Working with Aretha was an absolute pleasure! Aretha is professional, caring, compassionate, and considerate, which is why we knew we were in the best of hands when choosing her as our officiant.

We began by having a preliminary meeting where she outlined how our day would go and asked if we had any visions or requests that she could accommodate. This ensured that our day would go exactly how we always envisioned it to go.

After agreeing to work with Aretha, she was available to answer any and all questions and was prompt with getting us those answers. Not only was she prompt in answering, but she also provided additional ideas and options that we did not even think of doing. This helped further personalize our big day.

On the day of the wedding, Aretha arrived early to make sure we were all set up appropriately prior to all our guests arriving. Her ceremony was as beautiful as we could have ever imagined and it helped make our wedding that much more perfect. I am convinced that if we worked with anyone else, the day would not have gone as smoothly as it did with her.

After speaking with our guests, many were surprised to find out that Aretha had not known us for years due to the words she spoke and how she interacted with us at the venue. That solidified the fact that choosing Aretha for our special day was one of the best decisions we could have made. Thank you, Aretha!

I would like to thank Aretha for being patient with my fiance and I. The process was confusing to us from the start but with Aretha’s help we were able to figure it out. Aretha always reminded us that if we had any questions that she was just a call away. With a lot of questions and answers we were ready for our wedding day. The day of our wedding was beautiful. Being outside made us feel like it was just the two of us and nature and also the way it was very intimate. Thank you Aretha!

What stood out to us throughout our time working with Aretha as our officiant was how detailed and prepared she was. As a bride or groom, one of the more stressful parts about wedding planning can be the sense that no one cares about the success of the event more than you and your partner — not even the people who are literally paid to care. But where others let us down, a handful of rockstar vendors showed up big and managed to alleviate us of that lonely feeling. Aretha was among the latter group.

She collaborated with our incredible coordinator and the venue’s super accommodating staff to create the perfect wedding day. She was a core member of our dream team, guiding nearly every detail of our ceremony. This included the way we walked down the aisle, the cues for us to embrace our parents, which foot we each stepped on stage with, where we placed our hands, how we received our rings from her after she received them from the best man, and so many other details I’ve probably forgotten by now (although I know she hasn’t!).

More than an officiant, Aretha is an astute choreographer with a keen understanding of how to stage a show. Perhaps the best example of this was her suggestion to break tradition and sit the groom’s guests on the left and the bride’s on the right, allowing our respective families to see our faces instead of the back of our heads as we recited our vows.

If you hire Aretha to officiate your wedding, you’ll hire a performer who respects the art of performance. She cares so deeply about the pageantry of the day that she’ll decline to share her speech with you and your spouse ahead of time, ensuring your surprise when you both finally hear your story spoken during the ceremony. (This was scary at first but turned out great. As guests of another wedding, we once heard a pretty cringe-worthy speech from a rouge officiant. But we didn’t worry much about that happening with Aretha after building trust through such an extensive planning process.)

We recommend Aretha’s services not just because they’re thorough, but ultimately because such thoroughness provided peace of mind on what we’ll remember as the most beautifully nerve-racking day of our lives. - Austin and Natifia