Rabbi Vanessa Ochs, wedding officiant Reviews

Reviews

• Meagan K. Sent on 04/16/2024
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  Rabbi Ochs is the best!

  We absolutely loved working with Rabbi Ochs for our wedding ceremony. It was such an honor to get to know her leading up to our wedding - she is so kind and thoughtful. Rabbi Ochs co-officiated our interfaith marriage ceremony and worked with us to create a ceremony that reflected each of us and our backgrounds and traditions. I’m half Jewish and half Christian, whereas my husband is fully Jewish, and she made me feel so welcomed into Judaism while making sure that my family’s traditions were reflected in the ceremony as well. Thank you, Rabbi Ochs!!

  We absolutely loved working with Rabbi Ochs for our wedding ceremony. It was such an honor to get to know her leading up to our wedding - she is so kind and thoughtful. Rabbi Ochs co-officiated our interfaith marriage ceremony and worked with us to create a ceremony that reflected each of us and our backgrounds and traditions. I’m half Jewish and half Christian, whereas my husband is fully Jewish, and she made me feel so welcomed into Judaism while making sure that my family’s traditions were reflected in the ceremony as well. Thank you, Rabbi Ochs!!

  Rabbi Vanessa Ochs, wedding officiant's reply:

  You are so kind to take the time to write these words! You are most welcome--what an honor to share deep reflections over many months and the joy of your wedding day together with you. I hope we will stay in touch in the years to come. Warmly, Rabbi Ochs
• Rebecca S. Sent on 10/29/2022
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  So personalized and meaningful

  Rabbi Ochs was a fantastic fit for us and our family as we celebrated our wedding together. She made the entire process meaningful, making sure that we understood each part of the ceremony and that we picked how to do it, so it was most meaningful to us. She got to truly know us as a couple, and her words during the ceremony were truly beautiful. We couldn't recommend her enough!

  Rabbi Ochs was a fantastic fit for us and our family as we celebrated our wedding together. She made the entire process meaningful, making sure that we understood each part of the ceremony and that we picked how to do it, so it was most meaningful to us. She got to truly know us as a couple, and her words during the ceremony were truly beautiful. We couldn't recommend her enough!
• Katie Sent on 11/09/2019
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  Highly Recommend

  Rabbi Ochs is amazing! My husband is Jewish and I am not, and Rabbi Ochs was so considerate to my needs and made sure our ceremony was true to both of our individualities. She prompted us to think deeply about our commitment and our plans for the future, and our discussions with her were always a joy. She is warm, kindhearted, intelligent, and professional, and we highly recommend her!

  Rabbi Ochs is amazing! My husband is Jewish and I am not, and Rabbi Ochs was so considerate to my needs and made sure our ceremony was true to both of our individualities. She prompted us to think deeply about our commitment and our plans for the future, and our discussions with her were always a joy. She is warm, kindhearted, intelligent, and professional, and we highly recommend her!
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• Joanna Sent on 05/31/2018
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  Rabbi Ochs was an absolutely perfect officiant for our wedding - we honestly can't imagine anyone better.
  
  We loved Rabbi Ochs the first time we chatted with her, and continued to have a fantastic time getting to know her over the months leading up to our wedding. Although we live far away and weren't able to meet in person, we Facetimed every month. Rabbi Ochs was extremely friendly, quite funny, very sweet, and had an obvious genuine interest in actually getting to know us as people. She has a great ability to make discussions fun, but to delve just enough into deeper conversations about relationships, culture, and faith that allowed us to enjoy ourselves but also to get a deeper sense of what sort of life and family we want to build.
  
  She also worked very patiently with us as we figured out exactly what type of ceremony we wanted. Only one of us is Jewish and neither of us is religious at all, and Rabbi Ochs was completely open and helpful to figuring out what Jewish touches we did want, and to create a ceremony that wouldn't alienate anyone in our audience that is not religious or doesn't speak Hebrew. She was also very open to trying to include Chinese traditions, too, if we had wanted to.
  
  On our wedding day, the ceremony ultimately was 1000% perfect - it honestly exceeded our already high expectations. Rabbi Ochs was sweet, funny, and poignant, but most importantly she captured our personalities remarkably well to make for a ceremony that felt very much like us. Literally everyone at our wedding was telling us how incredible she was, and people were shocked that we had only been talking online over a few months, assuming that we had to have known her for years for the ceremony to have been so good.
  
  We can't recommend Rabbi Ochs highly enough. We have loved getting to know her, and she was a big part of what made our wedding day really incredible.
  

  Rabbi Ochs was an absolutely perfect officiant for our wedding - we honestly can't imagine anyone better.
  
  We loved Rabbi Ochs the first time we chatted with her, and continued to have a fantastic time getting to know her over the months leading up to our wedding. Although we live far away and weren't able to meet in person, we Facetimed every month. Rabbi Ochs was extremely friendly, quite funny, very sweet, and had an obvious genuine interest in actually getting to know us as people. She has a great ability to make discussions fun, but to delve just enough into deeper conversations about relationships, culture, and faith that allowed us to enjoy ourselves but also to get a deeper sense of what sort of life and family we want to build.
  
  She also worked very patiently with us as we figured out exactly what type of ceremony we wanted. Only one of us is Jewish and neither of us is religious at all, and Rabbi Ochs was completely open and helpful to figuring out what Jewish touches we did want, and to create a ceremony that wouldn't alienate anyone in our audience that is not religious or doesn't speak Hebrew. She was also very open to trying to include Chinese traditions, too, if we had wanted to.
  
  On our wedding day, the ceremony ultimately was 1000% perfect - it honestly exceeded our already high expectations. Rabbi Ochs was sweet, funny, and poignant, but most importantly she captured our personalities remarkably well to make for a ceremony that felt very much like us. Literally everyone at our wedding was telling us how incredible she was, and people were shocked that we had only been talking online over a few months, assuming that we had to have known her for years for the ceremony to have been so good.
  
  We can't recommend Rabbi Ochs highly enough. We have loved getting to know her, and she was a big part of what made our wedding day really incredible.
  
• Rachel Sent on 08/29/2016
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  So wonderful to work with! We enjoyed every minute.

  So wonderful to work with! We enjoyed every minute.
• Eve Sent on 06/15/2016
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  We chose to work with Rabbi Ochs because she is a professor at the University where we met. It was important to the bride and her family to incorporate many Jewish elements into the wedding, and Rabbi Ochs was willing to perform a Jewish-ish wedding ceremony between a culturally Jewish bride and an unreligious (but not Jewish) groom. She was careful to respect the traditions of both families, and made everyone feel welcome at the ceremony. She was on time and well prepared for the ceremony, and did a great job of communicating in the months leading up to it. She met with us multiple times and accommodated our weird schedules (the groom lived out of town). She made a real effort to get to know us, despite never meeting us before we start planning the wedding. She made the ceremony very personal, and improvised perfectly when there was the need (a nearby horse whinnied in the middle of the outdoor ceremony, and she made everyone laugh with her perfect response). She matched the mood of the wedding perfectly to our personalities.

  We chose to work with Rabbi Ochs because she is a professor at the University where we met. It was important to the bride and her family to incorporate many Jewish elements into the wedding, and Rabbi Ochs was willing to perform a Jewish-ish wedding ceremony between a culturally Jewish bride and an unreligious (but not Jewish) groom. She was careful to respect the traditions of both families, and made everyone feel welcome at the ceremony. She was on time and well prepared for the ceremony, and did a great job of communicating in the months leading up to it. She met with us multiple times and accommodated our weird schedules (the groom lived out of town). She made a real effort to get to know us, despite never meeting us before we start planning the wedding. She made the ceremony very personal, and improvised perfectly when there was the need (a nearby horse whinnied in the middle of the outdoor ceremony, and she made everyone laugh with her perfect response). She matched the mood of the wedding perfectly to our personalities.
• Francesca Sent on 06/15/2016
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  I really don't know where to begin with recommending Rabbi Ochs. My husband and I are interfaith and we were told by countless people that an interfaith ceremony simply couldn't be done. Well, enter Rabbi Ochs - and our stress dissolved. Her counseling prior to the wedding was invaluable and we have become very close with her even following our wedding. We had a couple of issues arise before and during the ceremony involving family and guests - Rabbi Ochs handled each with grace, poise, and compassion. I had nothing to worry about on my wedding day and everyone kept coming up to me saying that this was the most beautiful ceremony they had ever been to. She and the other officiant came up with a beautiful, moving script that honored both faith traditions and we had very little to edit because it was so perfect.
  She is deeply connected to her work as a rabbi and as an interfaith officiant. I cannot recommend her highly enough. She is more than an officiant to us - she is a close friend and confidant and we are blessed to have her in our lives.

  I really don't know where to begin with recommending Rabbi Ochs. My husband and I are interfaith and we were told by countless people that an interfaith ceremony simply couldn't be done. Well, enter Rabbi Ochs - and our stress dissolved. Her counseling prior to the wedding was invaluable and we have become very close with her even following our wedding. We had a couple of issues arise before and during the ceremony involving family and guests - Rabbi Ochs handled each with grace, poise, and compassion. I had nothing to worry about on my wedding day and everyone kept coming up to me saying that this was the most beautiful ceremony they had ever been to. She and the other officiant came up with a beautiful, moving script that honored both faith traditions and we had very little to edit because it was so perfect.
  She is deeply connected to her work as a rabbi and as an interfaith officiant. I cannot recommend her highly enough. She is more than an officiant to us - she is a close friend and confidant and we are blessed to have her in our lives.
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  User1833372 Sent on 09/28/2014
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  It was such a pleasure working with Rabbi Ochs. She was open to allowing us to make the ceremony just what we wanted. We had people of all different backgrounds telling us we had the most beautiful ceremony they'd ever witnessed. Rabbi Ochs made sure we were 100% happy with the ceremony. She is warm, easy to work with, flexible, kind, and open to mixing things up a bit! We were apprehensive at first about using someone that we had no prior relationship with before but now we will always feel connected to her.

  It was such a pleasure working with Rabbi Ochs. She was open to allowing us to make the ceremony just what we wanted. We had people of all different backgrounds telling us we had the most beautiful ceremony they'd ever witnessed. Rabbi Ochs made sure we were 100% happy with the ceremony. She is warm, easy to work with, flexible, kind, and open to mixing things up a bit! We were apprehensive at first about using someone that we had no prior relationship with before but now we will always feel connected to her.
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  User1835450 Sent on 09/29/2014
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  I can not speak highly enough of Rabbi Ochs. She was absolutely wonderful, both warm and caring and professional. I still receive compliments on how nice our ceremony was. I was raised Jewish and my husband is not, we wanted a ceremony that would be comfortable for everyone attending, but that was true to what was important to us and reflected a Jewish ceremony. Rabbi Ochs made ours extremely personal, she went through each part of the ceremony to make sure that we were comfortable with it and she selected poems that truly reflected us as a couple and made the ceremony even more personal. She also did a fantastic job with our ketubah signing and my mother-in law commented this past weekend about how nice it was and how she remembers that special moment.

  I can not speak highly enough of Rabbi Ochs. She was absolutely wonderful, both warm and caring and professional. I still receive compliments on how nice our ceremony was. I was raised Jewish and my husband is not, we wanted a ceremony that would be comfortable for everyone attending, but that was true to what was important to us and reflected a Jewish ceremony. Rabbi Ochs made ours extremely personal, she went through each part of the ceremony to make sure that we were comfortable with it and she selected poems that truly reflected us as a couple and made the ceremony even more personal. She also did a fantastic job with our ketubah signing and my mother-in law commented this past weekend about how nice it was and how she remembers that special moment.
• Allison Sent on 09/28/2014
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  Rabbi Ochs was wonderful throughout the whole process. I work a lot and my husband was deployed during out engagement. She was very flexibile with her teachings. We had the most wonderful wedding day.

  Rabbi Ochs was wonderful throughout the whole process. I work a lot and my husband was deployed during out engagement. She was very flexibile with her teachings. We had the most wonderful wedding day.
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  User2037413 Sent on 02/11/2015
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  I cannot say enough about how wonderful Vanessa was to work with during the time leading up to our wedding and on the day itself. She provided thoughtful, valuable counsel, and really helped us to think through our ceremony and our partnership. She helped us craft a service that was meaningful to both of us, and that took our family traditions into account-not just a regular cookie cutter wedding. Vanessa's wisdom throughout the process was invaluable. Our ceremony was a beautiful celebration, in large part due to Vanessa's attention to detail and belief in a ceremony that reflected who we are. Our guests are still talking about how wonderful she was and how much they both enjoyed our ceremony and felt included in it as more than just participants.

  I cannot say enough about how wonderful Vanessa was to work with during the time leading up to our wedding and on the day itself. She provided thoughtful, valuable counsel, and really helped us to think through our ceremony and our partnership. She helped us craft a service that was meaningful to both of us, and that took our family traditions into account-not just a regular cookie cutter wedding. Vanessa's wisdom throughout the process was invaluable. Our ceremony was a beautiful celebration, in large part due to Vanessa's attention to detail and belief in a ceremony that reflected who we are. Our guests are still talking about how wonderful she was and how much they both enjoyed our ceremony and felt included in it as more than just participants.
• Sabrina Sent on 12/18/2014
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  Vanessa was a beautiful officiant for our wedding and guide throughout the process of planning an interfaith (Christian & Jewish) ceremony and marriage. She found time to meet with us and go over all the details of the ceremony that we wanted, and then she made suggestions about how to trim the ceremony and make it into something that felt very personal as well as very authentic to both our faiths. I highly recommend her, and am very thankful that she agreed to be part of our celebration.

  Vanessa was a beautiful officiant for our wedding and guide throughout the process of planning an interfaith (Christian & Jewish) ceremony and marriage. She found time to meet with us and go over all the details of the ceremony that we wanted, and then she made suggestions about how to trim the ceremony and make it into something that felt very personal as well as very authentic to both our faiths. I highly recommend her, and am very thankful that she agreed to be part of our celebration.
• Kristen Sent on 09/29/2014
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  My husband and I could not have been happier with our experience with Vanessa. We are an interfaith couple and Vanessa helped us explore the Jewish ceremony and adapt it to our vision. She was willing to officiate alongside my father who is a Lutheran minister. Her counseling was also very beneficial and helped us to see the importance of not just the wedding day but also the significance of our marriage and our future together. Vanessa is extremely kind, flexible and open; we felt like we knew her for years.

  My husband and I could not have been happier with our experience with Vanessa. We are an interfaith couple and Vanessa helped us explore the Jewish ceremony and adapt it to our vision. She was willing to officiate alongside my father who is a Lutheran minister. Her counseling was also very beneficial and helped us to see the importance of not just the wedding day but also the significance of our marriage and our future together. Vanessa is extremely kind, flexible and open; we felt like we knew her for years.