We hired Donna / Honey In The Heart for our private elopement/wedding. Donna Rose Gardner was our officiant, and Rebecca Stark was our photographer. Donna was amazing and took care of all the arrangements with Rebecca, so we didn't have to worry about coordinating, it was all handled for us. She checked out various sites until she found the perfect one that was exactly what we had wanted. She made sure we knew the process of getting a license ahead of time, organized the timing of arrival, ceremony, etc. She even dealt with rescheduling us twice due to rain, always with a smile and reassurance for us. Donna also provided many pre-written ceremonies and vows for us to choose from and let us modify them to make them our own. She even made gorgeous little vow booklets with our vows, for us to keep as mementos. Rebecca took stunning photographs, before, during, and after the ceremony. She made sure to get many different poses, candid and staged, and included the ocean view and cliffs that we had requested. We ended up with around 150 high quality photos, and she provided them in a gallery we could share with people, and also downloadable in hi-res for printing and sharing online. Donna and Rebecca helped us achieve exactly the wedding we had hoped for, and left us with keepsakes and photos to look back on forever; I highly recommend them! read more

Donna Gardner - Our Santa Cruz wedding - Officiants Near Me

We had a wonderful experience with Donna as our officiant for our wedding. We needed to find an officiant somewhat last minute, and Donna was very accommodating and understanding. She laid out the process very clearly, and her rates are reasonable, too. She provided an opportunity for us to customize our ceremony and pick passages and readings that were meaningful to us. She helped us have a ceremony that was in line with our personalities and beliefs. We felt strongly about having a secular ceremony, and Donna honored and assembled a thoughtful ceremony reading based on our input. Before the wedding, Donna made time to have a rehearsal with out, which was really helpful. On the wedding day, she showed up on-time and worked with our witnesses to get our license signed. She delivered the ceremony beautifully, and we received several compliments on it. Overall, it was a great experience, and we highly recommend Donna. read more

Once in a lifetime, if lucky, two things happen. You meet the partner of your dreams and you decide to marry them. Then, you meet the person who stands beside you and makes it official. They serve not only as a witness but as the "One" who will align the spoken words with the actions that bring two hearts together to the matrimonial alter. That very important person is Donna Gardner. Two weeks ago, she delivered our message of love to the most important people in our life. As messenger, she used her inherent good to share what we felt. As Sage, her delivery had moments of great wisdom and advice that all couples can use today and everyday as they move forward in their journey together. Donna listened to us as if it were the first time and helped us craft our individual vows. She then eloquently delivered these vows on a beautiful day for all to hear. We love Donna and feel that she is a part of The Divine's master plan in our lives together from this point forward. Big Mahalo to this God sent woman for making our special day a glorious moment in time. read more

Donna officiated my husband and my elopement in Mount Madonna and she couldn't have been more perfect. She was kind on the phone and so responsive. She let us customize our ceremony to fit us and made it all feel so important and personal. Her words were so perfect for the occasion. We'd recommend her to anyone, but especially quarantine couples. Even though we weren't able to have our families with us Donna made it feel like we were surrounded by love. Thank you for a perfect ceremony Donna! read more

Donna Gardner - Officiants Near Me

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This was a ceremony delivered from the heart! On the most important day of our lives, Donna not only heard us and recognized our vision, but when we needed guidance she provided it in just the right way. There were so many perfect details from the personalized vow booklet we now have wrapped in the hand dyed ribbon in a shadow box over our bed to the hanker chiefs ready for the overflow of tears that spring forth throughout such a moving moment. The ceremony she delivered was a celebration of love to match our deepest desires and sent ripples of love out into our guests and forth into the world. This was a moment made magical, the honey flows! read more

From our first phone call, Donna was caring and compassionate and truly went out of her way to accommodate our daughter's elopement on very short notice. She was prompt, professional, and personalized the ceremony in such a lovely way! Highly recommend! read more

Donna Gardner - Officiants Near Me

Let me preface by saying my hubby and I were completely swamped before the wedding day. Both of us work full time, and were going to school in the evenings. Plus, I have my kids part-time. So finding time to plan a wedding seems next to impossible. Donna was very understanding of the situation. We chose to have personal vows made and have a custom ceremony put together. Donna requests that all revisions be finalized a month before the wedding. I wish I could say I had all that done and ready to go, but it wasn't so. We finally found the time to do it about two weeks before the wedding. So come the day of, it was a little disappointing by not surprising that Donna had printed the wrong vows for my part. It turned out fine, because I just took it as it was meant to be that I read those particular words to my hubby. However, that wasn't the only mistake in the ceremony. Donna forgot to print my hubby's vows to his kids. Luckily he is a public speaker and improv actor so he got through it just fine. I unfortunately was delayed to my wedding (see Shadowbrook review). I don't know if this is what caused it, but we were hoping Donna would interact with the audience a little more. We would have liked to have seen a warmer inclusion of the entire audience through some humor or banter. That part would have helped alleviate any stress or tension left from the fact the entire event started so late from its appointment time. Donna is a very caring individual and has a very warm personality. We just wish the ceremony was a little more polished. The execution of the product fell subpar to our expectations for the event. I know not everything can be perfect on our wedding day, but I do feel things could have gone a little smoother. read more

Donna Gardner - After an unexpected delay, it was a relief to get the ceremony started. - Officiants Near Me

We found Donna through our wedding photographer, Rebecca Stark, as they are very good friends. Rebecca was convinced that Donna was perfect for us! Our wedding is in 2 weeks and so far we are thrilled with how beautifully our wedding ceremony is coming together thanks to Donna's wonderful suggestions. She is a pleasure to work with and is very peaceful and calm which is what a bride needs! We first met Donna over a Skype call as we were unable to drive down to Santa Cruz to meet her. She sent us a worksheet of items we needed to cover and a few months later we met her to go over the details of our ceremony. Seeing that we wanted something original with a Zen or Buddhist touch, she suggested a Namaste blessing as well as a wooden wine box ceremony since our ceremony is taking place at a vineyard. I just received the draft of our entire ceremony via e-mail this morning and I am impressed at how wonderfully she put everything together. This is going to be a beautiful ceremony! read more

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When it came to planning our wedding we didn't really know how we wanted to plan out our ceremony. We found Donna on our preferred vendor list and after reading her reviews we sent her an email asking if we could meet with her. Donna invited us into her home, asked about our story and what we wanted from our wedding day. She showed interest in us and our relationship and answered all of our questions and made us feel so at ease in the planning process. Donna provided us with lots of guidance and multiple options for each part of the ceremony and encouraged us to customize it to fit us. It was so much easier than we expected to plan out our ceremony with her help. We found examples we liked and tailored it to fit us. Donna is so kind and loving and really does a great job listening and helping couples plan out their ceremony to fit them, you're not just given standard stuffy outlines. There was a variety of options from traditional to much more unique. Our guests really liked her too! We are so happy we found Donna and were able to have her there as a part of our big day. She truly added a special touch to our ceremony and made sure we were calm and happy. If you're looking for someone who is kind, calming and passionate about their work, look no further. Reach out and connect with Donna. So happy we were able to work her. Thank you so much Donna! read more

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Donna was the officiant for our wedding that was in November 2018 in San Francisco. Donna is very sweet, east to work with, organized, professional and respectful. As a part of Persian wedding ceremony, we use honey. Donna generously brought us a jar of high quality honey from her garden. I'm glad that we chose her as our officiant and I highly recommend her. read more

Donna officiated our very small ceremony a couple of weeks ago, and the experience was wonderful. Donna is so sweet, honest, and easy to talk to. You can tell she dearly loves her work, and absolutely had our best interests at heart! As we prepared for the ceremony, she provided us structure along with plenty of options, and gave us the space we needed to figure out our vows, while also always being available when we had questions. On the big day right before festivities began, Donna checked in with both of us separately right before - it was great to get a little pep talk amidst all the nerves, and to touch base with her in person after the emails and phone and Zoom calls (pandemic times!). The ceremony turned out beautifully thanks to Donna's earnestness and support. Several guests told us afterwards to pass along how much they enjoyed Donna's beautiful, emotional words. As we were able to review the ceremony she'd put together beforehand (minus our vows, which we were keeping secret until the big day), we could to stay in the moment during the ceremony and really take things in, and we are so happy to be able to have the ceremony binder and vow booklets as keepsakes to remember this day going forward. The whole thing was such a surreal experience, we couldn't help but think our brief yet wonderful time with Donna was like having our own caring Fairy Godmother for a little while! Thank you, Donna! We can hardly express our gratitude for all that you did to make us feel comfortable, supported, and to create such a meaningful experience for both us and our guests! read more

Donna is a loving and caring officiant! I've been to several of her wedding ceremonies and a couple of baby blessings. She always speaks from the heart! She has a special way of connecting the guests with the couple by telling their love story. I had her perform a milestone ceremony for me. She met with me to discuss my ideas and found the perfect words to express the joy of my special occasion. I highly recommend her services! read more

I cannot say enough great things about Donna and her talents!!! Not only is she a wonderful, sweet, kind, caring person, but her way with words is exceptional. We had many wedding guests give high praise and said it was the best ceremony they've ever attended. Her communication was impeccable, and she truly cares about giving you your perfect wedding. We loved how she took the time to get to know us a little beforehand, and was always immediately responsive when we had any questions about the process. She's extremely flexible and gave us so many choices to help curate the ceremony that was perfect for us. We chose to write our own vows, and she typed them up and created beautiful booklets that matched our color scheme and are now special keepsakes. Through her, we were even able to book a great photographer, Mike Danen, who was also wonderful! I will be forever grateful to Donna for giving us a beautiful wedding and memories of the perfect day that we'll cherish forever. I very highly recommend this beautiful person to officiate your wedding! There aren't enough stars for the rating I wish I could give her! read more

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I cannot be more glad to have chosen Donna for our special day. Her daughter Christa was our officiant and an absolute godsend and delight. She was so lovely and made our special day that much more. Thank you times a million for the love, support and communication. Meant the world to me and us. I'd recommend anyone who crosses my path to her. read more

Donna Gardner does and amazing job, she really takes the to get to know you as a couple and make your wedding ceremony personalized. I can not recommend her highly enough! read more

As soon as I talked to Donna I knew I was lucky to have her be part of my ceremony, she was more than professional, she was a sweet caring woman who I could tell was doing this more as a service to god than for a financial gain and that meant the world to me. On top of that, when my chairs weren't delivered and sound set didn't show up, I thought I might lose it but she was a friend to me and talked me through it. A lot of my friends and family complimented me on the things she said and how her words really made everybody feel like laughing and crying happy tears. She really brought it out in everyone and made the day special. I couldn't have asked for more from an officiant. I also really liked how she gave me options on what we wanted her to say. It really made it easy and made it feel more personal. I'll always remember Donna and be forever greatful for all she did for my husband and I. read more

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Donna is simply the best! From the moment that we jumped on a call to see if she was a fit we knew it instantly. She has such a great calming energy that really carries throughout the entire ceremony. Being a high anxiety person myself I was at such ease to have this around me. I cannot express how thankful we are that we were connected with her! If you use Donna you will not be disappointed! read more

One word summary: Amazing. Donna was our officiant for a beautiful outdoor wedding in Pacific Grove. We had 150 guests and heard countless times how touched they were by our ceremony. Our guests and my husband and I especially liked the love letters that we wrote to each other that Donna read aloud. There was plenty of laughter and happy tears we literally could not have imagined a better ceremony. My uncle videotaped the ceremony (thank god!) so we have a copy forever. By working with Donna to design our ceremony (she made it very easy) we got to know her and could understand why she is so good at what she does- she walks the walk! We highly recommend her! read more

Donna did an amazing job! We did not want to write our own vows, but still have a ceremony that reflected us. Donna helped us put together a great ceremony, and was extremely helpful and supportive through the whole process. I highly recommend her! read more

We were so happy with the ceremony Donna performed at our wedding in August 2018. Donna was very easy to work with; we loved the flexibility and variety of options she provided in planning our ceremony. We got so many comments from our guests that the ceremony was truly remarkable and really captured us and our love for each other. Donna was a reassuring, calming presence at our wedding and we are so glad we had her as our officiant! read more

WE LOVE DONNA! We couldn't have wished for a more perfect person to help take us through the loving journey of matrimony. Friendly, loving and professional, she really makes you at ease along the path... Our ceremony was at Roaring Camp in Felton Ca. and it was absolutely wonderful. Everything went off without a hitch and I was glad she was there for our special day... you'll always have a friend with Donna, accept no substitute. she rocks!! read more

I highly recommend Donna; she is amazing! She answered all of the questions I had and made any changes that I asked for. Due to budget, we chose to use the pre-written ceremony. We were able to pick parts of different options to create the ceremony that we wanted. Donna is very passionate about what she does and you can see it in every part of the process. Our ceremony turned out beautifully and we are glad we chose Donna to be a part of it! Thanks Donna! :-) read more