I’m Naomi Rose, wedding officiant and owner of Santa Cruz Officiant. I’m also an ordained minister and certified celebrant with more than 20 years of training and experience in ceremony, ritual and rites of passage theory. I officiate wedding ceremonies and elopements in Santa Cruz County, Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey. Since 2015, I’ve officiated more than 400 wedding ceremonies, from intimate elopements in redwood forests and on coastal cliffs to elaborate celebrations at some of Northern California’s most beautiful venues, including Nestldown, Waterfall Lodge and The Holly Farm.

My work is rooted in the belief that a wedding ceremony can be both deeply meaningful and genuinely enjoyable. I create ceremonies with emotional depth, humor and a strong sense of occasion, without relying on generic scripts, cheesy gimmicks or outdated traditions.

I have particular expertise creating nonreligious and secular ceremonies that resonate with guests no matter their religious affiliation or beliefs. As one bride wrote: “We only heard our guests RAVE about our ceremony. I expected as much from my friends, who especially loved all the quotes from women of color and felt the ceremony was ‘so grounded, magical and intentional, like Sarah and Kevin!’ But I had no idea how much my family and parents’ friends would feel impacted, too. I’m talking about my Catholic, Mormon, evangelical Christian family/family friends alike, who all gushed to us about how beautiful the ceremony was!”

I also officiate modern Jewish wedding ceremonies, interfaith/mixed-faith/cultural-hybrid ceremonies, second marriages and blended-family ceremonies, elopements and micro-weddings, and work with couples across an enormous range of backgrounds, identities, orientations and origin stories.

My process is relational rather than templated. I listen closely, ask thoughtful questions, learn about what matters to you, and shape that information into a ceremony that is cohesive, dynamic and entirely yours. I always find that couples say it best, so here is what one groom had to say: “Naomi's ceremony was at the center of the best day of our lives. She asked all of the right questions to make us reflect on who we each are, who we are together, what our relationship means to us, what marriage means to us, and what type of life we're building together. She took that understanding and created a stunningly beautiful ceremony that helped our guests understand us and our relationship… I would feel confident recommending her to virtually anyone, which is a somewhat amazing thing given how incredibly personal and tailored the ceremony was (and should be).”

And because even beautiful words can fall flat if they aren’t delivered well, I bring as much attention to presence, pacing and performance as I do to the writing itself.