Your Personal Ceremony

I absolutely LOVED working with Joanie. First she met up with us back in March at her home to talk to us and have us fill out a questionnaire about ourselves. Then she went through the questionnaire and multiple different weddings and options to pick out for our vows. Once we had a good idea as to what we wanted, she wrote lots of notes and waited for our call-​back to make sure we were for sure interested. Once we called her back and got the ball rolling, over the extent of the next several months (April to September) we emailed and talked back and forth with how we wanted the ceremony to go and FINALLY finalized everything and waited for the big day to come!
Once the day prior to the wedding came (during the rehearsal) she met up with us at the site and walked us through everything and verified everyone was doing what they needed to be doing. Then we all enjoyed a delicious dinner and carried! Then came the big day, she was there in time and had met up with the DJ prior to make sure everything went nice and smooth and they were both on point. After the whole wedding ceremony we all met up signed papers, took pictures and finally all enjoyed some dinner and beverages.
All in all Joanie was awesome and did a wonderful job, with no problems at all! We are so thankful and grateful for the beautiful ceremony she provided for us! I HIGHLY recommend «Your Personal Ceremony» to anyone that is in need of a officiate at their wedding. Thank you so much Joanie!!!

Last minute? No problem! Joanie was wonderful through the whole process. She helped us create a personal and easy ceremony. I would highly recommend her. She created a native, Buddhist, and Celtic blend that was just perfect! Thank you so much

Joanie married us July 7, 2012. She was really awesome and thoughtful. We wanted an unconventional ceremony. She worked with us to make it special and it was!

Awesome. Beautiful. Simple. Totally comfortable. I was nervous and we were put totally at ease. Absolutely professional. Thank you!!!

My husband and I have been together for over 3 years and with the renewal of our medical insurance plans coming up at work, we decided it would be a good time to elope! Even though we’re planning on having our own event later that involves some rather nontraditional ceremonies to be done, we wanted to make sure that this legal formality went as smoothly, quickly, and nicely as possible.
I couldn’t have asked for a better person to make all of this happen for us. Joanie really made the whole process painless and beautiful, even with less than 12 hours to prepare. I literally called her up in the morning and set up a time to come by their welcoming house and beautiful backyard garden to get married that same night.
If you’re planning on getting eloped and don’t want to do it in stuffy old courtroom with someone that probably doesn’t care about you at all, I highly recommend giving YPC a call. I checked with a few other resources listed under a «Justice of the Peace Portland» internet search and found them to not only be the most affordable option, but also the most welcoming as far as their online presence goes.
Thank you, again, Joanie. We’ll certainly «have a nice life» and I hope you do the same. =]

We chose Your Personal Ceremony based on Unilocal reviews and their website. My husband and I wanted a ceremony that represented what we believe love it and honored our cultural traditions. Joanie was fantastic. She suggested a general outline for our ceremony and helped us choose cultural wedding traditions that fit well together. She suggested readings and helped gather the needed supplies for the ceremony (cord for handfasting, cup for Anam Cara, etc). She was extremely organized and punctual. We had our wedding ceremony finalized 3 months before the date itself, which reduced stress significantly. She helped lead our bridal party through the readings and various traditions. In the end, we had a very unique and very memorable ceremony involving the people we love most with little to no stress. I would certainly choose Your Personal Ceremony again.

Joanie officiated our wedding this year on August 1^st. We had shopped around for a celebrant, not entirely sure of what we were looking for. My wife & I are not religious people, but we have deeply rooted spiritual beliefs that we wanted to incorporate into our wedding.
We met Joanie & Yehudah at their home to make introductions & get to know one another. They used a comprehensive approach to getting to know both of us, in terms of our ethnic backgrounds, our personal histories, and what we were hoping to build on our wedding day. They then presented us with a great selection of materials from our different backgrounds, which we picked & chose from. With this guidance, we were able to craft something that we felt spoke to us. Many of our guests were moved by the connection they felt to our ceremony as well.
Thank you, Joanie, for helping us get married! We appreciate your support, your communication between multiple drafts of the ceremony, and your easy-​going approach while keeping us aware of a timeline. Joanie welcomed all of our input & made it clear that anything was possible with our ceremony. We couldn’t have been happier.
Alex & Megan

Yehudah was our wedding officiant at our small wedding ceremony on April 11, 2014 and he was an absolute delight. We were so happy about how the ceremony came together – it was spiritual, very personal and with touches of humor. Both Joanie and Yehudah were so helpful with advice and ideas when we were writing the ceremony; they were both a pleasure to work with.

Joanie was our wedding officiant on 7/​27, and she was incredible. We happen to be non-​religious, and she helped us to create a ceremony that was by all accounts spiritual, meaningful, and perfect for us. Joanie’s knowledge, experience, flexibility, and demeanor made her an absolute joy to work with. I would recommend her to anyone.

Joanie Levine and Yehudah Winter did a fabulous job at a wedding I attended at Ray’s Boathouse in Seattle.
They hit all the right notes. It was thoughtful, personalized, inclusive and original. The smiles on the bride & groom’s faces told the whole story.

Joanie and Yehuda are a warm and perceptive couple. My husband and I liked them immediately. They suited our balance of being non-​religious, but wanting to incorporate our histories and traditions in to our wedding. They helped us through the entire process to help create the ceremony. By providing their experience and structure to the ceremony, we collaborated to make a wedding that was perfect for my husband and me. Joanie led the rehearsal like a pro, who has had to wrangle big, raucous wedding parties like our before. And the ceremony was beautiful. Above all I wanted it to feel casual to set of the intensity of the moment, and it did. Joanie encouraged my husband and I to laugh and play through the ceremony and it was a joy!

Joanie and Yehuda were amazing. My soon to be husband and I were wanting to have a really personally meaningful wedding that included the participants. We wanted it to reflect who we were and what we were becoming. They helped us define our wants and needs and then helped us make the ceremony deeply meaningful and felt by all the participants. I have recommended them to several of my friends (who have used them and been very satisfied.)

Joanie Levine was our wedding officiant and helped us tailor our perfect ceremony: short, sweet, spiritual (but non-​religious) with moments of levity and laughter. We met with her several times before the wedding, including a rehearsal, to work out all the wording and details until it felt just right. We wanted something a bit different, and Joanie’s unique personality and eclectic background was an absolute match for us. She adds a warm spirit and a grounding presence, guiding you through the whole process and ceremony with intuition and experience (which helped as we were freaking out!) Highly recommended.

Joanie was the perfect person to officiate our wedding. With me not being religious and my wife being Jewish, we needed something unique ceremony. After meeting with us a few times, Joanie was able to come up with a wonderful ceremony four wedding. I know that there will never be another ceremony like ours. Joanie made our special day even more special. I HIGHLY recommend Your Personal Ceremony to anyone getting married.

Being a couple of mixed nationality and religion, our challenge in planning our wedding ceremony was finding an officiate who could provide a non-​denominational, yet spiritual, ceremony. The ceremony not only had to satisfy both of us, but also our (very religious) immediate family members. We interviewed a number of officiates, but as soon as we met Joanie and Yehudah we felt a connection. They were completely professional at our initial meeting and came prepared with sample ceremonies and were full of helpful ideas and inspirations. They immediately understood our situation, and took the time to get to know both of us individually and then how we fit as a couple. This helped them to guide the ceremony planning process, and over the course of a few months through email communication we put together the perfect plan. They truly want you to create «your personal ceremony» by using their expertise and combining it with your vision. They also conduct the Rehearsal, which was an extremely helpful event. My husband and I were able to practice everything that was involved with the ceremony, discuss timing, and it allowed us to be completely comfortable on our wedding day. We were lucky to have both Joanie and Yehudah as officiates for the wedding, and the dynamic of the two of them combined with their meaningful and perfectly timed delivery of the ceremony was amazing. The ceremony was everything we could have dreamed of, and Your Personal Ceremony is responsible for that. We will never forget this most cherished part of our wedding day.
Thank you so very much Joanie and Yehudah, we will never forget you!
Jayne & Armando Tirado