Hudson Valley Ceremonies

just get to know us. Many of the other officiants we interviewed were just business. She was wonderfully responsive assisting us with our entire ceremony. She also had perfect recommendations for when we needed a professional opinion.

e wanted for our special day. We had several guests ask if Naomi was a friend of ours because of her meaningful speech, but we had actually only spoke on the phone and through email. We can't recommend Hudson Valley Ceremonies enough, they were absolutely fantastic to work with.

is to prepare to hand everything over to the HVC team on the day. I didn't actually get enough organized ahead (we all probably feel this way) and somehow expected that I'd be available to direct some things... This is NOT the case. Organize and communicate all things to the HVC team ahead of time and then relax on the day. Enjoy!

ailed in our marriage license. Highly recommended!

l. We had so much fun with him and he made us laugh during the ceremony which lightened it up so much. Thank you Rev. Lawrence! We can't thank you enough for our beautiful ceremony!

rovided some of her own decorations. The day of, Sage coordinated all the set up and timing for the day. She was also a calming presence reminding me and my fiance to enjoy ourselves. I can not be more grateful! Thank you thank you thank you!

ng for and make you feel comfortable and welcomed while doing so. We got so many compliments about our ceremony and Rev Stu specifically from our friends and family. You'll be so glad if you choose him!

u prior to the wedding and went over all the different options for how to customize our ceremony. Rev. Stu worked with us to incorporate all the details in the ceremony that were important to us and create a base that we could build from. We received a detailed document going over all aspects of the ceremony and a first draft of the vows. We then customized our vows and Stu worked all of our adjustments into the final draft. Rev. Stu performed the ceremony beautifully, spoke clearly, and added some cheerful humor to lighten the mood and make our wedding memorable. You will not be disappointed with Reverend Stu! Book him!!!

utiful assortment of ceremony components on their website. Jeanne was response and informative. We loved that HVC sent helpful reminder emails for when it was time to get our wedding license. We purchased the “Friends Officiate” package and Reverend Elizabeth came exactly on time and was warm, friendly, and professional. It took so much pressure off us to know that everything would be filed in accordance to NY law.

ked up items we needed from vendors, dealt with other vendors for us, and provided us with items she had at her shop. She made us feel relaxed and comfortable leading up to the wedding, and during the entire wedding (even though it rained all day). We literally could not have had our wedding without her!!

The ceremony was very heartfelt and touching. Debra made it just right for us. Debra is extremely easy to work with, she is even great with the other vendors. We highly, highly recommend working with Debra for your wedding ceremony!

room with you at the end of the ceremony as well as all the initial prep before hand! I have to say that Sandra nailed every detail. I didn't not need to worry about a think and when I arrived at my hotel room at the end of the night everything from wedding gifts to champagne glasses were accounted for. There was not a think that was overlooked. Sandra was super nice and pleasant to work with, very responsive and I know we were in good hands. If you want piece of mind during your day, I wouldn't look anywhere else. They were great!

inators) at our wedding location, we kept hearing, "YOU NEED TO GET JEANNE." Finally, we decided we need to see who this Jeanne was, and she was more than we thought she could be. Jeanne was our breath of fresh air in the wedding planning madness. She always had it together and had our backs to make sure everything was what we wanted. She knew our concerns and she knows EVERY VENDOR. Instead of spending hours checking references for caterers or djs, or trying to figure out where to rent tables, she directed us in all the right directions and connected us to amazing vendors. Our day was filled with great people with great attitudes making sure we were happy, not stressed, having the time of our lives, and that we were not lifting a finger. It all came together with amazing bonuses. For instance, we wanted to figure out how to rent a karaoke machine and a photo booth as well. Of course, Jeanne had both. We wanted extra boxes for wedding favors: Jeanne. Flip Flops for guests at the reception that we hadn't even thought of: Jeanne. The brunch the next morning: Jeanne. No caterers, just her amazing coordination and her great ideas (like having a bloody mary bar). It was all so easy, creative and beautiful. So many aspects of your wedding feel like you are pouring wayyy to much money into different places, but Jeanne was worth every penny (she is also extremely reasonably priced and we felt like we were getting a deal considering how much she did for us). She goes above and beyond and no task or request is too much. And she's a wealth of knowledge for every aspect of your wedding. For peace and mind, hire Jeanne. No regrets, only one incredible seamless day.

arried. She took the time to really get to know us as people and as a couple - our history and interests and delivered a very personable and unique ceremony for us. She was always available and arrived an hour early to our wedding just for ease of mind and to help everyone get organized. I would absolutely recommend her through Hudson Value Ceremonies!

erfect in every way. If you are considering working with Jeanne don't look any further and sign that contract. You won't regret it!

create a ceremony that was unique, moving and memorable. We loved it, as did our families and guests. He also gave us a beautifully printed copy of the service for our wedding album. Without reservation, I recommend him. PS - he is also very organized and calm - valuable and essential traits when both grooms are a tad nervous!

ether the gift bags for our guests with a Hudson Valley theme -- her ideas were awesome -- we used almost all of them. We also hired her to arrange transportation for our guests and she saved us hundreds of dollars in transportation costs. My only regret was not hiring her for the full wedding planning. She had discounts and knowledge that I am sure would have easily covered the cost of the service. Lesson Learned! The day of the event, she was highly visible and managing all those details -- flawlessly. Things just always looked professional -- for example, when the "comfort" table flip flops ran out, the bin was removed and items on the table rearranged so it look nice again. Simple touches like that all evening allowed me to enjoy my daughters wedding night. Highly recommend Lauren to anyone needing wedding planning. She is so competent, organized and on top of things. She provides honest kind feedback on all items and helps make what you are planning far better than you imagined.

to provide vendor recommendations and answer any questions we had. She connected with all our vendors prior to the wedding to iron out all of the details. The day before the wedding, she did a walkthrough with my husband and I and our photographer, led the ceremony walkthrough with our bridal party and ironed out final details with us. The day of my wedding, I woke up to an unfortunate e-mail that my hair and makeup woman's family was in a tragic car accident and she was unable to make it and could not find a backup for hair at such short notice. By 7:30am, Jeanne had already found someone else to come and handle hair for myself and my bridesmaids. I didn't even have chance to worry about it since she already handled it! The rest of the wedding day went just that way. While I was sitting back and enjoying time with my bridesmaids, Jeanne was handling all of the vendors and set-up. She constantly checked in to make sure myself and my husband didn't need anything, she was so attentive to us and our families throughout the entire night. Jeanne is calm, helpful, organized and so easy to work with. It's so important on your wedding day to be able to sit back and enjoy every moment and with Jeanne's help our day was absolutely perfect.

ail, and about 2 months in order to get any response from anyone at the company. I was livid. I finally got a response and it looked like a form email. What a ridiculous way to treat your customer. I at least expected to hear back from someone saying they were busy, out of the office, etc. I got absolutely no response. Terrible experience for me. Absolutely terrible.

structure our own. He worked with us to create the perfect ceremony. We were very happy with both it and him! We would absolutely recommend using HVC and Rev. Cook for your big day.

s very flexible throughout the process. He was willing to discuss plans via phone calls and Skype, as we were planning from halfway across the country. We had a stress-free ceremony, he even printed out our personal statements for each of us. In the end, he put together a beautifully customized, short and sweet ceremony - just like we wanted. We would recommend Reverend Stuart and Hudson Valley Ceremonies to anyone!

rked with us for several weeks to make sure the ceremony was the way we wanted it. She also made herself available to chat anytime to help calm our nerves of the big day. I highly recommend working with Debra.

im!

rs. She made the effort to really get to know us in a short period of time. Her calming presence and kind smile made our day. Thank you for everything Jeanne!!

officiant. His words were so appropriate and meaningful he brought tears of joy to our eyes and smiles and laughter to our faces. What a wonderful and memorable experience.....something we will remember for the rest of lives. Thank you Rev. Chernoff for making our day so special !

specifically for us. We had so many people compliment the ceremony and Reverend Stu specifically. It really helped calm our nerves to have someone experienced and down to earth guiding us through this big moment.

o much of her. Other officiants I spoke with were not as open or flexible as her. We spoke several times over skype and the phone, which was convenient. She let us review and make changes to her ceremony (though only minor ones were needed). She also printed out a nice copy of our ceremony for us. During the ceremony, she spoke beautifully and our guests seemed to love it. It was not too long or short, we were very happy with everything. Thank you Barbara!

ern during planning, Jeanne was there to help us out and offer solutions. She was a lifesaver! Plus, Sandra at HVC planned our 4 country European honeymoon perfectly down to the "t" with flights and trains. In short, they are amazing, incredibly talented, detail-oriented and absolutely worth hiring.

lored his personalized draft to what we had discussed. He even gave us almost 50 pages of alternative passages to choose from--and let us piece together the exact wording we wanted. Jeanne is...Jeanne. She was literally a lifesaver. We hired her for day-of services but she went way beyond just day-of. She contacted all of our vendors to confirm bookings, prepared our escort cards, and even bought supplies for and created our welcome bags! I couldn't believe how much she offered to do--and delivered on. On the day of the wedding, she worked with our venue coordinator to make sure everything went smoothly and took a load of stress off of us. She even carted ALL of our stuff, including all of our centerpieces, back to the hotel in her car. She really goes the extra mile--the extra 100 miles, in fact! And her prices seriously couldn't be beat. I couldn't believe what a bargain Hudson Valley Ceremonies was!

wn to earth person - we could not have asked for a better officiant to marry us. My husband and I live in Chicago, so Stu made sure to FaceTime with us every few months to get to know us. I highly recommend Hudson Valley Ceremonies!

recommend her services!

s about the payment schedule and obtaining a marriage license, which is extremely helpful when you have so much to do. After a telephone converstation, I immediately wanted Rev. Stu to be our officiant. We really wanted our ceremony to feel intimate and romantic and Rev Stu really helped us make that happen! Our ceremony felt tailored to our personalities, our relationship and our culture. Our families are from Puerto Rico and he suggested a beautiful saying in Spanish that my mom loved! His humor helped relaxed everyone. All of our family and friends loved him!

ithin an hour. They also accommodated us changing the time of the ceremony 2 months before. When we met with Lawrence the day of we were completely comfortable and it was great! I would recommend them to anyone!

adn't already known what I was getting, I would have been ecstatic with the services she provided. She was attentive, interested, and beyond helpful. I was coming from a place where I wasn't really sure how to go about "designing" a ceremony and she guided me every step of the way. She listened to my concerns and even seemed excited about helping me incorporate some unusual elements into my ceremony (I had a Harry Potter-themed wedding, and she came up with the idea of having me and my then-fiance make the "Unbreakable Vow" and even printed our ceremony program in Slytherin green!). In short, I can't recommend Barbara and Hudson Valley Ceremonies enough. In the midst of a lot of wedding-planning confusion, they were a stress-free no-brainer!

/hem my dress during an emergency breaking of the bustle and need for hemming (once barefoot) during cocktail hour, which almost felt like a cliche, but she was armed with the right tools and fixed everything within minutes! I could go on and on and on about her many talents, but first I want to comment on her personality. She is so warm, genuinely invested in your wedding, creative, experienced, flexible, and professional. Even the priest at our church told us in all the years he's been doing this (a long time!) he has never met a kinder wedding coordinator than Jeanne, and I think that says it all. She's respectful to you and everyone around her, kind and funny, and just an overall wonderful person. She's also an amazing florist! I was shocked when she told me she could do my flowers and I admit I was a bit skeptical at first. Well I had no reason to be, because she clearly knew her stuff (even finding more affordable alternatives if needed) and she produced the most beautiful flowers for the bridal party and venue. We've received so many compliments on our flowers and that's all due to Jeanne's vision and artistry. Furthermore, she worked miracles in getting our invitations printed and mailed out (a friend designed our invites and it was surprisingly more difficult than expected to have them printed the right way), she provided all of the vases, candle holders, baskets, and lights to decorate our venue (which was beautiful!), she managed our vendors day-of, as well as payment/tipping at our request, and she provided a sense of calm which is much needed throughout the planning process and day-of. I've already recommended her to a friend and highly suggest you work with Jeanne! It'll be your best decision yet!

ny fit our personalities and was an enjoyable ceremony.

was enthusiastic to be apart of our special day. I would highly recommend Hudson Valley Ceremonies in anyone's wedding planning! Jeanne made our day!

ng with their office, I communicated very frequently with my wedding officiant, Brother Mike Lopez. He was by far the most qualified person to officiate our wedding. He was very flexible and always arrived half hour before our meeting times so we would never have to wait on him. He sent us routine text messages in the weeks before the wedding just to check up on us and reassure us that everything would turn out perfect. We custom built our ceremony with Mike so that it was everything that we could every dream of. Whenever I was feeling nervous about our big day, I could just shoot Mike a text and he would put those feelings at east. At the reception, he fit right in with my family, and everyone loved him. I definitely would recommend Hudson Valley Ceremonies to any other bride to be, and especially Brother Mike Lopez. Oh, and by the way, for a wedding in New York City on New Year's day, the price was a STEAL.

emony that truely reflected my husband and I.

s words, it really couldn't have been more perfect! It was a little expensive since we had a wedding party, but he did his job 100%! Thank you!

s and was truly helpful in coordinating/creating the ceremony that my fiance and I wanted. I would highly recommend to all of my friends!

ions we had or offer up suggestions for how to create the perfect ceremony for the two of us. For our rehearsal and the day of he was very punctual, professional, calming and had such a warm smile and presence...something we'll always remember about our special day. We'd highly recommend Rev Tom and Hudson Valley Ceremonies for your wedding day.

guests loved her attitude. We had a civil ceremony in Millbrook and the weather was perfect. Nothing else mattered but the vows and the rings which were temporarily "misplaced" for a few minutes..... LOL

pick up our wedding license.. we left it in the hotel room (small nightmare!) Could not have picked a better person.. and I would recommend her to anyone!

guests and whatnot.

g, the other officiant was not willing to work with us and accommodate our needs. This is when I went to Debra to see if she was still able to do our wedding and rehearsal. With only 2 months til the wedding, Debra agreed to do it and met with us immediately to get to know us. She wrote an amazing ceremony that brought together both religious and spiritual aspects. Debra was also there for me during the week leading up to the wedding when a family emergency came up. We made some last minute changes and she' accommodated everything for us! We would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for an officiant! :)

a million, Lisa.

he time and effort he took to create a personalized ceremony that was uniquely "us." He was a great vendor to work with!

enjoyable day. Jeanne allowed us to relax and take in every moment of our wedding and we are so grateful for that. She is especially efficient, responsive, and best of all - calming and reassuring. We always felt like we were in good hands with Jeanne and never once worried about anything going array. Because of Jeanne, our wedding was everything (and so much more) that we ever imagined. Thank you so, so very much for going above and beyond and we will most definitely recommend you to everyone we know. Thanks again!! Morgan and Philip

helped too). I would wholeheartedly recommend Rev. Tom if you need an officiant for an upcoming wedding. Professional and personable.

uring our ceremony, he made people laugh and cry! He gave an excellent ceremony. My friends and family were not only speaking of my wedding, but about Rev. Stu and the ceremony. They've said it was "like no other they've ever been to!" I met with Jeanne Starks as well. She is FABULOUS! We met at TGIF's to talk about my wedding, and she helped me decide on what kind of wedding I really wanted. We were there for 2-3 hours just laughing and talking, as if we've known each other for such a long time! When it came time to pick out invitations, I went to Jeanne's office. I was there for HOURS! She was so patient with me. She didn't seem irritated that I was indecisive. She wasn't frustrated that I was there for so long. She just kept showing me book after book after book! Together we found the perfect invitation, and came up with the perfect words to got with them! I absolutely was so proud of my invites. And, because we were using Rev. Stu as our officiant, we received 50% off another service (invitations). So, I got gorgeous invitations for a fraction of the cost!!!!!! I would always recommend and speak highly of Hudson Valley Ceremonies! Its by far the nicest, most professional, "best-money spent" business out there! I cannot thank them enough!

spirit. He was our saving grace when it came to choosing how the ceremony would proceed. He gave us much variety to choose from and allowed us to draft our own idea of what to say and when. He was very easy to contact and left the line of communication open and inviting. And he has such a chipper puppy that she just makes you smile. We worked with Kim and Barry for our photos (www.kimberlycoccagnia.com) and both photographers were cheerful, honestly excited to be a part of our day and they worked with my wife and I to make it rememorable, stress-free, beautiful and fun. They were the only two we had taking photos of our event and they deserve all the praise there is to offer. From day one they were more than generous with their services; offering to pull strings with their friends of Beacon to add that special pizazz we were looking for. Beacon Cycles (www.beaconcycles.com) rode us around town in their old fashioned "Just Married" pedicab and Chill Wine Bar (www.myspace.com/chillwinebar) catered our after ceremony drinks&snacks, guest signing and cake cutting. Everyone we worked with was cheerful and flexible which made the short time we had to plan as easy as saying "I do". The one Negative that I have to say is that out of all the people we worked with from HVC&E, the owner Jeanne Stark, was the most difficult to get ahold of. From phone calls to emails we would have to leave 3 messages for every 1 response. That aside, everything turned out wonderful and perfect. I would definitely recommend this Wedding Service and planning group to my friends. Sincerely Yours, Michelle and Nicole ES-Cranker

ows. She was a pleasure to work with and truly made our day that much more special! Thank you so much!

s delivery. We were a little alternative in our approach to a ceremony, so we didn't want the standard "god is with thee" stuff (not that there's anything wrong with that) and I couldn't deal with the hokie-ness of these new agey types, so Rev Stu was perfect. My only suggestion is to work with him (or anyone) ahead of time if there are any special name pronounciations. Not that that should be a negative reflection on him at all, but rather just a suggestion for anyone who may have names in their programs (you'll want to go over that with the DJ, band, or MC as well). If you're considering hiring Rev Stu, definitely do so. He was really, really great.

s my officiant and she did an amazing job. The ceremony was beautiful. she was such a big help with the rehearsal of the ceremony and on my wedding day! I would definitely use Hudson Valley Ceremonies again and recommend them to other weddings!

highly recommend it!

alism and enthusiasm. The Reverend Jim Rooney did a wonderful job of quickly meeting us and giving us exactly the ceremony we wanted. They also have a really helpful list of gay friendly wedding related vendors.

ne phone meeting he managed to read our minds and gave us a beautiful and memorable ceremony. Thanks Rev!

ministers, priests, etc. So we decided to work with my uncle and had him conduct our ceremony. but since he isn't legally allowed to marry, we called hudson valley ceremonies. i told them exactly what i wanted and they referred me to Rev. Naomi Fay. Naomi was awesome - we spoke on the phone for well over an hour and discussed how i really only wanted her to do the "legal part" of the wedding but that my uncle would do the rest. she was TOTALLY cool with that and only charged us the 'eloping fee' which was very cheap. she was very professional and by the time we got back from our honeymoon, the marriage certificate was waiting in the mail for us! she must have mailed it that very day! thanks naomi! we would recommend hudson valley ceremonies to anyone!!

hly recommend this company and even more Tom!!!

such a beautiful ceremony!!! Naomi is very highly recommended.

sell wedding essentials as well. They are a great choice!

d us to personalize and customize our ceremony so that they day truly became all about us. We are very grateful that we chose Tom and would recommend him and Hudson Valley Ceremonies to anyone.

nd helped us take care of last minute organizational details. Our ceremony came out beautifully, and we were very happy with the way she conducted everything. I recommend HVC without hesitation!

for sure.

ices.

input without having to write the acutal ceremony. That way, it felt like us. And it was just what we wanted.