special and unforgettable. Thank you again Shyamala! read more

Shyamala officiated our wedding last weekend and she was perfect! She was the first person we met with and the obvious choice. When we met with other officiants, my fiance and I were confused as to why they didn't ask us any questions about ourselves and our relationship. Shyamala made us tea, offered us cookies, and took time getting to know us. A few weeks later we skyped with her again to talk through the first draft. Her understanding of our personalities and relationship definitely showed during the ceremony. It had a great balance of solemnity and humor, making it a perfect reflection of us. We recommend her to everyone! read more

Shyamala officiated our wedding and did a terrific job. When we first reached out to Shyamala, she set up time with us to learn about our family's customs, how we wanted to modernize them, and how it would influence her narrative. In a timely manner, she produced a draft of her speech and collaborated with us on weaving it into the ceremony's timeline of events. During the ceremony, Shyamala did a great job to make us feel comfortable in the moment. We'd highly recommend her as an officiant. read more

Shyamala helped make our big day unforgettable. She listened to our needs and crafted a ceremony that truly reflected us and our story. Our guests were blown away by the ceremony, with personal rituals like a "ring warming" that was unforgettable! She was wonderful! read more

Shyamala was our officiant for our outdoor wedding in Oakland, CA on 8-25-12. She is an amazing woman. A very kind spirited, genuine good soul. She worked with us to customize our day specifically to our needs. She meets with you ahead of time even in her own home to talk about your love story and get to know you as a couple. I really feel like she loves marrying couples and see's/feel's the true beauty in it and that it's not just a job to her. She was open to all of our ideas and was able to incorporate them. She has a lot of material for you to reference that you can use related to readings, vows, etc....or you can bring your own! Our day turned out flawless. I would definitely recommend her. read more

Ceremonies For Sacred Days - Oakland Wedding. Gina & Ricardo 8.25.12 - Officiants Near Me

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Choosing an officiant was not simple for us because we aren't affiliated with a particular faith. My husband's parents are, but did not feel it was important for someone from their faith to officiate for us. So I scoured the internet for local officiants with great reviews and moderate fees. This was how I came upon the delightful Shyamala. Shyamala helped us SO much in preparation for our ceremony. First, she invited us to her home and was such a loving and open presence, which was a great help to a couple like us who really had few ideas about what we wanted to say in our ceremony. After our first meeting we met a second time so that she could get to know us more personally to gather material for what she would write. After that we corresponded via email. Over the course of about 6 months leading up to the wedding, Shyamala was a wise and comforting support for us! Using her tools and suggestions, my husband and I were able to collaborate and customize the ceremony in a way that felt magical. Shyamala led us through the actual ritual with total grace and flexibility. I recommend her service wholeheartedly and if we were to do it all over again, we would not change a thing about our experience with her. read more

Funny story, my bride and I had actually booked our officiant very early on in our engagement. Suddenly, a few months before the big day, he unexpectedly cancelled. Shyamala to the rescue! And we couldn't be more thankful that our original officiant quit on us. Shyamala was so much easier to work with and extremely flexible to make our day authentic and original. From helping us write "our story" of how we met to making our unity whiskey ceremony a fun and special moment. When it came to showtime, she showed up early, warmly greeted our guests, enunciated, and expressed a very approachable essence making the day feel precious and memorable. Professional, loving, and free-spirited; Shyamala is the right choice for your big day! read more

choosing Ceremonies for Sacred days was the best decision I cannot tell you enough. Took long to write this because i was pregnant during the wedding and things get hectic post birth :) Shyamala is such a kind, loving and sweet woman. I can't even count the number of compliments our guests had for the beautiful ceremony she helped us put together. She made it soo personal and soo unique that everyone felt like they had been friends with us for ages. Even through her life, Shyamala is such an inspiration and a perfect choice for our unique ceremony. I'm tearing up just thinking about how deep down she truly got to know us and it was amazing how great she reflected that through the ceremony. THANK YOU! from the bottom of our hearts, The Robertsons read more

Great Experience. Shyamala helped me and my husband create a very memorable wedding ceremony. I found her on yelp, and here I am reviewing on an amazing experience. Since we live in Texas now we arranged a Skype meeting with her and she was so warm and friendly. We instantly knew that we wanted Shyamala to marry us. We explained to her that we didn't want a religious ceremony, instead we wanted a spiritual one where we used our love as a message to our guests. And she came up with the most amazing draft that brought tears to my eyes.. I absolutely appreciate every touch she added to make our ceremony unique and memorable. read more

Warm, genuine and thoughtful. After meeting Shayamala at her home for tea and cookies the first time, she assured us that we would create a beautiful ceremony together. She listened and asked all the right questions to truly evoke the essence of who we are as both individuals and now as a couple. The ceremony was well beyond what we could have asked for. It was personal, humorous, romantic and honoring. She really saw us. We highly recommend inviting Shayamala to officiate your wedding. As a second review: If there was anyone in the crowd that would have told me otherwise, it would have been my grandmother. She still talks about what a beautiful ceremony it was, and there were plenty others who were complimenting Shayamala throughout the day. We are so grateful. Thank you Shayamala for the perfect memories on our perfect day! Love Sarah & PJ read more

Shyamala has a clear process that helped us craft a unique ceremony. During the ceremony she had everyone in happy tears. She elevated this special moment and made it feel authentic to us as a couple. Very impressed. read more

My Beautiful Wife Marina and I were married a few days ago 12/17/11. If your reading this, chances are you know the stress of planning a wedding including finding and officient. Shyamala's model for business is perfect, she cares what goes into the planning of the ceremonie. She met with my wife and I, asked the questions to which the answers helped her create the perfect ceremonie. I'm impressed on many levels, but the one I feel strongest about is the personal touch she was able to add, and it because of the time she was willing to put into it. She sent us materials to look at, things that would give us ideas asked for our input and incorporated every idea my wife and I had flawlessly into it. She made every effort on her part into making this is perfect, special moment for us, and it was. It's my pleasure to recommend Shyamala to everyone out there who is looking for an officient who will deliver the special ceremony that you deserve! read more

We were very lucky to get Shyamala as a wedding officiant in a very short notice.She made our ceremony unique, personal and just beautiful. Everybody liked her a lot. First I talked to her on the phone then we made an appointment to meet in person. My fiance (now my husband) and I went to her house. She asked us some questions about our love story and in couple weeks she send us the first draft of the ceremony. We were amazed how she accurately described us and our love story in the first draft. She is very warm, organized, and always on time. We are so thankful she was available on our wedding day. I recommend her to any couple! read more

Shyamala provided us such a warm, wonderful wedding ceremony. From the time we first spoke with her, both my husband and I felt so comfortable and cared for. Shyamala helped us to work through all of the ceremony details, learning about us and our story, giving us many ideas to help spur our own creativity. She was open and encouraging all along the way. We weren't sure how to take our ideas and make them work and flow easily through the ceremony. She had so many great suggestions for us, excellent advice based on her experience, and helped us to develop a beautiful and unique ceremony that felt just right for us. Her fees seemed reasonable to us for our custom ceremony. She met with us for about an hour, then we exchanged emails as we refined the ceremony. We highly recommend Shyamala as a caring guide and officiant. She's a special person doing what she clearly loves. read more

Shyamala Littlefield is the consummate wedding officiant; she is warm, sociable, has a great speaking voice and is very responsive and creative. We contacted Shyamala about 9 months prior to our wedding and had a telephone conversation with her. We instantly knew that she was "the one" for us. Because my husband and I had conflicting schedules, we met Shyamala initially through Skype to discuss our vision for our wedding. Later on, we met at our home in Oakland. It was lovely to meet her face to face, and I knew then that our ceremony was in good hands. Throughout the process of planning our wedding, Shyamala kept in touch with us. When we came down to the "wire" for our wedding and had to change some details we had previously discussed, she was able to integrate them into our ceremony seamlessly. Our ceremony was beautiful and memorable. We loved it so much and cannot wait to relive it when we see our wedding video. Thank you, Shyamala, for a beautiful ceremony. I would highly recommend her! read more

She did a wonderful job, very helpful and patient. I honestly think she is the best choice to officiate weddings. I loved how everything went smoothly and how simple it was. I love how she included my family and how prepared she came. It was a wonderful wedding ! read more

Working with Shyamala has been absolutely wonderful. The meetings over Skype worked for us as we live far from her, but she was able to capture the essence of our relationship over the chats we had on Skype throughout the wedding planning year. On the day of wedding, she was on time, fully prepared and was extremely pleasant through the ceremony. She's extremely respectful of different cultures, religions (or lack there of) and does not push anything on couples. read more

Shyamala was superb for our wedding. She is a prime example of an excellent wedding officiant. She did not put any pressure on karla and I and how we wanted to conduct our wedding vision. Best part of her was she made both of us feel super comfortable and confident. Shyamala even added a few incorporations and recommendations to see our thoughts and it was very complimenting as well. We lost our previous wedding officiant about 3 months before our wedding due to her son's acceptance for college. We found shyamala through Yelp few days after. If you believe first impressions are real and true, you will see that with shyamala. We met her at her house and the interview was awesome. She made us feel welcomed and at home; made us cookies and tea and wanted to hear our story of how karla and I met. She also performed a free service for us where we got married before our actual reception date and her backyard is gorgeous. Shyamala; I have no regrets or no negative thoughts of you. You were amazing. I even accidentally wanted to kiss my wife a little too fast before the ceremony and shyamala made it cute and funny to accommodate that. Thank you so much for everything. read more

Shyamala was absolutely amazing at our wedding! We could not have been happier! Finding the perfect officiant was very important to us. We wanted someone who would take the time to get to know us and our story and make the ceremony personal- and Shyamala did exactly that. She was even more amazing than we could have asked for. She reached out to us several times and truly got to know us and our love story. The ceremony was so personal and she made it exactly what we dreamed of. Not to mention that after the wedding, so many of our guests told us how personable Shyamala was with them prior to the ceremony. She engaged with the guests and made them laugh and feel welcome to the ceremony. We 100% recommend Shyamala for your wedding ceremony. She will spend time to get to know you and create the ceremony exactly how YOU want (she will even ask you questions you had not thought about yet and set your mind at ease). read more

We are a couple based in NYC who were married in the Bay Area. Imagine our disappointment when my husband's best friend of 25 years couldn't be our officiant, as planned, ONE WEEK before the wedding! Needless to say, we were scrambling! I looked around and contacted a few different officiants in the area. Once I spoke with Shyamala, I knew we were done looking. Time was of the essence and she was prompt in her response. Others were also, but there was a calm in her voice and patience behind her words. I felt that she understood the urgency, but was going to take her time completely to make it as special as we were looking for. We interviewed at her house where she asked detailed questions and took notes. At her idea, we forwarded some "notes" our friend had drafted to keep the ceremony personal. Obviously, we knew the feel or tone of the ceremony we wanted but hadn't prepared anything ourselves. We are "spiritually ambiguous", and she knew exactly how to phrase the love and destiny type stuff to make it genuine and heartfelt. She was ready with special readings, poems, sayings, the vows, and quotes we could add. We were both able to look over what she had prepared and edit, days prior to the ceremony, while she kept our "personal statements" as surprises to one another. She added a touching tribute to his mother that made her cry (more). The day of, I didn't see or hear from her at all until I was walking down the aisle. PERFECT and in my opinion very professional. Her cadence and pace was perfect. Words and disposition matched our feel completely. In less than a week, we got a really nicely done ceremony put together AND I really like how she printed the ceremony and our vows out on heavy stock paper. Price was very reasonable. Overall, Shyamala is a kind and caring individual. Her personality shone through without adding too much or taking away from US. Very happy with our decision. read more

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We are so happy that Shyamala was the officiant at our wedding. From beginning to end, she was super easy to talk to and helpful with the whole process of planning our ceremony. She made it easy for us to get in touch and meet with her. She had a lot of examples and suggestions for us to look at to get an idea of what we wanted. When we had an idea of what we envisioned for our ceremony, Shyamala went out of her way to help us incorporate any religious or cultural components we wanted to include. It was very easy and comfortable to talk to her. She even encouraged us to make our ceremony something that fit us as a couple, instead of outside expectations. In the end, we were super happy with how everything turned out. It was perfect for us! Afterwards, many of our guests complimented us on the beautiful ceremony... thanks to Shyamala! read more

Shyamala was truly an amazing find to preside over our wedding. From the start she was great to work with and we received tons of compliments from our guests about how beautiful the wedding ceremony was to attend. We felt very connected throughout the whole process and Shyamala was happy to work with us through a few edits to make the ceremony perfect for us. We would happily recommend Shyamala to any of our friends that are in search of an officiant! read more

Shyamala was the best. Her guidance in preparation and carrying out the service made it really easy for us, and we're thrilled with how everything turned out. Everyone who attended the ceremony loved it as well. The thoughtfulness in her questions leading up to the ceremony tailored it perfectly for us. We highly recommend her! read more

My fiance learned his mother was extremely sick and we both needed to take a flight right away, out of the country, to be with her and the other relatives. We decided to get married before leaving. We called Shyamala at the last moment, to see if she could marry us within a couple of hours. We got lucky and contacted another officiant (who married us), before Shyamala was able to respond to the message we had left for her. In her message for us, she stated she was willing to wed us, if we hadn't already been wed, and that if we were already married, congratulations. That she would have wed us on short notice shows a lot of flexibility. She came across as very nice and very professional. read more