September 25, 2004
Dear Andrea,
Our wedding ceremony was amazing, it was beautiful, it was personal, it was poignant, it was joyful, and it was moving for us and for our guests. Your writing captured the messages and the feelings that we truly wanted to impart to each other and to family and friends. Thank you for listening so intently to what we wanted, for getting it, and for turning it all into a beautifully written ceremony. It meant the world to us.
You also did an amazing job conducting the ceremony. The joy in your voice and the glow from your heart set the tone and took our ceremony to the next level. We are so grateful.
We couldn't be more pleased with our decision to work with you and to fly you across the country for the big day. It simply wouldn't have been the same without you.
Please don't hesitate to use us as references. We would be happy to talk to anyone who is considering working with you.
Thank you Andrea !
Love,
Lynn and Greg Porraro
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I didn't have the time, skill or patience to organize my wedding ceremony. I was in total anxiety and you made it fun and exciting. The ceremony just flowed that day... You honestly put my mind at ease and I was very moved by what you created. I can't thank you enough.
--Juliet Bustos, Harbor City
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Andrea is professional, intelligent, an excellent communicator, and capable of the impossible!! :)
When my sister got married, Andrea officiated at a local cliffside beach location. My sister's vows were amazing and Andrea did a great job as orator and officiator, in the rain even! Andrea had helped my sister perfect her custom God concscious vows, complete with Vedic scriptural quotes (learned from the study of Bhakti Yoga, a monotheistic devotional path originating in India). I noted that the wording of the vows were written very sweetly and in easy to understand terms so that the parents and children in attendance would understand, and nobody would be offended.
When my husband proposed, I immediately knew who our officiator would be, though he had not yet met Andrea due to our hectic schedules. My husband is from Israel, and his family is Jewish, though he studies Bhakti Yoga since I introduced him to the science shortly after we met. I am Hispanic Italian, I was raised Catholic, but have been immersed in the study of Bhakti Yoga since 1994. My husband's parents do not know that he studies Bhakti Yoga and the biggest reason we did not elope, was so his mom could be present at his wedding. So, our challenge was to create a customized interfaith ceremony where my future in-laws would feel comfortable and that there was some Jewish cultural connection present, while meeting my requirements of making the entire event (and of course our marriage) an offering to God.
Andrea was very accommodating and met with us twice before the wedding. She acted as an interfaith mediator and negotiator while we discussed and decided what we wanted, did not want, hated, and could not live with at all. After our first meeting we had decided that we would write our own vows with little or no help from Andrea (though she would have gladly assisted if we needed), and that we would include wedding ring exchange, Tulasi bead exchange (Bhakti Yoga prayer beads) and that my husband would "break the glass" to include a traditional Jewish wedding activity.
If anyone would like to see the photos, or read the vows, you can email Andrea and we can arrange for you to see everything.
--MAR
