Cantor Leslie Friedlander

nd insight into our wedding. She worked with us as she explained Jewish wedding customs and helped us find a balance of tradition and modernity that was unique to our values. She wove what she’d learned about us into the service, making it feel truly fitting for us. Our guests were unanimously impressed. Though we weren’t originally looking to do premarital work, her skillful use of the Prepare/Enrich program helped my wife and I feel even more comfortable and close and prepared for the realities of wedded life. Even for those couples who (like us) feel like they’ve already had all the hard conversations and know each other completely, I encourage going through with Prepare/Enrich to gain an additional perspective.

s. She was very attentive, really interested in getting to know us and our unique situation (2nd marriage, large extended family) and listened and respected our ceremony needs. The bonus was working with her on the pre-marital partner assesment and weekly discussion about the results. The ceremony itself was beautiful, touching and exactly what we wanted. Also, as an event and wedding planner myself, Leslie understood how important it was to me to stay on schedule and all the details of the day. We plan to keep in touch with Leslie and are very grateful for her support throughout the wedding planning process and the beautiful ceremony. We highly recommend Leslie for your Jewish ceremony.

o different areas of one's relationship. She was always friendly, prompt, and professional. The whole experience, from start to finish, was nothing short of a wonderful experience. I highly recommend Cantor Leslie to any interfaith couple getting married - she gets it!

n why. I found Cantor Leslie on 18Doors looking for an officiant who would conduct a Jewish ceremony for an interfaith couple, and she was by far the most down to earth, warm and personable officiant we met with. And - she offered pre-marital counseling sessions, which was a huge selling point for me. After meeting with her, it was clearly a no brainer and my husband completely agreed. Over more than 6 months, Cantor Leslie worked with us on both our ceremony and our Prepare and Enrich sessions - it was the best experience that prepared us for the commitment we were making (even after 6 years of being together), taught us more about ourselves as individuals and as a couple, provided us tips and guidance to carry into our future together, set us up successfully to have tough conversations/address conflict, and generally gave my husband and I a lot of laughs while we practiced our daily compliments and deciding on weekly dates. In short - it certainly did prepare and enrich us. Throughout these sessions, we worked on our ceremony - Cantor Leslie's patience during this process is unmatched. She explained the run through no less than 50 times, and really taught me (the bride and non-Jewish partner) so much about the meanings and tradition behind every minute of the ceremony and all the options we could add to personalize it. From sharing Ketubah artists and helping us with filling it out correctly, to having 1:1 session with me about my vows, to making suggestions for honoring loved ones who passed, and even guiding us on what music should be playing for the instrumental band we hired, she just goes above and beyond. On the day of the wedding, she even calmed down the whole wedding party/family (ourselves included) when a storm hit and we had to ask the venue to move the seats last minute, with guests starting to arrive. She took that situation and smoothed it over, suggested a solution for how to make ceremony work in the cocktail reception area that we hadn't previously thought of, and basically saved the day. It resulted in all of us being very loose and laid back for the ceremony, which can be nerve wracking in and of itself, and while it feels like it went by so quickly, it was the most special part of our day.

ources for the ketubah, and making sure we had all materials needed for the ceremony. Our meetings with her were informative, kind, and provided a space where it felt like we were being heard and where we received thoughtful responses. She took time to explain aspects of a ceremony we were unfamiliar with and respected our choices on what to include. She was a supportive presence in the overall wedding planning process that can feel hectic and overwhelming. It was important to us that the ceremony was representative of both of us, one being Jewish and the other not. Leslie did a masterful job at incorporating the traditions that were important without it feeling archaic or inauthentic to us and also holding space for not religiously specific sentiments that resonated regardless of faith. She composed all our preferences and what she learned about us through our meetings into a heartfelt ceremony. Highly, highly, highly recommend Cantor Leslie!

Cantor made her and her family feel comfortable and included. We cannot recommend her highly enough - she’s the best!! - Montse and Jeremy

edding. We had a Jewish ceremony with elements of my husband’s catholic up bringing. Cantor Friedlander was able to provide so many suggestions on how to make everyone feel included. Her goal with a ceremony of different faiths is to ensure people aren’t just there as spectators but are learning, understanding, and participating in the ceremony and sharing in the special occasion. We laughed a lot with Cantor Friedlander and are looking forward to continuing our relationship with her for years to come!

h Cantor Friedlander to plan a ceremony that felt inclusive, personal and meaningful. Cantor Friedlander even helped us to find an Episcopal Deacon who could co-officiate. The Prepare/Enrich premarital course and Facetime sessions we did with Cantor Friedlander allowed us all to get to know each other and this was reflected in everything Cantor Friedlander put into the ceremony. So many guests told us how intentional our ceremony was and that they loved Cantor Friedlander. We could not have asked for a better wedding ceremony and are very appreciative to have been able to work with Cantor Friedlander.

ways responding quickly to messages and never had a problem accommodating our schedules. We especially appreciated that Cantor Leslie really got to know us as a couple and individuals as well (we loved that she offered pre-marital counseling & we are so happy we did it). We very much appreciated her support of our different Jewish backgrounds and with her help we were able to create a very meaningful ceremony. I cannot speak higher of Cantor Leslie, her professionalism and overall kindness!

get to know us and was able to make our wedding ceremony special and personable. She even went the extra mile and wore a custom Yarmulke with a symbol that resonated with my late father, which was truly something special. Cantor Leslie Friedlander was everything we looked for and more! We would recommend her to anyone!

ing, and leading up to our wedding we had multiple sessions with her discussing several topics on marriage - from children to religion to conflict resolution. In each session, she showed how much she cared about her job and offered extremely thoughtful and realistic advice about navigating marriage. On our wedding day, she showed up early, performed the ceremony in the way that we had planned, and even navigated technical hiccups that happened during our ceremony with grace. We thank you Cantor Leslie for everything!!! Would highly recommend.

onal and authentic. Leslie succeeded. Not only were our sessions helpful for creating the relationship with Leslie but they were also helpful in getting me and my husband in the perfect mindset. In the midst of wedding planning stress, we would meet once a month with Leslie to talk about us as a couple. It would help put everything back into perspective. Leslie does a great job at creating a warm space and feels like she's really invested in your love story. Very grateful to have found her and can't thank her enough.

guests on it. I couldn’t recommend Leslie enough!

arm, funny, understanding and was willing to customize our ceremony from start to finish. The process was seamless and my husband and I benefited greatly from working with her on her prep and enrich course. We look forward to our continued relationship with her because just having her marry us isn’t enough :)

meaningful to us and our families. We very much appreciate everything she has done for us and highly recommend her!

how much he was learning and having a good time. Yes! She was a caring and knowledgeable guide through every emotional bridge we crossed. Our congregation said she explained everything so well and enjoyed her singing. Her appreciation and warm vibration made our journey meaningful and happy. Many thanks for our wonderful wedding journey. XO

d me through tough times and was a true partner in the lead up to the big day. Totally recommend. Carlos: As a non Jew, the Cantor did a great job introducing me into the Jewish traditions regardless of my religion background, from a perspective of history, understanding and respect.

sonal and heartfelt, and we are grateful. Would highly recommend hiring Cantor!

sonalized and meaningful for us. She found ways to incorporate so many special elements into our ceremony, incorporating a baby blanket from my late grandmother into our parents' blessing, and finding the perfect words to encapsulate our relationship as she spoke about us. Leslie is extremely gifted at personalizing your ceremony to you. Since we chose to incorporate many Jewish traditions into our ceremony, she did a great job 'translating' those traditions for our diverse audience of guests, ensuring that everyone could follow along and really understand the meaning and symbolism behind them. She also did a great job modernizing some traditions in a way that felt authentic to us, and explaining to our audience how and why we made those choices. Leslie also lead a beautiful, intimate bedecken ceremony for us prior to our actual ceremony, including our immediate families and giving our parents a moment to privately speak to us with blessings and words of wisdom before we walked down the aisle. Leslie is a true professional, an artist on the bimah, and will create a ceremony for you which is entirely personal and beautiful. Every person we spoke to after the wedding (including us) cited our ceremony as their favorite part of the day- and we had a LOT of dessert so that's really saying something! It was meaningful, special, comfortable, and perfectly us. Cantor Leslie- THANK YOU! I can't recommend her enough.

was looking forward to the meetings each week because Leslie made it fun and was really relatable. Then she took everything she learned from us and wrote a beautiful ceremony for us with many details we forgot we even told her! Overall is was a great experience and would highly recommend. Thanks Leslie!

ked with the pastor to string together the most beautiful ceremony honoring both families traditions and religions. Leslie took the time to get to know us as people, and helped us manage the stress and preparation leading up to our wedding day. We really enjoyed Prepare Enrich -- it taught us many new things about ourselves, our relationship, and it gave us many helpful and applicable tips to incorporate into our daily lives in marriage. The ceremony was better than we could have imagined, and Leslie was highly reliable, engaged, and thoughtful throughout the entire process. Thank you Cantor Leslie!

own with the Cantor, she provides you with an option of taking a test about yourself as well as your spouse. This is how she gets to know you both as individuals and as a couple. After about 6 counseled meetings, Cantor Leslie was able to tell us that we were destined to get married. From her professionalism to her expertise, when it was time for our wedding day, the ceremony, customized for our interfaith wedding, was truly beautiful. We would highly recommend her to anyone.

emony with a modern twist, which was very unique to our values. Our guests absolutely loved the ceremony, especially her explanations behind the meaning of each component of the wedding (and her beautiful voice!). It was unforgettable, individualized, and filled with beautiful life lessons. She was easy to work with, and each call was filled with laughs and humor. Cantor Friedlander, thank you again for helping to make our wedding day perfect, and we cannot recommend you enough!

, she got to know us intimately and incorporated everything into our service like she’s known us for years. All that plus a beautiful voice to add to your ceremony!

a long and happy marriage. She was also helpful in the orchestration of the ceremony by giving us ideas of rituals and explaining their meanings in different cultures.