I thoroughly enjoyed working with Sandra O'Connell or Hudson Valley Ceremonies. Not only did she…read morestreamline the bride's "to do" list by recommending musicians and florists, her excellent knowledge of wedding-day requirements helped ,  my Daughter in Law Amanda immensely, saving her lots of computer search time and false-starts.  Her help walking us through the rehearsal was vital, getting us organized the day of and "on our spots" at the right critical time. It's all such a whirlwind of activity. And the logistics at our farm were challenging, to say the least. I also greatly appreciated how, during the actual wedding and party afterward, Sandra and her assistant were there, in the background, keeping the caterer happy, moving tables, shuttling slightly inebriated guests to their cars, (thank you, especially for that. I think I would still find people walking the horse pasture fence, looking for their cars.) And for doing the behind-the-scenes things that rarely are noticed, unless they're not done. (For example, one of the porta potties malfunctioning). Sandra handled that with quiet speed. And mostly I appreciated how she took care of Amanda's mother's doilies, the family mementoes, tucking things away in the pool house for safe keeping. And for a good, general tidying up at the end of the night.

We were married this past September at Timber Lake Camp and had the wedding (and weekend) of our…read moredreams thanks to Sandra O'Connell at Hudson Valley Ceremonies. If you don't get to the end of this review and only read one thing: Hiring Sandra was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. She is beyond dedicated to giving you the wedding of your dreams, and her ability to execute and make it ALL happen is nothing short of extraordinary. Every wedding needs a Sandra! We had the pleasure of working with Sandra from the beginning of our wedding planning journey all the way through our 3 day wedding weekend. When we were stumped looking for venues that could accommodate our large guest list AND a weekend-long celebration. Sandra approached us with a "think outside the box" venue: Timber Lake Camp, a beautifully serene summer camp nestled in the Catskills. We were unsure about the idea of a summer camp wedding but trusted her instinct - and thankfully we did. The day we visited the camp we knew it was PERFECT. 500 gorgeous acres with plenty of room to accommodate ALL of our guests, that we could have all to ourselves for an entire weekend - camp cabins, facilities, staff, and all! It truly felt like she had pulled a rabbit out of a hat and that was only the start of Sandra's magic! Throughout the entire year and a half long planning process, Sandra lent us her ear and expertise: she listened to our wishes, concerns, thoughts; guided us through a million different decisions; provided alternative options/ideas to meet our budget; and found the perfect vendors to bring our vision to life. She sat in on our calls with the coordinator at the camp, and even made visits to the camp with us - including one visit during a snowstorm! She also managed our multitude of vendors (including 3 separate caterers!) from the initial inquiries all the way through to the end of packing up after the wedding. When the wedding weekend came around, Sandra stayed on site all 3 days and made every event run smoothly - we felt like she was somehow everywhere all at once! We had multiple events, including our rehearsal, a Welcome BBQ, Karaoke Night, late night bonfire, and activities throughout the camp. If there were any hiccups, we didn't know about them! The day of the wedding, between everything she was coordinating and the multiple vendors on-site, she somehow still found time to check in with us to make sure we were okay. But honestly we truly felt at ease with Sandra running the show. Her professionalism, calmness, and get-it-done attitude made every part of the weeknd run seamlessly! And on top of it all, she made our marriage official by signing our marriage license. :) A total bonus that she is ordained and a special memory to share with her as she was such a big part of our special day! Our guests are still talking about how magical the weekend was. Many specifically commented that even with so many events and activities going on, it was one the most well-coordinated and organized weddings they'd attended. It was definitely a huge effort to pull off a 3 day wedding weekend on a 500 acre camp, but teamwork truly made this dream work! We could not be more grateful to Sandra, her team, and all of our amazing vendors for giving us a wedding better than we could have ever imagined! We can't recommend Sandra and HVC enough.

Hiring Shauna for our marriage ceremony was the worst decision and I do not recommend working with…read moreher. We decided to reschedule our wedding because of the pandemic, and when we started choosing new dates for a small "micro wedding", Shauna would not tell us if she was comfortable or not performing the ceremony. She left us completely in limbo. We asked Shauna to please let us know if she was uncomfortable performing the ceremony so we had time to find someone else. We understand that in August some people were still worried about the virus. She did not answer a single email closer to our wedding date. We were scrambling to find someone else in time. We also lost a $200 deposit. Her contract (that she and I both signed) says that if she does not perform the ceremony, she will find a replacement and the deposit will go toward the final cost. None of that happened and we lost our money. At one point she said that money went toward putting the ceremony together. I had a ceremony layout ready before I hired her. Cutting and pasting the vows I wrote myself in a Word document is not worth $200. We also paid a travel fee on top of that, and obviously she did not travel anywhere. Re-planning a wedding during a pandemic is hard enough, but when one of your vendors completely ignores all of your attempts to reach out to her, it makes the situation so much worse. Overall, Shauna is extremely unprofessional. My reason for writing this review is so nobody has to go through what Shauna put us through.

Both my husband and I highly recommend Shauna Kanter, Wedding Celebrant!…read more Shauna made our wedding day more than perfect and exceeded our expectations entirely. When my partner and I first met with her, we immediately felt a connection. It was as if we had known her for a long time. She gave us a fun assignment -- answering thoughtful questions about ourselves and our expectations of the big day. We had to fill the surveys out separately and not share our answers with each other. Then, Shauna wrote a beautiful ceremony, which we were able to read, edit, and review prior to the wedding. I should also mention that Shauna has a skillful way of nudging you to move towards the goal of the big day. If she needed us to share information in a timely way, she was proactive about getting in touch with us. Our wedding was unique, as we didn't have the blessing of my partner's family. They did not attend the ceremony. We both had some important conversations with Shauna about how to navigate this in the writing of the ceremony. We wanted to acknowledge my husband's parents and their contribution to his life but in a way to not highlight the drama of their absence. Shauna brought a lot of empathy and sensitivity to this task. In the end, we had a marvelous celebration with all the people who love us and our story, which Shauna told so personally. Evidently, Shauna is also a talented playwright and director. She founded her own theater company, VoiceTheatre. Her skill set in this area really pays off. She has professional knowledge of both how to write your story, but also how to stage it. After all, weddings are very theatrical events, and it's essential to have someone guiding you with these skills. She helped us coordinate the use of the outdoor lawn wedding space at Woolverton Inn, planning out all the details (order of the wedding party, music coordination, speaking volume of both grooms, etc.). After our wedding, many of our guests commented on what a wonderful job Shauna did. She was so joyous and happy for us and brought an enthusiasm to the event that made it very personal and warm. This is much, much, much more than a person standing their and having you say "I do" and "I do" before you sign the legal documents. Shauna takes lots of time to interview the couple, craft a personal and very professional ceremony, then delivers it with sincere feeling and joy. Thank you, Shauna, for making our day memorable and very personal.

Rachel was amazing! From the moment I contacted her she was warm, friendly and professional. She…read moregave us a choice of many ideas for our ceremony, which was a second wedding for both of us. She provided us with a beautiful ceremony which we will remember all of our lives. I most highly recommend her to officiate your wedding!!!

From the owner: I believe that your wedding should be a reflection of you. That’s why I offer fully customizable…read morewedding services tailored to meet the unique needs and dreams of each couple. With unlimited rounds of edits, I don’t stop until every word of your ceremony is perfect, embodying the essence of your relationship.

All of the other reviewers were guests at the same wedding on 7/17/2016. Every single request paid…read morefor and requested by the bride and groom and brides family-those who paid for the wedding-was met. Guests did not seem to believe that requests or other things were addressed properly, however that complaint was not about the wedding planner or staff. The couple hired their own caterer-which had nothing to do with the wedding planner and is not associated. Folks have complained that Cinderella For A Day "walked out" and was "unprofessional", however, from the moment Cinderella arrived at the event they were met with an inebriated, belligerent and verbally abusive father of the bride. Throughout the day the situation worsened and culminated with the father of the bride and his son attacking several of the staff, including the owners husband, my husband and I myself was punched in the throat by the father of the bride. Karen and jay-the owners of the company called the police and evacuated all of Cinderella For A Day employees for their own safety. This event was a tragedy for the bride and groom, at the fault of the poor woman's father and brother. Hopefully the father and brother have enrolled in a 12 step program for sobriety and anger management.

Wedding - if you want to call it that - at location south of Albany, NY on 16 July. Horrible…read moreexecution which means horrible preparation. Wait staff unprepared and did not know how or what to serve. Lost or ran out out of beverages - adult, children & water. Reception seating not available for all guests. Cocktail hour ran out of snacks & anything to drink. Maybe worse yet is the planning staff was not working towards correcting any issues & eventually left the premises. The character of an individual or organization really comes out during adversity. The character shows this is a business that should never ever serve another client. Could be worst example of any event I have been at in my life. Do not hire Cinderalla4aDay under any circumstances.

Reverend Lisa Zaro was perfect for our occasion. She was very intent on identifying what our ideal…read moreceremony would look like, and was able to match her delivery exactly to our tastes. The ceremony itself was personable and eloquent.

Rev. Lisa was wonderful. She's super nice, upbeat, knowledgable, and just an absolute delight. As…read morepeople in our late 30s/early 40s who never planned to get officially married but have long known we would spend the rest of our lives together, we needed a quick, non-traditional elopement and she made it short, sweet, and absolutely lovely! Thank you, Lisa! We couldn't be more thrilled.

Alice was the  perfect officiant for our interfaith wedding. She wrote a script based on our story,…read moreincorporated both Jewish and Catholic traditions, and walked through all the logistics so we had nothing to worry about. She also helped us remain calm and present during the ceremony, when we were both full of nerves and excitement! So many of our guests told us this was the most personal, meaningful wedding ceremony they had attended. Highly recommend working with Alice!

Alice Soloway is an incredible person and a fantastic officiant. During our first meeting with her,…read morewe knew she was the right person to officiate our wedding. Her sincerity, tranquility, and level of organization really helped to ease away any wedding planning anxiety. Over the course of a year, we had several check-ins with her via video chat which were really helpful and grounding. How she puts together a wedding ceremony was also so impressive and seamlessly blended both my and my wife's responses to her questions. Her questionnaire was so thoughtful and deep and it allowed us to reflect on aspects of our lives, families, friends, values, and goals. She took our responses and wove an incredible narrative about us as a couple and we truly could not have asked for anything else. A number of guests approached us after the wedding ceremony and told us "That was the best wedding officiant I've ever seen!" We couldn't agree more. From start of finish, Alice was there for us if we had any questions about the process. She is such a professional, but she is also just a lovely, lovely person. We will never forget our time working with her, and we will never be able to thank her enough for marrying us. We love her and we highly recommend her to anyone looking for an officiant!

Reverend Jude Smith is extraordinary! She has a warm loving heart and when she performs ceremonies,…read moreit's filled with love and soul. She's very experienced and that makes a tremendous difference. She is far beyond others. She exudes kindness and I have seen her perform various ceremonies and they are always to perfection. I highly recommend her!

We knew from the moment we first spoke to her that she just fit exactly what we were looking for in…read morea wedding officiant. She honestly felt like someone we had known for years. Every single guest in our wedding including some of our vendors asked if we personally knew the officiant since our wedding felt so tailored and personalized to us. We explained how we found her on our recommended vendors list from our venue, the FEAST at Roundhill. We explained how much work Jude put in to get to know us from having us fill out questionnaires about us individually and as a couple. We even had a getting to know each other zoom session where we discussed our hopes and dreams for the wedding. From there Jude provided us with handfuls of suggested prayers, readings, vows, etc. She even guided us in writing our own vows. From there, we had 2-3 more sessions with her as we built and then went through our entire ceremony. That is exactly how we ended up with such an intimate, personalized ceremony because of the amount of work Jude put in. Our other experience with the two other officiants we interviewed was tell me a little bit about yourselves and then we will see you the day of. No one else compares to Jude. Hire her and you will see your personalized ceremony come to life!

Norma and One Heart Ceremonies created the most touching and heartfelt ceremony that was…read morepersonalized completely for us. The first time we met with Norma, we were put at ease and confident that she would make our special day that much more special. Norma took the time to get to know us and incorporate our personalities and love for each other throughout the entire ceremony. She assisted us in selecting a reading for my husband's daughter... my new stepdaughter, that was appropriate and exquisite. More than being a consummate professional with a true gift for writing an amazingly personalized ceremony, she has continued to stay in touch with us and check in periodically. I can't even imagine our special day without her being our officiant. Thank you Norma Moutal and One Heart Ceremonies

Norma was such a joy to work with! I found her in my knot research and after our first meeting I…read moreknew she was the perfect fit. She took the time to really get to know my husband and I before the big day. Her readings during the vow exchange were so touching and something I will always remember. My friends and family were raving about Norma and how lovely she was afterwards. Her happiness and love for love is so strong it makes you at ease on the big day. I highly recommend as an officiant for wedding ceremonies or big life moments!

My family had a great experience with Alisha's mobile notary service. It was very easy to book an…read moreappointment online, Alisha responded quickly to confirm and she also had to provide a witness for us. It was painless, Alisha was professional, responsive, and empathetic. We will definitely use her services again.

Alisha was great! Incredibly accommodating and very professional. I will absolutely call on her…read moreagain for mobile Notary services. I highly recommend.