About this vendor
Reverend Shanandoah gently and lovingly guides you through the ceremony process. She officiated over 675 weddings, takes the time to listen to your dreams, honors all faiths, and shares more than 35 years of ceremony expertise! She creates wedding ceremonies that reflect each couple's Love Story. Call today at 928.282.3335 for your free consultation.
Details
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
Religious Affiliations
- Christian
- Interfaith
- Spiritual
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Wedding
- Ceremony
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
5
out of 5.015 reviews
❤️ Review for Shenandoah – Our Wedding Officiant
We truly cannot imagine anyone else officiating our ceremony. From the very first conversation, Shenandoah took the time to rea...
lly get to know us—not just as a couple, but as individuals. She asked thoughtful questions, listened to our story, and somehow turned all of that into a ceremony that felt so personal, so meaningful, and so us.
Everyone who attended said the same thing afterward: “That was the best officiant I’ve ever seen!” The ceremony was full of emotion, love, and laughter—beautifully written and delivered with such warmth and authenticity. Shenandoah has a true gift for making a wedding feel intimate and sacred while also putting everyone completely at ease.
Beyond the ceremony itself, she helped connect us with incredible vendors—each one top-quality and amazing. Her guidance throughout the planning process was invaluable, and we could tell how much she genuinely cared about our experience.
We’re endlessly grateful that we found her. It was the perfect fit in every way. Shenandoah didn’t just marry us—she helped create one of the most memorable, meaningful moments of our lives.
We contacted Rev. Shanandoah about a year ago. Our wedding was 4-24-24 outdoors in beautiful Sedona. In preparation for our wedding we talked on the phone several times, communicat...
ion via email and went to meet Rev. Shanandoah at the spot we picked for the wedding to take place. She also recommended the flutist, who was outstanding. We were beyond pleased with the wedding ceremony Rev. Shanandoah performed. It was very spiritual and exactly what we wanted. I/we highly recommend Rev. Shanandoah and we will most likely contact her to renew our vows in 10 years. That is how impressed we were.
Reverend Sterling is insightful and reads people really well. During the elopement wedding ceremony when we said our vows, she discretely stepped away to give us privacy. She was...
patient, intuitive, and took the time to get to know our story and incorporate it into the service. She is the best and really cares about what she is doing.
We are ever grateful for Shanadoah. She brought a grounding, calming spirit to our intimate ceremony, and also laughed with us along with way when we couldn't hold in our giggles. ...
She spent time getting to know us over the phone prior to the ceremony and incorporated the story of how we met and our journey together just beautifully. Our ceremony was personalized and incredibly meaningful. We feel so lucky to have found her. We loved incorporating our family members with the "one word blessing" and the blanket wrapping felt sacred. Shanandoah's professionalism is exceptional and her approach made us feel at ease and so very supported.
Rev Sterling is a gifted and beautiful soul who absolutely made our wedding ceremony the most memorable part of the entire day! We worked together starting a few months in advance ...
and had a phone consultation followed by emails to coordinate the final details. We could not be happier with her professionalism, flexibility, compassion and ability to make us feel like we were the only two in the world at that moment. We chose some Native American aspects including the ring smudging/blessings, personal smudging/blessings, and our personal quotes/sayings were from her multiple page collection (we chose one Apache wedding blessing, and another from The Dalai Lama). We met with her before guests arrived, she held our hands and our gaze and helped center and calm us, then and during the ceremony with the personal smudging. We cannot thank Rev Sterling enough for her role in making this the most special day of our relationship. Tammy & Mike
Shanandoah was absolutely fantastic. If you are looking for an officiant in Sedona I highly recommend her! She put so much time into getting to know us and made sure our ceremony w...
as crafted exactly how we wished. She had a calm and beautiful energy which all of our guests loved. My ceremony was my favorite part of my wedding day and I owe it to her for helping to make it so special.
The moment I saw Shanandoah's website I knew she was going to be perfect for our ceremony. With only 5 weeks of actual wedding planning time, Shanandoah made everything easy for u...
s! We wanted a traditional Native American ceremony and everything Shanandoah had to offer in that regard was perfectly what we wanted. She even worked with us to add a few personal touches to make our wedding day unique. She is professional, kind, and has wonderful energy that will help make your special day one to remember! If I was to do it over again, I wouldn't change a thing! Thank you, Shanandoah!
First, her card reflected the multi-cultural ceremony options I knew I wanted. Then, as soon as my husband got off the his initial call to Rev. Sterling he told me I would love ...
her. After that, it was a creative collaboration to design a ceremony that reflected our two souls and the intention for our life together.
Rev. Sterling guided us through the process, providing her expertise and knowledge of various traditions for us to select from. What a lovely melting of ancient traditions we created! Guests still comment about how lovely our ceremony was and how perfect Rev. Sterling was at creating the most peaceful, sacred space for us all to come together in love even though we were actually in a public park. We were in our own bubble.
For me, it was very special to authentically honor the ancient spirit of the land and I am grateful that Rev. Sterling could provide us with blessings from her Native American heritage. It meant a lot to me.
One of the strongest memories I have of my wedding day was Rev. Sterling's calmly talking to me before walking out to the rocks to set up for the ceremony. She took my hands and looked me in the eyes, she centered my mind on this one moment in time. There was nothing more to worry about, nothing to think about except enjoying each moment of the beautiful day of love with family and friends.
It took me 4 months to sit down and write this review because I could write so much more...(and a busy summer) ;)
Thank you for wonderful memories!
Namaste to you Rev. Shanandoah.
My son was getting married two years ago in Sedona and we were looking for someone to officiate at the ceremony. We met Shanandoah and after our meeting we walked out,looked at on...
e another, and knew we had found the perfect person. She listened to us and intuitively recognized what we were looking for. Needless to say the ceremony was beautiful! My sister and brother-in-law who live in England visited us this summer to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary and I decided to surprise them with a vow renewal ceremony and naturally the only person I wanted was Shanandoah. She chose a lovely,secluded spot beside Oak Creek,included our 13 year old grandson as ring bearer,and incorporated Native American prayers that were in my son's wedding. My sister and brother-in-law were enchanted and the tears flowed. It was perfection.
When Paul and I decided on a destination wedding, I knew I wanted our ceremony to take place at L'Auberage De Sedona. We had vacationed at L'Auberge 2 summers prior and were absolu...
tely amazed by its beauty. Once our location was chosen, our next step was to choose a wedding officiant.It was the resort concierge who highly recommended Reverend Shanandoah Sterling.
Reverend Shananoah was truly incredible. Planning a wedding can be a nerve-racking time, but her soft spoken voice, beautiful smile,and professionalism put our hearts and minds at ease. She guided us through each and every step of the wedding ceremony with patience and kindness. Her love and kindness shined through from beginning to end creating this truly magical moment in our lives that I will never forget. She was more than I could've ever hoped for. Our wedding ceremony wouldn't have been the same without her!
We were referred to Rev. Shanandoah by our wedding planner and we're very glad we chose her as our officiant. She is a wonderful person and a true blessing.
Since we live in Europ...
e we didn't see Rev. Shanandoah before our wedding day but she handled everything perfectly by phone and e-mail. She sent us the texts for the keepsake booklet well in advance so we were able to review everything and change some details.
Apart from her calm, loving and gentle personality, what makes her stand out is the fact that she senses what people want for their ceremony and she is extremely flexible in accomodating those wishes.
We wanted a short, non-religious ceremony with all the "cliché" ceremony items (e.g. "If anybody here knows any reason why these people should not be joined in holy matrimony ...) but we did ask Rev. Shanandoah to perform a ring blessing. The ring blessing was a wonderful, sacred moment of rest in the ceremony.
Rev. Shanandoah also provided us some very good suggestions for texts and poems to be used in the ceremony.
All the wedding guests raved at how amazing the minister was and I think that's quite exceptional.
Another remarkable thing is that she manages to read the ceremony texts out loud as though she is reading them for the first time (with smiles and great intonation). And she has a charming, soft voice.
Our Grand Canyon wedding was a dream come true and Rev. Shanandoah was just perfect!
You will not be disappointed with Shanandoah! We live in Colorado and I reserved her for our April wedding we had in Sedona, Arizona. We met up with her and she listened to what w...
e wanted, gave us some great ideas, and built us an amazing ceremony. The day of she was amazing - she made sure everyone was doing well and even helped calm down the bride (me!). Talking to her, you know she is an amazing, beautiful person and I hope I get to see her again! XO
My husband and I picked Shanandoah from the internet. We live in Los Angeles and decided to have our wedding in Sedona. Shanandoah gave us at least an hour of her time in our initi...
al consultation before we agreed to use her, which was very generous. She knew we weren't familiar with the area and she was very helpful is giving us "a local's" perspective and tips about logistics and timing. After we decided to go with her, she sent us a suggested a ceremony based on our discussion. I believe it was one of I think four types of ceremonies. We then read thru the ceremony and I cried the entire time, it was so beautiful (and I'm a marshmellow). However we did take a lot out because we wanted a short ceremony. She in many instances within the suggested ceremony gave us wording options so we really felt like we got to customize our ceremony for us. She then had the ceremony printed into a nice booklet that was not only a keepsake but what she read from at the ceremony. When we finally met her in person the day before the wedding she walked us thru the ceremony, gave us tips on how to stand, the timing and answered questions we had to make us comfortable. We unfortunately had to deal with a major wind storm with threatening rain on our wedding day. Since we had the ceremony outside this was a big deal. Shanandoah was able to accommodate us when we decided to move the wedding up 6 hours ahead of schedule the night before because of the weather. Shanandoah was a very calming presence for us at the ceremony and she was seemingly unphased by the wind storm (which is more than we can say for our family). Our family had never met her before either but they were all very impressed by her. She is a beautiful, spiritual person. Neither my husband or I are religious but she helped us come up with a ceremony that made sense for our beliefs. We were really happy we chose her.
Our wedding was May 22 at L'Auberge in Sedona, AZ. The ceremony and setting were beautiful. When people ask us about the wedding, our answer always includes how wonderful the off...
iciate was! Beyond any expectations..... How often do people talk about their wedding and even mention the minister? It just doesn't come into the conversation....
The service touched us in a special way. Shanandoah is so friendly and down to earth but so spiritual at the same time. She also has an amazingly beautiful voice. We couldn't be more pleased !
Our wedding was a few months ago in Sedona, and I was planning it from where we live in Seattle. After researching several officiants online, I settled on Shanandoah. Her communica...
tion style and the ceremony she performed were so personalized to us, yet still highly professional. She took the time to get to know us over several emails and phone calls, and the day of went so smoothly. She was very flexible as some of our original requests changed and our vision evolved. It was important to me to have a woman marry us, as well as someone who works with all faith traditions, including non-religious. In line with our requests, there was just enough integration of her Native American heritage to make it special and honor the land (she can include many different ceremonial traditions, and will do as many or as few as you like). We also got a keepsake booklet of the entire ceremony. Shanandoah was lovely to work with, and her rates are very reasonable. Highly recommended!
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Sedona, AZ | Trip Fee for weddings outside of Sedona.
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