Rev. Annie Lawrence, NYC Wedding Officiant

My husband, Chris, and I were blessed to have been "guided" to Rev. Annie to officiate our wedding in New York City. Not being from NYC, we did a Google search for wedding officiants. Being a same-sex couple, it was of course very important to find someone to preside over our wedding who was Pro Same Sex Marriage. We could not have been luckier! Rev. Annie returned calls, texts, and email promptly, taking time to include picture links of different locations in Central Park for us to review, among other helpful information and links. I like to think we were not too high maintenance, and Rev. Annie was all about tailoring our ceremony exactly the way we wanted it.On the day of our ceremony, Rev. Annie did everything to ensure a memorable and stress-free day. During the ceremony, Rev. Annie did not "just" officiate. She conducted the ceremony as if we had been friends for years. We could feel the genuine happiness coming from her throughout the whole time. Again, we are so happy and blessed to have found Rev. Annie, and we now count her among our friends. We could not have asked for a more perfect day to start our married life together.We would HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!Shane and Chris

Beautiful. Warm. Heartfelt. Two weeks after our wedding, guests continue to use these words when talking about Rev Annie and our ceremony. My spouse and I, and our family and friends, are still basking in the glow of an amazing day orchestrated by Rev Annie. We were impressed with her and felt an immediate connection to her from our first communications. Whether by email, phone or Skype - she radiates a genuineness that is rare among people. We finally "met” in person on our wedding day and her calm demeanor, gentle smile and honest happiness were exactly what we needed on our big day. She stayed connected with us throughout the process leading up to our wedding day and worked with us to create a perfect telling of our story – which she relayed during the ceremony as if we had been friends for years. With absolutely no reservations, I highly recommend her. We fell in love with Rev. Annie and I have no doubt you will too.

Annie was everything that all of the previous reviewers have already said and more! She was extremely responsive and created a perfect ceremony for us. We wanted to add in a personal anecdote as well as our first impressions of each other. We wrote a rather long, rambling story and sent it to her; she edited it, pared it down to its most essential parts, and combined it with our impressions, so that the end result was concise and lovely-- she really is a gifted writer. She also easily folded in all of the Jewish traditions that we wanted, as well as several readings. A few days before the wedding, she made herself available to us for some last-minute logistical questions we had. On the big day itself, she arrived at least an hour earlier than she said she would (our venue was very difficult to find), and she projected calm and control, which is really just what you want from an officiant. During the ceremony, she spoke clearly, loudly, and infused her voice with meaning and gravitas. She was the perfect officiant, and we can't recommend her highly enough!

I can't emphasis enough how much my husband and I LOVE Rev. Annie! From our very first meeting with Rev. Annie we were extremely impressed by her thoroughness, professionalism, but most especially the love and warmth she expressed as she walked us through our ceremony. The fact that she spent several hours with us discussing the various directions we could take the wedding, and we hadn't even committed to her yet, showed us just how much she loves what she does. From the beginning of my engagement, I was hesitant to have any ceremony at all, seriously considering eloping. But after walking through the script with Rev. Annie, I realized just how special and important it is to share these moments with family. She made us feel so special and she knew just how to bring out those aspects of our relationship that are really personal- we walked away more in love ever!She was very easy to work with, accommodating a last minute change in time. She even had solutions to several of the logistical problems we had and offered fabulous recommendations for both a photographer and band (she really should have received a commission as we hired both her recommendations!). At the actual wedding she was wonderful- speaking with honesty and passion. Everyone there loved her- even my conservative Catholic father!I highly recommend Rev. Annie- who wouldn't want to get married by someone who clearly loves what she does and truly believes in the power of love!

It was a pleasure working with Reverand Annie. From the moment we first spoke over the phone, I felt confident that I had chosen the right person to officiate my wedding. She went over every detail with me and she's very hands on. She got to know my partner and I and came up with the perfect ceremony for us. The day of the wedding I was a nervous wreck and it was her calm and cool personality that made me feel at ease with everything that was happening. After the ceremony, all my guests kept commenting how beautifully she spoke. Reverend Annie is a genuine human being and I HIGHLY recommend her.

Rev Annie married Heather and I yesterday in central park after 20 years together. I truely believe we were blessed in finding Annie from our home in Australia. As a gay couple we have never felt more at ease or validated in public. All our concerns just melted away and we had the best of days. Until marriage equality is a reality in Australia ( and afterwards) we will be advising all our gay and not gay friends to make the long trip to NYC and to consider you as their celebrant. Rev Annies words , spirit and geniune kindness cemented our love for each other and our love for NYC. We truly feel we have not only had a wedding ceremony but have made a new friend. We look forward to renewing our vows with Annie in the years to come and who knows this may be even happen in Australia. Thank you Annie it is hard to find the words to express the depth of our thanks and exactly how we feel but know you will understand.

Annie recently performed our ceremony and we are extremely happy with it! Our guests and family couldn't stop raving about our ceremony and commented specifically on our wonderful officiant. My brother in law even turned to my sister and said, "I wish she'd been the officiant at our wedding." Everyone was impressed with how personable and warm and interested she was in us as a couple and in our family.Annie met with us to get to know our story and visions for the ceremony, then emailed us a customized draft based on our conversation. We wanted something reverent, but not overtly religious or sappy, and she was able to craft a ceremony that fulfilled that. She was also able to incorporate Jewish cultural elements, which pleased my parents.When she arrived before our ceremony, we were taking photographs. She mingled with the family and then went into the ceremony room with us to go over the details, then officiated as we signed our marriage license. What could have been just a clerical detail, she turned into a nice moment for our immediate families and bridal party, and treated it just as reverently as the ceremony in front of 130 people. That really put us at ease going into the big service!Annie's delivery was light and humorous, but appropriately serious enough for the occasion. It's the part of the wedding that we will always most remember!What was an added bonus was that Annie posted our wedding as her facebook status and then tweeted about us and our reception for the next several hours! We are putting the screenshots in our scrapbook!All in all, we couldn't have found a better officiant. Highly, highly recommended.

Let me start by saying that people sometimes overlook what I think is the most important part of a wedding, which is the ceremony. From the beginning, we wanted a ceremony that would be true to who we are as a couple. My husband is Filipino/Catholic, and I am Indian/Hindu. We wanted a ceremony that incorporated both of our traditions. When we met with Rev Annie, she guided us through the ceremony and gave us ideas on how to blend our cultures. On the day of our wedding, she had me tearing up and our guests felt the emotions as well. Everyone was paying close attention to the ceremony, and we heard so many good things about it afterwards. Rev Annie truly made our day something we will remember and treasure.

Rev. Annie is the greatest officiant you will ever come across. Hands down.My wife and I were matched with Rev. Annie through Pop-Up Chapel (www.popupchapel.com), and it was fate! If we had searched for years, we would have never found a more wonderfully compatible officiant for our big day. A couple of weeks before the big day, Rev. Annie skyped us since we live out on Long Island and couldn't meet in person which was super helpful. She went over a general ceremony plan and we chatted and got to know one another a bit. Then, a couple of days later, she sent us a customized ceremony by email. A big plus for me was that she encourages revisions on the couple's part to make the ceremony more personal.On the day of our wedding, Rev. Annie was truly a life saver. I hadn't realized how wound up my nerves were making me! She spoke with us before the ceremony and told us exactly how things would go, where we would stand, what to do if we got nervous, etc. We went over the ceremony quickly, then it started.Even my mother keeps saying, weeks later, how Rev. Annie was amazing. She says that Rev. Annie seemed genuinely happy for us and was a very warm person. My mom had been very upset at how my wife and I were doing our wedding, but Rev. Annie, without even knowing it and just by being her awesome self, put my mom at ease and really made everything feel very personal. The ceremony was about 20 minutes long, and afterwards, Rev. Annie posed for some pictures with us which was a lot of fun, and she stuck around while our photographer took our couples portraits. She even offered to help us grab a cab back to our hotel. A full service officiant :)Do yourself a favor- contact Rev. Annie and make her your choice for wedding officiant. You can't go wrong with someone as spectacular as she is helping you to take the first step in your journey with your future spouse.

We are from Scotland and had decided to marry in NYC. We had originally begun making our wedding plans with another officiant, but there was something not quite right. It seemed too 'business' like and non personal. Then we found Rev. Annie. Even at the first few emails we really liked her. We just got a good feeling about her. She gives off a warmth and is genuinely caring. We knew pretty much straight away that we wanted Annie to marry us. She gave us an amazing ceremony. It was sweet and personal and more perfect than we had even hoped. It is so obvious how much she really loves what she does and likes to have a connection to each couple that she marries. I am so glad that we went with our gut and found Rev. Annie. One of the best decisions we have made :)Gemma and Kevin McKee

With a mixed family of religious and non-religious, it was important to us to have someone who is warm and compassionate that spoke about love and marriage in a way everyone could understand. She was perfect!

Rev. Annie did an amazing job. We had a small family ceremony in Battery Park. We only had 3 weeks to plan, as it was a surprise for our families. Rev. Annie is very flexible and kind hearted. We can only recommend her to anyone who is looking for a memorable and happy day.

Annie was warm, friendly and reassuring throughout the whole of the planning phase and day of our wedding. We travelled from England to get married in NYC and despite the distance we were able to keep in close contact with her via email and skype. She was completely flexible with the words and vows for our ceremony and had wonderful suggestions for us to use.On the day of she was also a great coordinator for us, our guests and our ceremony musician. The ceremony went without a hitch and Annie's personality and warmth really touched our guests. It was a pretty cold April afternoon so we needed that!I would definitely recommend Annie to other brides getting married in NYC.

I cannot say enough positive things about Rev. Annie. She was incredible from start to finish. My husband and I met her at a coffee shop and chatted for about an hour. She was engaged and interested in us the entire time. We really felt like she wanted to get to know us. We met with a few other people, but it was evident that Annie was the right fit for us. The customized and personal ceremony that she created was phenomenal. We wanted something that reflected a hint of spirituality because my family is Catholic (though I am not practicing) and my husband is atheist. She hit this fine line perfectly. We incorporated several Persian traditions and she went with the flow so well. The ceremony reflected us as a couple perfectly. Annie was warm and calm and made us so comfortable (we were nervous!!) She was a perfect officiant for us and I would recommend her to everyone.

Dane and Shawn - Married December 28, 2011 from New Orleans, LouisianaSeveral months ago I contacted Rev. Annie as I was planning on surprising my partner of almost 20 years by getting married during our trip to New York in December. His birthday is the day after Christmas, a Monday, the day we flew into the city and the day I proposed. Wednesday was our scheduled Ceremony as I had to give us time to get the legalities finalized so I had to let him know a little in advance. Rev. Annie and I had previously made contact mainly by my best friend, email, text and voicemail, due to my crazy work schedule. Thank goodness for technology. Just by our first contact I knew that she would give us the dedication for which I was searching and the emotion I wanted to convey for him and for us. She always made me feel like it is all about our celebration of love never once making me feel awkward because we are a same-sex couple. Together, again by email, we tweaked the Ceremony so that it fit us perfectly. She even suggested a fantastic idea of meeting in front of the Plaza Hotel, which is where one of my favorite movies takes place, the original Arthur, with Dudley Moore. In fact, she will not know that until she reads this for the first time. We would then walk to the Gapstow Bridge in Central Park for a quiet, private Ceremony. You can only imagine the thought of two men, in love, from the south, legally getting Married in Central Park , NY . Our Wedding was very small with our best friends around who live mainly in LA, CT, NC, DE and NY, 14 guests in all, including Rev. Annie. Our friends think I am lying when I tell them that we did not have a meeting with her before, letting her know about us, our relationship and what we are all about. “It is as though she knows you both,” many our friends exclaimed. The people on the bridge above us even screamed and applauded at how fantastic the ceremony was and how special our day turned out to be. She made our small celebration, HUGE, for us, our friends and the people on the bridge! Rev. Annie used the word “celebration” because that is really what it is all about and my now, husband, tells me almost every day, “That was the best day of my life.” Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Rev. Annie. Dane and Shawn….Married in Central Park , New York City

Rev. Annie did an absolutely INCREDIBLE job on our wedding day! We were thrilled with the ceremony, and our guests were too. Rev. Annie is sweet, warm and great to work with. She helped us put together an amazing ceremony that was so reflective of my husband and me. We were looking for a slightly off-beat and lighthearted ceremony, and Rev. Annie really helped us put together a ceremony that was truly unique. She allowed us the freedom to break tradition where we wanted to, while also providing the blueprints to keep it all grounded and tasteful.Rev. Annie did an excellent job of tying everything together in a seamless way throughout the entire ceremony - she has such a great energy that made everything fun but still touching. She was so enthusiastic and it really kept everyone interested in our ceremony. I highly recommend Rev. Annie as an officiant - she brought so much to our big day. You won't be disappointed!

AMAZING! We had a very small (7 people, including us) wedding and Annie helped us include everyone in the ceremony. She did such a good job including our story into our wedding day, everyone was deeply moved. It was such a happy, joyful day! Afterwards everyone kept asking how we found such a magical person to guide us into the most important day of our lives! Thank you Annie!

As an English girl getting married in New York finding a Reverend was a bit daunting, but Annie was fantastic. We talked on Skype beforehand and worked together on the ceremony. Annie was wonderful. She really made the ceremony extra special for us. I would highly recommend Reverend Annie. She enjoys her work and that really shines through her personality.

Annie performed our wedding and it was absolutely amazing. She is kind and you can see how much she enjoys joining two people together. . She really customized the vows to say what we wanted. I would definitely recommend her for her heartfelt delivery and sincerity.

Annie really made our wedding special to who we were. The ceremony had the perfect balance personality and spirituality. We are still receiving compliments for how lovely and original the ceremony was. She did a fantastic job of including all of the religious traditions that were important to my husband, still managing to keep the ceremony short!