Ellen Scher Wedding Officiant

How do you incapsulate a moment in a personal time, Ellen, procured the trust you need in a very special and intimate moment. Communication was spot on, she became a friend more than an officiant. Totally respected our space, time and needs. This is an incredible lady.

My wife and I traveled to Santa Cruz for our tenth anniversary. I contacted Ellen mere days before our arrival - she responded immediately with her availability. We worked out a time and place to renew vows, emailed and texted about wants and desires for the ceremony. She was prompt with everything, arrived on time, and was as excited as myself to surprise the wife with a vow renewal ceremony. She took photos, personalized the vows for us, and made it the highlight of our trip. Thank you again Ellen!

Thank you so much for being our wedding Officiant, Ellen. You were always so responsive, kind and helpful. From our first contact, you were availalbe to answer questions and help us plan our event. You always took our calls or got back to us quickly. And you always had helpful answers to our questions.

Our wedding was impressive. Beautiful weather. Beautiful location. Beautiful ceremony. You helped create this successful start to our married life, Ellen. We'll have fond memories forever!!!!

Thank you.

Ellen was amazing! She was incredibly easy to work with and was very adaptable in creating a ceremony script that felt personal to us. She made our ceremony truly special, and we highly recommend her!

We could not have asked for a better officiant for our wedding. From the very beginning, she was kind, professional, organized, and genuinely invested in making our ceremony feel personal and meaningful.

If you’re looking for an officiant who is thoughtful, reliable, and truly cares about her couples, we highly recommend her.

My husband and I booked with Ellen for our special, private elopement in Big Sur, CA. Ellen coordinated with us months in advance as we planned with our vendors. It was also important for us to create LGBT+-affirming space, and Ellen was supportive and excited from the very first contact. Every question was answered and she provided guidance from her vast array of wisdom as an officiant. Ellen played a pivotal role in making our day both flexible, yet perfect. We are already excited to hopefully book with her again when we renew our vows in the next decade.

Ellen is so wonderful. She made herself available to answer any questions from the start of the vendor selection process through the after wedding support with the marriage license! We are so grateful to have worked with her and recommend her highly!

Right from the first moment we spoke to Ellen, she has been nothing but warm and kind. She infused the mundanities and stress of wedding planning with benevolent enthusiasm, going above and beyond in helping us identify a good location for a private elopement. She provided us with wonderful scripts to choose from and was wholeheartedly amenable to our alterations. Her love and dedication to what she does is evident as she works with couples to design a ceremony that aligns with their vision. We highly recommend Ellen, no matter the type of wedding/elopement!

Overall, extraordinary experience, Ellen pointed out a couple very important needs in that we were coming from another state, she was flexible in the location …meeting.us at the Highlands, and clearly explained next steps in order to get the marriage license, she took care of everything.

Ellen officiated our wedding at The Barns at Cooper Molera in December 2025, and we couldn't have asked for a better person to lead our ceremony.
From our first conversation, Ellen made us feel completely at ease. She took time to understand our story, how we met on Tinder five years ago, blended our family with my daughter Mia, and built a life together in Monterey. She helped us craft a ceremony that felt personal and meaningful without being overly formal or scripted.
On the day itself, Ellen was calm, organized, and genuinely present. She delivered our ceremony with warmth and confidence, setting the tone perfectly for the vows we'd worked so hard on. Multiple guests told us afterward that it was one of the most heartfelt, authentic ceremonies they'd ever witnessed, and Ellen's guidance was a big part of that.
What stood out most was how Ellen balanced professionalism with genuine care. She wasn't just "the officiant", she felt like someone who was truly invested in making our day special. If you're looking for someone who will help you create a ceremony that feels like you, not a template, Ellen is your person.
We're so grateful she was part of our day. Highly recommend.
Luke & Jessica
December 2025