"The best decision we could have made was hiring Rabbi Miriam to officiate our wedding! Just thinking about her makes me smile: she was an absolute joy to work with! She created not only the most wonderful and touching interfaith ceremony, but was also so kind, patient and loving throughout the whole planning process. We are grateful for all the love she poured into blessing our marriage!... She has a deep respect and understanding of traditions and cultures, is thoughtful and professional, and goes above and beyond every step of the way!"
Anna and Jeff
"We truly can't thank Rabbi Miriam enough for our beautiful wedding ceremony. We appreciate the time she spent getting to know us prior to the wedding; it truly showed with how personal the ceremony felt to us and all of our loved ones. The wedding ceremony was beyond our wildest dreams and we will cherish that memory for the rest of our lives. We had countless friends and family say that was the best wedding ceremony they have ever seen. You are truly special, Rabbi Miriam. We feel so lucky to have met you!"
Sasha
"Rabbi Miriam was the perfect fit for our wedding. I am culturally Jewish and my husband was raised Southern Baptist but doesn't really identify religiously. We wanted a ceremony that blended our different cultural backgrounds and incorporated traditions from each of our families but wasn't heavily focused on religion. Rabbi Miriam was willing to work with us and made the entire process so wonderfully tailored to us. She was always warm, open, and flexible and took care to make sure that we were comfortable with everything that was included. We ended up with a ceremony that reflected us and beautifully wove in our traditions. Many of our guests and parents commented how much they found the ceremony to be incredibly touching and how much they appreciated her warmth.
...The conversations, readings, and questions we had were so special to us and helped us to really keep focused on the marriage (and not just the wedding!). Reflecting on our hopes for our marriage and why we fell in love was one of our favorite parts of the entire process."
Anna
"Finding Rabbi Miriam was such a blessing. My partner and I had a list of seemingly impossible wedding desires: to celebrate our finding each other in later life, to celebrate that we could now marry, to create a welcoming and loving space for our interfaith and non-faith guests. Over 3 meetings, Rabbi Miriam led us through all the options for Jewish and interfaith rituals. She sang to us, offered alternative language to traditional blessings, and wove our words together into a ceremony that felt absolutely right for us. Her voice is simply beautiful. Her presence is peaceful and loving. Many guests said our wedding ceremony was the best ever, and they've been to many. If this sounds like your kind of wedding, call Rabbi Miriam!"
Janet
"The amount of praise and compliments we received on how beautiful and unique our wedding ceremony was are too numerous to count. Rabbi Miriam really encouraged us to craft and develop a ceremony that reflected our individuality and spirituality. I am Korean-American Buddhist and my husband is Jewish and while initially I wanted to keep the ceremony as non-religious as possible, Rabbi Miriam encouraged us to express our individuality in the ceremony... It came together so perfectly and we've heard from many people how much they enjoyed the integration of the Jewish and Korean and Buddhist elements and it was so well-balanced and interwoven. It may sound like it would've been chaotic, but it was done so well, it flowed seamlessly. Rabbi Miriam's efforts and urging us to make this a true reflection of our individual backgrounds was insightful and meaningful."
Mira
We had an absolutely wonderful experience with Rabbi Miriam! She skillfully navigated a raft of logistical challenges with grace and humor. First, my husband and I had met while living in California, but life had led him to join me on the East Coast. We wanted to get married in the Redwoods, and decided to plan a cross-country wedding. In addition, we are an interfaith, inter-cultural couple; he's Taiwanese and a Humanist, and I'm an American secular Jew with Buddhist and Pagan leanings... We had three multi-hour Skype calls with her over the course of about six months, to talk about us as a couple, plan the ceremony, and go over logistics... She put us both instantly at ease, and it was clear that she was familiar and comfortable with the questions and issues that an interfaith couple might encounter while planning a Jewish wedding.
Our ceremony was astonishingly perfect for us as a couple, and our guests laughed and cried, as did we. Everyone commented on how the ceremony was moving as well as light hearted, and never dragged... From the first prayer to the breaking of the glass, Rabbi Miriam helped us to create a sacred container in which to perform the sacrament of our joining in marriage...
We highly recommend her, particularly to interfaith couples and those who would like to use having a Jewish wedding as a way to delve into their lapsed faith and bring a sense of spiritual depth to their new partnership...
Erika
We can't say enough good about Rabbi Miriam. She was an insanely great officiant for our wedding in Monterey, CA. She met with us several times before the wedding and got to know us so that she could craft the perfect ceremony. She even learned a song we liked and sang it beautifully on our special day. We got so many compliments on how "us" our wedding was, and Rabbi Miriam's attention to our personalities and beliefs contributed a lot to a day that expressed who we are and our love for each other. She is very progressive and caring and will not try to impose anything on you. We strongly recommend her for your wedding!"
Elon and Yelena
"We had a wonderful experience with Rabbi Miriam. We had looked at a spectrum of synagogues, with various attitudes towards interfaith marriages. Then we found Rabbi Miriam. She was the only rabbi we met who showed both a deep love of Judaism and an appreciation for the values and ideals of my wife's family's non-Jewish background. She really wanted to know who each of us were, and the traditions in both of our lives that had shaped us. Along the way she gave my wife a view of Judaism that was accessible and personally meaningful.
... Although her approach wasn't traditional it was clear that she was well versed in halacha (Jewish law), and her recommendations reflected an understanding of the original intent and spirit of each part of the ceremony. She turned what could have been an angst-ridden process into a journey of discovery for us.
At the ceremony Rabbi Miriam made both families feel totally comfortable and included. Her genuine warmth shone. I feel fortunate that we were able to find a rabbi who took the time to get to know us, answered all of our questions, paid meticulous attention to detail, and showed genuine care to us and our families."
Spencer
I think what stands out about Rabbi Miriam... is that she truly cares about getting to know the couple and what's important to them. When I look back at our photos from the ketubah signing and the wedding ceremony, everyone is smiling and laughing. Thank you Rabbi Miriam for helping us create such great memories!
Jenna
