Howard M Steiermann Ordained Wedding Officiant

together to celebrate our union. We met with him several times in advance to share what we envisioned for our ceremony and really appreciated how he incorporated our thoughts and wishes along with the elements of Judaic ritual that mattered most to us. My husband and I felt that he so beautifully honored not only who we are as individuals but who we are as a couple. We also asked him to acknowledge our loving parents who are no longer with us, which he did movingly. He was well organized in his approach which kept us on schedule. I highly recommend Howard as an officiant Rabbi.

n and Judaism and worked together with us to craft a ceremony that honored Jewish tradition yet still felt perfectly us. He's totally open to meeting you where you are spiritually and his passion and skill for creating a fully customized ceremony was excellent. We received many compliments from guests that this was one of their favorite ceremonies to witness and that they "could truly feel *us* within the ceremony."

e were most excited for and proud of. He was very culturally sensitive, curious, and welcoming, and we would especially recommend him for anyone having a multicultural or interfaith wedding like ours.

onths leading up. His demeanor was A+ and we could not have been more fortunate to have been introduced to him. We both highly recommend his services - you won't regret it!

kind, caring, and genuine, but he is also an absolute professional with the pre and post wedding details (for all the legal things we weren't aware of). We also couldn't have been more thrilled to have his insight an suggestions with our ceremony, vows, and overall organization of the moments leading up and shortly after the ceremony itself. Our guests couldn't stop sharing how special Howard's words were. He is so inclusive and was able to weave a mix of religion (jewish, emphasis on the "ish" and non-secular) and ensured that all cultures were so well respected. To put it simply, Howard made our wedding so incredibly special we have to recommend him to any couple getting married. Thank you, Howard - you made our day so amazingly special!

l was beyond our expectation. We absolutely recommend Howard to help create an unforgettable event for your special day.

ceremony they have ever been to. Not only did he meet our expectations, but he exceeded them. He met with us multiple times, taking copious notes, and truly listened to everything we asked for. He took aspects of our life and incorporated them into the most beautiful ceremony ever. We feel beyond blessed to have such an incredible memory and we recommend Howard highly for anyone interested! Not only the best Rabbi but also such an amazing person!

ure all the Jewish traditions while also speaking to those of other faiths in the room felt impossible until we met Howard. Rabbi Steiermann asked us questions we ourselves hadn't considered and was very thoughtful and responsive throughout the process. Howard was also particularly sensitive to advocating FOR us. We ended up holding a private Ketubah signing prior to our larger ceremony where Howard delivered beautiful messages and sentiments and we read our vows. I really do attribute the calm, loving atmosphere to our Rabbi. Rabbi Steiermann is a rockstar. BOOK IMMEDIATELY.

edding a beautiful event, and we had lots of compliments from our friends and family. Howard guided us thoughtfully in preparing for our ceremony and was very empathic and considerate as we are a couple of different faiths and different ethnic backgrounds. He explained things honestly and thoroughly and was open to answering all of our questions. Because of COVID, Howard FaceTime with us before our wedding to learn more about us. That, to me, was fantastic because, after that, he was no longer a stranger. He guided us and reviewed our vows. On the day of the ceremony, he was very organized, and his words were so soothing and specialty tailor to us that made our wedding ceremony so incredibly beautiful and enjoyable. He was incredibly supportive, and we highly recommend it. We can’t even express how pleased we are with every aspect of Howard’s Officiant service! He far surpassed our expectations in every way, delivering a perfectly customized ceremony and executing it flawlessly! Howard was warm, funny, professional, prompt, and gave me lots of personal attention. Many thanks, Howard!”

ble for our friends and family who are not Jewish, and to be a reflection of us as a couple. We requested no mention of God, and Howard easily presented us with alternative options, and kept the ceremony in the spirit of the Jewish tradition, with modern English interpretations of Hebrew blessings. He was also so lovely to work with leading up to the wedding — we met several times in person, and exchanged countless emails fine-tuning all of the details. We were initially worried about what to do about our vows since we didn’t intend to share our vows publicly with our guests, and Howard was so supportive in suggesting vow options that would create a ceremony that was comfortable for us. Howard also constantly encouraged us to stay true to ourselves and our wishes throughout the whole process, which was so helpful to keep focused on what we imagined for this key part of our wedding day. He has a confident and calming presence that made us feel secure in knowing he had the ceremony handled, which was such a relief to know the ceremony was something we did not need to stress or worry about when planning all of the other details that go into a wedding. We couldn't recommend Howard more!

was stunning how the ceremony uniquely reflected the bride and groom and how the preferences of both families were honored. Howard and Sally collaborated long distance but guests thought they regularly worked as an officiant team. I already knew that Howard would create a lovely, meaningful, inclusive ceremony on his own. Now I am so impressed with his ability to also create such a special ceremony working with another officiant.

or everyone in attendance. We are LGBTQ, with Jewish and non-denominational protestant families, we're originally from Atlanta and Austin, and we live in San Francisco, so our ceremony had to be a delicate mix. Howard asked us all the right questions to make our ceremony reflect who we are and was especially focused on making our ceremony inclusive. We especially appreciated that he was able to take Jewish traditions and make them current, relevant and digestible for the mostly non-Jewish crowd. We had been planning on having a friend officiate, but that fell through about six weeks before the wedding, and Howard was awesome about jumping in. We really only had the vaguest idea of what we wanted out of our ceremony, and Howard gently guided us through the process. Howard provided structure where we needed it, and was a voice of calm throughout the whole thing. We knew we were in good hands and that we wouldn't have to worry about the ceremony. And we were right: we got so many compliments on the ceremony! Our parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, and even our DJ and photographer told us how touching it was. We highly, highly recommend Howard. He's thoughtful, experienced and open-minded; he has just the right mix of gravitas and lightheartedness. He created the most beautiful ceremony for us--we'll never forget it, and we're so happy we chose him.