Ceremonies and Celebrations

Irene is sensitive, accommodating and very organized. We can't thank her enough for creating a beautiful and meaningful ceremony which really reflected our personalities. After our first meeting with her, we already felt as though she was family which took a lot of the anxiety out of the day. Thank you!!!

I cannot say enough about how fantastic Irene was at our wedding. From the moment I saw her website I knew she would be a great fit and an initial phone conversation confirmed that to me. We met with her before deciding since an officiant is a very important part of the ceremony.

She supplied a lot of material to let us tailor the perfect ceremony. She was very flexible in letting us decide what we were comfortable with and what we were not. She has a very calming demeanor and at the same time delivers everything with such sincerity.

We did not have her at our rehearsal but did a run through with her a couple of weeks out. I was a little worried about this but everything went smoothly since she had worked previously at the venue and the venue person was able to take her notes and let us know what was going to happen. This was our choice to not have her at the rehearsal and it worked out well for us. So I would say if Irene and the venue both feel it is not necessary to be there, trust them!

Thank you so much, Irene for being such an important part of our day! Out of everything from that day the ceremony is what I will remember most and you can trust Irene to do a wonderful job.

Irene is the best to work with. She was flexible and offered us a a variety of ceremonies to pick from which we could modify and piece together. This worked out great. The guests loved her as did we. I was a little worried that we would have to go to some church that we were not affiliated with to find someone that would provide a day that we will remember. Thanks Irene.

We travelled from Sydney Australia to be married in Pacifica, California on the date above. Irene was recommended by our celebrant, and she travelled across from Oakland to photograph the wedding. This was held in a fairly remote and beautiful area overlooking the ocean, and involved considerable stair climbing. Irene was most creative and made full use of the natural features of the location as a backdrop, which resulted in 90 beautiful photos, which we wll always treasure and be proud to show. Irene also acted as official witness to the ceremony, and could not have been more congenial and helpful in every way. She has our absolute recommendation.

This review is long overdue! Irene is absolutely wonderful and I highly recommend her as an officiant. Last August, Irene officiated our wedding at the Palm's Event Center in Pleasanton. Aside from being the sweetest lady you will ever meet, she's extremely professional and takes what she does seriously. She shows genuine interest in understand your history together, why you've chosen to take the big step, what you love about each other and even what bugs you to no end. THEN builds a beautiful story to tell your family and friends on the big day.
Our guest had such a good time during the ceremony, laughing and laughing and laughing again. It was perfect, Irene! We had so many guest comment on how wonderful you were. You made it a day we will never forget.

Thank you so much for everything!!

Kindra & Alan Chan

My husband found Irene on wedding wire after doing plenty of research on a quality officiant that would meet our expectations for a very special ceremony that would open our guest up to a description of our love.
Wow, she went above and beyond and really help paint a clear picture of our love. Many of our guest said are ceremony was so special and they could feel how much we loved each other. Having Irene outline our ceremony was the best thing we did.
She even sent us a document of our entire ceremony with a beautiful picture that I am going to frmae.. THANKS SO MUCH IRENE.

Love
Daniel & Julliette Bledsoe

Dear Irene,
Thank you so much for performing such a meaningful ceremony for our daughter Leslie and her now husband, Eugene. You really interpreted them very well and personalized the ceremony perfectly. Thank you for your loving care and light humor. So many people commented that it was one of the more memorable, honest and relevant ceremonies they had witnessed.

I found Irene through Yelp and decided to meet her to see if we wanted her to perform our ceremony. We both knew right away that she was the perfect choice. She was very professional and easy to talk to. She did a personalized ceremony for us that everyone loved! She didn't attend our rehearsal at the venue but was very communicative to the site coordinator so that we knew how everything would go during the ceremony. We could not have asked for a better ceremony, thank you Irene!

Irene officiated our June 11, 2011 wedding at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden. With the help of a questionaire and a couple of pre-wedding meetings, she put together a ceremony that was warm, funny and personal. She is great about working with you to create a custom ceremony exactly as you want it. She made our ceremony really wonderful and it was obvious that our guests enjoyed it too. I would recommend Irene to anyone looking for an officiant for their wedding.

I can't say enough to express how thrilled we were with Irene. It has been three weeks and we are still so emotional about our wedding day and how absolutely perfect it was - so much of that is because of Irene.

We live in Arizona and were planning our wedding for 60 people in San Francisco. The ceremony was planned at a church outside of the city with the reception in San Fran.

Problems arose with the church we had booked. We got zero response from the pastor who was to perform our ceremony for 6 weeks. Broken-hearted, we cancelled the church ceremony and moved everything to the reception site. We reached Irene through a recommendation from the reception site. Kyle talked to Irene first because I was still hurt by the other church. He LOVED her immediately!

Irene was so responsive and caring with the planning of our ceremony. To us this was the most important part of the day and Irene made sure that it was amazing. She sent us so many options. We could pick the ceremony the was perfect for us! PERFECT! It was so US that I couldn't believe it.

She also included a decent length survey during the process to get to know us. So, when she gave our personal stories during the ceremony, it was so amazing. Our families were floored by how specific it was to us. Irene was warm, genuine and I wish I could use her again - but I'm pretty set with my new husband.

We love you, Irene! Thank you for making our wedding day everything we dreamed of and more!

Irene was a wonderful officiant for our small wedding (18 people). We did not have an official rehearsal, but we went through the ceremony we had planned carefully with her a week before the wedding. I was not nearly as nervous during the ceremony as I thought I would be, because she spoke so confidently and was able to smoothly cue us when we should be speaking or doing something.

One hour before the wedding, my mother said she wanted to include a special cultural tradition in the ceremony. Irene did not object to this last minute change, and was able to help us include it in the ceremony in a way that made it look like it was planned all along. We really appreciated her flexibility and the way she helped things run smoothly.

Irene was the officiant for our June 11th ceremony. We feel very lucky to have found her. She was great at communication, gave us a lot of useful pointers during our planning, and was sincere and warm throughout.

Irene’s attention to detail was very much appreciated by me. She not only arrived at the ceremony early but made sure to stop by to talk to me before hand. During the actual ceremony, she picked up immediately the fact that our location was quite noisy (we got married at the San Francisco City Hall on a busy day) and adjusted her voice accordingly.

She always maintains a calm and warm presence, which was very helpful because even though I was nervous before the ceremony, I knew it will turn out great as soon as I saw Irene, and thus I was able to relax and enjoy my day. Irene added personal tidbits into our ceremony wordings, making the ceremony unique and special for us.

Again, my husband and I feel very fortunate to have had Irene as our wedding officiant. Thank you, Irene!!

Irene officiated at my daughter's wedding, 1/16/2010. She consulted with her and her fiancé with great sensitivity, wrote a beautiful service that was witty, tactful, amusing and spiritual all at once--exactly what they and their parents wanted. It was a perfect wedding, and Irene was one very important factor in making it so.

We were married at the end of September and Irene did a wonderful job with our ceremony. She was very flexible with all aspects of the process in preparation for the ceremony as well. She was also able to customize our service to make it very personal. Much like the other comments on here, we received many compliments from our guests. Highly recommended.

We feel so thankful for finding Irene and would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a warm, kind, compassionate and professional Officiant!

My daughter and son-in-law's wedding ceremony this past weekend was pitch perfect, due in large part to the warmth and professionalism of Irene Kane. Her words gave the occasion the solemnity, the celebratory note, the emotional heft, and the gravitas that such a momentous occasion deserves. She even included a few personal stories about the bride and groom with just the right touch of warm, gentle humor added to the mix. We couldn't have been more pleased.

My daughter and son-in-law's wedding ceremony this last weekend was pitch perfect, due in large part to Irene Kane, their wedding officiant. Her words gave the occasion the solemnity, the celebratory note, the emotional heft, and the gravitas that such a momentous occasion deserves, with just the right amount of warm, gentle humor added to the mix. We couldn't have been more pleased.

Prior to our wedding we met with Irene twice. Once to go over our ceremony plans and to get to know each other. Then the next time to finalize the details of our ceremony. Besides meeting in person, Irene was great at responding to our emails/questions.

With Irene we were able to customize our ceremony, and make it our own. The words, stories and personal touch that Irene put together for our ceremony will be cherished in our memories for years to come.

The day of our wedding, Irene made sure to check in on both of us before the ceremony started, and she also was able to meet some of our wedding party too. For the ceremony, we were so pleased with how it turned out, and Irene also handled/processed our paperwork for us on timely manner.

I would definitely recommend Irene!

Irene officiated our wedding last year and let me say: she is great! Our wedding ceremony was our favorite part of the day. My husband still laughs (and is amused/happy) that fantasy baseball made it into our vows. So many of our guests complimented us on the ceremony and laughed along with us during the various parts.

Irene is very warm and friendly; and she has an exceptional reading voice - I cannot stress enough how gifted she is with public speaking. All of my guests were so impressed with her. Not only did she deliver the fun/joke-y parts of the ceremony with a great/perfect tone, but she just exuded such a friendly and warm aura throughout the whole ceremony. She set such a great tone/mood for the ceremony and made our wedding day so memorable and perfect.

When searching for our officiant, we wanted someone who didn't mind delivering a non-denominational ceremony and who could make the ceremony a light-hearted and fun experience for both us and our guests. We weren't disappointed. She provided us with a few different options for the ceremony and let us decide on what she would cover, any additional things (readings, rituals, etc) to be part of the ceremony, etc. Also, before the ceremony, she gave us questionnaires to fill out and incorporated these into the reading (thus leading to the fantasy baseball mention, as well as other things, haha). What resulted was a very sweet and personalized ceremony that we'll always look back on with a big smile.

(Note: she has other ceremony options too, which are more serious/solemn/religious/etc. She's very diverse in the types of weddings she can perform and will work with you to achieve the ceremony you want).

Also, during the actual ceremony, she would help whisper little things to us at times. For example, when my husband was putting on my ring, she discreetly whispered to him to look me in the face (rather than at my hands). All of these cues were really inconspicuous, as we can't even see them on our wedding video. She also helped to cue when I should hand my bouquet off to the maid of honor. In terms of the ceremony planning, she was very flexible and incorporated the sand blending ritual, as well as other reading seamlessly. She even accommodated a change to the ceremony that I was nervous about the night before! She was easily accessible via email, phone, etc for advice. Also, she was really helpful with other wedding planning aspects, like the processional, timeline, etc.

I highly recommend Irene!

Irene was an excellent minister for our wedding! She provided many readings, ceremonies, vows, etc for us to choose from to customize our wedding. She met with us to get to know us and to plan out the ceremony. She was like our wedding planner. She is very nice. Many guests told us that it was the most beautiful ceremony they have seen. Many complements on Irene specifically. We highly recommend her!

We were very fortunate having Irene Kane married us. Irene helped us choreographed a ceremony that was special and personal to our values and preferences. Irene was there every step of the way making sure that we did not miss any detail. Irene is kind, warm, genuine and she has such an amazing voice. During the ceremony our mothers forgot to light the uniting candles but Irene very calmly changed the order of our ceremony program on spot and invited our mothers to light the candles a bit later without the guests noticing anything -- she is very experienced. Thank you so much Irene for delivering such a beautiful and flawless ceremony for us.

Irene Kane made our wedding day so special-- it was just absolutely perfect. Her thoughtful and warm words coupled with a great sense of humor made us feel at ease and reminded us how much we love each other as we stood before our family and friends.

Many of our guests complimented Irene's services after our wedding and my friend even booked her for her wedding later this year.

Everything she said was just perfect (and we were a little nervous since we didn't know exactly what she had written in her script) as the words she chose and stories she shared were honest and entertaining for our guests (and us). It was such a fun ceremony-- I hadn't expected to smile so much... We are so happy she married us!

I highly recommend Irene Kane to be part of any ceremony and/or celebration as her positive energy and warm smile make everyone feel special and comfortable. It just felt right.

Irene Kane worked with us to create a unique ceremony that reflected both of our personalities. She helped us find the resources we needed to build an original ceremony, letting it flow into a traditional exchange of vows. Irene was willing to let us guide the direction of the ceremony, and offered helpful suggestions that put the finishing touches on a perfect day.

We can't recommend her highly enough. We planned our wedding from San Diego, and held it in the Bay Area. Irene was there every step of the way.

Jim & Steve
El Cajon, CA

In my search for an officiant for our wedding I contacted various vendors all of whom were pleasant and charming. When I spoke to Irene Kane on the phone from over 500 miles away however I knew I had found the minister for us. She took the time from my initial phone call with her, all the way through the planning process up until the day of the wedding with anything we needed or had questions or concerns about. I could tell right from the beginning that her heart was truly in it and she loves what she does. She listened to what we wanted our wedding day to be like and offered great ideas and encouragement through the whole process. Working with Irene was like we had known her all our lives and it was a great honor and pleasure to have her officiate at our wedding. Both Jim and I want to say thanks again to Irene and for anyone of you out there who wants a professional, warm and concerned officiant please contact Irene Kane.

Steven Clair Gallagher-Barker
El Cajon, CA.

We absolutely loved having Irene for our wedding officiant. She is such a calm and relaxing presence it made it so easy to share our feelings about our ceremony and to enjoy the ceremony itself. Her personal questionnaire we filled out about ourselves and each other (separately) was really helpful in adding the essence of who we are as individuals as well as who we are as a couple into our ceremony. Irene was also a delightful person to hear speak as she incorporated sincerity and humor into the event by weaving our own words into her dialogue which made the moment touching, personal and fun. We highly recommend Irene to those looking for someone who understands the need for individuality and creativity in their wedding, as well as a sense of groundedness and spirituality.

We chose Irene from a list of recommended vendors from the Faculty Club (even though we did not get married at the Faculty Club). Our main consideration when choosing an officiant was that we wanted someone non-denominational who could help us create a ceremony that was touching and light-hearted. When we met with Irene she had a very pleasant demeanor and didn’t make us feel like we were just another cookie cutter couple like another officiant we met with. She gave us some sample ceremony selections from which we could use to help us create our own unique ceremony.

One item I especially liked about Irene was that she gives each engaged couple a questionnaire to fill out to get to know the couple better. She included information from our answers to personalize our ceremony. I liked the items she picked to include and it got a great response from our guests.

Irene also helped to conduct our rehearsal along with our coordinator. They worked really well together. I highly recommend having them both at the rehearsal if you can. The bridal party got to meet them before the wedding so they knew who to look to for direction besides the bride. Also, since both Irene and our coordinator were there, they took care of lining everyone up and pacing everyone out so the most complicated thing I had to remember was the hand-off between my dad and (now) husband during the ceremony.

I highly recommend Irene!

We chose Irene from a list of recommended vendors from the Faculty Club (even though we did not get married at the Faculty Club). Our main consideration when choosing an officiant was that we wanted someone non-denominational who could help us create a ceremony that was touching and light-hearted. When we met with Irene she had a very pleasant demeanor and didn’t make us feel like we were just another cookie cutter couple like another officiant we met with. She gave us some sample ceremony selections from which we could use to help us create our own unique ceremony.

One item I especially liked about Irene was that she gives each engaged couple a questionnaire to fill out to get to know the couple better. She included information from our answers to personalize our ceremony. I liked the items she picked to include and it got a great response from our guests.

Irene also helped to conduct our rehearsal along with our coordinator. They worked really well together. I highly recommend having them both at the rehearsal if you can. The bridal party got to meet them before the wedding so they knew who to look to for direction besides the bride. Also, since both Irene and our coordinator were there, they took care of lining everyone up and pacing everyone out so the most complicated thing I had to remember was the hand-off between my dad and (now) husband during the ceremony.

I highly recommend Irene!

Irene married my husband and I this past June and we couldn't have been happier with her. I had first seen Irene officiate at my friend's wedding, and was so taken by her presence, which was so warm. She really brought all the of the guests and the couple into a shared space. Irene crafted a similarly beautiful ceremony for our wedding. So many of our guests have told us how wonderful they thought it was, and how they had never experienced a ceremony so personal, and with such a perfect balance of levity, warmth and sincerity. Everyone felt that it was truly a reflection of us and our love for each other, and we felt so as well.

The wedding was truly one of the best days of our lives and our ceremony with Irene really set the tone for the whole day. We will never forget what it was like standing there together in a beautiful setting, listening to the narrative that Irene put together based upon the questionnaires that we filled out for her, and the two meetings that we had with her to prepare. It really made us smile, even laugh, at certain points, and tear up at others.

We would absolutely recommend Irene without any reservations.

Irene performed a beautiful ceremony that was exactly what we were looking for, capturing the way we felt about each other by personalizing the ceremony. She was responsive to all of our requests and had excellent ideas of her own, without ever pressuring us to include something that we did not want in our ceremony. We received many compliments about our ceremony from our guests and recommend Irene highly.

Irene was a wonderful officiant. She helped us create a beautiful ceremony. She dropped in before the wedding to make sure that I was doing okay before the ceremony. I was very nervous, but she made us laugh during the ceremony with the stories that we provided to her through her very thorough questionnaire. Our friends and families came up to us after the ceremony, telling us how wonderful the ceremony was, and asked us who she was.

Needless to say, she was a wonderful officiant. It was one of the best decisions that we made for our wedding.

Irene, our officient for our wedding from Ceremonies and Celebrations, was so wonderful to work with. She made me feel so comfortable relaxed when it came to talk about the wedding ceremony. She met with me and my now husband twice before the wedding. First, to share ideas so that we can pick out how we wanted our ceremony and to meet each other and second, to go over details of the wedding, closer to the date.
The day of the wedding, we were just so thrilled that we picked Irene to be our officient. She put together such a beautiful ceremony for us and her voice is so pleasant to listen to. In our ceremony, she incorporated some answers to a questionaire she had given me and my husband to fill out during our first meeting with Irene(We loved this part of our ceremony). This was great and it was a fun addition to our wedding ceremony. Our guests loved listening to our answers to the questionairs; we received so many great comments from our guests at the wedding.
My husband and I loved working with Ceremonies and Celebrations :)

Irene has a very soothing, warm demeanor that was a perfect match for us. She probed to get real details about our relationship for our service. Many people commented to me on what a personal and fun service we had. Irene created a very relaxed and loving atmosphere for us that our guests truly felt. We would highly recommend Irene for any special service you may need!

My wife Imelda and I had our wedding last May at Fogarty Winery and Irene was our officiant. We were so thankful to have her as our officiant. She was AWESOME. One thing that she did that really stood out was to use a very detailed questions about Imelda and I. We had no idea at the time, but she ended up incorporating the vast majority of the answers we provided into the ceremony. The result was a very personal message that she delivered that help connect the guests to me and my wife's story and relationship. A lot of guests gave great compliments about her immediately following the ceremony and after the wedding. In addition, she's very personal and accomodating, even down to her suit that matched our wedding colors. Irene, you're so awesome, and we're so happy that you were our officiant. We really couldn't have asked for more.

Sammy

Irene Kane was very warm and welcoming, and she made us feel very comfortable She was perfect as our ceremony officiant, and we highly recommend her services!

Irene Kane was the officiant at my wedding. The wedding had wonderful lasting memories for both of me and my wonderful husband Steve. Neither of us wanted the celebration to end. Irene was truly professional and terrific and I would recommend her as an officiant.

Marlene

Alexis and I are married almost 3 years now (July 3rd). We were married in a very lovely setting. It was held in the beautiful Marin County home of our friends which overlooks Mt. Tamalpais.
We had been looking some time for an officiant, and when we met Irene, we knew that we had met the perfect person to unite us. From the first moment that the three of us sat down we collaborated on a wonderful ceremony, both from Irene's extensive binder and from what we
wanted. She was very flexible in working with us. Irene is a calming
influence in the whirlwind that surrounds a marriage event. She is a good listener, and has a wonderful sense of humor. She worked magic with the information we shared about ourselves and added some touches that just made the ceremony a wonderful, event for us and for all our guests. She's a gem and we highly recommend her.

Irene is an utter joy to work with! She's always very professional, after working with her a handful of times, I can honestly say, she comes highly recommended!