We initially met Sandra in 2020, when we decided to have a small, immediate family-only wedding during the pandemic on our originally chosen date in September 2020. After first thinking that we would have our small ceremony in New York City, wh...ere we live, we started doing some searching for officiants and came across Sandra. We communicated by email, set up a time to talk over Zoom, and immediately felt so comfortable and at ease in Sandra’s warm, supportive, and honest presence. A few weeks into planning our ceremony together, we decided that we actually wanted to do this upstate in the Catskills, an area that is dear to us after having spent a lot of time camping there on weekends together. We asked if Sandra would mind driving a few hours out of the city to accommodate us and, as it turns out, we all love that area and it worked out.
Sandra helped us plan an intimate, special ceremony in 2020 that included beautiful readings, Sandra’s reflections on marriage, and our vows. We got married under a maple tree in Olivebridge, NY with Sandra officiating and only our siblings and parents present with us. It was beautiful and sacred and something that we will always remember. Sandra helped guide the way for us in terms of highlighting what was most important to us in this ceremony and speaking from the heart. Our families absolutely loved this ceremony and had so many wonderful things to say about how Sandra led the ceremony and married us.
We wanted to celebrate with all of our friends and family as initially planned pre-pandemic and we pushed back our bigger wedding until June 2022; we had the incredible good fortune of being able to work with Sandra again during this time to craft a renewal of vows ceremony. The whole process of working together leading up to our renewal ceremony was so inspiring and rewarding. Sandra took the time to meet with us many times again over Zoom and we filled out a detailed reflection/questionnaire that Sandra has developed for her couples with so many thoughtful questions that helped us learn more about what our marriage means to us and also helped Sandra better understand us. We thought about readings, the flow of the ceremony, the tone, religious traditions, and so many other important details together. Sandra had so many creative ideas about symbolic rituals and readings to incorporate and she helped us learn about aspects of ceremonies which were new to us. Sandra was always easily reachable throughout the whole process and we always felt supported both in planning and in our pre-marital reflections.
On the day of our June 2022 vow renewal and marriage celebration, our ceremony was so beautiful. From the readings that the three of us had selected together to Sandra’s thoughtful words throughout, it all felt so meaningful, true, and personal to us. Every guest who we talked to was in awe of Sandra in terms of her tone, delivery, messages, and connection with us and our friends and family. We will always remember this ceremony as it truly was so meaningful and special to us.
Meeting Sandra has been a gift. Sandra crafted two beautiful wedding ceremonies for us that were moving, personal, and important to us in terms of what matters most to us in our marriage. Sandra is a wonderful person and we’re so grateful to have all met one another. Clearly, we recommend working with Sandra wholeheartedly if you ever have the opportunity to do so!