"Auntie" Heidi (Love Story Vows) was an absolute pleasure to work with and one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. From the very beginning, Heidi invested genuine care into getting to know us as a couple. Throughout the process, she regularly checked in--not just about ceremony details, but about how we were doing, how wedding planning was going, and what felt most important to us. She also provided invaluable guidance on ceremony logistics, marriage license requirements, and day-of planning details that helped us feel prepared and supported every step of the way. Heidi has an incredibly calm, steady, and reassuring presence. There is something truly dreamy about the way she speaks and carries herself. Her voice and demeanor immediately put everyone at ease. Quite honestly, she could probably read a phone book and make it sound beautiful. The ceremony she created for us was beyond anything we could have imagined. Through thoughtful surveys and conversations, she gathered the details of our friendship, relationship, and journey together, then seamlessly wove them into a heartfelt and deeply personal story. The result felt uniquely us--warm, authentic, emotional, and memorable. Without question, the ceremony was the part of the wedding that our guests talked about the most afterward. So many people commented on how personal, meaningful, and beautifully delivered it was, and how they truly enjoyed hearing snippets of our relationship that were narrated by Heidi. At the end of our ceremony, Heidi performed a "handfasting" (ribbon-tying) ceremony beautifully, incorporating it naturally into the flow of the ceremony and making it feel both significant and intimate. We truly could not have asked for a better officiant. Heidi brought warmth, professionalism, wisdom, and heart to every interaction, and we are so grateful she was the one who married us. read more

Wow, Heidi was an incredible officiant and helped me and my husband craft the most perfect ceremony. I've seen many weddings and sometimes the officiant makes it about themselves, or thinks of it as a tight 5 comedy special, but not Heidi. She was professional, well-spoken, and truly understood our needs to help us create a perfect day. We eloped in Joshua Tree and she drove out to us, and helped us figure the how to's of getting married every step of the way. I highly recommend working with Heidi if you want a ceremony that is special, filled with joy, and has heart and soul. I will definitely be recommending Love Story Vows to anyone I know getting married. Thank you Heidi! :) - Holly & Evan. Photo by The Hendrys! read more

Love Story Vows - Photo by The Hendrys - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

Wow! Amazing! Thank you thank you Heidi! Thank you Alan! Just great, you are both very great and Heather and I are really happy! You provided great support along the way and a beautiful result from our ceremony. You did a really fine job and we couldn't have ask for anything more! The ceremony was well-planned and Heidi kept great communication. Some time was given to allow us ample time to prepare for the "homework" which is required. The result ended in a great ceremony with an officiant who takes her job seriously and provides the love story for the wedding. A lot of thanks to Heidi and Alan for your services and support! We're thankful and will be sure to pass the positive experience forward. read more

I HIGHLY recommend using Love Story Vows for your most special wedding day. I felt a connection with Heidi during our first call and she left me feeling confident she would do a great job. I was wrong....she did a PHENOMENAL INCREDIBLE JOB! All of our guests were blown away with the uniqueness and sincerity of our custom ceremony and I couldn't agree more. I am truly thankful to have hired Love Story Vows. read more

Love Story Vows - Love Story Vows - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

Heidi is just THE best! My husband and I are from Northern California and did a destination wedding at the Kimberly Crest House in Redlands, California. So I was looking on Yelp for an officiant on that area. I came across Heidi and after reading the other rave reviews about her, decided to reach out to see if she could chat with us about her services. She got back to me pretty quickly and we set up a call so she can actually get to know us and let us know what we can expect out of her ceremonies. She checked in with us through the year to make sure we were good and reminded us to get our marriage license, etc. Her being so on top of everything helped us out a lot because we introduced a new baby into our family 3 months before we got married and things were busy and crazy. She made sure everything was how we wanted - she even asked us what color dress we'd like her to wear! Day of the wedding, she came and checked in on us frequently. Right before the ceremony, she made an announcement for no phones during the ceremony too. We absolutely loved that! She incorporated two of her ceremony rituals (flower chain and play-doh) that involved our guests and our sons. There's so so SO much more I go on and say, but I'm sure you get the point - Heidi goes above and beyond to make our wedding experience unique to us. And she's sure to do the same for your wedding! read more

Love Story Vows - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

We are so lucky to have found Love Story Vows and Heidi! She did an amazing job with our ceremony. It was personalized to us, fun, and romantic! We loved it and so did our family and friends. Heidi walked us through the entire process step by step. She was there from before we booked our venue all the way through to how to get our marriage license after we were married. She was a great communicator and kept us on track with the important stuff while reminding us to have fun and enjoy it. Heidi also did a great job working with the venue and all of the other vendors that we hired (floral, photo & video, etc). We'll always appreciate that she was part of our special day. We highly recommend Love Story Vows! read more

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First of all, everybody needs a crazy red-head aunt in their lives, and that's exactly what you get with Heidi! Heidi is more than just an officiant, she becomes family almost overnight. All of our wedding guests complimented Heidi and her ceremony, which was AMAZING. 10/10, 5 stars, I definitely recommend Heidi (especially if you don't want a boring cookie cutter ceremony) Thank you for making our day so special!! read more

Love Story Vows - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

There is really too much to say about Heidi. To make it short, she is one of the kindest people we have ever met. Heidi had stuck with us through the pandemic and very understanding when we had to reschedule more than once! The great thing about Heidi was her thoroughness. She works so hard to make sure the ceremony and words fit perfectly with how we really felt about each other. Her husband Alan was our photographer and he was so fun! They are truly the perfect duo to have at your wedding :) Heidi made us feel like we were the only 2 at the ceremony when she was speaking. She brought our love story to life and told it in such a beautiful way for all of our loved ones to hear. Thank you Auntie (Officiant) Heidi, we will always remember the special ceremony you put together for us. read more

Love Story Vows - Our officiant Heidi Merrigan sharing our love story - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

I could not be more happy and elated that Heidi was our wedding officiant. Our ceremony was so beautiful, and beautifully delivered. Everyone wondered where we found her! Haha. She is the best and honestly has a heart of gold. She really goes the extra mile for you, and makes you feel like you're the only person in the room. She is so communicative up until the wedding, gives you all the details about how to get your license and even gave us a run down of how to change our name after the wedding. She arrived early and was helpful right up until the last word. She is absolutely LGBTQ+ friendly, which I think is important for other queer couples looking for an officiant ;) thank you Heidi!!! read more

From the moment I first inquired for her services on the phone to the day of the wedding, Heidi and her husband have been nothing less than awesome, helpful and loving. Covid obviously damped this year, making it worse, was cancelling my big dream wedding and frantically finding a ceremony site and reception for a minimony. But you know what?! Heidi was so sweet and was always available for me not just logistically but also emotionally. And I couldn't have imagined a better day thanks to her. read more

Love Story Vows - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

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I cannot say enough good things about Heidi. We hired her 3 weeks before our wedding date, as our original officiant had a last minute medical emergency. We found Heidi through her husband, who was our wedding photographer, and he couldn't recommend her enough. Thank goodness she was available! Right off the bat we felt at home with her. She is so kind and warm, and we just felt at ease speaking with her, especially during that stressful time. She sent us some questionnaires so she could really get to know us and our story. When I tell you, she created the most amazing ceremony for us. She had TONS of options to make our ceremony custom to us and our style. And I'm not even exaggerating, the entire audience was in tears. We got so many compliments from our friends and family about how incredible our officiant was. My husband and I felt like it was just the three of us up there, even in front of all those people. She spoke like she's known us for years. It was just the most beautiful ceremony I could have imagined. I HIGHLY recommend Heidi!! read more

Heidi is PHENOMENAL. She was beyond amazing every step of the way! She is so kind and patient, and listens intently to what you and your partner want for your wedding ceremony. Within moments of speaking to her, it's evident that she genuinely cares about YOU and that she deeply enjoys her work. I cannot recommend her enough! My husband and I were so lucky to have Heidi officiate our intimate elopement. She crafted a beautiful ceremony and went above and beyond on the day of our wedding to ensure that we had the most perfect day. We are forever grateful for the ceremony and memories she helped us create! read more

Love Story Vows - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

Heidi was amazing, from beginning to end! We were running late for pictures and ceremony, and Heidi was so patient with everything. She calmed me down, and reminded me the wedding does not start without the bride. Heidi was very professional, and made the ceremony so special for us. I would definitely recommend Heidi to anyone. You can text or email her and get a prompt response. Thank you so much Heidi, you're awesome! read more

Hands down the best officiant ever. Myself and my now husband are not very religious. During the search, all we could find were religious ceremonies and officiants. As we are definitely unusual (Bramstoker/Dracula themed wedding) we needed an officiant that could fit the script. Heidi is truly a chameleon and offers a wide variety of ceremony options and truly makes the whole ceremony process effortless. After our wedding, everyone thought that we both had known Heidi our entire lives and we truly understood the meaning behind "Love Story Vows" as she explained the whole story of our relationship, beginning to now. Having only met Heidi in person for the first time on the day of our wedding, she is absolutely beautiful and her personality matches how beautiful she truly is. She loves her job and takes a genuine interest in your relationship and makes every love story unique. I wish we could just hang out with her as she is truly an amazing human being. Cannot recommend her enough read more

I am so glad I found Heidi! I was searching for an officiant for an elopement in Big Bear during the winter. I knew I wanted someone who went the extra mile, was familiar with the area, and could really capture the love we shared as a couple. From the moment my husband and I spoke with Heidi and her husband Alan on the phone, we knew they were the team we were looking for. Both have a lot of experience with weddings and elopements alike, and they are also very familiar with Big Bear. Heidi crafted our elopement ceremony so beautifully, we really liked how she made it so personal and about us which is the whole reason why we eloped. She was super forthcoming in the process, flexible, and really incorporated our individual feelings and thoughts into the ceremony. She also reminded us of things that can easily be forgotten during the chaos of it all which was something I really appreciated. Heidi is so professional and easy to work with, I felt so at ease communicating with her about the details of my wedding and she is so skillful in storytelling, writing, and is such a warm person. I especially loved how she told "Our Lovestory" which was an additional customization service offered by her. I highly recommend this service because it was so meaningful and lovely how she told our story. The ceremony was so perfect, we also chose to do a celtic handfasting ceremony which was also one of the main reasons I reached out to Heidi. We got to "tie the Knot" with different colored ribbons, Heidi read out loud what each of these colors meant for our marriage. I can rave on and on about how excellent Hedi and Alan were, they made my wedding planning and the day of so easy and fun! I highly recommend the both of them, Heidi for her officiant services and Alan for all of your photography needs. read more

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Heidi, our extraordinary wedding officiant! She created our special day into an intimate celebration that was undeniably "us." From the moment we met her back in 2019, after getting our wedding canceled for April 2020, she continue to communicate with us and was there for us September 2023. Heidi demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to making our ceremony uniquely reflective of our love story. She took the time ensure she learn about our relationship and created a ceremony that seamlessly weaved together the threads of our journey. What sets Heidi apart is her remarkable ability to make the experience all about us--her words not only encapsulated the essence of our love but also captured the hearts of everyone present. With a perfect blend of professionalism and personalization, Heidi ensured that our wedding day was not just an event but a heartfelt narrative, leaving an indelible mark on our hearts. Her dedication to making our day truly ours transformed a ceremony into a cherished memory that will forever be etched in our minds. Thank you, Heidi, for turning our love story into a beautifully orchestrated celebration that surpassed all expectations. read more

My husband and I are so happy that we found Heidi on Yelp, in fact, as we are writing this review, we are in tears over how happy and blessed that we feel to have found her. Our wedding was this past Saturday, and it was beautiful. Better than we could have imagined. One of the best things about Heidi is that she keeps your ceremony short and sweet. We did not want to bore our guests with a lengthy, impersonal church ceremony. We got the best ceremony we could ask for. Heidi does a great job personalizing your story for you and your guests, and she has a ton of sweet add-on's for the ceremony. We almost went with the peanut butter and jelly sandwich making add-on, but I didn't want to mess up my lipstick lol! Even better, she offers a religious ceremony for those of us who have faith in God. We still wanted that spiritual touch without having the ceremony in a church. Our ceremony was the perfect length and our guests were in tears at the end. We didn't want to write our own vows, so Heidi gave us an in depth questionnaire that helped her put together a wonderful story of our love. She is much better with words than we are. Heidi makes everything super simple for you. From the very beginning I knew God brought her into our lives for a reason. She has such a calming effect on people, and she's super communicative. She puts your mind at ease every step of the way. From the time she gave us direction on how to obtain our license, to the day of the wedding when she walked us through how the evening would play out, we knew we were in good hands and she had our backs. Heidi has been doing this for a long time, and it shows. She knows her stuff. She has a ceremony for everyone and is just the sweetest and most amazing person to work with. We truly feel like she's apart of the family now. All of our guests loved her. What's even more amazing is that her husband, Alan, is a photographer and they have a package deal! We hired him of course! Thanks again, Heidi, for our beautiful ceremony. We thank God we found you! read more

Rating: 5 Stars!! Heidi at Love Story Vows was wonderful to work with!!! My wife & I, found her in late November 2021 and hired her to officiate our wedding of 60 people held last month on a Tuesday. From the beginning, it was clear that Heidi was a professional, having performed over 400+ weddings and been a wedding planner prior to that. She is not only a great communicator, but very efficient, punctual, organized, and emotionally in-tune with your needs. Much like a wedding planner, your officiant in some way, needs to be able to connect with you and your partner in order to bring your visions of your special day to life. Everyone at our wedding kept saying their favorite part was the ceremony hands down. It was truly beautiful, well thought out, engaging and memorable. Heidi's base package consisted of very professional, easy-to-follow guidelines of what to expect, a meet & greet session to understand you and your partner, unlimited virtual communications leading up to the event, a very seamless draft and final edit of what your ceremony would look and sound like, check ins every few weeks making sure all legal documents were in order, ceremony execution, and serving as messenger post-wedding for submitting your license to the County for processing. This all came to a price of $600 which was so worth it, in retrospect to how easy she made it for us. Heidi was very quick to respond and helpful to giving advice. She is one of the sweetest people we've met and will surpass your expectations for what a ceremony can truly become. Her skit involved a great mix of sentimental emotional moments portraying our love story mixed with fun traditions to be apart of. We did a hand-fasting ribbon ceremony, representing each of our virtues to hold yourself by, followed by a Tequila Toast with our bridal party, which I had NO complaints about. It was moving, funny, and not your traditional ceremony that you wish would hurry up and finish already. Everyone loved it, and we're grateful for Heidi and her efforts. We would recommend Heidi and Love Story Vows to anyone. She is very flexible, open-minded and a spunky person! LGBT-friendly and just a wonderful human over all. Thank you Heidi from the bottom of our hearts!!! Xoxo, Ashley & Nitrisha Miller. read more

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Heidi literally made our wedding so perfect. Checking in on us every step of the planning process, to the ceremony itself. She's so sweet and so loving and just wanted the best for us! Truly a remarkable woman and I am so lucky to have had the pleasure to work with her for my wedding! She makes me want to renew my vows so I can do it all again!! read more

Love Story Vows - Hubby, me, Heidi! - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

I don't even know where to start. I wish I could give 10 stars instead of just five. Heidi truly is someone special. She's an incredibly experienced professional who knows not just weddings, but people. She was extremely communicative from the very beginning, and had immense patience with my slow replies to her emails. In person, she was so incredibly warm and kind, which helped us relax and really enjoy ourselves. I cannot even imagine a better officiant for us than Heidi and if you're researching options for your wedding, you should definitely use her too. You really won't regret it. read more

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We absolutely love Heidi! We met her in 2018 at our friends' wedding (her 100th!) and knew she had to be our officiant! She has wonderful communication, a beautiful personality, and affordable packages for all budgets! You will not be disappointed having her officiate your special day! read more

Love Story Vows - Moore wedding, June 2019. - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

Heidi was absolutely wonderful! Our ceremony on 10.29.2020 at Galway Downs with Heidi was everything we envisioned and much more. We loved that she was able to personalize our ceremony using our answers to questionnaires she had sent us weeks prior to our wedding day. We appreciated the drafts she sent us of our ceremony as well (not including the part about our love story so that it was a surprise to everyone on the day of- amazing idea btw!). Our families appreciated the blessing she read, and her voice and words were just perfect. My mom never cries at anything, but she (along with many others) cried during the ceremony. Heidi always made sure to check on us during the weeks leading up to the big day, and even gave us wedding day tips just before the big day. I've already recommended her to a cousin's friend getting married in area and I highly recommend her to anyone else looking to make their ceremony very special, too. read more

Hedi was amazing, she kept in total contact checked in every few months. Sent me rough drafts of the ceremony for me to review. She took really great care of me and my husband. She showed up 30 mins before the ceremony, held me together till show time. She was amazing during the ceremony even as our child had a complete melt down in between my husband and I. (I'm using those pictures as blackmail when he gets older). You want the best please look no further because this is where the best is. It was a pleasure to have hedi officiate our wedding. I would give more stars if I could but YouTube won't let me lol. read more

Love Story Vows - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

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Where do I even start........ Heidi was everything and more. She took the time to know the Bride & Groom and their Love Story. It was like a family member was performing the ceremony. The Ceremony was so fun, personable and eloquent that Our guest are still talking about it. Thank you Heidi for making My Daughter's Day Special! read more

Love Story Vows - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

My fiancé and I were planning a simple beach wedding and really had our hearts set on adding the hand-fasting ceremony to our vows. I found Love Story Vows on The Knot and as soon as we had our first video call with Reverend Heidi we knew we had found the perfect officiant! Heidi was so easy to work with - she emailed us lots of great options to personalize our vows and ceremony, and scheduled calls with us along the way to answer any questions. Our final call with her was days before our ceremony, with rain looming in the forecast, and she calmed us down by suggesting we buy colorful umbrellas and she would perform our beach ceremony rain or shine. Heidi truly loves what she does, and it shows in the love and attention she gave to us. We were honored to have her be a part of our special day, and grateful that she helped to make our day that much more special. read more

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We recently had our wedding at Galway Downs with Heidi being our officiant. Heidi was a true pleasure to work with through the entire process. Through the many phone calls, she was able to not only answer all of our questions, but also help keep us sane through the entire wedding planning process by helping us work through the little things. During our planning, Heidi recommended a hand fasting ribbon ceremony that we ended up choosing and it could not have gone better. It was such a fun and unique way to 'tie the knot'. From the planning phone calls to the wedding day, Heidi made everything easy and fun. Heidi went above and beyond to give us a personal, special and memorable wedding; to the point of when our fun umbrellas didn't come in for our rainy wedding day, Heidi let us use her fun umbrella to take our after ceremony wedding pictures. We weren't just another couple to Heidi we became family and that really meant the world to us. We would highly recommend her for any wedding as she really cares about her couples and is so incredibly helpful! read more

Rev. Heidi put us immediately at ease even over the phone. We had a destination wedding and I was worried we might not "connect" with our officiant. I was blown away with how easy Rev. Heidi was to talk to and organize with. She was also very happy to craft a unique ceremony to balance our agnostic religious views with very religious relatives. On the day of she was a welcome calming presence. If I could do it over I would make the same choice! read more

Love Story Vows - Celtic handfasting - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

We love auntie heidi. She made our ceremony so special and so perfect. Our guest loved her and everyone was in tears from how beautiful of a job she did. She is so fun to work with and extremely helpful. We will always cherish heidi and look forward to beach trips together hopefully !!!! read more

Heidi was amazing from them beginning until the end. She is very nice and a pleasure to work with. She married my new hubby and I on June 1st. I loved her personality. She did exactly what we wanted with the vows and ceremony. thank you so much for making it a wonderful experience. read more

Love Story Vows - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

Reverend Heidi was so helpful and comforting throughout the whole process. From the moment that we reached out to ask for her availability, until we were on the honeymoon, she made a point to keep us in the loop about "how things work" and was clearly interested in our well-being. We had plenty of options for the type of ceremony we could choose, and Rev. Heidi was completely open/flexible with any edits we might have wanted to add in. She made sure to explain how things would work on the wedding day and made sure the wedding party knew the main preventative actions they could take to ensure they were feeling their best for the ceremony. We are so happy to have had her as a part of our ceremony. read more

Love Story Vows - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

I called Heidi to inquire about an elopement in just 2 weeks notice and she did not disappoint! I could tell from the moment she answered the phone that she was a down to earth sweetheart. I'm so thrilled we DID NOT go the City Hall route and hired Love Story Vows. We also hired her amazing Husband Alan for photography! She follows up prior to the ceremony, shows up early, and everything was perfect! read more

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Heidi is absolutely amazing! She made our ceremony so sweet and personal but yet so funny. She stayed to get to personally know our guests and enjoy some time with us. She was so sweet and made sure we were taken care of. Heidi made the entire process so smooth and easy and explained everything every step of the way, would even text us and email us to check in and send us updated drafts of the ceremony. Every time I reached out to her with questions she would respond very quick and make sure that everything made sense, we love her and so did our guests! I would definitely recommend her to anyone and everyone that is getting married!! read more

Love Story Vows - Officiants Near Me - San Marcos, California

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Hiring Reverend Heidi was the best decision my husband and I made for our wedding! We met Reverend Heidi at our venue's open house and we clicked right away! My husband and I let Reverend Heidi write our love story to say during our ceremony and it was the most funniest thing ever! All of our guests and my husband and I were laughing throughout the whole ceremony! Reverend Heidi set the mood for our wedding. All of our guests till this day (it's been 11 days since our wedding) talk about how great our ceremony was and how it wasn't boring at all! If you are looking for a Reverend to set the mood right for your wedding, hire Reverend Heidi. A lot of people forget about the ceremony (even I do when I attend weddings), but not with Reverend Heidi. Your guests will remember what was said during the ceremony. Even our guests remember our vows to each other! Hiring Rev. Heidi will also look good in your wedding video! Oh! and I should say, Reverend Heidi's voice has a great tone! read more

We love Heidi! She officiated our wedding and did such a phenomenal job! Everyone commented after the ceremony how great she was. We laughed, we cried - it was perfect! I had a lot of nerves before the ceremony, but once Heidi arrived she made me feel calm and confident. She was also extremely helpful and so easy to work with. During the weeks leading up to the wedding she was in constant contact with us and always willing to provide advice and tips for the big day. Thank you Heidi! You made our ceremony perfect! read more

I recently eloped and had Heidi officiate our elopement in Big Bear. It was so intimate and special. She incorporated some unique rituals in our ceremony and it seemed very personalized. She also was watching our daughter while we were taking photos! I would highly recommend her for your ceremony. read more

Rev. Heidi was amazing! Our ceremony was beautiful!! We couldn't have asked for a better officiant to perform our ceremony!! I cannot give her high enough praise! From the beginning she made sure we knew she was there to help with whatever we may need! Thank you soooo much Rev. Heidi!! read more

Hiring Heidi to officiate our wedding was one of the best choices we could have made! She made our ceremony feel so special and full of love. She was there for us to answer any questions we had during the planning process and was so quick to answer them! I wish I could give more than just 5 starts. Heidi is the best and you will not regret hiring her to officiate your wedding! All of our guests raved about how great she was! read more

Rev. Heidi is amazing. She gave such a beautiful ceremony for our wedding. We don't like long, drawn out, boring ceremonies and when we read her sample ceremonies, we knew we had found our officiant. Our family was also very pleased with the words she spoke. We decided to go with a ribbon tying ceremony and it was a hit! We loved that she presented that idea to us and it was so easy. She definitely is a professional and knows where to fit in her wit, which I love! My new husband and I are very happy that we decided to have Rev. Heidi be a part of our wedding. We recommend her 100%! read more

We were so incredibly lucky to have found Heidi! She made our special day, easy, fun and relaxing all at the same time. She really knew what we wanted and completely delivered. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect ceremony and day. If you are looking for someone to perform your ceremony, don't look any further. She is great at what she does. Thank you again Heidi for all of your help, my husband and I couldn't be more happy with that way everything turned out. It was perfect! read more

Heidi made us feel confident and at ease during our ceremony which was so important to us since we were so stressed out about everything related to wedding planning. She brought a lot of experience and enthusiasm. I would recommend her to anyone getting married. She was a joy to work with and made us laugh when we were nervous and crying like crazy at the altar. Thank you, Heidi and we miss you. read more