Barbara Ann Michaels, Jester of the Peace

Barbara was simply fantastic! From the first meeting through the ceremony she guided us with such an open, creative, and supportive hand. We planned our own ceremony and she was invaluable in helping shape the ceremony to be great for our guests, but more importantly to be completely honest and representative of us and our love. She really was great to help relieve a lot of the stress of the day and someone we trusted all the way. I would recommend her to anyone looking to make their own unique creative ceremony, especially for artistic types. But she's so experienced, well rounded and flexible that I'm sure she could deliver any type of wedding experience you are looking for. Thanks Barbara!

To me, the ceremony would the most significant part of our wedding day; the story of our love, our vows, and inclusion of our families. Needless to say I was disappointed when my friend was unexpectedly unable to perform the ceremony. It seemed an impossible feat: To find a perfect stranger to perform a personal and genuine ceremony. We searched relentlessly, and found Barbara. Barbara was a pleasure to work with from the very first conversation. She followed through on our requests and her creative and collaborative style delivered a powerful ceremony that we will never forget. Our friends and families were engaged and entertained, crying and laughing, telling us they loved how unique and personalized the ceremony was to us, as individuals and as a couple. We recommend Barbara without reservation. Thank you Barbara for your contribution to our perfect day.

It's always a little scary to pick a service provider without actually knowing anyone who can recommend the person. But that's what I did with Barbara, and things turned out better than I had dared imagine. First, after NY passed the marriage equality law, I decided to plan a "surprise wedding" around New Year's for my partner of 15 years and I. As a result, Barbara had to work with just one of us for the first several contacts. This she managed to do with warmth, style and grace. Her approach and smile never once suggested that I might well be out of my mind for planning a wedding a thousand miles from home without the input of the other bride. Barbara asked all the right questions to make sure that I didn't do anything irreversible yet made good decisions that kept things moving. I also had some crazy out-of-towner ideas about where and when I thought we'd want to do the ceremony. Barbara was a fountain of good information about which ideas were - and were not - feasible. Once my bride was in on the "secret," Barbara worked with both of us to ensure the wedding was all that we hoped it would be. The ceremony itself was perfectly tailored to who we are and what our life together has meant for 15 years. Barbara worked with us via telephone and Skype to plan things down to the last comma and period in the ceremony. She was nonplussed at the prospect of a little family drama (doesn't everyone have that?), and she continued to adjust things right down to the last day. In fact, when the City of New York first blocked access to planned venue for New Year's Eve, she didn't bat an eye at moving the location with less than 24 hours to go. Then when the Mayor's office made an exception with 6 hours to go so that we were able to be married on the red stairs in Times Square (and have them ALL TO OURSELVES with three of NYPD's finest watching from below) she rejoiced with us at our good fortune and conducted the ceremony as though it had been meant to be all along. Our entire family was totally impressed by how Barbara interacted with them and made everyone feel at ease. We heartily recommend Barbara's services and encourage you to discuss your dreams with her. She'll come as close as anyone can to making them come true....

WONDERFUL! Love, laughter, joy and true happiness. We couldn't have asked for a better officiant! You don't have to think twice if Barbara is the one for you - she is! Thank you Barbara for giving us the perfect day.

Where can we begin? Barbara was an absolute delight to work with, extremely professional and personable. It was as if we're known her for years. She performed our ceremony as "Glinda, the Good Witch of the North" from "Wizard of Oz" and was both funny and touching, even our four year old nephew was blown away and kept asking if she was a princess. As a matter of fact, our family and friends were so taken with her that she was asked to join in the celebration and wedding dinner. We have been together for thirty years and were concerned we made the right choices, Barbara made sure we did, by capturing the perfect balance and we can't thank her enough foe a ceremony that we will remember and cherish forever.

Barbara, was great at helping Will and I make our special day under the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center the best experience ever. Thank you Barbara. Steve & Will

My wife and I felt Barbara's calming and peaceful energy the first time we saw her picture on our computer screen blowing a kiss at us! We knew, before we even contacted her, that she would be our first and last call on our journey to find an officiant. Barbara had a very calming, yet exciting and loving energy that filled the room the day of our ceremony. It was so nice to hear from every guest, either family and or friend..."That was the best ceremony I have ever witnessed. It was absolutely beautiful". :) Barbara is flawless at what she does and honestly, it is so hard to explain how she made us feel throughout our ceremony and the whole process. She guided us step by step, gave us unique and creative ideas since there were two brides!!! ...but she also left room for us to execute our own ideas and thoughts. Barbara WAS ALWAYS in touch and was so very reliable from start to finish. Did we mention that she did all of this with less than 30 days of planning??? We are so grateful that Barbara united us on November 19th, 2011! We will remember you forever! Thank you Barbara, Melissa & Jennifer

After 37 years together we decided to have a last minute ceremony. Barbara not only was willing to work with us last minute she made us feel like she had nothing more important to do than plan a fantastic ceremony with us. With only two days to plan Barbara worked with us to produce a personalized, magical ceremony. A guest at the ceremony was so impressed that she stated that she wished she knew of Barbara for her wedding because our ceremony was so beautiful. She also stated that her and her husband would be calling Barbara when they have a vow renewal.

Barbara was fantastic, We had a Halloween Themed Wedding and everyone thought the service was great and it was exactly what we wanted, full of fun and beautifully crafted. My aunts all thought that Barbara was someone we must have known for ages, the service was so personalized.

We were excited to be able to have the opportunity to get married in New York this fall after marriage equality legislation passed. Barbara was more in an officiant than we could have ever imagined. From the first phone call to the day of the ceremony she was a delight to work with and had a way of making us feel special. She helped us express things about ourselves as individuals as well as a couple that make us unique and our love special. She was professional while being very genuine and interested in us and our story. Barbara took answers to questions she had each of us answer and weaved them into a beautiful ceremony for an intimate wedding in Central Park. She also helped us write a "Part 2" that we will use next summer for a larger celebration with friends and family. Her flexibility was incredible--the day of our wedding it was pouring rain. Since we had such a small ceremony planned we asked Barbara if she could marry us the next day and she said yes without hesitation. The ceremony was beautiful, meaningful and perfect. We will look back fondly on our ceremony always and Barbara's calm and kind presence and beautifully written words will remain part of the story of what made the ceremony so special. Sharene and Lori Idaho

Barbara made our day perfect, striking the exactly right notes corresponding to our lives as well as to our wishes for the ceremony. Great openness and joy in the delivery and humour and sparkling laughter , as the final spice. We strongly recommend Barbara to give you a bubbling start of married life !! Peter and Johan from Sweden

Our original officiant fell through about three months before the wedding and we were scrambling to find a replacement. Barbara was one of the first names we came across as we searched, and we saw some very positive reviews. We set up a meeting with her and she made me feel very calm about the whole ceremony creation process. She was friendly, warm, informative and had already created much of what would become our ceremony. She had us each answer a few questions prior to the meeting and seamlessly meshed it all together into a wonderful ceremony that amazed our friends and family. Everyone loved how personal and honest and unique the ceremony was, some of them remarking that it really captured who we were individually and as a couple. She was also very accommodating to any ideas or suggestions we had. Both my husband and I highly recommend Barbara for anyone in the NYC area looking for a wonderfully personalized ceremony

Barbara created a beautiful ceremony for us! It was personal, funny, touching and hit the perfect note for our wedding. She helped us build a bridge in the ceremony between our cultures (German and Chinese/American) with humor and love. Everyone was extremely moved by the ceremony and many people told us afterwards that it was one of the most enjoyable ceremonies that they had been to. In addition to that, helping Barbara to create the ceremony was a fascinating experience, and was a deeply bonding experience for my fiancé and I. I cannot recommend Barbara highly enough. She is really wonderful!!!

we had the most wonderful day and we have our jester of the peace - barbara ann michaels - to thank for helping us have it all run smoothly! not only was it seamless but her knack for making everyone feel at ease and included was essential and no couple should be without the warmth she showcased on our day! barbara really took the time to know each of us thoroughly - no question was left un-asked and no detail forgotten or left out. during the process we really felt that she was the keeper of our story and we trusted her to express in words what we were probably too nervous to do ourselves! that trust paid off as our day was effortless and natural and personal and emotional and humorous - everything we hoped it would be with just a bit more passion thrown in. barbara, as she will tell you is a true romantic and she is the ultimate medium for tuning into your connection and reflecting that back to your friends and family. it's hard to explain - but she just 'got us' - and it's not everyday that you find someone who is as dedicated to fostering a genuine connection to their clients as barbara is. as our photographer also confirmed - she is a true professional. once we were done with our vows and it was time for a kiss - she smoothly stepped to the side so that the photos were just of my husband and i with an amazing view of the natural setting behind us. barbara is all about the details and she is inherently creative - it's what makes working with her a complete joy and knowing what we know now - we wouldn't have wanted to do it without her! thank you barbara… initially you were the keeper of our story but now you have become an integral part of it as well! we are grateful we found you… love, steph & lee

Barbara was a joy to work with from start to finish! When we first met with her and discussed what we wanted from our ceremony, my husband's request was that it be interesting. I thought that was a tall order for a wedding ceremony, but I have to say that she succeeded admirably! We loved working with Barbara and designing the ceremony with her was one of the most meaningful parts of our wedding journey. In the end, our ceremony was a wonderful, heartfelt and yes, interesting reflection of our relationship and now marriage.

Finding it difficult for my partner and I to envision our nontraditional and fun ceremony we found ourselves getting very discouraged. Then we found Barbara Michaels who after just one phone call knew she was exactly what we needed and wanted. She was able to take our crazy ideas and materialize them into a ceremony that kept our guests on the edge of their seats some times laughing and sometimes crying with tears of joy. We could not have asked for anything more.

My partner and I had a vision of bringing the sparkle and excitement of Breakfast at Tiffany's to our ceremony, Barbara did that and more. She made everything about the vows romantic and humorous without ever loosing sight of our story. She inspired our creativity by providing a questionnaire that on our special day she transformed into a magical moment. She made our wedding, well she made our wedding perfect! I cross my heart and kiss my elbow :)

Barbara was great. She was just an amazing and perfect officiate. She portrays such a positive and cheerful vibe that is infectious. Professional. Confident. Kind. Amazing. We loved her and so many of our wedding guests remarked how great she did. She is more than just an officiate, she is a good person. We could not be happier with our choice. Thanks Barbara!

Our wedding was to take place on a Fire Island beach right after Hurricane Irene hit the east coast. The venue changed on the day of the wedding and Barbara was happy to accommodate us with an impromptu wedding in the park. We did have the ceremony the following week on the beach. Barbara created two beautiful wedding ceremonies for us. Her personal touches to both ceremonies made them even more special. Barbara has a calming presence about her and she creates memorable weddings.

Barbara really has a talent for taking your real stories and turning into a beautiful set of vows. We got married during the Hurricane Irene and Barbara couldn't be more accomodating and traveled to Westchester to marry us. She is very professional, flexible, easy to work with and most importantly, let you focus on the real meaning of marriage, love!