Neil & Lucy
“Jonathan has a special gift. He gives that gift to the world through his service of creating ceremonies that are heart-felt, wise, and deep with truth and love. Jonathan shared that gift with my wife and I by helping us plan our wedding and by officiating the ceremony....but that is not nearly the extent of what he did for us. The path Jonathan took us down was one he allowed us to find. There were moments during the process that we were not sure if we were going the right or wrong way - Jonathan gave us the freedom and space to search. In our modern world, we often want things to come easy...effortlessly...as if to have these things are a right instead of a privilege. Working with Jonathan is to revisit a time when the victory was the voyage itself...and that reaching the destination was in itself a reason to celebrate. I cannot say enough incredible things about how beautiful our wedding was - my wife and I stood within a circle, and Jonathan invited all our loved ones to surround us, to show us their love and to allow us to be who we are at our core. It surpassed any dream we could have had. He truly allowed the ceremony to encompass all of the aspects we wanted, but could not necessarily verbalize. It was a day that we, our families, and our friends will never forget. We will forever be grateful that we took the journey with Jonathan...without him, the amazement of our wedding day would have been less bright.”
Rob & Andrea
“You made the day and the weekend everything we imagined. Thank you so much for all you did for us. So many people told us it was the most beautiful ceremony they have ever been to. I realize in large part that was because it was reflective of our love for each other, but it was you that brought that out in the ceremony.”
Justin & Anna
“Big thanks for everything you have done for us. We truly feel that your insight and guidance not only helped us navigate through many challenges, but gave us the tools to navigate ourselves. We would not have wanted to share our day with anyone else than you. You have taught us many things, touched our hearts, and marked our souls for eternity.”
Ciara & Nick
“Planning our wedding from 3 hours away we ended up finding Jonathan online, along with a few other officiants, and after our initial conversation with him we knew we didn’t need to search any more. After speaking with him, we knew he could give us the ceremony and the experience we were looking for. We felt incredibly at ease and could freely discuss life with him. The best way we can describe Jonathan is an incredibly thoughtful, knowledgeable and passionate person. As we got to know Jonathan better through our meetings leading up to the wedding, after each meeting we always said to each other “He is so wise”. He truly has such an old soul.
Jonathan was the one person throughout the entire planning process who made our wedding strictly about us. It's easy to get caught up in the contracts, the planning process and the other vendors’ needs, but Jonathan was there for us to make sure we were doing okay emotionally and spiritually, and not getting overwhelmed or frustrated. He helped us think outside the box, offering ideas from past wedding and life experiences. He challenged why we made each decision regarding our ceremony, not to disagree, but to push us to have a reason and meaning behind everything we did. We were looking for that perfect balance of celebration, humor, religion, and love in our ceremony and Jonathan helped us achieve that. We heard countless times the night of our wedding that our ceremony was one of the most meaningful ceremonies that our guests had seen, and in large part that was due to Jonathan. On our wedding day, he delivered a ceremony that was a beautiful reflection of our relationship and truly echoed who we are as individuals and as a couple.”
Steven & Lauren (baby blessing)
“Jonathan, you are so great at what you do! You have a great energy about you, and created a beautiful day for our family, an absolutely perfect expression of our thoughts and feelings. We so enjoyed the preparation together, and on the actual day you were so wonderful – peaceful and thoughtful. The way you incorporated the natural world contributed so much to the atmosphere of the day. The elements you added were beautiful, and made it visually stunning. Your words and energy touched us in the most positive way. We appreciated how you challenged us to get at what is true to our hearts, to investigate what really mattered to us. You were so in tune with our thoughts, and everything – from the location to the timing – created a peaceful flow for our ceremony…and our guests loved you! You included them exactly how we imagined and made them feel special. We will hear the love in your voice and the echoes of your sentiments for the rest of our lives…Thank You.”
Christine (rite of passage ceremony)
“Jonathan, thanks so much for helping to guide me and direct me in my "Celebration of a New Me" party. It was a great event for me, my friends, and my family. What started with you planting a thought in my brain about celebrating the end of one stage of my life and starting a new stage blossomed into a memorable event. You were really wonderful to work with, you helped me think outside of my box while planning, you helped my guests understand clearly what the objective was for the evening, and you kept the event on task. Your guidance was extremely helpful. I appreciate your kindness and ability to communicate my thoughts and feelings to my family and friends that evening. My coming out party will always be a wonderful memory and something I will cherish for a long time. I am sure that when true love fills my heart again I will ask you to perform some type of commitment ceremony for me. I look forward to continuing to work with you. You have been truly instrumental in helping me shape the last six months of my journey from a married woman of 25 years to a newly single woman. I feel good, and I feel that your coaching has been valuable in all areas of my life...emotional, physical, social, and spiritual. Much thanks again!”
Scott & Bekah
Jonathan helped us to focus our intentions and to help us figure out what we wanted and how we wanted our wedding to look. We gained a better perspective of ourselves through the process, especially what we were stepping out of and stepping into. He helped to draw out of us the picture we had of ourselves as a couple and what way to best represent that in the ceremony.
Jonathan helped us form the vision of our ceremony. He did not force us in any direction but, rather, helped to guide us toward creating what we were looking for. Jonathan listened deeply to us and brought out what he learned about us in our ceremony almost like an old friend. He was open to our own visions; he really got to know us in a very short period of time and was able to incorporate this individuality into the ceremony, making it very personal and meaningful to us.
Jonathan helped us prepare for stepping out of our lives as individuals and stepping into our life as a married couple, particularly in regards to the relationships we have with the people closest to us (who were also going to be transformed by the process). He encouraged us to find a way to signify this in a meaningful manner in order to be able to move forward with our new lives together without looking back. This was both significant and something that we had not thought of prior.
Jonathan was able to provide enough structure that we could relax and enjoy the day at each moment. At the same time, there was enough left unrehearsed that the day maintained an element of wonderful surprise and anticipation. We never felt like we were putting on a rehearsed performance; we could let go and, in some ways, be an audience to our own wedding, enjoying the ceremony as it unfolded before us.
We felt that the ceremony truly served us and gave us what we needed on that day.
Although Jonathan was clearly the guide of the ceremony, he maintained a friendly, easy rapport at all times and he felt very approachable. At all times, the ceremony felt like a collaboration between Jonathan, us and our guests. He helped our guests feel at ease and like they were a part of the event in a very appropriate way. Everyone appreciated the way that Jonathan guided the ceremony.
Jonathan was exactly who we needed him to be so we could have the perfect ceremony for beginning our married lives together.
Trisia & Kelly (commitment ceremony)
“We loved working with you! You inspired us and challenged us to really think about what we were doing. We heard you loud and clear when you reminded us to keep focused on what's really important which is our commitment and what we are promising one another. You helped us think more about what we wanted our people to hear and get from our ceremony. You made us more aware of how important it is to clearly articulate why you are there, what you plan to do, and what it all means. Your suggestions were very helpful because you've been through so many ceremonies so you definitely added value in our thought process and guided us when we needed it most.
You were dashing on the big day! You never seemed nervous and handled us and our guests very professionally. You showed no fear and appeared not to have any intention of surrendering to the pressures at hand. You were really great when things got delayed. The guests loved you and said your energy was great. We benefited greatly from our monthly meetings with you and the result was a perfect wedding ceremony!”
Terence & Emily
“Emily and I are so delighted that we chose you as our wedding celebrant! Wedding coaching wasn’t even something I had thought about doing before we met you but after two minutes of the first session, I knew this was the right choice. We learned so much about ourselves and each other through this spiritual and enlightening process. With our busy schedules, you accommodated us thoughtfully. You even made the trek to our apartment in Brooklyn where we were able to bond with you in our home. But for me, the best session was when you invited us to your very cozy home in Connecticut where we got to meet Kathryn and your newborn daughter. You always made us feel at peace with some relaxation techniques and just the right ambiance in the room. We discussed anything and everything regarding our upcoming wedding in these sessions. You have such a keen insight into this process and were able to listen to us and make just the right amount of suggestions to make our day the special one that it was. The wedding day couldn’t have been more perfect. It felt like every single guest kept mentioning how “us” our ceremony was. You helped us put together something so unique and special that I will never forget it as long as I live. We seated you at a table with some of our oldest friends and you fit in like family. You kept up a great level of energy the entire day and I think this inspired us to stay focused on the moment of our lives that we were experiencing with all of our favorite people around us. I will highly recommend you for any wedding as well as coaching sessions; it turned out to be the best decision we made for our big day.”
Barbara (ceremony consulting)
“Of all our wedding expenses, Witness Circle is the one that will have lasting impact on our relationship. My guy’s guy fiancé loves it too! Jonathan specializes in helping you navigate important transitions. In our case, we got the best of both – support on our wedding ceremony, and coaching on all that goes with it! He offered thoughtful guidance about the nuts and bolts of the ceremony, and helped us explore our intention and what we really value - so we could create the wedding day and ceremony that reflects our life together (rather than plugging in all the expected stuff without reflection). He also coached us through the emotional wedding drama of family dynamics, etc. (thank God!) He's very gentle, clear and intuitive. We feel centered, inspired and closer thanks to the gift of Jonathan's time and insights. If you are planning a ceremony or contemplating any kind of big transition, I can't recommend Jonathan highly enough.”
Jennifer & Christopher
“Working with Jonathan was a real gift – one we gave to ourselves. My only regret is that we did not get involved with him earlier in our process. It was an amazing experience. As we met with Jonathan and then went off on our own to do our “homework”, he was able to gently guide us into reflection and to the heart of why we were choosing to marry. We wrote our vows with his support – and he helped us to construct a wedding ceremony that was rich in symbolism and ritual and that was meaningful and inclusive. We have received many compliments on the beauty and uniqueness of our ceremony with Jonathan. Now we are planning a blessing ceremony for our baby boy and would not dream of asking anyone else. Thank you Jonathan!”
