It was such a joy having Marie at our small courthouse ceremony. She wrote a beautiful sermon and…read morewas all smiles and warmth. You can tell she enjoys doing what she does and being a part of the special moments in people's lives :)

From the owner: Friendly, reliable wedding officiant.read more

Hannah married us this past May and we are so grateful that we used her for our officiant. From the…read morevery beginning, she was personable, genuine, and thoughtful. In all of our meetings with Hannah leading up to our ceremony, she was such a great listener and asked thoughtful questions, making us both feel completely heard and seen, creating trust and confidence in the process. Her suggestions were on point and helpful, while never feeling pushy with her own agenda for what our ceremony should look like. She was really attuned to who we are and what we wanted from the experience and always made sure to check in with us about what she understood from us. Hannah truly took the time to get to know us as individuals, as a couple and as parents to our blended family. Hannah guided us through everything leading up to the ceremony so that nothing was overlooked, making us feel safe, calm, peaceful and relaxed- which were exactly our hopes for our wedding! The service she wrote was more beautiful than we had imagined, that embodied our love and was a perfect reflection of who we are as a couple, making it apparent that she truly understood us. She thoughtfully and gracefully incorporated our children and family with tenderness and sensitivity. Our wedding ceremony was everything we wanted and more. We will cherish our vows, our ceremony and the process we shared with Hannah, for the rest of our lives. We are so grateful for Hannah shepherding us through the experience with such loving support and kindness. Darius & Cameron

We were living on the opposite side of the country while planning our wedding. Trying to remotely…read moreplan a wedding is tough, but as soon as we got Hannah, it made our lives easier. From skyping with us to get to know us better to making sure that the ceremony being delivered was personal, impactful, and full of love, she is amazing. We wanted a non-religious ceremony but with respectful nods to both of our families and she nailed it. Everyone at our wedding had said that it was the most beautiful ceremony they have ever gone to. She had been nothing but amazing during the whole process, easing us into what will happen, and guiding us through everything.

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.

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.

Marie was the perfect choice to marry us! From our first conversation, she really got to know my…read morehusband and I and used that information to create a ceremony that truly felt like us. She listened to our wants and was able to seamlessly include a ring warming ceremony per our request. Marie's warm personality and humor helped us feel at ease and comfortable on our wedding day. Our families agreed that the ceremony couldn't have been better! If you're in need of a JP look no further!!

The wonderful and charming Marie accompanied us on our big day and we couldn't have found anyone…read morebetter! We are a couple from Germany and had the dream of getting married on the beach in Connecticut. Marie made this dream come true with us. Her good humor is immediately infectious, always positive and we love to think back to the moments with her. We can highly recommend Marie. Thank you from Germany Sebastian & Janina

Bryan was amazing. We chatted with him a few times before the wedding so we can introduce ourselves…read moreand get to know one another. But honestly after talking to him for just ten mins he felt like he had always been in the family. That's how we knew when found the guy for the job! He was funny, witty and incorporated personal details of our story in his speech. He made sure we knew what to expect every step of the way and handled dropping off the marriage license after we were done. He made the whole experience wonderfully stress free. I would highly recommend him to anyone getting married!

Bryan officiated our wedding and I can not imagine anyone more personable, thorough, and…read moreprofessional to work with. Bryan educated us on the process and really took the time to understand us as individuals, a couple and our needs for our ceremony. Bryan's communication throughout was also top-notch. I highly recommend Bryan as a JP for yours or anyones wedding.

We are beyond grateful for Marissa from "Your Story Ceremonies" for officiating our wedding!…read moreShe created such a beautiful ceremony that truly reflected the love and memories my husband and I have shared over the years. Marissa was incredibly easy to work with, always on time, and made sure everything was exactly how we wanted it. She went above and beyond by including our daughter and our moms in the ceremony, which made the day even more meaningful. When I say there wasn't a dry eye in the house, I truly mean it -- every single person was moved by her words. We had so many guests asking if we had known her for years, because she made it feel like we had a close friend officiating for us. Marissa was wonderful in every way, and we couldn't have asked for a better person to lead us through such a special moment. If you're looking for someone who will make your ceremony personal, heartfelt, and unforgettable, Marissa is the one!

Danielle is the best! At our initial meeting at a local Panera, we both knew we had found the…read moreperfect officiant. Planning a wedding is really, REALLY stressful but this part was a dream and a breath of fresh air! Danielle is a fabulous communicator with a warm heart and spirit and helped my hubby and I form our most perfect wedding ceremony ever, it was certainly "our" story. We truly appreciate the time she took to work with us and to craft a wedding ceremony that left not a dry eye in the house when we said our "I do's" this summer. How many weddings have you been to where you can barely hear what the officiant/priest/rabbi is saying? Or how many times is it the same thing over and over and over....Cannon in D, check. Corinthians, check. *yawn* We wanted something different...something memorable. And this is exactly what we got. Afterwards, everyone was asking how we knew the officiant...was she a friend? Distant relative? How did she know us so well! We told how we came across her just from a Google search. D liked her because she is also an NYU alum, and we both liked the vibe we got just from reading her website before we even met her. She has a true gift for capturing your love story and told it so beautifully on our wedding day. We couldn't have asked for more - everyone told us that ours was the BEST wedding ceremony they have ever been to, so unique, so sweet and so special. And they also learned more about us as a couple (ie. we are super competitive when it comes to our board games, haha!). We received about a zillion compliments and two months after our wedding people are still commenting on how beautiful, special and romantic our ceremony was. Danielle is amazing, you will not be disappointed. If you're getting married, renewing your vows, etc. please contact her. She is a lovely person inside and out and will make your event perfect.

I just want to thank Aria for an outstanding job. My daughter got married Saturday night and Aria…read morecouldn't do enough for us. Their staff is right on target and caters to staff. Shout out to Gino for amazing service. He truly is a top professional. Beautiful venue thank you so much.

I've been to quite a few weddings here, and I have to say the service can use a lot of work. The…read morevenue is beautiful, but working with the staff is a challenge. The view that you get from the outside is gorgeous and the inside interior looks great. While working with a few of the families getting married, I noticed that the staff wasn't as present on the day of. They advertise that they are very involved but are not. Basically you will need to prep and take care of everything yourself. Overall a solid experience.

Pam was a pleasure to work with. We were looking for someone to keep us on track with deadlines and…read morehelp us choose vendors, as well as be available the day-of the wedding--Pam did all of that and more. She gave us lists of preferred vendors to choose from, she gave us good questions to ask them, she advised us when we asked, but ultimately let us make our own choices. She was 100% willing to look at any other vendors not on her lists, as well. She made sure we were well informed and comfortable with our choices, but that they were our own, not influenced elsewhere. I found her very helpful with small things especially closer to the wedding. Tons of little questions cropped up and Pam was always on it, she reached out to our venue for us and got us answers so we could focus on other things. The day of the wedding she was amazing. As the bride, I had to worry about nothing. She understood what I asked for and made sure it was all set up--and it was! No issues, no mistakes, no problems, everything ran completely smoothly, largely thanks to Pam's presence and help. Cost-wise, very affordable. I pictured a planner to be MUCH more expensive than Pam is (especially when you're dealing with wedding prices, ho boy!) She has a simple down payment and contract, and final payment due closer to day of. All payments and paperwork were handled well and expediently. In the end, she often says "it's whatever you want!" and she truly works to make that happen.

Pam is a very creative and enthusiastic event planner. A wedding I attended previously, she had…read moreassisted the couple in finding the various pieces to make their day just what they had imagined it to be. Pam was also present the day of the wedding to ensure that the event went as smoothly as possible, and made herself available to the couple for anything they needed during the event. Pam's enthusiasm and sheer excitement for event planning was very evident, and it was clear she had a big passion for what she does. It was not hard to notice that Pam was very easy going and a go with the flow kind of person, and enjoys planning any kind of event.