Howard Steiermann is an innovative wedding officiant in San Francisco, California, who aims to create warm, welcoming, heartfelt ceremonies for couples and their guests to enjoy. Howard officiates a range of venues from beachfronts to mansions and is an ordained rabbi and non-denominational minister. In addition to California, Howard is also licensed in Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon.
Services Offered Howard Steiermann officiates civil unions, interfaith ceremonies, multicultural ceremonies, non-religious ceremonies, rehearsals, single religion ceremonies, and vow renewals whether they’re traditional or non-traditional. He wants the ceremony to be special for you, which is reflected in his ability to provide customized vows. Howard can serve couples belonging to no denomination as well as couples who are/belong to Agnostic, Anglican, Baha’i Faith, Baptist, Buddhist, Catholic, Earth-based, Episcopalian, Hindu, Islam, Jainism, Jewish, Lutheran, and:
Happy trio Howard M SteiermannBliss in portlandAwaiting the bride's entranceSanctifying the moment with wineBeautiful setting over san francisco bayMoments after the tea ceremony honoring their parents. I then conducted the exchange of vows. Outdoor wedding in oaklandcancion & mattLovely bride and groom Happy trio Howard M SteiermannBliss in portland
We are so grateful that Howard was able to officiate for our wedding. We wanted a ceremony that would incorporate traditional Jewish elements, but also be relatable and understandable for our friends and family who are not Jewish, and to be a reflection of us as a couple. We requested no mention of God, and Howard easily presented us with alternative options, and kept the ceremony in the spirit of the Jewish tradition, with modern English interpretations of Hebrew blessings. He was also so lovely to work with leading up to the wedding — we met several times in person, and exchanged countless emails fine-tuning all of the details. We were initially worried about what to do about our vows since we didn’t intend to share our vows publicly with our guests, and Howard was so supportive in suggesting vow options that would create a ceremony that was comfortable for us. Howard also constantly encouraged us to stay true to ourselves and our wishes throughout the whole process, which was so helpful to keep focused on what we imagined for this key part of our wedding day. He has a confident and calming presence that made us feel secure in knowing he had the ceremony handled, which was such a relief to know the ceremony was something we did not need to stress or worry about when planning all of the other details that go into a wedding. We couldn't recommend Howard more!
Sent on 11/19/2019
Anna
· Married on 09/23/2018
5.0
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
5.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
5.0
A lovely, unique ceremony
Howard was the best wedding officiant we could ever have hoped for. He designed a lovely, bespoke ceremony for us that was beautiful and elegant and touching, and felt inclusive for everyone in attendance.
We are LGBTQ, with Jewish and non-denominational protestant families, we're originally from Atlanta and Austin, and we live in San Francisco, so our ceremony had to be a delicate mix. Howard asked us all the right questions to make our ceremony reflect who we are and was especially focused on making our ceremony inclusive. We especially appreciated that he was able to take Jewish traditions and make them current, relevant and digestible for the mostly non-Jewish crowd.
We had been planning on having a friend officiate, but that fell through about six weeks before the wedding, and Howard was awesome about jumping in. We really only had the vaguest idea of what we wanted out of our ceremony, and Howard gently guided us through the process. Howard provided structure where we needed it, and was a voice of calm throughout the whole thing. We knew we were in good hands and that we wouldn't have to worry about the ceremony.
And we were right: we got so many compliments on the ceremony! Our parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, and even our DJ and photographer told us how touching it was.
We highly, highly recommend Howard. He's thoughtful, experienced and open-minded; he has just the right mix of gravitas and lightheartedness. He created the most beautiful ceremony for us--we'll never forget it, and we're so happy we chose him.
Sent on 11/22/2018
Victoria Thomas
· Married on 09/08/2018
5.0
Quality of service:
5.0
Responsiveness:
5.0
Value:
5.0
Flexibility:
5.0
Professionalism:
5.0
Better than we could have imagined!
Howard did an absolutely incredible job as our officiant. He took the time to meet with us so he could learn about the values we wanted to project throughout our ceremony, and it was clear on the day of the wedding that he not only listened intently but also spent time and energy turning our wishes into a spiritual, meaningful and loving ceremony that we will remember fondly for the rest of our lives. We've had so many guests reach out to us following the wedding to say it was the best ceremony they'd ever attended—and we know so much of that is thanks to Howard! We can't recommend him highly enough.
Howard officiated a lovely wedding with two wonderful men who had been together 31 years, and finally decided to get married as one of them had a terminal diagnosis. It was a ceremony that was tender, loving, uplifting and beautifully reflective of their love and their relationship. Everyone who attended spoke about Howard's ceremony and how it suited the two grooms just perfectly. I referred these gentlemen to Howard, as, although I am also an officiant, I was hospice chaplain to the one groom, and my employer wouldn't allow me to provide that service for them. And Howard was the perfect man for the job--they loved him, and were thrilled with their wedding. I refer Howard whenever I can't take a couple, and I recommend him to everyone! Elizabeth River, wedding officiant in the North Bay area.
Map
1539 Guerrero St San Francisco, California, 94110 See on map
415-347-8678(Phone number)
I look forward to your call anytime!
