About this vendor
Based in Miami, FL, Amani Officiant presides over weddings of all sizes and styles. Life celebrant Carol Ann Ross knows that weddings can be stressful and is dedicated to bringing serenity and joy to your special occasion. This officiant takes a creative, fun-filled, and tender approach to each script she writes. Meet and greet on a complimentary FaceTime call to see why she is the perfect person to pronounce you married!
Carol Ann was born in South Africa and lived in Europe before settling in the United States. Throughout her 25-year career in event planning, she has been privileged to organize celebrations across the globe. Her life experiences have brought her in close contact with a variety of cultures and languages and taught her the importance of tolerance and love. “Amani” is both the Swahili word for peace and the Hindi word for wishes and aspirations, two sentiments she believes are fundamental to a marriage.
Amani Officiant offers a range of services that you can tailor to your wedding needs. Among these are the Shakespeare in the Park, which comes with a personalized script crafted after interviewing you, your partner, and friends and family. This option also includes a rehearsal to make sure that everything runs smoothly. In addition, Carol Ann will conduct more traditional ceremonies with customized vows, minimonies and elopements, and vow renewals.
Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Second Wedding
Wedding Activities
- Wedding
- Ceremony
Awards and Affiliations
2022 'Best of Weddings'
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
Reviews
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5
out of 5.053 reviews
Amani Officiant wrote the most beautiful ceremony for our intimate wedding. It was a joy working with Carol Ann and she invested time getting to know us as a couple. She listened...
intently to our story and personalized our ceremony while still allowing us the freedom to write our own vows. I absolutely would hire her all over again.
All around, a wonderful experience! Getting through the wedding planning was tough for my wife and I but every time we met with Carol Ann we were gifted with a renewed excitement....
That is just part of her personality that spreads to the people she touches. We loved her thoughtfulness and care which was evident the whole way through the process. We feel we gained a new friend a long the way and we will never forget her being part of this incredibly memorable day. We can't express enough gratitude! We received nothing but wonderful feedback about the ceremony from our guests who all loved how our story was weaved throughout. Many of our guests didn't even know some of the details about our story that Carol Ann highlighted! They (and we) were all so impressed with warm and personal touches to the entire ceremony. We couldn't be happier.
Amani Officiant was AMAZING!!! We enjoyed the fact that she took so much time interview and create our story. Although her rates were higher than others, her services are superior!...
We recommend her without reservation! She is a wonderful human being!
An excellent officiant for your intimate ceremony!
We would love to recommend Carol Ann as your officiant. She writes beautifully crafted stories about the couple and she tells th...
em
in a glorious fashion. Her articulate use of language makes everyone feel as though they are part of an intimate ceremony to salute a
beautiful love. She listened to everything we said and transcribed the information to the written word in a delicate tribute to our love.
Thank you Carol Ann.
My husband and I recommend Carol Ann to anyone who is looking. She did a fabulous job of our wedding ceremony. It was the perfect amount of time, humor, compassion, sincerity and a...
ccuracy. Instead of referencing religion, she spoke about spiritual aspects that we adhered to and she captured our personal story. We think she is simply the best!
We found Carol Ann through some friends and cannot thank them enough for suggesting her to us. Our wedding ceremony took us down memory lane into a beautifully written piece of the...
atre which we and the guests thoroughly enjoyed. Carol Ann captured our love story with the lens of an articulate and spectacular story teller. Thank you for everything you did to make our wedding so perfect.
A beautiful, elegant and tender exchange of vows officiated by carol ann ross who drew out the personalities of the bride and groom perfectly. I loved watching every moment of thi...
s wedding ceremony. Simply break-taking!
We were so fortunate to meet Carol Ann in time to officiate our wedding. She did an extraordinary ceremony for our friends and family. We had the best time and honestly think that ...
Carol Ann was largely responsible for our happy day. We recommend her to anyone thinking of a fabulous officiant.
Carol Ann Ross is the only Wedding Officiant you should ever consider if you want something tender, funny, charming, friendly, informative and FUN. My partner and I could not have...
picked a better person for the job. She was on target with all the facts, and the way she spoke to us was from the heart and with profound sincerity. She really believed in us and what she was saying. Our wedding was an informal affair with tremendous elegance and panache. Thank you Carol Ann
We would like to recommend Carol Ann as your officiant. She was a pleasure to work with- so reliable, punctual, helpful and flexible. The story she wrote for us was exceptionally i...
nteresting, funny, spiritual, tender, and accurate.
We were totally relaxed with her and despite having many eyes on us during our ceremony, she kept us calm and enjoying ourselves.
Bravo Carol Ann. You really made our wedding a momentous milestone in our lives.
If you are looking for a very beautiful and genuine ceremony, look no further than Carol Ann. She crafts a winsome, funny, tender, heartfelt story of your love and tells it with co...
mpassion, thoughtfulness and a beautiful accent.
We are so delighted that we found her amongst the long list of officiants available. We cannot imagine that there is anyone better to perform your wedding ceremony. Book her as soon as you get engaged so you will be sure to have her available for your date!
My partner and I got married last month in the most glorious ceremony that Carol Ann officiated. She prepared a stunning story for us that told all about our love and life. Many of...
our guests commented that they had really listened to the details and appreciated all the insight she offered. She was a pleasure to work with. She was always available and kind to us. We recommend her wholeheartedly.
Carol Ann was our officiant for our intimate wedding celebration last month. The wedding workshop in which we participated, included a lovely questionnaire of interesting question...
s from which she wrote a beautiful love story.
There was no mention of religion, simply a ceremony that celebrated out love, our life and our special day. We absolutely loved working with her and recommend her to anyone considering her services.
I would like to recommend that you hire Carol Ann as your wedding officiant. This woman’s sunny disposition, coupled with her infectious positivity and enthusiasm for everything is...
infectious. She is simply spectacular at her craft and no-one does it better. Her voice is melodic, her words are poetic, and her content is spot on. We are simply thrilled that we found her in time to make the decision to hire her for our wedding. I cannot imagine having anyone else do it better. Thank you
We want to recommend Carol Ann as the best wedding officiant. She wrote such a delightful, poignant ceremony for our celebration. We loved our day and Carol Ann was the biggest and...
most important part of making us
Feel completely overcome with emotional happiness. Thank you so much for giving us so much attention CA! You really listened to us. Five stars.
What a splendid officiant Carol Ann was. We loved Our ceremony so much. We can’t say enough great things about Carol Ann. She is an amour and the delight our friends and family....
We highly recommend this beautiful and elegant woman.
I’m writing to tell everyone how my partner and I felt about Carol Ann and her services. She is absolutely incredible and we loved everything about her. Her gentleness and kindnes...
s was exceptional. Her words were sublime and her rapor with our guests was perfection. Don’t hesitate to hire her !
My husband already wrote a review but I wanted to write my own one as I have to tell everyone just how fabulous our officiant Carol Ann Ross was. We are a gay couple, been together...
for 5 years, and decided it was time to get married. One of our friends had been to a wedding where Carol Ann had presided and didn’t hesitate to recommend her to us. We met with her on a complimentary FaceTime call and immediately it became apparent that she was our Officiant and there was no competition. The day of our ceremony was perfect and Carol Ann incorporated all the elements that we required, making it absolutely charming. She is simply the best. We recommend her without fail.
We would like to tell you about our experience with Carol Ann as our officiant. She is the most adorable, kind, empathetic and charming person we could have wished to meet. She cre...
ated a magnificent ceremony for us that enthralled the guests and thrilled us. We wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone considering an officiant for their wedding.
It is with the greatest of pleasure that I recommend Carol Ann as an officiant. I was an early fan of her services and when the occasion came for me to actually be a recipient of h...
er incredible talent, I did not hesitate to sign up.
And indeed, she gave us a glorious wedding ceremony. Her grace, her vocabulary, her metaphors, her inflections, her personality, her enthusiasm, her positivity - what more can I add here? She is the ONLY officiant to hire. It doesn’t matter where you are located, she will travel to your spot. Her international flair can transcend all borders. Thank you Carol Ann.
Carol Ann is phenomenal. She spent a lot of time talking to us, making sure she knows every detail of our story. She wrote a fantastic, funny and touching speech for our ceremony a...
nd helped us with our vows. Every step of the way she was there for us, making sure that we have a ceremony that we envisioned. Her personality is amazing with huge positive energy. We are very grateful and happy that Carol Ann was our officiant.
From the first moment we met with Carol Ann to the moment where she performed our wedding ceremony, we enjoyed the experience. Carol Ann has so many years in the event industry and...
was able to answer so many questions for us, that she simply demystified the entire wedding industry for us. Whenever we thought we were being taken advantage of, we conferred with Carol Ann and she was able to advise us. Wherever we were indecisive about decision making, Carol Ann was there to steer us in the right direction at every turn. When it came to the writing of the ceremony, her words filled our hearts with love. She expressed our feelings perfectly in her own words, carved from her questions and the answers we gave. She was a professional to deal with business wise, and a compassionate and beautiful soul when it came to personalities. We loved having her so much that we invited her to stay for the wedding dinner. We are looking forward to our vow renewals in a few years time.
When we interviewed Carol Ann as a possible officiant, she won us over with her charming and enthusiastic nature. She was clear and direct on what we could expect from her services...
which were so thorough and exactly what we were looking for in an officiant. We signed the contract and set up a date for an in person meeting to go over all the answers to her extensive and probing questions. We loved the meeting and agreed that we had made the best decision to hire her. She went out of her way to make us comfortable, offering suggestions here and there, laughing with us, and being compassionate when we spoke about less humorous events in our lives. She then went off and wrote the first draft. We made an appointment for her to read the first draft to us over the phone and with a minor change here or there, we were entirely thrilled with what she had written about us and for us.
The day of the wedding dawned and we nervously waited for our ceremony to begin. We were both pretty shy but Carol Ann made us relax although there were many eyes watching us. The ceremony was both touching and tender and our guests told us afterwards that they hung on every word to hear what was coming next. We are so grateful to have found Carol Ann and recommend her 100%.
We have just celebrated our 20 wedding anniversary with a vow renewal ceremony written by the incomparable Carol Ann. She is a national treasure.
Let’s begin with Elegant. Her app...
earance and her demeanor is calm, compassionate, kind and considerate. Let’s go to Eloquent. She speaks with an accent in a beautiful cadence using perfect words at perfect times. Let’s go to Perfection. She made sure to have all the details correct and to tell our story with clarity and correct details. Let’s go to Humor. Although there were parts of the ceremony that were sentimental, there were other details that were told with a sense of humor and a twinkle. Let’s go to Popular. All our family and friends loved her and she was invited to stay for the party afterwards. Let’s go to Recommend. We will tell you that we think she is the absolute best on the planet and you should hire her without reservation.
Reading some of the reviews of Carol-Ann’s work and then meeting her on a complimentary face time call sealed the deal. When we had our many hour question and answer session, we l...
aughed and cried and were surprised by the wonderful thoughts she got us to think about. Carol Ann is so calm and collected. She just goes with the flow. We had a logistical problem that day and were forced to make a change but she was so considerate to our nerves and got us back to where we needed to be. We were thrilled that she had so much experience in planning events as this really helped out when it came to rearranging our ceremony at the last minute. Carol Ann is a professional and an excellent person to have on your team.
My husband I wanted to create a bohemian, warm, unpretentious wedding ceremony as this was the second wedding for both of us. The first wedding we each had was for our parents, so ...
this time, we wanted it all about us. And Carol Ann was the perfect person to make this all about us. She asked us tons of questions and really listened to our stories about life, love and getting married with children from the first time round. She even suggested an amazing way to incorporate our children into the ceremony that made them feel special and wanted. During the ceremony, there were moments when our guests were able to cheer us on, and our families were able to participate. It was the most loving and intimate ceremony, with just the right amount of sentimentality and humor. We cherish this moment in our lives. Thank you Carol Ann. It wall all due to your professional, compassionate way.
My husband and I got married a few months ago and decided that it would be prudent to keep our wedding small and intimate. We found Carol- Ann's services to be perfectly suited to ...
this close group of friends and family. Her beautifully written story and well crafted details captured us perfectly and shared some little known stories with guests. We recommend her without questions.
My best friend asked me to be the best man at his wedding . I knew I could not manage a meaningful ceremony on my own and enlisted the help of Carol Ann Ross. As we worked together, I began to understand the nuances of her delivery and her words and how they were key to the emotions and humor of the ceremony. She helped to bolster my confidence as she coached me through the process. We practiced many hours together. She never lost her patience or calm.
At the last minute, I lost my voice and she had to fill in and take over the officiating. She made herself available in a seconds notice and superbly replaced me. The grooms were thrilled with the replacement despite being disappointed that I wasn’t able to do it. She had the perfect personality for the audience and her beautiful outfit and demeanor lent class and elegance to the marriage. Many people felt that I had pretended to lose my voice because I recognized that she was going to marry my friends in a more professional manor than I would have!
Carol Ann is outstanding at her job. Hire her immediately before you lose your date!
My husband and I got married a few months ago and decided that it would be prudent to keep our wedding small and intimate. We found Carol- Ann's services to be perfectly suited to ...
this close group of friends and family. Her beautifully written story and well crafted details captured us perfectly and shared some little known stories with guests. We recommend her without questions.
My husband and I loved working with Carol Ann. We were introduced to her by another couple that she had worked with who highly recommended her. As it happened, she turned out to be...
more than we could have
hoped for. She wove stories into our ceremony , reminding us of of the love we have for one another and engaged the guests so that they felt great emotion along with us.
Carol Ann took time to get to know us and create a truly personalized, meaningful experience. She made us feel special and unique. not just like clients with a pay check!
Bravo Carol Ann! We were so lucky we found you to your officiate our special day!
We love Carol Ann. She is simply the best officiant you could ever imagine. She is versatile, competent, thoughtful, helpful and generous. She has a winning disposition that charms...
everyone. We recommend her with all our hearts.
Jenny S
I was a guest at a wedding that Carol Ann officiated. She was beautifully dressed, elegant and composed. And her ceremony so accurately described the bride and groom that I felt as...
if she has known them all her life. I subsequently discovered that she spends a very long time getting to know the couple’s history, who they are, what they want, how they feel. It was a magical speech. The couple had not written their own vows, and the ones that Carol Ann offered to them were spiritual and beautiful in every sense. There was humor, sentimentality and intelligence. I had to write a review as I have not attended such a magical ceremony.
When we looked at Carol Ann ’s website, we realized that she was the perfect person to officiate a same sex marriage. Her graphics illustrated to us that she was going to be very i...
nclusive.
We were not wrong about our initial reaction and upon meeting her, felt completely comfortable in her company. She was a mother hen to us, and helped us enormously to make decisions on strategic choices for our wedding. The ceremony was everything we wanted it to be. Carol Ann spoke with tender care about our love, our lives, our families and future dreams. She gave the guests a perfect start to the wedding and from there on in, people were relaxed and in the mood to have fun. It was a day we will remember forever and Carol Ann was a huge part of making it that.
I was the bridesmaid at a wedding that Carol Ann officiated at. She was so helpful to the entire bridal party and the bride during the planning of the wedding. When it came to writ...
ing the ceremony, she spent countless hours interviewing the bride and groom, the family and the bridal party. This culminated in the most personal and beautiful ceremony we could ever have imagined. People were congratulating her for hours afterwards. She captured the couple with humor, emotion, facts, and dreams. I am so looking forward to seeing what she will do for my own wedding ceremony. We are all obsessed with her! She was absolutely made for this job!
We would like to recommend Carol Ann to prospective clients. She is amazingly talented and her generosity in not just creating our ceremony but in helping us with the details of ou...
r wedding was exceptional. If you are looking through lists of officiants, stop here. This is the one you should choose. You will never be disappointed.
My husband and I were delighted with the work of Carol Ann. She was nothing short of AMAZING. Her writing is superb, she captured us in a way that we could not even have done ourse...
lves. Her delivery was gentle and charming. She is the most wonderful nurturing soul.
Fantastic Creative Inspiring💜⭐️
Bravo Carol Ann! An amazing lovely woman who was such a pleasure to partner with. Carol Ann has mastered the art of composing and presenting a cere...
mony. The beautiful spiritual vows that she wrote for us captured the essence of who we truly are! We all laughed and cried from words of love filled with a great sense humor.
Our guests were WOWED!!
We loved working with Carol Ann and recommend her highly to one and all!
We were one of the last weddings before Covid shut down the world. Good thing we didn’t have to postpone as Carol Ann worked so hard on our ceremony. She asked such fabulous questi...
ons that gave us the tools to come up with fabulous answers making for a fabulous ceremony. She has the compassion to write what you want to hear and the skill to phrase it in the way you want to hear it. Carol Ann Thank you for your expertise and attention to detail. You are the absolute best. 5 STAR.
2nd Best Day Of Our Life Together
Rafael and I married some years ago. Our only regret was that our family and friends could not join us. We spoke of renewing our vows many times ...
but not sure how to go about it. We have very busy schedules. A friend recommended Carol Ann. After our first meeting, we both knew she was the Wedding Officiant that could do it all. We met two more times, pouring out our history together, the good times, the rough times, and what we hoped our future would bring. It was obvious that Carol Ann listened to every word. Her artistry, compassion and unique vision of life put together a renewal ceremony like no other. Along with us, our guests laughed, cheered and cried. Carol Ann created a day none of us will ever forget. Those attending still talk about how they felt part of the journey Rafael and I had been on and what the future would hold.
Thank you Carol Ann. You are a blessing.
You need someone to understand you as individuals, history, what brought about the love between you that you want immortalized... Carol Ann got it, and got us from the moment we me...
t. I cannot imagine a better match to express our love and commitment in such a real and meaning, heartfelt manner.
My husband and I chose to hire Carol Ann for her exquisite writing and presentation skills. She is a brilliant story teller and our wedding renewal ceremony detailed many years of ...
our marriage. She was prompt, efficient, easy to do business with, reliable and most importantly very compassionate. Our children bought us the wedding renewal ceremony as a gift and we can honestly say it was the best gift we ever received.
What a delightful experience it is working with Carol Ann at Amani Officiant. She is writing a story about us that was nothing short of brilliant. I would recommend her a hundred t...
imes over. Her personality and her kindness makes us feel confident from day one and she over delivers. Best officiant.
Amani Officiant's service and support from start to finish was fantastic, professional and very special after what was a challenging time of arranging our wedding during the pandem...
ic. Her expert focus on helping us create vows to exchange during the ceremony was so magical that it made the most important day of our lives unforgettable. Her officiating style is so warm, endearing, and gracious, our wedding would not have been a success without her.
If you want to have a wedding that is cool, funny, UNBORING, exciting, engaging, warm, genuine, authentic and real, please hire
Carol Ann Ross. You will get the very best offician...
t you can dream of.
I attended a wedding recently that Carol Ann officiated. My husband and I were blown away by the tender and romantic story
That she told about the couple. She spoke with such elo...
quence and so much knowledge of the couple’s story. We were
Surprised when we learned that she did not actually know the couple, but had written their love story and their vows based on
Interviews and conversations over the last month beforehand. It was the best ceremony we have attended - so much so that we
Volunteered to write this review about her.
Carol Ann was a knockout. She coordinated our wedding ceremony perfectly. Her choice of words was perfect and we would highly recommend her talents to everyone wishing to have a be...
spoke ceremony.
Carol Ann officiated a wedding I attended back in December 2019. The ceremony itself couldn’t have been more beautiful but what really stands out in my memory are the lovely vows C...
A worked with Michael and David to write. She did a really remarkable job walking the line between keeping things serious, sincere, and meaningful while also adding a lighthearted, humorous tone. Usually I find wedding ceremonies a bit boring and dry and almost painfully serious - this one I’ll remember as a great party!
Carolann is a masterful storyteller and has an extraordinary ability to bring people together.
She is a good listener and speaks eloquently and with authenticity.
She really know...
s how to create magic and celebrate love!
We had actually hired a different officiant, but she let us down at the last minute and Carol Ann stepped in, picked up the pieces, and created the most perfect love story of our l...
ives for us.
The guests loved her, we loved her, and would recommend her to anyone looking for an elegant, eloquent presentation for their wedding ceremony.
My husband and I were in no doubt as to whether or not we should hire Carol Ann. Upon meeting her, we were just blown
Away with her compassion and kindness. She is also a master a...
rtist and she brings an incredible theatrical spirit to the wedding ceremony. Her experience with events calmed our nerves and her hugs made us feel nurtured before walking down the aisle.
Our guests felt she was so approachable as she greeted everyone in such a non invasive way and made them laugh before
The beginning of the wedding ceremony. She is a PRO. Her years of event experience have given her skills to fend off all
The issues that arise. She is SUPER CALM and every wedding needs that. We love her.
Contact
Yes.. I will travel to various areas
Amani Officiant's photos