Woods + the Wild

Candace did an amazing job at putting together and delivering our ceremony. The ceremony itself was absolutely beautiful and we couldn't think of anything to make it better. Candace had great communication throughout the entire process and was extremely professional. She was able to out together the perfect ceremony that fit our lifestyle and personality.

Candace was absolutely the best. We were on a budget and we were happy to be able to book a package that worked for us. She was thoughtful, attentive and insightful about getting to know my partner and I’s individual personalities and who we are as a couple. She was amazing helping me through anxiety I was getting from stage-fright. She was firm in redirecting the planner at our venue when he was suggesting a deviation from our wishes for a part of the ceremony that was typically traditional that we wished to avoid. My partner and I genuinely feel blessed to have her officiate. Highly, highly recommended!

Candace was amazing! We eloped in Colorado & I had no idea where to even start when finding an officiant. I found her here on the Knot, reached out & got her booked shortly after. She answered all my questions & was a great communicator leading up to our day. We are not a religious couple & we loved our ceremony. She kept it professional, light hearted & immediately eased our nerves. The ceremony went off without a hitch & was everything we could’ve wanted. Thank you, Candace!

Candace was amazing to work with. She took the time to get to know us personally so that she could write the best ceremony that fit us as a couple. My husband is religious and I am not, Candace did a really great job incorporating God into our ceremony without making it too much. It was very tasteful. Candace also did an amazing job incorporating our unity ceremony into our ceremony. Even though she had never officiated with the Braiding of the Cross unity ceremony she did a wonderful job bringing our vision to life. She wrote a beautiful ceremony and I will cherish it forever.

We are so grateful to have found Candace. She is thoughtful, kind, warm, and has such a calming presence. She helped us shape our ceremony in such a gentle and affirming way, and we felt so comfortable with her (in general, and as a lesbian couple). Candace made us feel cared for and seen. It's such a wild experience to ask a stranger to play such an important role in our lives as a couple, but Candace didn't feel like a stranger at all. We couldn't recommend her enough, and are so glad she was a part of our day.

Candace was so sweet and took what we pictured and got it down for the elopement ceremony. We had a small snag the day of but Candace was patient and kind. I would definitely recommend her again and again!

Candace was the most sweetest, caring, fun, chill person I have ever met! She made sure everything was perfect for us on our wedding day and always checked in on us to make sure we were okay! If you’re looking for an officiant stop looking and hire Candace she’s the best you can ever get!! We love her!

Candace was amazing to work with from the beginning to the end. She helped us create the most perfect ceremony for us. We received many compliments from our wedding guests that Candace was very authentic and inclusive, two things that were important to us when searching for an officiant to perform our secular wedding. Candace was extremely kind and supportive and inserted humor into our ceremony in just the right way. We are so grateful to have had her officiate our wedding!

I wasn't really sure what to expect from an officiant, but working with Candace was amazing and so much fun. We were able to plan our ceremony over two short zoom calls, and she put together a ceremony that was uniquely us. She provided a bunch of ideas for unity ceremonies, and we ended up picking one we loved! Sadly, we had a death in the family just days before our wedding, Candace was able to amend the reading (with little notice) to hold space for that person during the ceremony in a way my family needed, while still making it uplifting and focused on our love. She offered an incredibly kind and thoughtful service, and I would recommend her to anyone!

Simply put, Candace was amazing! Our ceremony in the Garden of the Gods was small and was perfectly put together for the outdoor location. Her flexibility and communication leading up to the big day made everything feel natural. The relaxed ceremony fit our personalities and we could not have wished for a better person to officiant our vow exchange.

Candace was absolutely amazing to work with from start to finish. She was so thoughtful and personable throughout the entire process and it showed!!!! Our ceremony was perfect and a direct reflection of my now husband! and I’s love for one another. I could not speak more highly of Woods + the Wild!

My partner and I eloped, but wanted to have a wedding with a simple ceremony and party so that friends could celebrate with us. I had no idea what the ceremony should be like, given that we were already technically married, but Candace was absolutely amazing and helpful, and found the perfect words for our situation. She is so kind, sweet, accommodating, and so thoughtful about creating a ceremony that is inclusive and with language that is affirming. So many guests came up to me after the ceremony to tell me that it was one of the best they'd ever seen. I recommend her wholeheartedly! She was a big part of how wonderful our wedding day was.

Candace, you truly are one of a kind and though we challenged you to hear us and put what little you were able to learn about us in to the most important day of our lives, you killed it. We are so thankful to have worked with you and appreciate your ability to truly connect with us over such a short period of time. We will cherish your words from the ceremony for the rest of lives and will embody and let them nourish our love and lives as a married couple. You are a beautiful soul and we definitely know who to recommend to everyone in the future! Thank you so soo much for everything!

We are so happy we found Candace to officiate our wedding… upon meeting with her for the first time we were so comfortable around her. She is warm and friendly and truly cares about your story. Every time we spoke with her she made us feel supported and like everything we wanted was totally doable. She customized our vows to us after a session of exploratory questions, and everyone who attended our wedding felt incredibly moved by our ceremony. She truly does care and it makes me emotional now just thinking about all the ways she showed up for us by just asking how we felt, if we needed anything, and providing much needed tissues during our vows. We couldn’t have picked a better person. We wish we could get married multiple times just to have her there again! The experience will be cherished forever!

As an out-of-town couple looking for a Colorado officiant, we had no clue where to start. We started with a Google search and started going through reviews hoping to find someone that felt right for us. Finding an officiant - the person responsible for the most important part of your wedding day (the actual marriage!) - based on reviews is daunting. But, we were optimistic about Candance from both reviews and her website, so we took a leap of faith and reached out. And we are eternally grateful that we did. Candance was the highlight of our ceremony and made our wedding feel personal and special to us as a couple! Ahead of the wedding, Candace was responsive and incredible to work with. She dedicated multiple Zoom sessions to getting to know us as a couple and listened to what we wanted for our wedding ceremony. She allowed us to collaborate with her in the writing process and ensured that our wedding ceremony felt personal to us. As I come from a UCC background and my husband comes from a Catholic background, we were in search of guidance on how best to honor both faith backgrounds, while staying true to ourselves. Candance listened to both of our desires with respect to incorporating faith and was able to thread the needle perfectly. Candace has a wealth of knowledge, but also enjoys and is eager to research new rituals/ceremonies to fit any couple. We had a few unique ceremony requests, including one which incorporated a special moment between us and our step-daughter/daughter, as well as a unity ceremony (which was an updated twist on the wine box). Candance not only welcomed our ideas, but she helped put them on paper and make them come to life beyond what we could've imagined on our own. Her creativity and ability to capture the couple in her writing makes her one of a kind. Candace prepared and delivered a ceremony that perfectly captured our love and relationship as if she had known us for years. She always writes a few special words for her couples that she leaves a surprise, and we were touched on our wedding day to hear those for the first time. She provided us with the ceremony script afterwards so we could keep it forever. Additionally, Candance remains calm under wedding day pressure. We not only had to switch ceremony locations last minute (due to rain in the forecast), but we also inadvertently left our wedding license in our hotel room. She handled the location change with aplomb, and met us at our resort to finish the wedding license without us even having to ask. And, Candace is just a super cool person! She's someone that puts others at ease and would be fun to grab a beer with. She is relatable, professional, and one of a kind. All in all, we couldn't imagine using anyone else other than Candace as our wedding officiant, and we are so glad we did. You should to! No matter your background, Candace puts her couples first and creates a ceremony that reflects their love. No cookie cutter "I do's" with Candace as your officiant. Thanks, Candace, for all you do! We are so lucky to have found you and hope this review connects other couples like us to you.

Candice was extremely punctual, extremely friendly, very kind, very polite and very helpful! Everyone at my wedding eventually came up to me and complimented our choice of officiant. Her ceremony was spot on perfect for my day.

Candace was incredible! She is very professional and was so flexible with us! She was just amazing! She cared about us and our family. And we are so honored to have her as our officiant. Honestly I could not have wanted anybody else.

Candace’s Prepare/Enrich program was such a dream to be a part of! She made us feel at ease and comfortable throughout each of the meetings. Her ability to help couples dig deeper into their partnership and shed light on foundational values throughout the program is exactly what any couple needs before, during, or after marriage (or even if you choose to not go the marriage route!) is crucial. To sum it all up: Candace is a light to be around! And we couldn’t recommend her Prepare/Enrich Program enough!

Candace was wonderful to work with, and she made our wedding ceremony great joy. She was incredibly thoughtful and considerate when creating our ceremony, listened to what we wanted and did extra research on the side. I really appreciate the steps she took to prepare for the ceremony, and how flexible she was when the weather threatened to force a last-minute change in location. Thank you for a fantastic and emotional ceremony, Candace!!

Candace is truly the best officiant. She officiated our wedding in May of 2022. We appreciate you taking the time to make sure that Amanda and I were truly represented in the ceremony. We could not ask for a better ceremony. We also thank you for creating a safe space for those of us in the LGBTQIA+ community and appreciate the love and support you gave us through this momentous event.

Candace was amazing and so helpful! She made sure the ceremony was perfect for us and was so kind and helpful!

Candace did an amazing job officiating my parent's surprise vow renewal ceremony! She was extremely easy to work with, and went above and beyond to make our vision come together better than we could have imagined!! It was a very special day we will remember forever. I highly recommend Candace to anyone looking for a wedding officiant!

Candace was amazing! She was very patient with us and wanted to help make our day as special as it felt. We were so happy to have her there and thank her dearly.

My husband and I got married just outside of Woodland Park in March, and we are SO glad that we found Candace! We wanted a secular, intimate ceremony, and Candace was able to customize everything to make it special and unique to us. She put care into understanding my and my husband's values, and our love for each other, and the final ceremony was truly beautiful. Not only was Candace skilled in crafting memorable ceremonies, but she has the logistics down, too. She was prompt in answering our questions, was flexible in her scheduling, and was proactive in her communication with us. If you want a hassle-free, memorable wedding ceremony, we can't recommend Candace enough. We are so appreciative of the role she played in making our wedding unforgettable.

Candace was great! She crafted a ceremony that truly reflected both of our values. It was great seeing her interact with our guests during the ceremony. We loved our ceremony, and our guests repeatedly mentioned how touching it was. We can't thank her enough for making that moment so special!

Candace was so easy to work with and she is super nice! We loved the experience we got with her and she gave us a wonderful ceremony 🥰 highly recommend! She went above and beyond and traveled multiple hours to a place she’s never been up in the mountains during a snow storm! Couldn’t have asked for a better day!

Very friendly and professional. Wonderful officiant!

Candace did an amazing job. I couldn't have asked for anything better. She listened to everything my now husband and I said we wanted and then went above and beyond. I highly recommend her. You won't be disappointed.

Candace officiated our wedding in June. She was, and is, incredible. We are a queer couple, and I am trans. She wove together a ceremony incorporating poetry, a short non-religious bible verse, and a reading from the Supreme Court decision legalizing marriage equality. Everybody from our sweet queer community to our catholic aunts and uncles continues to reach out to say how outstanding the ceremony was. We felt super seen as queer people and are so grateful to Candace!

When we first had planned on having an intimate wedding, my best friend was going to officiate. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to because of work, but we got so lucky when we found Candace! I seriously wouldn’t have had anyone else officiate. She’s a huge part of what made our day so special. She has such a carefree sunny disposition, a real blessing to have for our wedding! I felt like she got a good sense of who me and my husband are, and created a ceremony that reflected that! She will always hold a special place in our hearts. She’s professional, kind, and just an all around amazing person! You cannot go wrong with having her officiate your wedding!

Candace did a awesome job at our wedding. She was very professional, had great communication, and was fun to have at our wedding. Would definitely recommend her to anyone.

I cannot recommend Candace enough. You will not regret using her. She MADE our wedding. Book her now. We got married 6/17 in Colorado and are from SD. I had originally hired another officiant who came recommended through Thumbtack. In early May, the original officiant message me telling me she was moving to California and couldn't do my wedding. Naturally, I freaked out. I went on to all the wedding websites and found Candace. By some miracle, she was available. We set up a zoom and after we finished with her I started sobbing because I felt so much better about her than our original officiant and I knew it all happened for a reason. Throughout the whole process, Candace was so nice. I am super organized (neurotic :) ) and she made a schedule for me so I could make sure everyone was on the same page. She really got to know us as a couple, and her words at the wedding were SO sweet and directed towards us. I am Christian and my husband is agnostic, and she crafted a ceremony together that kept both of us/our beliefs in mind and felt good and right and meaningful. Everyone was crying. It was beautiful. I will cherish that ceremony forever in my heart. It made my wedding. It was 10x more special than the reception. If there is ANYTHING I can do for future Colorado brides, it is to recommend Candance. I seriously mean this when I say she was the best part of my wedding. I am so SO lucky our first officiant bailed on us :). Life works in mysterious ways!

Candace was amazing at our ceremony! We planned everything within 2-3 weeks and she made the entire process smooth and easy for us. I felt comfortable from the initial interview to the blessing at our ceremony! I absolutely loved how she carried herself and her personality fit ours so well! Definitely recommend!!!

Candace is amazing! Not only is she a perfect officiant but a very sweet soul. We were planning our wedding from out if state during the pandemic and she made the whole process so smooth and comfortable from the initial interview to the blessing at our reception. She completely tailored our ceremony to fit our personalities but even more importantly she got to know our story and incorporated that into our ceremony and vows. She was very respectful and accommodating to what we wanted and didn't want and made our special day absolutely perfect!!!!

Candace made our wedding so special. She gave us lots of choices in how we wanted the wedding to be set up, but she also kept the homily/message a surprise—and it was perfect. It fit us exactly, and it was beautiful and moving. Our wedding included a straight-presenting couple, several queer and trans wedding party members, and wedding guests with a wide range of theological and political beliefs, including some very conservative family members. We had some traditional structures and some unusual requests. Candace navigated the ceremony beautifully. My favorite part of my wedding was the ceremony. It was perfect. I’m so glad we chose Candace to be a part of it.