Loving Heart Ceremonies by Risa Marlen

Risa Marlen made my ceremony absolutely beautiful. The amount of praise I have received about how personal, touching and heart-warming our event began was just overwhelming. She worked very diligently with us about how we wanted the ceremony to feel, what we wanted to share with our guests and how we wanted to feel afterward. My guests said they felt so close to us during that time and it's because Risa does an amazing job. She made us feel like close friends instead of just clients. She offered great ideas for the flow of the ceremony, like telling our love story and a guided meditation (which really helped before saying my vows.) She's a true professional and passionate about her job.

Risa was wonderful! She made our ceremony unique and specific to my husband and I. She edited our ceremony as often as we needed her to. She was extremely flexible as well. We had to cancel our wedding due to Hurricane Irene and reschedule for the following Friday. Risa had no problem changing her schedule to officiate our wedding. Additionally, the city we got married in lost our marriage license, and of course Risa took care of it. The following is an email my husband wrote to Risa after the wedding:"Hi Risa, the ceremony was perfect. Everybody enjoyed it very much, you even got my father to cry. People even enjoyed our candle malfunction. (We had trouble lighting the unity candle because it was so windy!) Thanks for everything, you def come highly recommended."

My husband and I couldn't have been more pleased with the wonderful service that Risa provided us with. She really took the time to tailor the ceremony to fit our personality and it made such an impact on our guests. We had numerous people come up to us during the reception and say that it was one of the most memorable ceremonies they had ever been to and that our sense of humor really came across. Risa ensured that we stayed "on track" throughout the process, sending us gentle reminders to complete our questionnaire's, so she could really get a sense of "us" and tell our love story to our guests. Even though we got married on a Friday night at the Jersey Shore and traffic can be a total nightmare, Risa ensured that she arrived with plenty of time to spare (which meant a lot to a bride who likes to be in control :-) Thank you RISA!

Risa was great! She is PERFECT if you're looking for a really personal and unique ceremony. We received so many compliments about how great the ceremony was. It was especially perfect for us, because we are mixed faith, and Risa was able to incorporate both cultures/religions into the ceremony, in a clear way that all guests could follow.

Risa did a superb job for our wedding. We honestly could not have asked for someone more accomodating or as sweet as she was. I would highly recomend to all that are seeking an officiant to use her for their wedding. The feedback from our guests was amazing. We were married for the second time, so it was not only a wedding ceremony but a family joining to unite all of our children and ourselves. She made the service extra special for us and the four children. I have a friend that is getting married in October and already has everything set, but she has said to me she was sad to not have known Risa, because she thought the ceremony was that beautiful. Risa, thanks again for a super job, we promise to keep in touch, most sincere thanks, Graham and Chris (and of course Nicole, Natasha, Daphne and Aidan).

We loved the personalized ceremony and her willingness to incorporate our wishes and ideas.

Risa was very professional and very understanding of the simplicity of our ceremony. She made us very comfortable to be working with her. Our ceremony was amazing and went exactly how we wanted it to go. Risa did an amazing job. Thanks!

Risa's sensitivity, understanding and professionalism helped make our wedding ceremony very special. She understood that while we did not want a religious ceremony we did want some elements of a Jewish wedding. She made suggestions that helped us integrate our life stories into the ceremony and include our children and families, in a way that was meaningful for all of us. We are grateful to her for the beautiful ceremony that she officiated, one that was full of laughter and tears and that touched everyone's heart.

Risa performed such a beautiful ceremony for us at Franklin Lake. It was exactly what we wanted. Our guests are still talking about how personal, fun, & loving the ceremony was.

I would absolutely use her services in the future for other occasions and would highly recommend her to friends as an officiant for future weddings.

I would recommend Risa as a Wedding offciant , she was very nice and very easy to work with. We were married in our home and she made the ceremony very warm and personal. She arrived ahead of time just to go over things , I could not have asked for a nicer ceremony.

We were married on Jan 9 ,2009 by Risa and we feel very lucky that we found her. She is the nicest person and because of her everything went exactly the way we wanted it. I highly reccommend her.

Trish Thompson

Risa was terrific. Despite the fact that we contacted her last minute, she pulled together a beautiful ceremony. Many friends and family member commented about how touching it was. I would highly recommend her!

We found Risa by "accident" as she was suggested by an already booked officiant we had contacted. After the first initial meeting we both felt that she would be right for us.
Risa made our ceremony personal , funny and perfect just what we had hoped for and our friends and familiy loved it. We've gotten so many compliments for the whole ceremony which is all Risa's doing.
She made the start of a long day of celebration perfect

Risa was wonderful! She was flexible, well versed, and really tailored our ceremony to us. We were happy that she worked so well with our difficult family. If she was able to work with our difficulties I am sure she can make any ceremony as grand as ours!

Risa is a wonderful, enthusiastic knowledgeable celebrant. She designed a totally personal ceremony for us and was responsive to all our changes and suggestions. She was very professional at all times. The cost is $500, which I think a little high, but it seems that most celebrants are certainly in that ballpark and it doesn't take anything away from the quality of what we received. I highly recommend Risa.