Rev. Claire Frances Reviews

Rev. Claire Frances

Charlottesville, VA

4.9 out of 5 rating, 52 reviews

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4.9 out of 5 rating

4.9

Excellent

52 reviews

Recommended by 98% of couples

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4.9 out of 5 rating
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4.8 out of 5 rating
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4.9 out of 5 rating
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Julie Sent on 12/15/2022

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From Stranger to Friend

There is not a more intimate moment to share with a stranger than your wedding day. But by the time you stand there at the alter Claire is no longer a stranger. Claire makes sure of this by meeting either in person or virtually, sending carefully curated questionnaires and asking the right questions. She read our owes and offered feedback and most of all by the end of the process but before getting married she understood us. Thank you Claire, for making our ceremony so special.
Courtney Sent on 12/05/2022

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Best choice for officiant

We greatly enjoyed working with Rev. Claire to craft a ceremony that was reflective of us. She sent us a large packet of choices for each part of our ceremony, which really helped us figure out what we wanted. We appreciated her guidance and attention to detail -- our ceremony came out great! It really expressed who we are as a couple and what we value, and we are so glad we chose to work with her! We wanted someone who could work with our spiritual beliefs that don't quite fall in line with common religion, as well as someone who could help us work in traditions from our background. Rev. Claire hit all of those points for us!
Brittany Sent on 04/21/2022

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Wonderful and Personal

Claire was our officiant at both our mini-ceremony with family and recently our big wedding that we finally got to have after several postponements. She was communicative, professional, and very thorough. She made herself available for video calls at odd hours to accommodate my husband's work schedule and differing time zones. Our ceremonies felt personal, intimate, and romantic. Claire provided us with many options for each part of our ceremony and we were able to put together something that was uniquely ours. She even went above and beyond to mail us our vow cards after the fact so that we can keep and treasure them. Thank you for everything, Claire!

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Melissa Sent on 06/25/2021

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Beautiful, special ceremony

We loved working with Claire! From the first moment we spoke on the phone we connected, and my husband and I knew we wanted her to marry us. We live out of state, so Claire very kindly agreed to Facetime with both of us so we could all get acquainted. The questionnaire she sent us was extremely thorough and made us feel like she was really taking the time to get to know us before our wedding day. My husband and I come from different faith backgrounds, and Claire was fantastic at helping us navigate so that we had a ceremony that we (and our families!) were both happy and comfortable with. We had to postpone our original wedding date due to COVID, and Claire was beyond kind and understanding. Her grace made a difficult time a little bit easier! When our wedding day finally arrived, our ceremony was everything we could have hoped for. It was sweet, personal to us, and a perfect length. Claire even stepped out of the way for our first kiss (without us asking!), which felt like a next-level professional thing to do. Thank you, Claire, for helping to make our day so special!
Daniel Sent on 11/10/2020

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Warm and personal ceremony

We feel so lucky to have had Reverend Claire Frances as our officiant. She guided us through the process of designing a ceremony that was meaningful to us. Her questions for us about our beliefs and values and those of our families helped us discuss with each other how we wanted our ceremony to feel. Claire also presented examples of different approaches to the individual elements of the ceremony for us to choose from and adapt.

On the day of the wedding, Claire brought a warm energy and kind attentiveness to the proceedings. We appreciated her advice to pause and take in the moment in the midst of the ceremony. Finally, since we limited our attendees to our parents and siblings due to the coronavirus, Claire found ways to acknowledge our loved ones streaming in from their homes in a way that felt natural and intimate. We are so grateful to Claire for making our ceremony so special and recommend her highly!
Courtney Sent on 12/08/2019

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Beautiful, Touching Ceremony

We decided to work with Claire after video chatting with her to discuss our envisioned ceremony. She was easy to work with and helpful when we were unsure about various parts of the ceremony. The ceremony she drafted for us was so beautiful - both families loved it and the touching message she conveyed.

One thing that Claire really excels at, which I didn't realize until looking at our wedding photos, is stepping aside at important times during the ceremony to give the photographer a clean shot. Thank you Claire for marrying us and delivering such a beautiful ceremony!
Vanessa Sent on 11/13/2019

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Sweet and intimate ceremony

Claire did such a great job officiating our ceremony. We were the most nervous about our ceremony, but Claire put us at ease. She included little details from our questionaire which really put a personal spin on it. The words she wrote made our ceremony feel so sweet and intimate. Couldn’t have asked for anyone better!
Katie Sent on 05/20/2019

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Fantastic and personal!

Claire did a fantastic job of personalizing our ceremony. My husband and I come from drastically different religious backgrounds so the search for an officiant was difficult to say the least. Claire incorporated elements that addressed what he values, what I value, and what we value to really make it our own. Her message was so meaningful and beautiful. The process is so easy and she does just a fantastic job. I'd highly recommend her!
Adam Sent on 04/07/2019

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Excellent, Intimate, and Committed

Claire was wonderful. She worked with us in every aspect to create a personal and intimate wedding ceremony. On the day of the wedding she assisted dynamically going well above and beyond the expectations of an officiant. Claire brought kindness, love, and joy to our most special day. Highly recommend.
Hailey Sent on 10/09/2018

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Claire was incredible! We wound up finding her late in the game and she was only available because of an unexpected cancellation. She was SO flexible and interested in making our wedding ours. She gave us a lot of ideas based on what we expressed interest in and then she was able to help us create the perfect, personalized ceremony. The energy was calm and warm; exactly what we were going for!
Lauren Sent on 10/04/2018

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Reverend Claire Frances did such an amazing job at creating a personal and memorable ceremony. We had no idea what to expect when we were seeking an officiant, but Rev. Claire Frances made the process incredibly easy with a video call and a questionnaire that we each filled out. She asked us about hobbies or interests that were a part of our relationship and found ways to interweave Star Wars and Office quotes into our program without them taking away from the ceremony. We appreciated her guidance when it came to writing our own vows and how she reminded us to take in the moment (as the day will fly by!). We are so grateful to the various Charlottesville vendors that referred us to her service!
Maya Sent on 05/09/2018

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Claire did a great job with our somewhat complicated interfaith ceremony. She really listened to our desires as a couple and was willing to incorporate our parents' feedback. She considered a number of practical issues involving the the ceremony that we never would have considered on our own. In our meetings with her, at the rehearsal, and on our wedding day she truly set us at ease. She truly surpassed all expectations in helping us bring together our family and friends to witness and celebrate our marriage during the ceremony. We were very happy with our ceremony, our parents were happy and many friends have told us that the ceremony "felt great" and was deeply moving.
Lily Sent on 12/12/2017

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Rev. Claire Frances was a wise, loving, and patient guide through our wedding ceremony design process. Because she took the time to get to know me and my husband personally, she was able to provide truly heartfelt and genuine remarks. It nearly rained on our outdoor ceremony and Rev. Claire was able to somehow transform that into the occasion for a beautiful parable about how water makes a knot stronger. She is a gem.
Christy Sent on 12/03/2017

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When we first met with Rev. Claire Frances during our planning, we felt instantly at ease with her. It was an easy decision to choose her as our officiant. Putting the ceremony together with Rev. Claire was a very easy process and we appreciated her input in how to easily incorporate our different religious backgrounds into the ceremony. During the rehearsal and on the day of the wedding, Rev. Claire was nothing less than an absolute pro. The ceremony was flawless, despite the cold weather that day, and Rev. Claire made sure that everything flowed smoothly. We appreciate all of her help in making our ceremony so memorable.
David Sent on 12/03/2017

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It was an absolute joy to have Rev. Claire perform our marriage ceremony. Her sincerity in celebrating the love my husband and I share is so evident. She patiently listened to us as we shared our story of who we are, our preferences, our perspectives, and our what our ideal ceremony would include. She surpassed every expectation! We are most grateful for her!!
Sarah Sent on 11/07/2017

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We really wanted an interfaith ceremony that truly reflected who we are as a couple. I am so glad we found Claire! She got to know us early in the planning process and truly respected our wishes to create a ceremony that felt like us. She was able to infuse joy, warmth, and humor to showcase our love and relationship. And best yet, both families were happy! We highly recommend Claire.
Heather Sent on 12/13/2016

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Claire was amazing to work with. She met with us many times to make sure the ceremony was a reflection of us as a couple. The ceremony was beautiful!
Eldridge Sent on 07/26/2016

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We couldn't have been happier with our choice of officiant! We instantly felt a connection with her and she was flexible with us editing wording of blessings, placement of elements, etc. to make it exactly what we wanted. She educated us on how a ceremony is set up so that we could tweak ours until we were happy. She met with us three times in person and twice on Skype (we live in another state right now) and was very giving of her time with us. Her tone and demeanor while speaking in the ceremony were absolutely perfect. She was joyful yet solemn, and warm and caring and comforting while leading our guests and ourselves through the ceremony. She even brushed up her Tibetan singing bowl skills just for us! Her presence made our ceremony the best one I've ever seen. Thank you Claire!
Lauren Sent on 12/09/2015

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Reverend Claire was the officiant at my wedding, and she did a beautiful job. She worked with me to help organize the ceremony, and provided a lot of knowledgeable advice and experience to help my wife and I write our vows. Our wedding was breathtaking, and we couldn't have done it without her!
Cheryl Sent on 11/09/2015

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Rev. Claire is incredibly warm, kind, and is genuinely concerned with making your day everything you want it to be. She was quick to respond to all my questions and paid great attention to every detail. My husband and I are blessed to have found her. I would highly recommend her to anyone!
User2414912 Sent on 11/04/2015

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We really enjoyed working with Claire for our recent wedding! We found her online after reading review after review of officiants. We had actually made a list of our top 5 choices for officiants, and after meeting her, we canceled the other appointments!

Claire met with us and spent some time getting to know us- she asked about our ideas for the wedding, our family backgrounds, our level of religion/spirituality in our lives, etc. Later in the process, she sent us a questionnaire as well as a large packet of ceremony choices. My husband and I were undecided about writing our own vows, but after seeing all of her possible choices, we felt fine with using one of hers- because we were able to find one that was perfect for us! Literally, she allows so much customization for your ceremony, you can get exactly what you want!!

All of her correspondence prior to the ceremony was timely. She was timely at the rehearsal and the wedding. During the rehearsal, she was extremely organized and explained exactly what was going to happen the next day (this was very helpful for me). The day of the wedding, she came in and checked on me (i was in the bridal room) and provided periodic updates, which I liked. She is a true professional and obviously very experienced.

Our ceremony was outside, so the DJ provided Claire with a mic. Everyone said that they had no issues hearing her, except when the wind would blow (for obvious reasons- and this is something that she discussed with us prior). During the parts where my husband and I spoke, she would remove the mic and place it between us- and our guests say that they could hear us talking (which I was happy about- a lot of times the guests can't hear the vows!). Many of the guests commented on how Claire's voice and tone sounded 'sweet' and 'loving'- you could feel the emotion as she spoke- that she genuinely felt inspired by the event.

I highly recommend her!!!!
User2450496 Sent on 10/31/2015

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My fiance and I chose Claire Goodman of Sacred Ground Ceremonies as the officiant for our wedding and were so pleased that we did. She was just wonderful - easy to work with, flexible, and very supportive and accommodating. The questionnaire she sent us was very detailed and thoughtful, and from our answers, she crafted a lovely, very meaningful and personal ceremony that was just perfect for us. She worked well with our wedding coordinator, and we all appreciated her input and suggestions regarding the ceremony. Thank you, Clair, for making our special day so memorable.
User2208344 Sent on 07/02/2015

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Rev. Claire Goodman led a beautiful and personalized ceremony for our wedding. She was wonderful to work with in so many ways. The ceremony was short and sweet - exactly what we wanted - but absolutely conveyed the love we wanted to express. She provided so many options for us to choose from to help create our vows and other ceremony components. It was the perfect ceremony!
User2205000 Sent on 06/30/2015

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We had a great experience working with Claire. She did a preliminary Skype interview to get to know us and talk about her process before we even booked her. Since we were not doing a religious ceremony, I thought the process of designing the format and choosing the language would be daunting, but Claire made it extremely easy. She paid careful attention to what we wanted. She provided a lot of guidance, but at the same time had a very streamlined process so it wasn't time consuming to work with her. I wanted a mixture of traditional and contemporary, so having the flexibility to choose from a wide variety of options and mix and match was very much appreciated. I also really appreciated that she was happy to read a poem I had selected. Claire was extremely professional, warm, friendly, and experienced, and we would highly recommend her!
User1894033 Sent on 10/29/2014

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Claire of Sacred Ground ceremonies is absolutely phenomenal. She met with us early in our planning process to get a feel of who we each were and what type of ceremony we wanted both individually and as a couple. We asked for a light hearted ceremony that incorporated our friends and family into our union, that was not completely void of religion, but that had enough to make the families happy. She nailed it. Her words were beautiful, we had FUN during the ceremony as evidenced by all the laughter and smiles in all of our pictures, and our families loved it as well. I would recommend Claire to anyone as she will create a ceremony as unique and individual as the couple.
Jenna Sent on 10/06/2014

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Claire was the most wonderful officiant for our wedding! Her planning process was seamless and let us choose passages to make up the perfect ceremony that was totally "us". She was such a pleasure to work with and was a calming force on our big day. Her words were beautifully chosen and we were so thrilled to be her 750th wedding performed! I would recommend Claire to anyone, without reservation, planning a wedding in the Charlottesville area!
Amy Sent on 10/02/2014

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Reverend Claire Goodman is a joy to work with. We were planning our wedding out of state, so Claire met with us on Skype so we could get to know each other a little before the wedding. To make the ceremony more personal, Claire asks you to fill out forms telling her a little about your relationship and favorite things about your partner. Writing and reading each other's answers was one of my husband's and my favorite parts of the whole wedding planning process. We also got to pick each element of our ceremony, from vows to blessings to ring vows. Claire was very responsive and integrated everything we asked for into the ceremony! At the ceremony, Claire's words were both serious and emotional, with just the right touch of levity! Thank you Claire for a beautiful ceremony!
User1769187 Sent on 08/18/2014

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WE LOVE CLAIRE. Everything about Claire Goodman is perfect. She made time out of her busy schedule to meet with us on skype from NYC and then twice before the wedding in Charlottesville. We were nervous about creating the perfect, traditional, Jewish/Christian ceremony and she put our worries to ease. Our ceremony was beautiful and our parents/families were all pleased. We overheard at least 10 guests discussing how great our officiant was. We had 3 couples ask us for her information, and we ourselves were just beyond grateful.
Thank you so much Claire. You are amazing!
Cassandra Sent on 06/01/2014

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Rev. Claire is wonderful! We were so thrilled to have her plan and officiate our wedding ceremony. She was thoughtful, reassuring, and flexible throughout the planning process, and she personalized our ceremony to match our vision perfectly. Ultimately, she designed a warm, upbeat, slightly spiritual ceremony, just as we’d hoped for.

Rev. Claire was great to work with; she even helped us very early on by making great recommendations for other vendors (DJ: T.D. Layman; Harpist: Eve Watters; Photographer: Rob Garland). She’s done many, many Charlottesville area weddings, and she’s very happy to bring her experience to bear to help her brides and grooms. She gave us great advice specific to our venue (King Family Vineyard), which allowed us to avoid mishaps such as poor amplification, lost wedding bands, etc.

Overall, Rev. Claire has a warm, calming presence, and without ever needing to yell or strain her voice, she immediately captures the attention of wedding attendees in a wonderful way. She’s a great person to work with, and she’s incredibly talented at making the ceremony feel special on the actual day. Our wedding would not have been the same without her!
Andrea Sent on 04/18/2014

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we feel so blessed to have found rev claire goodman of sacred ground ceremonies to be our wedding officiant. both my husband and i are very spiritual but not particularly religious, and both come from religious families who observe different faiths. we met with claire to talk about beliefs about spirituality, love, marriage, our families and our roles within them, what we wanted out of ceremony, what moved us, etc. she really took time to get to know what mattered to us and what would make our ceremony meaningful. claire has a very gentle, kind spriit that makes it easy to talk with her and feel like you have known her for years when you've only actually met twice!
claire ran our rehearsal with professionalism and was very efficient in making sure everyone knew where they were supposed to be, when, how to cue transitions, etc. we felt very comfortable going into our wedding.
the ceremony itself was pure loveliness. claire incorporated everything we asked for and the address and blessings she provided were moving and inclusive of all in attendance. i regret not getting a videographer just so i could watch this ceremony again.
wonderful. highly recommend.
User1420830 Sent on 11/04/2013

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Claire is wonderful. She listens and implemented everything that we had wished to be included in our ceremony. She is very easy to work with and very professional. Our ceremony was perfect in every way.
User1275003 Sent on 08/06/2013

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We were incredibly impressed by Claire's thoughtfulness, passion, and professionalism. She was organized and responsive, and she delivered a ceremony that really captured who we are as a couple. We appreciated how flexible she was with us and knew she would work with us to build a ceremony that reflected our values and priorities. We received tremendous feedback from our friends and families about our ceremony, and we walked away from our wedding weekend SO thankful that we had the opportunity to work with Claire. - Claire, you made us feel incredibly comfortable throughout the wedding planning process, and we cannot thank you enough for the words you shared on our wedding day. We are incredibly grateful!
Jessica Sent on 05/19/2013

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Claire was amazing! She worked with my (now) husband and I to tailor-make the wedding ceremony of our dreams! It was beautiful and so special because we had been such an integral part in creating it. She helped us create a ceremony that truly represented what we believe and who we are as a couple. When I first started thinking about what the ceremony should include, it quickly became overwhelming. But Claire offers her couples a wedding ceremony "menu" with many examples and choices to consider. It helped tremendously! She also gave us advice and guidance regarding how to write our own vows (which turned our beautifully, by the way). In addition, Claire was essential in making sure that our ceremony went off without a hitch! She's very experienced and ran our rehearsal like a true professional. She gave us and our wedding party lots of useful information to use on the day of. She's just a wonderful person who is instantly easy to like and get along with. I highly recommend her!
Jen Sent on 12/12/2012

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Rev. Claire Goodman is the first name you will hear when you ask other vendors and brides for recommendations regarding an officiant. We are so happy that Claire was part of our day, we cannot say enough kind words about her. She created a memorable, personal wedding ceremony. Claire is full of great ideas and advice. She even suggested a vendor for ceremony music, who we were also more than pleased with. We received so many compliments from our guests on Claire and the ceremony that she created. Claire will help you create a beautiful and personalized ceremony. We could not have done it without her!
Melissa Sent on 11/25/2012

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Claire is truly wonderful! She was so incredibly helpful and has so much experience creating weddings that truly suit each couple. She asked great questions and provided us with an incredible toolkit to create our ceremony from. Her remarks were very personal, warm and made our ceremony so memorable. Claire was nothing but a pleasure to work with and we felt so relaxed with Claire leading us through the ceremony. The ceremony was lovely and we really enjoyed getting to know Claire through the process. She is a wonderful person and was the perfect officiant for our special day! We both highly recommend Claire to be your officiant.
Leah Sent on 10/30/2011

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Claire was amazing. She was able to pull together a ceremony filled with EXACTLY the right words and feelings for my new husband and I. I will never forget some of the things she said, and couldn't have found a better person to help us express how we felt about each other and our joining families. She is soft spoken and sweet, and was wonderful with helping to calm my nerves before walking down the aisle as well--that was an added bonus. :) We really appreciated everything she did and couldn't have chosen a better, more genuine person to officiate at our wedding. We felt almost as though she were a member of our family!
Laura Sent on 06/22/2011

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Claire made our ceremony special in so many ways. Everyone has been talking about what an amazing job she did at making it truly about us and our future together.
Danit Sent on 06/25/2010

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Claire was very easy to work with and gave us an abundance of options to choose from for our ceremony. She was very open to our ideas and made our ceremony as unique and individualized as possible. Her words were beautiful and moving and she took a minor mishap with the music with stride. She made use both feel at ease as soon as the ceremony started and allowed my husband and I to focus on each other throughout the ceremony. Danit and Jon Kent
Rae Sent on 10/23/2008

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We couldn't have asked for a more wonderful officiant. Claire captured our wedding perfectly, and eased our nerves on our rainy wedding evening. We couldn't have asked for anything more!
Alison Sent on 08/31/2008

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I cannot recommend Rev. Claire enough. A beautiful person, Claire is eminently accessible, responsive, flexible, accommodating, personable, caring, reliable, supportive, and lovely. She was patient and accepting of me and my family, and she helped calm me in stressful moments. Her willingness and ability to personalize the service, regardless of religious preferences, was incredible. I am an agnostic with a Jewish parent and a non-denominational parent; my husband's family is deeply Catholic, and yet we were able to craft a ceremony that made everyone happy. Claire sent us MANY options for the ceremony, including vows, readings, declarations of intent, blessings, etc. She also helped by bringing supplies with her, including nice cards printed with our vows, so we didn't have to worry about remembering them. She also made suggestions when we were feeling equivocal--and she gave us some interesting ideas for photographs, including a shot of everyone who attended the wedding, a picture we are grateful to have but would never have thought of taking. Simply put, Claire is the best. No matter what your religion, your style of wedding, or your venue, Claire is the most wonderful officiant a couple could have to minister (!) to such an important day. You'll want to look back at wedding pictures, find one of Claire, and smile. That's what I do.
Elizabeth Sent on 08/20/2008

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My husband and I wanted an outdoor wedding and someone who would appreciate my Catholic background. We found Claire through a referral and she was ideal. She understood the aspects we wanted to highlight and what we wanted out of our ceremony. She was easy to work with and she was incredibly helpful with quick answers, references for readings or suggestions of different things to add to our ceremony.

The day of, we had a large raincloud that came and covered the sun, taking the heat away for a while. Claire asked my husband and I too take a look out at the audience and look to see all the love that was out there for us. It's one of my favorite moments in our ceremony because up until that point, and for the rest of the evening, we never really got the chance to look and see all of our loved ones who came together from all over the country and world for us. As the thunder started booming, big fat raindrops began to fall. Claire was very flexible and skipped over part of her address so that we could continue to get married outside, as we had wanted. The ceremony continued flawlessly, and I'm so glad that Claire was the one who married us. She's so approachable, understanding and easy to talk to.
Sarah Sent on 08/28/2007

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We researched every officiant in the DC metro area and came up empty handed before expanding our search to other parts of virginia. My parents are of different religions and my husband was raised roman-catholic, although he isn't anywhere near as devout as his parents are. We knew that we needed to have a non-religious ceremony, though spiritual references were okay. When I came across Rev. Claire's website, I forwarded it on to my husband for his thoughts. We both got a very good vibe from her website, and contacted her to set up a meeting. We drove down to Charlottesville to meet with her and were very happy with her attention to detail and overall presence. As we drove back up to NoVa, we decided that although it would cost more to hire her because she would be coming from out of town, the comfort we felt after meeting with her was enough to win us over and that we wanted to work with her. Rev. Claire was always very accessible by email for any questions or concerns that we had, and her positive, calming spirit helped keep us cool and collected in the days leading up to our wedding. The ceremony was just right, not too long, not too short. It felt perfectly suited to our non-religious backgrounds, without swinging too far into religious contexts, which also kept our families happy. We were able to select the different components for our entire ceremony, which she then tailored into a beautiful experience that we (and all of our guests!) were all impressed by. We are so happy that we found her and can't imagine anyone else uniting us on our special day!!
Mary Sent on 09/18/2016

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Claire is wonderful! Since we do not live in Charlottesville, she did an initial Skype consultation with us so we could all get to know each other better and describe our vision for the ceremony. After we decided to have Claire officiate, she sent us an email with tons of different options regarding the ceremony - never once did we feel lost or confused. She walked us through each step and did a great job managing a large wedding party at the rehearsal. We had a Jewish ceremony and most of our guests were not Jewish. Claire described the different aspects of the Jewish wedding and what is symbolized which our guests appreciated. We highly recommend Claire for your big day!
Kristen Sent on 10/12/2010

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I absolutely loved the ceremony that Claire presented. She was very easy to talk to, and her ceremony wording suggestions based on our chats were perfect. The only problem we had was with regard to volume. It was extremely hard to hear her past the third row. I would HIGHLY recommend working with Claire, but make sure you work out in advance (and test the system!) with her how she will be amplified- we waited till the last minute and our solution (a little amp with a lapel mic that attached around the waist) was not sufficient.
Marylyle Sent on 10/20/2009

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Claire helped my husband and I craft an Interfaith ceremony that was everything that we could have possibly wanted. She was also a grounding and professional presence during the ceremony, which was, of course, an overwhelming and emotional experience for the two of us. We highly recommend her services.
Christine Sent on 08/19/2017

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Rev. Claire was fantastic to work with and created such a personalized ceremony that was truly special for us. She was able to blend our Methodist and Catholic family backgrounds along with non-religious elements to create a memorable service. What we loved most is that during our interview she truly tried to get to know us as a couple – what we see in the other, why we chose each other, what marriage meant to us. The packet we received to help guide our choices for different elements of the ceremony was substantial and a great resource. We absolutely loved our ceremony, she made it absolutely perfect!
Carrie Sent on 01/22/2016

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Claire was great to work with. I had a destination wedding in Virginia and I really wanted a close friend from out of state to officiate our wedding but he was not ordained in Virginia so Claire worked with him to co-officiate for us. Everything went smoothly and our ceremony was 2 times as awesome!
Kimberly Sent on 06/28/2015

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Rev. Claire Goodman was so respectful and accommodating when helping us plan our wedding ceremony. Her organization and advanced knowledge of a variety of traditions and cultures is amazing. She was able to help us balance our beliefs and preferences with those of our families to create a perfect blend of tradition and personalization for our ceremony. We got many compliments on our ceremony, and it was all thanks to the guidance and professionalism of Rev. Claire.
Kalyn Sent on 10/12/2012

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I'm and idiot and forgot to find an Officiant until like 2 months before the wedding. Claire was a bit expensive but I was in a pinch and she was available. While I don’t think she quite “got” us as a couple, she did an admirable job! We had no problems with her as an Officiant
Valerie Sent on 06/29/2008

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The planning was a little chaotic, but when the day came, the ceremony was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Rev. Claire had a calming, beautiful way of bringing myself (bride), the wedding party, and all of the guests into the very sacred moment of promising our lives to each other. The rest of day had been crazy, not to mention 100+ degree weather, but all of that faded away duing the ceremony because of her choice of words and how she spoke them. I tear up as I write these words, I feel very confident that I will remember that sacred moment in all its beauty because the ceremony she delivered had me present in mind, body, and spirit. Of all the things that happen on the day of my wedding, and of all the things that will become wonderful memories, I'm so glad this was one of the most special.
Heidi Sent on 06/10/2009

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Claire was an amazing officiant, she created a custom heart felt ceremony. I will remember it forever. She is a little expensive, but for her no nonsense approach, it's worth it.
Chris Sent on 06/15/2015

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She did not place her microphone properly. Her voice was only amplified when she leaned her head down. We could barely hear her in the first row. She should have realized this herself or she should have been corrected and her microphone readjusted
She did not give a microphone to the bride and groom to hold as they read their vows. They wrote such beautiful words and only the people in the first rows heard them, and even then we had to strain. She should have given them the mike that she was using or had the readers bring the mike to her so she could hand it to them. This error was very unprofessional Our guests were very disappointed they could not hear the ceremony and vows.
Someone who has performed what I can only guess to be dozens of weddings needed to be more alert when something is not right, they need to correct it. She herself said this was not a performance but a beautiful ceremony. . Unfortunately the ceremony was so beautiful but only heard by the front rows.
she then told our planner that there was a problem with the audio equipment and we should get a refund from the UVA Chapel. This was not true. When the mic was used by the readers it worked properly when they held it as they should.
The ceremony was not personalized even though the couple had filled out a lengthy questionnaire. It was generic and could have been anyone's ceremony. I would advise anyone who is choosing an officiant to go to a service they are performing before hiring them. We told our planner we wanted to speak to her after the ceremony but she never responded to us.

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