Rev. Samora/Common Ground Ceremonies

Rev. Samora was absolutely fantastic!! My wife and I were planning a wedding from Rhode Island and she made it so easy. She made sure we had everything the way we wanted it and was always there whenever we had any questions. From picking a wedding place to finding places in the city she was very informative. Rev. Samora made us feel like family and she has such great passion for what she does. If you are looking for an Officiant we highly recomment Rev. Samora! You will not be disappointed!!

Perfect Day, Perfect Ceremony, Perfect Memories

Bob and I decided to celebrate our 15 year anniversary by returning to New York (where our relationship first started) to get married "legally and officially" in New York, since we are not able to legally marry in our home state, California.

After considering doing a generic ceremony at City Hall - we learned about Reverend Samora through our terrific photographer, Jared Slater (J & J Photography).

Immediately, I felt like I was dealing was an old friend who understood everything that we wanted and made it so easy to make it all happen. With just a few conversations - she worked out the perfect ceremony for us - incorporating just the right amount of religious/spiritual background, personal history and wishes and hopes for the future.

Samora helped pick out the perfect spot in Central Park. Her Incredible guitarist, Diana, set the perfect tone for the ceremony. Even though we reviewed the ceremony in advance - I was completely overwhelmed and touched by Samora's delivery of the heartfelt ceremony. These memories will stay with me forever as one of happiest moments ever. The finishing touch was an the ad hoc audience that congregated across the lake during our ceremony - who cheered when we were pronounced 'married' and sealed it with a kiss!

A perfect day! A truly emotional celebration and highlight of our fifteen years together.

So glad we did it in New York and choose Reverend Samora to help make it perfect!

Rev. Samora is the best Wedding Officiant and does a fantastic job with all the details. She is the sweetest woman I have ever met and had an amazing ceremony. You can be sure your wedding ceremony will be both meaningful and professional when you look to her. She is really helpful when you are planning your ceremony, great ideas and cares about your needs. I highly recommend her. Thanks again Samora, for a wonderful ceremony. <3 <3 <3 Ida SANOU LUNGU

Rev. Samora was absolutely wonderful and made our wedding ceremony even more special than we thought possible. She worked with us to tailor the event so that it was truly a personal and special moment we shared with our friends and family. I would absolutely recommend her to other couples and will use her when we renew our vows.

Rev Samora performed our wedding ceremony in Central Park on a Saturday afternoon in September. She was very responsive during the planning phase, wrote very lovely wedding vows, arrived early to meet us and did an outstanding job. We were so happy with her services and would recommend her to any couples planning their big day. You put a lot of faith into this person, it's an important choice (what if they didn't show up??) But with Rev. Samora I had a good feeling from the very beginning and she exceeded our expectations, Mary & Bob

Rev. Samora was a pleasure to work - professional and extremely helpful. As we were out-of-state, she provided pivotal advice and suggestions that ultimately translated into a beautiful and successful wedding day. She worked closely with us throughout the planning stages and was flexible in allowing us to personalize what was said during the ceremony. She arrived early on the day of our wedding and helped coordinate guests and events which alleviated much of our stress! She was exquisitely dressed and well spoken which was an important consideration for us. I strongly recommend Rev. Samora and have already directed a few of my friends to her to act as their wedding officiant.

Rev. Samora was absolutely fantastic! She makes our planning easy and our ceremony elegant and romantic! She is extremely kind and attentive to satisfy any requests! Our day was unique and impeccable thank to Rev. Samora!

Rev. Samora offered the most caring, thoughtful, and personal ceremony possible. The rituals she offers are perfect for anyone, no matter faith, sex, and surpassed all expectations. Her guitar soloist rendition of our two favorite songs were beautifully played and really played from the heart, just as the entire ceremony.

From its inception, our interaction with Reverend Samora Smith from dictated the obvious: That she was going to be our choice among other considerations to be trusted with the duties of officiating our union. The first time we met, Reverend Samora was a lovely mixture of professionalism, a warm and personal touch, charisma and trustworthiness. Her profound knowledge of the marriage process and what was needed, and what was not, was imparted to us with a clarity and natural reassurance that we would all be working together, and that everything was going to be a success - invaluable for arguably the biggest day and step in a couple’s lives.

In the interim, between that time and the wedding day, she was always on hand and a phone-call away to answer questions, give reassurances, talk about and/or resolve any ancillary matters and be a calming and reassurance influence in steering the ship towards the big day. With unflagging patience and empathy, she conducted it all.

On the day itself, Reverend was the first one there, coordinated others who had a role to play such as the photographer and the musician, and lastly ourselves and all our friends and family there to share the day with us. She delivered her part in a lovely reaching and calming voice, and shared in our joy as she smiled and exuded genuine happiness for us for our decision to spend our lives together and take our vows.

Reverend Samora is first-class, delivers first class service with grace and love and happiness and we are happy and blessed that she was the one who officiated our marriage.

If you are asking “do I want Reverend Samora to preside over our union?”...

There are very few occasions in life when things happen to be perfect. Our wedding day was just that, perfect. Perfect location. Perfect weather. Perfect company. And perfect person to officiate our ceremony! Reverend Samora M. Smith was perfect from the beginning. My husband, then my fiancé, found her online. I was skeptical. However, it took me just a short phone conversation with her to feel her warmth, her calm, and her love. Rev. Samora gave us just the right amount of pressure, and the right amount of support for our wedding day to be simply perfect. She was prompt to respond our questions and with a practical understanding of the wedding ceremony, offered us the right options. She found for us the perfect musician and the perfect photographer. On our wedding day, she dressed beautifully and in accordance with our preferred colors, blending discretely and harmoniously. She delivered the ceremony simply flawlessly, with grace, candor, and love. We are tremendously proud and happy she held our hands that day and blessed our wedding. Thanks once more, Rev. Samora. It was simply perfect.

Rev. Samora performed our wedding and exceeded our expectations. She provided exactly what we asked for and everything went off beautifully. Rev. Samora made our day very special. She responded quickly during the planning phase and was early on the day of the ceremony. She's a warm lovely kind person and I would recommend her services to any couple tying the knot! Thank you Rev. Samora... you are the best!! Thank you so much for all of your help. The memories of our wedding day will forever be treasured thanks to your kindness and professionalism, . Leticia & Jose Ramos..

Not living in NY and attempting to plan a wedding in NYC seemed a daunting task. We began planning in March for our August wedding. I truly had no clue where to begin! As I was searching for info, I stumbled upon Rev Samora and Common Ground Ceremonies! After reading reviews and looking at the website, I decided to contact Rev Samora. It was the best first step I could have made! Rev Samora was so warm and informative! My planning and preparation was so effortless! She had all the answers and communicated with me every step of the way. The planning, the vows, the professionalism, the music, the photographer... everything PERFECT! We were amazed at our experience! Everything fell into place perfectly! Rev Samora... you are the best!! Thank you so much for all of your help. The memories of our wedding day will forever be treasured thanks to your kindness and compassion.

Words can’t express how beautiful and memorable our wedding ceremony was.
When we first met Rev. Samora, we met with her at a cozy coffee shop in the Lower East Side.
It felt as if we met before and we were catching up where we last left off. We instantly had a bond between the 3 of us. Her attentive and caring ways made us feel comfortable in telling our love story. Dena and I met 5 years ago and we always had faith we would be able to marry in the State of New York.
Samora kept constant communication with us. Not only does she give a beautiful wedding sermon she also has a beautiful voice. She sang as we walked down the aisle joined by our 3 handsome boys.
Knowing that she was right next to us as we exchanged vows was a tremendous comfort from the beginning to the end.
Our celebration of love was portrayed in every word spoken by Samora. Our deepest gratitude to Rev. Samora for telling our love story through her voice. Our special day will be truly remembered for a lifetime.

As we contemplated our wedding, one of the most important things to us was our ceremony. We spoke with many prospective officiants and knew the very first time we spoke with Rev. Samora that she was the person we wanted to lead us through this journey. After meeting with her in person, she was able to create a ceremony for us that reflected our personalities as well as our connection to each other. We were particularly happy to include the Hand Fasting ritual in the ceremony (literally the Tying of the Knot). After the ceremony many of our guests commented on how beautiful it was and how Rev Samora was so calm and soothing with the way she conducted it. In fact, one person commented that it made her want to get married all over again. We appreciate everything Rev Samora did for us and highly recommend her for your ceremony. We believe you will not find anyone better! William and Humber

I would highly recommend Rev. Samora. She was extremely personable, very professional and worked with us to ensure the ceremony was perfect for us. She definitely played a huge part in making our big day very special and very memorable.

Reverened Samora performed our ceremony in Central Park. She truly made our day that much more special. I highly recycle end her to anyone that is considering using her services.

Rev. Samora is a great officiant! Prior to our first meeting, she asked us to tell her about our relationship. We thought it was just for her records. When we had the meeting, Samora had already written out a draft of our entire ceremony using the information we gave her and brought another script from a ceremony she did in the past (with client names removed, very professional) so that we could see that we had other options. We ended up using the the script she wrote for us without changing a word. On the day of our wedding, Samora arrived promptly to take care of the necessary paperwork and went well beyond her duties by lending a hand when she saw that one was needed. If you are in need of an officiant, we highly recommend Rev. Samora!

Since we were getting married in NYC Central Park and we were not from NYC, Rev Samora was most helpful in getting the arraignments made. She offered many excellent suggestions which we did use. The ceremony was ideal of which most of it was suggested by her. She was always on time and responsive to our needs and questions.

Rev Samora was amazing, she was very professional, flexible and friendly. Our wedding ceremony was absolutely perfect and her words very touching.

Rev.somora was grate.. Stayed in contact with me and kept me up dated
On every thing . I would recommend her to every one she aint one
Of the ones that wants it her way she is open for any thing and a real
Sweet heart

Rev. Samora was excellent. Despite my overall anxiety, everything went well. Rev. Samora has a very calming way of making one feel confortable. The ceremony was delightful. She executed the ceremony exactly the way we wanted it.

We highly recommend Rev. Samora for your special day! She is very easy going, and made us as relaxed as possible at a time that can be increasingly stressful. She is very flexible and was willing to accommodate our wishes and needs to make the day all that we hoped for and more! We couldn't have chosen a better officiant and we were so glad she made our day special and memorable!

On your special day, you'll definitively want someone who will treat you as family... With Rev. Samora, you'll get that treatment. She's not just about the money, she takes time to talk to you and make your wedding about you, what you want, and how you want it. she's very flexible... Thank you for taking your time out of your schedule to make our wedding day a special one!

Amazing Job! Over exceeded our expecations.....took extra care to make sure that all details were covered and made it very special and personalized for me and my know husband. We lived out of state and we had to do everything over the phone. Rev. Samora made her self available to us and always was reliable when we had a scheduled call. I think this says it all! My mother was more then pleased with the ceremony and she is truly a critic. I would highly recommend her. She is professional, nice and caring......you will see this for yourself if you use her. You will be very pleased.

Rev. Samora was exactly what we were looking for: a super warm, friendly, flexible, and understanding interfaith minister to create a marriage ceremony that would honor both of our backgrounds (Roman Catholic and Jewish). We were comfortable with her from the first moment we met.

Her suggestions and experience were invaluable to us as we were unsure of how a combined ceremony would look, neither of us having been to one before. We had collaborative input at every step of the ceremony "script writing" process, and never felt pressured to do things a "certain way." Rev. Samora is totally accommodating and supportive of what the couple wants to do!

While all of our wedding guests complimented us on how beautiful the ceremony was, perhaps the best feedback I can share is that my husband's very opinionated 91-year-old Jewish grandmother was absolutely enchanted by the ceremony-- and specifically loved the typically Christian tradition of lighting the Unity Candle! It is 3 months later and she is still talking about it. Rev. Samora's suggestion to incorporate our mothers into the ceremony was a huge hit!

I can't say enough good things about Rev. Samora. She is very warm, supportive, and respectful of couples and their beliefs and desires for their wedding day. You will be happy with her!

On Friday the 2nd of March 2012 my husband and I, after flying in from Sweden where we live, we got married in Central Park by the lovely Samora. We could not have been more lucky to have chosen her to perform our ceremony. We feel so blessed to have had her help us on our special day and it is with so much love in our hearts and gratitude we give our warmest recommendations to Samora. You can not get a warmer more loving person, that with grate detail caters to your wishes and needs. We feel blessed to have met her and will cherish her always. Thank you so much Samora... hope to see you on our next visit to New York!
Bless and Love

Andreas & Emmy Huggins Ifwer

Rev.Samora was the best choice for an officiant we could have made . She arrived before the scheduled time and was very professional and sweet . She express such a positive energy that it was very comfortable to have her as an officiant . She send us in acvance the script of the ceremony for our approval, it was exactly what we wanted . We highly recommend her .

Rev. Samora was FANTASTIC!! You can tell how much she loves doing what she does and cares for her clients. She has such a warm, sweet, loving vibe. I would HIGHLY recommend her to anyone. The ceremony was beautiful with her words and the guitar player. We had many complements from our guests on how unique and heart felt it was. My husband and I are very pleased with her services.

Rev Samora was wonderful, Samora is a very warm happy person who made our wet wedding feel loved again. I'd reccommend her to anyone. Thankyou Samora

Rev. Samora was amazing! We couldn't have asked for a better person to wed us. She took us last minute, picked a stunning spot in Central Park, and prepared beautiful vows for us. We were honored to have her officiate our special day!

Rev. Samora was wonderful!!!! She made everything easy and enjoyable from start to finish with our planning. She made great suggestions and instantly made us feel comfortable. I would recommend her services to anyone, she was a pleasure to work with.

My husband and I were very happy with the way the ceremony was conducted.
Our friends and family were impressed with how Rev. Samora handled the ceremony and the intimacy in which our wedding ceremony was conducted.

Rev Samora is the sweetiest person my wife and I have ever met. We couldn't have asked for more on our wedding day. She met every requirement we asked of her and more. She definitely has a passion for what she does and you can see it through the ceremony she conducted. She accepted our love and understood the bond we have... and interpreted into words. If you want to put your ceremony in capable hands Rev. Samora is the officiant for you.

Rev Samora could not have been a better pick for our wedding. From the first contact, she was so friendly yet professional. She was very responsive to ALL of our questions. She was always so responsible and kind and we are truly happy with the way she handled our wedding ceremony, she understood perfectly what we wanted and performed accordingly. Our wedding was even better than what we expected thanks to her.
We would like to tell those who are planning their wedding, to contact her, because from that moment on you will be so glad you did.

Rev. Samora was a blessing to us. She provided us with valuable information regarding the application process and location of the wedding. She responded to all emails and questions promptly. Rev. Samora selected the perfect location in Central Park and made it easy for us (out of towners) to find her. She created a very touching ceremony and made us feel loved and welcomed. I would recommend her to anyone wanting to create a memory they will cherish forever!

We really like Rev. Samora. She is nice, responsible, original, and very professional. We highly recommend her. She made our day very special. She is Rev.number ONE ; )))

Words cannot express how wonderful Rev Samora was throughout our entire wedding experience. Not only was she flexible but she was so real, easy to talk to, and knowledgable (thank God because we were so clueless!) Rev Samora was willing to costumize our wedding an sent us various versions until we were completely comfortable and satisfied. In addition, she also recommended a fantastic and talented guitar played who learned our and played
Special songs! To anyone both gay and straight who are looking for a wedding officiant.. She comes highly recommended. Thank you again for making our wedding so magical ! Love, Deena and Julie

Samora was GREAT very helpful with any questions or concerns that we had. We Never had a problem contacting her for anything we needed had wonderful ideas beautiful words at the ceremony. Samora is the sweetest person you will ever meet. We loved her, thank you Samora for being apart of our ceremony... 400yrs and counting!!!LOL

Reverend Samora was unforgettable! My Husband (fiance at the time) and I were planning a wedding in NY from Boston. This is no easy task, especially with less than three months before the big day. I searched all over the internet to try to find someone who would truly care about us and our big day. I found an officiant who was highly recommended, she unfortunately was not available on our date. She sent me a list of officiants that she recommended, one of which was Rev. Samora. I tried to contact a few of these individuals and I received a call back from a few, their main concern was money and how I could pay them. Rev. Samora then returned my phone call and didn't even mention payment until I brought it up. Her first concern was fitting our date into her schedule and wanting to meet us to plan our special day. She impressed me by her first phone call! My husband and I took a trip to NY and planned a date to meet with Rev. Samora. We had coffee at a cafe where Rev. Samora asked questions about us and our family and really got to know us so she could set up the best ceremony for our needs. She was very organized and had drafts of ideas that she had already come up with from our first phone call. Rev. Samora was in-touch with us through out the next month before our wedding and made sure she had our vows and ceremony just the way we wanted them. She also was helpful with music for the ceremony and a unity ceremony for our children. On the big day Rev. Samora made our dream come true and announced us husband and wife after a beautiful ceremony she preformed. We will never forget her for this and this is why I would suggest her to any couple who is looking for an officiant in NY. Lastly, she fit into our very small budget. Rev. Samora is truly in her profession for the couples and unlike other officiants I spoke with she made sure the most important thing for us was our day and not her bugging us for payment. I did not want to mention this but with people taking advantage of others now a days I wouldn't want to see anybody be scammed. Picking Rev. Samora to officiate your special day will assure you that won't happen.

Samora really made our day that much more special. She took the time to make sure the celebration would accurately represent our true selves and embrace all that we wanted to incorporate. After listening to us she made suggestions that made the whole thing work so beautifully.

Reverend Samora made our day special and was very considerate about what we wanted. She was fun, humorous and spoke with an eloquence that left my new husband and me with a genuine feeling of love. Reverend Samora also took time to get to know us and reviewed her thoughts with ours. It was a great pleasure being married by such a wonderful woman. Thank you always Reverend Samora! : )

Samora is a lovely and warm persons, who can bring just the right feeling to the wedding.

Rev. Samora has a very mellow and loving vibe. It was calming for this nervous bride.

Rev. Samora comes to your wedding day with a wealth of experience--as a musician,
as a mother, as a minister. Her warm smile & candid conversation will immediately put you at ease. You can trust her to listen closely to your wedding requests, offer you experienced advice, and be there for you every minute of your ceremony to support you, honor you, and bring out the best in you! I am happy to recommend her as a friend & colleague, and encourage you to ask her to SING at your wedding!