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Cantor Erik Contzius Reviews

Cantor Erik Contzius

Cantor Erik Contzius

Peekskill, NY
5.0 out of 5 rating, 11 Reviews
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Reviews

5.0 out of 5 rating
5.0 out of 5 rating
11 Reviews
100% recommend it
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Awards

11
  • Jamie
    Jamie S. Sent on 10/24/2021
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    Best wedding ceremony

    Cantor Contzius gave us the most perfect wedding ceremony and day. It was a mix of sentimental, sweet and funny - our guests cannot stop talking about it! We found him as we were looking for someone to perform an interfaith ceremony (I'm Jewish, my husband is not), while including some Jewish traditions throughout and he delivered!!! It was the perfect balance. He also really engaged the guests and incorporated them into the ceremony itself. We had met with him a few times leading up to the wedding for some premarital counseling to best understand each other, communication and things we can do/continue to do to ensure a long happy life together. These meetings were so insightful and helpful for both my husband and I. By meeting with Cantor C, he got to know us better to make the ceremony even more personal. Everyone thought we had known him for years!! We also had a beautiful Ketubah signing prior to the public ceremony, which was such a special service. We had both of our parents and witnesses with us for an intimate signing and meaningful moments. We cannot say enough about how great Cantor Contzius is. We are so grateful to have had him for our wedding day and would do it all over again if we could!
  • Paulina
    Paulina Sent on 09/24/2021
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    Cantor Erik is amazing!

    We're very happy with Cantor Erik - he did a fantastic job with our ceremony. Very organized and top of details. Great speaker! The best!
  • Jessica
    Jessica G. Sent on 12/14/2018
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    10 stars!!! Amazing!!!

    Your search for wedding officiant ends right here, at Cantor Erik Contzius. We knew from the moment we met him that he would be one of the best aspects of our whole wedding. We were really nervous about hiring an officiant. I was raised in a Reform Jewish home and am still very much connected to my Jewish culture and heritage. My boyfriend/now husband was raised Unitarian and is now non-practicing. We both wanted a traditionally Jewish ceremony, as that was very important to me (chuppah, prayers, glass breaking, Ketubah) but also wanted it to be very much us (not mentioning God, adding in elements of my husbands Irish roots). To us the ceremony was really important - the thing you remember, standing there together, officially becoming one. So we wanted someone who could reflect a sweet, traditional ceremony, but also make it feel like us. And boy did Erik deliver. We found him through the interfaith website and as soon as we Skyped with him, we knew he was for us. He was casual and funny, but when it came to the ceremonial traditions, you could tell he really valued what he does, taking it very seriously to make sure you knew why a tradition was there, and if it was something you wanted. We also loved that he wouldn’t work with a couple without getting to know them. We did our pre-marital questionnaire where he was able to give advice and guidance off of. We met multiple times before the wedding where it didn’t feel like a business deal, but like we were making a real friend - we always looked forward to weekend visits where we would talk about religion, what it means to us, and plan a wedding ceremony that fit our wants and needs. He is super duper quick with response and went back and forth on multiple emails with me making sure the spelling on our Ketubah, and descriptions in our program were all correct. The day of, he arrived early as promised and held a beautiful Ketubah ceremony - surrounded by just family and close friends, it was an intimate ceremony that was one of the most meaningful parts of the day. Then the ceremony. We were nervous - we loved Erik but we met him on the internet, what if he didn’t live up to all the reviews? Well believe us, he did - he exceeded every expectation we had! He customized the whole program for us (we even got a copy!). Beforehand, he had asked my husband and myself write love letters to each other and he used those to pull elements from into the ceremony. The ceremony was filled with love, humor, and culture. He sang prayers in Hebrew, he explained every tradition that we were doing so everyone - jewish and non-jewish - would understand and feel a part of it. He also made sure to bring in aspects from my husbands side as well - we drank one glass of wine from my grandfathers kiddish cup, and another from a glass from my husbands grandmother from Ireland; at the end of the ceremony he even added in an Irish prayer which really resonated with those on my husbands side. Everyone felt included, everyone felt welcomed. And most of all, the ceremony didn’t feel like just another ceremony - it felt 100% us which is more than we could have ever asked for (we asked to if we could read a poem to one another, and he was all on board, even offering to read it over for us!). I cannot think of one guest who hasn’t told us how much they loved our Cantor and the whole ceremony - “He was amazing, where did you find him?” “I want to recommend him for my daughter/son/sister/brothers wedding” “That was one of the best ceremonies - he was fantastic! And it felt just like you two.” My more religious parents who were cautious of who was officiating absolutely loved him and haven’t stopped raving. My grandfather said he absolutely loved taking to the Cantor, thought he was excellent. My husbands non-Jewish family absolutely loved him as well. The compliments can go on and on. But most importantly we 110% loved Cantor Erik. He made our wedding ceremony perfect. We hope to keep in touch with him throughout the years. He made everyone feel like one big family that day - and isn’t that what you want at a wedding? Look no further, hire Erik.
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  • O
    Olga Sent on 09/20/2018
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    Cantor Erik was absolutely fantastic - working with him was by far one of the best decisions we made for our wedding (besides choosing each other to marry, of course). I had dozens of guests complement me afterwards about our officiant - Jews and non-Jews, young and old, EVERYONE seemed to love him, everyone felt included and touched by our ceremony. And most of all, my husband and I couldn't have asked for a better person to usher us into our marriage.

    From our very first meeting with him, Cantor Erik put us at ease and helped us think about how to build the foundation for a healthy marriage. He had such a great balance of humor and seriousness, helping us recognize the gravity of the wedding but also putting us at ease and helping us keep perspective amidst all the craziness of wedding planning. He worked with us to craft the ceremony that would be most meaningful for us, explaining the history behind various traditions and rituals and helping us determine what we did and didn't want to include. He was always responsive throughout the months leading up to the wedding when we had questions about our ketubah, program, etc. We looked forward to all our pre-wedding meetings with him, and grew as a couple in the process.

    The wedding day itself - WOW. We laughed. We cried. We couldn't have been happier. Cantor Erik created a very special atmosphere for the ketubah signing, which created such a happy and peaceful tone for the whole wedding. For the ceremony, he started off with a very personalized message about our relationship - he got to the heart of who we were and why we worked so well together. He explained each of the traditions as he did them in a way that made everyone feel included. It was a truly special, uplifting, and unique ceremony.

    All in all, we couldn't recommend Cantor Erik more highly!

    Cantor Erik Contzius's reply:

    Loved working with you both! I wish you only happiness, health and blessing on your journey of life! Stay in touch!
  • C
    Catherine Sent on 07/07/2018
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    Erik is the best in the business! We absolutely loved how he did our ceremony, we’ve been married 2 weeks and people are still telling us how great he was. They loved how he translated the Hebrew part of the ceremony to English for people who aren’t jewish to understand! We love you Erik thank you for going above and beyond!!
  • D
    David Sent on 07/21/2018
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    Cantor Contzius was fantastic. We called him to discuss our wedding and he was incredibly helpful and kind. He is very knowledgeable and he is incredibly accommodating. We were operating on a tight schedule and called him at the last minute. He was unfazed and was willing to work around our schedule. The cantor offers pre-wedding counseling to help the couple think through some of the decisions they will face once married and he offers great advice over the phone! I would highly recommend you hire Cantor Contzius!
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    Brittany Sent on 06/12/2017
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    Finding the right officiant was very important to Doug and I. When we got engaged we did not have a Rabbi or Cantor that knew both of us, and that was a big challenge since we didn't want a generic fill-in-the-names ceremony. To complicate things further we're an interfaith couple but both had a strong interest and respect for Jewish traditions. Our dreams came true when we found Cantor Erik. He went above and beyond in every way.

    Before the wedding he helped proof our self-written Ketubah. He helped proof our program (which included explanations of the various Jewish traditions included in the ceremony. He also met with us twice to get to know us as actual people (and not just "clients") and provided some very genuinely useful pre-wedding advice.

    The day of our wedding he oversaw our civil signing as well as our Ketubah signing, providing our close family and friends thoughtful context of those proceedings. He arrived well before he needed to, which was so reassuring (looking around and seeing all your vendors arrive early lowers the blood pressure!).

    Then most importantly, the ceremony: The ceremony was absolutely beautiful. My husband is a wedding photographer (doug-peterson.com) and he has seen hundreds of ceremonies and the thing he kept saying afterward was just how *genuine* Cantor Erik's comments and joy were, and I agree! It was neither rushed nor drawn out. It was beautiful, eloquent, and very very personal. The time he invested to get to know us really showed, and there were few dry eyes in the audience.

    We will forever be grateful to Cantor Erik and simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

    Cantor Erik Contzius's reply:

    It was such a pleasure to work with you both! I wish you only the best of mazal, good wishes, and a happy life!!!
  • D
    Deb Sent on 02/02/2017
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    Cantor Contzius officiatead our wedding in October 2016. He guided is through the process like a true expert and professional and was very generous with his time.

    During our nearly weekly meetings with the Cantor, he offered support, provided pre-marital counseling which was invaluable, reviewed our personal information to be included on the ketubah, listened to our our expectations regarding the ceremony and advised us on how to carry them out, among other things!

    Throughout the process it was clear that Cantor Contzius would be sure to include both our families in the ceremony and ketubah signing despite the fact that my husband is not Jewish. And true to his word, Cantor Contzius made certain that our diverse group of family and friends understood the rituals which we carried out and the meaning behind all of the prayers. He even went to great lengths to translate a prayer into Japanese for my husband's family.

    Our ceremony was exactly what we had envisioned - warm, personal and light-hearted. It was apparent to everyone that Cantor Contzius had gotten to know both my husband and I well over the few months that we had worked together.

    Following the ceremony, the majority of our friends (regardless of religious background) remarked how wonderful the Cantor was and how much they enjoyed the ceremony. It meant so much to my husband and I to have a meaningful ceremony that was personal and spiritual that all of our guests could enjoy.

    I honestly can not speak highly enough of Cantor Contzius and recommend him without hesitation. He set the tone for our amazing wedding!

    Cantor Erik Contzius's reply:

    It was great working with you both! I do anticipate we will continue to be in touch. Congratulations!!
  • J
    Jane Sent on 06/29/2016
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    Our conversations and planning with Erik culminated with a beautiful, personal, heartfelt ceremony that reflected exactly what we wanted. Erik interpreted our personalities and what we said during our conversations on skype and via email to put together a ceremony that represented us, just what we had hoped for. Erik respected our different family backgrounds and we are so happy to have the great memories of our ketubah signing and ceremony that he helped to create.
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    Jaime Sent on 07/19/2016
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    Cantor Contzius was wonderful! He got to know us and performed a beautiful ceremony. (He was quite entertaining and had our guests laughing, too!) I would highly recommend him for all weddings and special occasions!
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    Adam Sent on 07/24/2016
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    Cantor Contzius did a fantastic job with our wedding. Our ceremony both commemorated this important day in our lives (and Jewish lives) but also had the humor we wanted at this joyous occasion. We worked with Cantor Contzius to get a ceremony that felt customized to our preferences and, to this day, our family and friends still talk about how good our officiant was. We highly recommend Cantor Contzius!