A Wedding With Heart Reviews
Reviews
We're all about trust. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
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![Mara]()
Mara Sent on 11/12/2025A Truly Exceptional Officiant – Arissa Made Our Ceremony Unforgettable
We are so grateful we chose Arissa as our officiant. She took the time to truly get to know us, and the personalized ceremony she crafted was nothing short of beautiful. We decided to select our vows ahead of time and chose a wonderful reading from a Washington native — Arissa wove everything together seamlessly, creating a ceremony that felt heartfelt, meaningful, and uniquely “us.”
The love story she wrote for us was honestly one of the highlights of the entire day. It was touching, thoughtful, and so perfectly captured our relationship that it brought tears to our eyes. Our ceremony was absolutely flawless, and we’ve received countless compliments from our guests about how moving and well-crafted it was.
Arissa is warm, professional, and incredibly gifted at what she does. If you want an officiant who will create a ceremony filled with emotion, intention, and genuine connection, she is the perfect choice. We cannot recommend her highly enough! -
![Tessa]()
Tessa Sent on 09/11/2024Thank you, Arissa!
Arissa did a fantastic job at officiating our wedding! I loved that she added personal touches to the ceremony, allowed us to pick our own readings, included our witnesses, and reviewed our vows. I'm so glad she could be part of our special day. -
![Anna]()
Anna Sent on 07/25/2024July 2024 Wedding
Arissa was absolutely wonderful to work with! From our first call to our wedding day, she took time to get to know us as a couple, provided emotional and logistical support, and made us feel at ease with her positive and calm energy. Our ceremony was sweet, funny, and moved us both to laughter and tears. Many guests asked how we knew Arissa, given how personal and heartfelt our ceremony was. Thank you so much, Arissa! -
![Kristin]()
Kristin Sent on 07/11/2024Say yes to wedding with a heart!
We could not be happier with the way our ceremony turned out. Arissa spoke from the heart and told our story with love and compassion. She brought a calming presence and tied everything together. If you get the chance, just say yes! -
![Julia]()
Julia Sent on 11/25/2023Incredible ceremony
We originally went back and forth about hiring outside of friends or family to officiate our wedding. We found Arissa through our planner and after reading reviews we knew we had found what we were wanting. After an initial phone meeting with Arissa we immediately hired her. Arissa kept in touch throughout the planning process and gave us many options when putting together our ceremony to make it feel like us. She guided us in our vow writing, being the in-between so we had a cohesive feel for our ceremony. We could not have imagined a more perfect ceremony. Arissa has a warming and kind presence about her that's just infectious. We had so many guests comment after the ceremony and ask where we found this woman. We still months later have family talking about what a special wedding ceremony we had, thanks to her. If you are on the fence, and thinking of having a family member marry you just leave it to the professional and let your family just enjoy the ceremony. -
![Bennet]()
Bennet Sent on 11/21/2023Well worth it!!
Arissa was the perfect choice for our officiant!! She was professional, very personable, and so sweet despite us being so frazzled!! She wrote an absolutely touching ceremony ❤️ She's very timely in her responses when communicating, and very detail-oriented. I would 100% recommend her :) -
![Michael]()
Michael Sent on 11/07/2023Best wedding officiant, hands down
My wife and I got married on 7/29/23 and Arissa was our officiant! Our entire experience working with Arissa was incredibly special, helpful, smooth, and truly lovely. Seriously, Arissa provides exactly the kind of vendor experience you want (and need!) during the inevitably stressful wedding planning process. Arissa helped us write our vows, which was something we were so very grateful for! And they turned out GREAT! Arissa also wrote the love story of our relationship which she then read during our ceremony. This was a SERIOUS highlight during our entire wedding and it made our ceremony so much more engaging for our guests. We absolutely loved the love story that Arissa wrote and our guests loved it even more. We've received SO many compliments on Arissa (in general), our vows, and the love story reading. Looking back, Arissa also prompted my wife and I to do a lot of incredibly thoughtful and loving reflection on our relationship, in order for our vows and love story to be crafted. This reflection was an unexpected highlight and added a layer of closeness, love, and depth to our relationship during our wedding planning process. This is absolutely something that my wife and I would have missed out on if it weren't for Arissa. Arissa was incredibly responsive, punctual, well spoken, and brought exactly the kind of sweet and loving energy that my wife and I were hoping would characterize our ceremony (and it did!). Arissa listened to us and incorporated the perfect amount/level of humor, spirituality, seriousness, etc. and all the other elements that we considered while dreaming about our wedding ceremony. It was all truly perfect, thanks to Arissa. Do yourself a favor and hire her!! You will NOT regret it :). Thank you, Arissa!
Lots of love,
Michael and Olivia -
![Sarah]()
Sarah Sent on 09/25/2023Great experience!
Arissa was fantastic to work with. She made the ceremony planning process so easy and fun. The love story that she wrote for the ceremony was amazing. We got so many compliments from friends and family and even people thinking that she must have been a family friend since she wrote the story so well! 10/10 would recommend her! -
![D V]()
Dee Sent on 09/07/2023Absolutely amazing experience!
Arissa is amazing. We are so happy with how she officiated our wedding! She made it personalized, fun, loving, special and very dear to our hearts. Family members commented on how wonderful our ceremony was. Arissa was also so patient and caring in helping us complete our wedding license materials. We still talk about how well our special day went and how much we loved Arissa's kindness. Thank you again for being part of our wedding ceremony Arissa! -
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Meghan Sent on 08/31/2023
Absolutely WONDERFUL officiant! We loved Arissa
We are so thankful to have had Arissa as our officiant for our wedding in July. From the moment we met her, we knew her warm, empathetic, and calming presence and way of speaking was exactly what we wanted for our wedding day. The questions she asked us and the way she got to know us was so genuine. We appreciated her guidance on our vows, as well as her guidance for our ceremony. Arissa has a wide range of beautiful readings, ring vows, and wedding vows which helped us to choose what matched our ceremony. The best part about Arissa was the love story she shared for the first time on our wedding day. It was my favorite part of the ceremony and wedding day because it was the most meaningful and symbolic part of the day. We heard from family and friends that the love story was also their favorite part and that it described the story of me and my (now) husband so well. Also, the ease of having Arissa handle the marriage license was wonderful. Arissa, we are forever grateful that you were willing to be a part of our special day. You exceeded our expectations, and we could not be happier that we went with you as our officiant. -
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![Holly]()
Holly Sent on 08/30/2023Absolutely Incredible!
Hiring Arissa was the absolute best decision we made at our wedding!!! The moment we had our first meeting, I knew we found the perfect officiant. She brought so much calmness and warmth during our session which was much needed. Planning a wedding can be stressful!
Arissa made the process so easy with many emails outlining all that was needed from us. She made it fun and effortless. The day of our wedding she came into the bridal sweet just to check in and see how I was feeling. Our ceremony was so beautiful and the love story she created was so special. We had multiple guests comment on how wonderful she was. Our wedding was a DREAM with a lot of happy tears! Do yourself a favor and book Arissa. You will not regret it!!! -
Liam Sent on 07/10/2023
Arissa was incredible! She filled our ceremony with personalized love
I highly recommend Arissa her love and attention is incredible. It made the ceremony so incredibly beautiful and gave us words that will last a life time -
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![Jason]()
Jason Sent on 07/01/2023Exactly the officiant we were looking for.
Arissa was a perfect fit for our celebration! Not being particularly religious we wanted a ceremony that reflected our relationship and our "vibe" but didn't exactly know what that was going in. Arissa provided everything we needed to put together a wonderful ceremony that felt very much like us and gave us a chance to share our love story in a unique way with our friends and family. We got so many compliments on our ceremony afterwards! Arissa's presence felt natural; she meshed so well with our group that people assumed we had known each other for years. I would highly recommended her for your celebration! -
![Laura]()
Laura Sent on 06/03/2023Amazing! Lovely! Beautiful!
My wedding was amazing. I loved every minute of it… Arissa made our ceremony so special. She made us both feel so comfortable from the first time I contacted her. To be honest, I seriously contemplated having a friend marry us and saving money, I’m so happy we didn’t. I wanted a ceremony that people remembered, that included the story of us, but also keep people entertained. My husband is Baha’i so that also needed to be put into a traditional ceremony, Arissa had zero hesitation when I asked how that could be incorporated into our vows. We were married at Willows Lodge in Woodinville. The wedding coordinator knew exactly who she was and was so happy to be working with her, she told us, “she’s one of the best”. Arissa video chatted with us a few times before the ceremony and sent us both questions about our relationship that were private from one another. It made the ceremony that much more special as neither of us knew what the other said.. it was very entertaining and I just remember feeling so much love and laughter during my ceremony it was so lovely. She arrived at our venue early, introduced herself to all our other vendors and kept our ceremony on time. I could not have chosen a better officiant. Trust me when I tell you don’t save the money… she is worth every penny we paid. I would recommend her services to ant bride or groom that wants a flawless ceremony. She made our day beyond special and we both will be forever grateful for such an amazing ceremony. -
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![Krystal]()
Krystal Sent on 04/19/2023Wonderful Officiant
With Arissa's support, we were able to make our wedding our own. She brought calm and joy into our special day. -
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![Wyatt]()
Wyatt Sent on 02/17/2023Our perfect ceremony
Arissa brought so much life, love and personal touch to our elopement. We had only spoken to her a little over a month before our wedding day and we were both so comfortable and so trusting with her as our officiant. We couldn’t have asked for better and are so great full for the memory she helped us make! We plan on calling her again for a vow renewal if and when the time comes. -
![Jon]()
Jon P. Sent on 11/20/2022Incredible storyteller, very heartwarming ceremony
Arissa put together an incredible ceremony tailored to what we wanted (jewish and christian elements, short and sweet). She learned a lot about our relationship and told an incredible and engaging story about it which made our ceremony very special.
I had multiple family members come up to me and share how special Arissa made the wedding and how incredible she was as an officiant. Thank you so much Arissa! -
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![Kiah]()
Kiah Sent on 11/04/2022Excellent Experience
Arissa is an amazing officiant. Everyone kept asking us right after the ceremony if we personally knew her. That’s how well she was able to characterize us and our love for each other with only a few conversations.
She gave us tips when writing our vows which was a great sanity check. We decided to say our vows privately but I feel how she wrote the ceremony captured the essence of what we said to each other privately and have people be able to share a little of our special moment with each other.
She was also very helpful when it came to figuring out the logistics of the precessional and recessional.
All in all, I feel Arissa was instrumental in us feeling like our wedding exceeded our expectations. I would absolutely recommend working with her. -
![Rose]()
Rose Sent on 11/03/2022You won't regret choosing Arissa!
Arissa was the best choice we made for our ceremony! She did a lovely job at crafting our "love story". It was so special to hear and I can tell that she took time and care to make sure the ceremony reflected "us". After the ceremony, many guests asked us how we knew her, they were shocked we only met her when we chose her as our officiant! We would highly recommend her as your officiant as she will be sure to make your ceremony unforgettable. -
![Emily]()
Emily Sent on 10/19/2022Arissa is the BEST!
If I could relive my wedding day, I would absolutely still choose Arissa to perform our ceremony. She is able to provide the most unique ceremony experience that will be a lasting memory for you, and a delight for your wedding guests. I can't count the number of people who told us after our ceremony: "This is the BEST wedding I've ever been to!"
Additionally, we were so lucky to do our pre-marital coaching with Arissa. It was a wonderful way to deepen our relationship prior to getting married, and also allowed us to build a relationship with Arissa. Despite covid restrictions and all the coaching being online (honestly this worked better with our schedule anyway), we truly felt like we were meeting a friend on the day of our wedding. Having her up there with us after all we had explored and discussed together made our ceremony even more special and heartfelt. I would highly recommend Arissa for coaching! It will deepen your marriage commitment and insure a perfectly unique, personal, meaningful and memorable experience. -
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![Tyler]()
Tyler Sent on 10/18/2022Our Ceremony was Perfect!
Let me start by saying that I am so glad we hired Arissa from A Wedding With Heart. Arissa's expertise and professionalism really made our ceremony magical and unforgettable. She wrote and read aloud a beautiful telling of our "love story", that is, how my wife and I met and why we bonded. She also acted as an editor for our vows and made sure that the vows were similar to one another in tone and length. Most of our guests agreed that the ceremony was their favorite part of the wedding, and I believe Arissa is to thank for that.
The real value of A Wedding With Heart, however, showed itself unexpectedly on the day of the wedding. It was an incredibly emotional day, and Arissa's cool, calm demeanor kept me grounded. I truly found her presence and clear-headedness allowed me to appreciate the present moment much more fully. In my opinion, she is worth hiring for that alone! Thanks for giving us such a beautiful and unique Big Day, Arissa! -
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![Hethyre]()
Hethyre Sent on 10/06/2022Helped create the perfect personalized ceremony
Arissa was absolutely the best choice for our wedding officiant. She walked us through the whole process and really made the ceremony very personal to us. She helped with our vows and gave us lots of ideas for the ceremony readings. She is very warm hearted and has a great sense of humor. Very spiritual as well. I highly recommend her! She truly helped to make our special day perfect. -
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![Sarah]()
Sarah Sent on 07/21/2022Beautiful ceremony beyond what we could have ever imagined
From start to finish, we had a truly outstanding experience working with Arissa as our wedding officiant. The ceremony that she created for us was a magical and ethereal reflection of not only our story, but also our values, and our energies. We'd choose Arissa a thousand times over now on the other side and having made such a magical memory with her.
For context, I'll admit that we'd originally hoped for a friend or family member to marry us—however, after thinking through our available cast of characters... no one quite fit the bill. That's when we sought out a professional officiant and were so lucky to find Arissa. From the first conversation, Arissa was warm, welcoming, calming, and an overall excellent listener. After that conversation, we immediately knew that she'd be a perfect fit for us.
Fast forward to the rehearsal and wedding day... Arissa was a deeply grounding energy for the both of us during the weekend's most stressful and nervous moments. We felt that she was fully present with us—mentally and emotionally—in every moment, and her unique creative process made for a truly bespoke and unforgettable memory that we'll cherish always. Beyond her beautiful ceremony, she's just a wonderful human who radiates love and positive energy out into everyone around her.
After the ceremony, we had SO MANY friends and family comment on how lovely and custom the ceremony felt. And even weeks later, our friends keep reminiscing on Arissa's ceremony as their favorite part of the day. On multiple separate occasions, they've even quoted some of her most memorable lines, I kid you not!
Paying someone to officiate your wedding might seem unnecessary or excessive—especially when you can ask a friend or family member to do it for free. We felt this way originally. While it certainly isn't a wrong decision by any means, I promise you that paying a professional to do it will completely level up the quality and outcome of the ceremony. Arissa did that for us and moved us in a way beyond what we could have imagined beforehand. -
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![Lisa]()
Lisa Sent on 06/15/2022Meticulous and empathetic officiant!
Yes Arissa charged more for her service but it was worth every penny I spent. I had an intimate micro wedding so I wanted the whole focus to be on the ceremony. She definitely exceeded my expectation on the ceremony. She prepared a list of readings and vows for us to choose from and a bunch of questions to prepare for the love story. She compiled everything and made them come to life in the ceremony. Since a lot of our extended family are overseas so we needed to squeeze in a 10min session for some of them to have a speech and she was able to make it work. Definitely really easy to communicate and was the absolute highlight of our wedding! -
![Greta]()
Greta Sent on 06/08/2022Loved our ceremony
Arissa was so easy to work with, providing us with options to help personalize our ceremony, and writing our love story. I remember reading reviews like okay sure people said that... but they did. We did have people come up and ask how we knew her because she told our story so well. We had so many compliments on our ceremony for how personal it felt, and many tears shed. Both my husband and I think it was absolutely perfect. Highly recommend her! -
![Bret]()
Bret Sent on 01/10/2022A personalized ceremony that will forever be cherished.
Arissa curated a wedding story/ceremony that went BEYOND our wildest dreams. Arissa is THE officiant to hire if you want the personable and intimate ceremony that will leave people in tears. The process started with an initial zoom meeting for her to get to know me and my husband. Following the call, we were both tasked with filling out a multitude of questions detailing our love story and how we came to be husband and husband. I know Arissa would deliver a "typical" ceremony beautifully, but she proved to be an expert in pulling out special details from both my husband and I, and helping us write vows, which she then seamlessly crafted into a beautiful story. Arissa was attentive, proactively reached out with deadline reminders, and made us feel like her only clients. If you don't know what you want from your ceremony, Arrisa will help you figure it out. Not only will we be recommending Arissa to our friends/family, we will be strongly encouraging them utilize her services and expertise. -
![Kale]()
Kalē Sent on 11/26/2021Absolutely perfect
Arissa was incredibly kind, thoughtful and helpful through the wedding planning process. She created a serene atmosphere that everyone enjoyed. I absolutely loved the way that the readings and special love story were put together. Arissa has a talent for making her work sound as if she has known us for years. A high compliment to be sure. We are forever grateful for her kindness and her genuine love for making the wedding experience enjoyable. -
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![Jacqueline]()
Jacqueline Sent on 10/01/2021Best Officiant Ever
We originally were planning to have one of our closest friends officiate our wedding. However, with multiple postponements due to covid, he was unable to make it in the last minute. I was scrambling to find an officiant for our wedding a month out from our wedding day and Arissa was free on our date. I must say, we are very lucky that this last-minute hiccup happened because having Arissa officiate our wedding has been one of the greatest things to happen to us. She really took the time to get to know us, even in that short time, and delivered the most beautiful ceremony that really was unique to us. She really hit it on the head with the type of vibes we were going for and brought so many beautiful emotions to our day. So many of our guests asked us how long we've known Arissa for and could not stop saying how the ceremony was one of the best ones they've ever experienced.
In terms of the process leading up to our wedding day, Arissa was extremely professional, empathetic, and really happy to learn about our love story. We had a meeting and also individually filled out some forms for her to write up a unique love story about the two of us. The love story was read to us as a surprise during the ceremony and she hit it out of the park. She was also always offering constant support and told us not to hesitate to reach out with any questions in the time leading up to our wedding. From the rehearsal to the actual wedding, Arissa was the greatest energy to be around and put us all at ease on such a nerve-wracking day. I highly recommend Arissa to officiate your wedding. She is truly kind, caring, professional, and will deliver a ceremony that is genuinely unique to you. -
![Paige]()
Paige Sent on 09/11/2021Absolutely amazing!
Stop looking and hire Arissa as your officiant right now! She was absolutely incredible. I was referred to Arissa as a preferred vendor from our venue and looked her up on here and was pleasantly surprised how many amazing reviews she had. Usually she would have done in initial in person meeting, but with covid she met us through FaceTime. She got to know us personally and our daughter and was so comforting right away. I love the approach she has in her ceremonies, which she sent me examples of. For my husband and I we didn't want to traditional flow of a ceremony, we wanted something more upbeat and quirky that worked for us and Arissa was completely on board to deliver exactly what we wanted. When it came to certain readings such as the ceremony reading, Arissa gave us plenty of options and directions of what other couples had done, and when we didn't like it, or it wasn't personable enough for us, she was so good at communicating with us, going back and forth with great suggestions and making it absolutely perfect for what we wanted. I love the approach she has of more a story telling ceremony rather than lengthly readings that aren't so personal. Arissa told our story with so much love, laughter and was great at keeping our friends and family so engaged. I have been to A LOT of weddings, and the way Arissa approached the ceremony was the best I've ever seen. We had so many guests come up to us and tell us what a great ceremony it was and how great our officiant was. So hands down, HIRE ARISSA! You will absolutely love the way she tells your story and how engaging and captivating she is! -
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![Megan]()
Megan Sent on 08/16/2021Amazing officiant, beautiful ceremony!
Arissa did an amazing job as our wedding officiant, we would absolutely recommend her to anybody! She was incredibly sweet and helpful throughout the planning process as well as on our wedding day. We felt so comfortable with her and had complete faith that she would do a great job as our officiant. Our guests kept commenting on how beautiful the ceremony was and how it felt like Arissa had known us for years. She took the time to get to know us as a couple, understand the things that my husband and I appreciate about each other and incorporated all of those details into a beautiful ceremony narrative. She was so helpful in terms of giving us options and recommendations for the ceremony. She also worked with our day of coordinator to make sure the rehearsal ran smoothly and my husband and I felt comfortable knowing how everything would go during the ceremony. The ceremony ended up being our favorite part of the wedding day and we have Arissa to thank for that! -
![Karin]()
Karin Sent on 07/26/2021Would definitely recommend to anyone
We had a lot of changes during COVID and we were in search of an officiant pretty last minute. Arissa was so flexible in working with us. In just a month or so left, Arissa put together such a personal story for us and she is so skilled at her craft. We felt confident in her ability to put something together in just a few weeks and it felt as if we've worked with her all year. She's such a great listener, so personable and professional I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a versatile and easy to work with officiant! -
![Ryan]()
Ryan Sent on 07/15/2021I cannot rave enough!
I cannot rave enough about our amazing and special wedding ceremony, all thanks to Arissa! She was able to capture our relationship from just a few phone calls with me and my now-husband and tell a beautiful love story in such a special way on our special day. She is so calming and professional and a breeze to work with, making the details of our ceremony the least stressful part of the day. I'm so happy we got to work with her and I would recommend her to anyone getting married in Seattle!My mom continues to rave about the ceremony as well: "Out of all the weddings that I have been through over a lifetime… I’m 56 years old. I have to say my daughter's wedding ceremony was the best one I’ve ever attended and it is not because it was my daughter’s wedding. I have only been to traditional wedding ceremonies and my daughter's wedding was definitely not traditional… in the very best way! It was beautiful to hear their history. The thoroughness on the part of the officiant and how she was able to synthesize all the information to make it the focus of the wedding ceremony was beyond compare." -
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![Andrea]()
Andrea Sent on 05/18/2021Thank you for telling our story!
Going into wedding planning, we were most nervous about finding an officiant who would be able to make our ceremony come together. It turns out that we had absolutely nothing to worry about! Arissa made everything so easy leading up to our big day, even though planning a wedding during this crazy pandemic meant that we faced a lot of different logistical difficulties and scheduling changes. For the ceremony, Arissa did a wonderful job stitching together our story, which was the cherry on top for our intimate, family-focused wedding. We recently received a copy of our entire ceremony in the mail, which we will certainly cherish! -
![Lana]()
Lana Sent on 04/06/2021She is amazing!
She is very friendly and pay attention to the details!! We had a very lovely and happy memories! -
Lindsay Sent on 12/06/2020
Such a wonderful experience!
Arissa was absolutely wonderful to work with. She provided such a person touch to our ceremony by capturing our story and incorporating both humor and the things that were most important to us. She had us and our guests back and forth between laugher and tears the entire time, which is exactly what we wanted for our small intimate wedding. Arissa was extremely responsive and was beyond helpful in explaining the process and our options. We were ultimately able to piece together the flow and wording for our entire ceremony, from the ring exchange, style of vows, extra readings, and even a small part to honor our parents. We were just blown away by the whole experience and would highly recommend working with Arissa if you have an upcoming ceremony (of ANY type or style because she can capture just about anything you are looking for and make yours). Thank you, Arissa. You were a breath of fresh air while planning a very stressful pandemic wedding! -
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Sierra Sent on 11/12/2020
The best day ever
My honey and I eloped in the pacific north west. We are not from the area so we had a lot of questions. Arissa not only helped us through the process but she was very responsive and thoughtful. We were running late to the ceremony and when we arrived Arissa made sure we took a
moment to breath and reminded us that it was our day. Giving us that 5 minute break to recenter ourselves really made the setting. We didn’t want to read her write up of the ceremony ahead of time because we really wanted to be involved in the moment, Arissa nailed it! I really
felt like she new us and what we stand for. I would recommend Arissa 100 times over. I wouldn’t want anyone else officiating our special moment. -
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Gene Sent on 11/02/2020
Beautiful Experience
Arissa officiated our elopement beautifully. First she spoke with us to find out information about who we were as people and as a couple. Then she sent us separate emails to find out what made that person special to us. She even reviewed our vows to make sure everyone was on the same page. At the event, she brought it all together so well. We’re super impressed and happy to have her play such a big part on our special day. She has a very calming presence and great energy -
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![Jillian]()
Jillian Sent on 10/25/2020Small wedding
Great job. Timely and beautiful ceremony -
![Claire]()
Claire Sent on 08/22/2020Gifted in creating sacred space & container for ceremony
From our first discussions with Arissa, we knew her energy was what we wanted in an officiant and present at our wedding: grounded, kind, open. She listened to what our vision was for our wedding and held the key elements close, reflecting our vision back to us as guidance when we needed it, or in simple acknowledgement that she "got" us. The pandemic hit right in the middle of wedding planning and there were so many things we needed to restructure to make our dream wedding work; I was anxious that when I had to keep changing things it might be frustrating for Arissa (and photographer) and each time I was greeted with softness, encouragement, and total flexibility. Ours was not a typical wedding-it started with quite a long, strenuous hike (wedding clothes in the bags on our back) up to an alpine lake, and more hiking to find the right place to do the ceremony- just us, our officiant, and our photographer. Arissa did exactly what we needed her to do- she was SO grounding. She did a blessing at the trailhead for all of us and continued to hold that ceremonial space for us as we hiked, and then re-energized it again for our ceremony. Her ability to do this was so important because in the midst of travel, wedding, and pandemic stress, I don't think we could've done that for ourselves. I wanted an officiant who knew what sacred space was, who knew how to hold it and create it. Arissa was that officiant, and we are so delighted with our luck in having found her- on the internet, in IL with her in WA, with only a few phone conversations and many emails to get to know her no less!! Arissa is just a cool person too... picking up feathers on the trail, attuned to her surroundings... :) We are blessed to know her! -
![Kali]()
Kali Sent on 05/06/2020Wonderful to work with!
Arissa was so easy to work with throughout the entire process of planning the ceremony for our February 2020 wedding! Neither my husband or I are very religious, and had a difficult time finding an officiant we felt comfortable with. We first met Arissa at a local coffee shop and immediately felt comfortable! We loved that her focus for our ceremony could be our love story. It was incredibly easy to work with Arissa throughout the entire planning process - we were able to answer questions and make decisions in our own time, and she was always extremely responsive to any of our emails! By the day of, she had thoughtfully put together a beautiful ceremony for us - we had many guest comment on how beautiful and heartfelt ceremony had been. -
![Alex]()
Alex Sent on 12/23/2019Special Day, Special Officiant, Perfect Event
Arissa is highly skilled and professional in her role as the wedding officiant for our wedding last fall. Communication from initial email contact through post-wedding thank you notes was timely, on-point and clear. She exudes a warm, friendly, calm and helpful persona, she really loves telling a couple's love story. Arissa has a good working strategy for assisting her couple clients through the process of designing and executing their ceremonies (this part of a wedding really does set the tone for any event, she is an expert in this). She worked thoroughly with us to create a custom wedding ceremony and made it genuine, many of our guests complimented on the intimate and loving feelings they felt during the ceremony. We are happy to have had the opportunity for Arissa to be part of our wedding day team, she was integral in making it a wonderful day for us. We will continue to cherish the vows that she lovingly wrote for us, we plan to read them at our future anniversaries as a reminder of the commitment we made to each other. Thank you Arissa! -
![Meredith]()
Meredith Sent on 12/15/2019A Truly Wonderful Experience - A True Connection and SO professional
When picking someone to officiate your wedding, it’s hard if you do not belong to a church, or feel like someone will understand you completely after only meeting you a few times. From the FIRST meeting with Arissa my now husband and I knew we absolutely had a connection with her, and felt so comfortable in her presence!
Arissa has such an amazing energy about her, and in combination with her completely professional process or learning who we were and how we met, etc. we knew we HAD to have her!!
Our ceremony was more amazing than we could even imagine. We went through the “vibe” we wanted, and Arissa had pages and pages of possible quotes,verses, and anecdotes to be shared during the ceremony - we were able to craft something so unique it made us feel so comfortable! With questions answered by myself and my husband she was able to create the most unique and truly amazing ceremony and “love story” that she read for the first time at our ceremony. We get such a connection with her, and the story she told during the ceremony, we read it a few times after on our honeymoon!
We got SOOO many compliments regarding the ceremony and Arissa! So many people told us it was the most connected and truly “us” ceremony they had ever experiences! We all laughed, cried, and felt a connection I could never expect!
If you are looking for an officiant, please PLEASE consider Arissa. She is an absolutely wonderful person, and made our wedding such an amazing experience! -
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Ralph Sent on 11/08/2019A Wonderful Experience!
Arissa did an amazing job! We could not be happier with her and her level of professionalism while keeping our ceremony down to earth and heartfelt. -
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Krystle Sent on 10/26/2019Made our day!!!
We sadly lost our first officiant to very sad circumstances a month before our wedding and we were contacted by Arissa to help us! She stepped in and it was absolutely seamless! She has such a kind nature and was incredibly supportive of us! The ceremony was perfect and afterwards, she helped us with our paperwork and made sure our vow books and wedding certificate were mailed safely to us. I would highly recommend Arissa! Your ceremony will be heart felt and perfectly catered to you and your fiancé! -
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Lauren Sent on 10/14/2019Perfect officiant for our wedding day
My husband and I were married by Arissa in August 2019. We could not have asked for a better officiant. Arissa was attentive, calming, thoughtful and so lovely to work with. Arissa truly took the time to get to know us and understand our story. I had some family emergencies arise just before the wedding and not only was Arissa extremely accommodating to last minute changes, she was a really positive energy in a stressful time! The ceremony was so much more than I could have ever expected and really felt special to us. Our guests are still commenting on how much they enjoyed the ceremony—in fact, most people assumed she was family or a close family friend because everything was so personal. After the wedding, Arissa handled the marriage licensing quickly and without any issues. She also sent us a lovely packet with the ceremony and vows printed out—such a special touch. We are thrilled that we connected with Arissa and cannot recommend her enough for your special day. -
James Sent on 09/21/2019
Wonderful to work with!
Arissa was fantastic and really made sure our wedding felt like 'us'. She took the time to talk with us as a couple and individually, getting to know us and crafted the perfect ceremony for our personalities. We were a little bit behind on some of our planning, but she never made us feel rushed and just wanted what was in our best interest. Arissa was incredibly flexible, willing to change things as we got closer to our wedding to make sure our ceremony was perfect. I'd highly recommend her to anyone. -
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Leah Sent on 09/18/2019Most memorable part of the wedding...
Arissa is absolutely incredible and wrote us the most beautiful ceremony that captured all the sweet details of me and my partner's relationship. Our guests are still talking about how personal the ceremony was and how they feel like they know us better because of Arissa's words. She was wonderful to work with and really took the time to get to know us. When she sent over the first draft we had a lot of edits and she was really willing to work with us to make sure it was perfect. The love story she wrote made everybody cry and laugh. Couldn't recommend her enough. -
Karen Sent on 09/10/2019
Highly Recommend!
I highly recommend Arissa! She was wonderful to work with and made our ceremony very special. All of our guests were commenting on how beautiful and moving it was. So happy we found her! -
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Maria Sent on 09/03/2019A stress free experience ending in an unforgettable "love story" themed ceremony
Arissa was an absolute pleasure to work with from start to finish. From our first email, she was positive in her responses, and quick to get back to us. We first communicated via video chat, as we live away from her location, and the entire process of meeting her and introducing ourselves and having her explain the way she creates her meaningful and personal ceremonies was completely pressure free. She was reassuring and kindly re-explained as I asked questions over and over again.
As she was creating our “love story” she asked us thoughtful and personal questions about our past, present, and future together, and helped us to select readings and vows that were special and meaningful to us as a couple.
Arissa was so flexible with our needs - making herself available for video chats, doing a phone call rehearsal a couple days before the big day, and giving us plenty of time to get back to her about our “love story” questions and ceremony choices.
And then there was the ceremony itself - WOW! From her body language to her voice and tones, the ceremony felt welcoming and inclusive to us and to all of our guests. Our ceremony was personalized and meaningful to who we are as a couple, and we walked away feeling there was nothing left unsaid, and nothing said too much. Several of our our loved ones spoke specifically of Arissa and how lovely the ceremony was on that day and for weeks following, many saying that had never heard a ceremony quite like it. People we have known for years told us how fun and exciting it was to hear new stories and gain further insight into our relationship through the “love story” Arissa so beautifully told.
The entire process of working with Arissa was stress free and fun at every interaction. We feel so fortunate to have had someone so attentive, kind, and enjoyable share in this important day with us. -
Mary Sent on 09/03/2019
Wonderful!
We are so happy that we worked with Arissa for our wedding day! From the first time we met her, she was so kind and easy to talk to. Arissa sent us numerous options for readings, vows and the ring exchange. The best part of working with Arissa, by far, was that she really took the time to get to know our relationship. Hearing the personalized 'love story' for the first time will always be one of my happiest memories. We feel very lucky to have met Arissa! -
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Allie Sent on 08/26/2019So happy with our experience!
Arissa told our story as if she had known us for several years. Not only did she provide an authentic love story, but her calming presence was exactly what we needed on our wedding day. She was also able to accommodate our mixed Persian/American ceremony with ease. I would definitely recommend her as an officiant! -
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Kathryn Sent on 07/04/2019A wedding with heart
Arissa was the perfect officiant for my wedding. It truly was "a wedding with heart." I planned the ceremony from out of town, and Arissa was communicative by facetime and attentive email replies. She interviews the bride and groom to weave their love story, which was such a highlight for our ceremony. I received so many compliments about how touching the story was and it became a conversation piece for the guests during the reception. She helped with vow writing and, for my mother, the toast speech. She is lovely, and I would highly recommend her! -
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Jennifer Sent on 04/11/2019Excellent Wedding
I had so many guests raving about how well of a job she did. Guest just loved her. -
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Erin Sent on 01/03/2019Arissa is a true professional, who has clearly found her calling in life.
We are so grateful that Arissa chose to be part of our wedding. It was truly a pleasure to work with her and have her be a part of our wedding day. When we asked her to officiate our small ceremony, we did not realize how much personal time and effort she would invest into drafting our ceremony for us. The finished product far exceeded our expectations.
Arissa is a true professional, who has clearly found her calling in life. The care that she puts into her work is evident. Even though we never met her in person before the wedding, it did not feel like she was a stranger because she is such a sincere and genuinely kind person. Our guests thought that we had known her prior to the ceremony because of how personal the ceremony was.
For all of these reasons and more, we cannot imagine a better person to have officiated our wedding than Arissa and highly recommend working with her. -
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Megan Sent on 12/19/2018
Absolutely the Best
Arissa was absolute wonderful! She conducted an excellent service with all the parts we wanted. She was flexible, professional, light hearted, and engaging with our guests. She made our ceremony wonderful while keeping the focus on us and what we wanted. We wanted to add hand fasting before the ring exchange and Arissa was very knowledgeable about how to perform the hand fasting. She reviewed both our vows before and gave constructive feedback. We received many compliments on the beauty of our ceremony. -
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Laura Sent on 12/13/2018Personal and Professional
From the very first phone call we were blown away with Arissa’s kindness and professionalism. We felt lost when it came to finding an officiant as we planned our wedding. We were also worried it wouldn’t be personal if we hired someone we had never met. Arissa eliminated those doubts the moment we met her. She truly cared about our love story and what we hoped for in our wedding. Her warmth and genuine personality made us so comfortable. She offered endless readings for us to browse so we could help create the ceremony we hoped for. When it all came together for the first time on our wedding day we were both filled with emotions. Even though we had met Arissa six months prior she told our love story as if she had been part of it through the years. She engaged our family and led the most beautiful ceremony. We received endless complements and so many of our guests said that it was the most personal heartwarming ceremony they had ever witnessed. Weeks after the wedding we received a printed copy of our ceremony and were able to relive it again. So thankful we chose Arissa to be our officiant. She will exceed your expectations 100%. -
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William Sent on 10/29/2018Wonderful Ceremony!!
Arissa was amazing!! You can read how many five star reviews she has, and there’s a reason for that!
I highly recommend her to anyone getting married - her ceremony is very personal and tuned to your love story - it’s not out of the box.
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