Ceremonies For Sacred Days

Shyamala provided us such a warm, wonderful wedding ceremony. From the time we first spoke with her, both my husband and I felt so comfortable and cared for. Shyamala helped us to work through all of the ceremony details, learning about us and our story, giving us many ideas to help spur our own creativity. She was open and encouraging all along the way.
We weren’t sure how to take our ideas and make them work and flow easily through the ceremony. She had so many great suggestions for us, excellent advice based on her experience, and helped us to develop a beautiful and unique ceremony that felt just right for us.
Her fees seemed reasonable to us for our custom ceremony. She met with us for about an hour, then we exchanged emails as we refined the ceremony.
We highly recommend Shyamala as a caring guide and officiant. She’s a special person doing what she clearly loves.

When my fiancé and I first started planning our wedding, we were pretty overwhelmed with everything and had no idea where to start when it came to finding an officiant. We met Shyamala at the East Bay Regional Parks wedding fair in Berkeley, and right away knew that she would be a good fit for us. She invited us to her home for an initial consultation where she asked thoughtful questions and really got to know us. A few months later, we met over Skype and she went over a few more details before sending over a draft of the ceremony. Shyamala crafted a beautiful story that incorporated the essence of us as a couple. There were so many small details that made the ceremony so special, including a nod to how we met as well as old traditions. Our family and friends were also impressed with how the ceremony unfolded. We couldn’t be happier with how our wedding turned out! Thank you Shyamala!

Ms. Littlefield was a delight to work with. She spent considerable time with us, prior to our deciding that she would be a great choice to help us write our Wedding Ceremony. She got to know us, what was important to us, and our life paths until the time my husband and I first met. She helped us write a very personal and meaningful wedding ceremony, and it will be something we always cherish.
Shyamala’s calm, spiritual demeanor is wonderful for stressed brides-​to-​be! She can help you design a brief ceremony, or a more lengthy one. She can include all the things you wish (from pets to children to friends/​family) and make the Ceremony very unique and special. She is calm, low-​key, and flexible, and didn’t let a microphone glitch at the Ceremony faze her in any way. I give her the highest possible rating and am certain you will be delighted with her, both as a warm, caring person and as a Wedding Officiant. Sandy

My wife and I would’ve been happy getting married at City Hall, but we opted to throw a small, casual outdoor ceremony to appease family members. After initially thinking we’d enlist a friend to perform the ceremony, we decided it’d be best to get a professional officiant. My wife found Shyamala on Unilocal,and after our initial meeting with her, we recognized we were in great hands.
She was incredibly easy to deal with, and we appreciated her taking the time to get to know our story so she could deliver a very personal ceremony. She gave us lots of helpful advice as we planned our big day, and did a fantastic job at the actual ceremony– the aforementioned conservative family members who originally bristled at us not getting married in a church even commented on what a nice ceremony it was!
It’s funny to think how much work it took to secure various vendors for the ceremony and reception. We blindly stumbled across Shyamala, but we were incredibly fortunate to have done so!

Shyamala officiated our wedding three weeks ago. Before the wedding, she met with us multiple times to plan how we wanted the ceremony, and gave us a lot of ideas and inspiration. She is incredibly experienced and provided us with a beautiful outline (and practical suggestions), and she listened to us to incorporate our wishes. Her presentation at the ceremony was joyful and warm-​hearted. Thank you, Shyamala!

Shyamala crafted a beautiful handfasting ceremony for us, was flexible with our schedules and preferences, and was overall very pleasant to work with. She helped us build a personalized ceremony via Skype sessions and email, sending us drafts of what she had thus far, as well as materials that offered examples of what one could do with a ceremony. My partner and I were very behind in our wedding planning and Shyamala was very patient and understanding for the entire drafting process. I’m Pagan, but my partner is an atheist, and I had nearly abandoned the idea of having a traditional handfasting until Shyamala suggested that it would be no problem to build it into our more simple ceremony. When I asked if this would cost more (the larger handfasting ceremony option in her paperwork was $ 100 more, and I just wanted to know what package we were paying for), she said «no, I WANT to do it.» The wedding ended up being very beautiful, and the ceremony Shyamala performed was lovely. The ceremony itself was perfect, absolutely perfect. We were very impressed with her work, and were fully prepared to give her the full 5 stars on here — until some awkwardness ensued during the signing of the marriage certificate. We had discussed finding a private place for he and I, Shyamala, and our two witnesses to go off and sign the papers directly after the ceremony, but in the excitement of the moment, our entire wedding party just followed us out to room, and he and I were obviously too happiness-​dazed to think to ask all these folks to excuse us for the moment. I don’t know if this was irritating to our otherwise wonderful officiant or if there was some other factor involved, but once we left the ceremony, her friendly tone changed to a hurried, annoyed business-​minded one, and before our 2 sisters could even sign as our witnesses, she was suddenly discussing our final payment right in front of our closest friends and relatives. It was surreal, and our wedding party just stood there uncomfortably. (To be clear, we had already paid half up front, and as my partner has a good silicon valley tech job, we were obviously going to pay it all in full right after the wedding, as agreed upon, which we did). Our officiant avoided eye contact with us as she asked if we’d agreed upon the price of the larger handfasting ceremony — it was only $ 100 difference, but still, this was the very thing that she had offered so generously for the regular price earlier. After the document was signed, Shyamala gave a hurried goodbye and rushed off. Yes, the wedding planning had been a bit rushed, but my partner and I, and our guests had been nothing but respectful toward Shyamala. Our photographer’s assistant at one point made a snippy remark about her being in a shot, for which I took her aside and immediately apologized before the ceremony began. I assume she was probably a bit stressed — but this does not warrant discussing money in front of our loved ones, and changing the agreed-​upon fee day-​of. The handful of people who were present for this all say it was terribly awkward and bizarre. It was a weird speedbump in an otherwise pleasant business relationship. We did pay for the larger ceremony, and she promptly sent us a thank-​you email. She sent us a tracking number for our wedding certificate, and even worked with the county clerk’s office to fix a clerical error they had made in processing our papers. To be sure, the ceremony was beautiful, and most of our interactions with Shyamala were nothing but pleasant. Her services were worth the larger fee, no question. But the weird exchange right after the ceremony is, unfortunately, one of my most immediate memories of my wedding. I’m certain that Shyamala deserves all of her glowing reviews, but after 2 months of debate with myself, I decided that I could not post this review without being completely honest. I would recommend Shyamala without hesitation, just be prepared for the possibility of a strictly-​business conversation while you’re still riding the high of your exchange of vows.

Mrs Shyamala is a great officiant who care about you and you wedding the most instead of her time. I would definitely recommend her to you if you need a lovely, warm-​hearted, and kind officiant for your wedding.

Shyamala is a beautiful soul that listens with her heart. She provided us with a beautiful private wedding that was based on time spent with us to tell our story of love. We were left with sentimental memories for a lifetime. Thank you Shyamala.

Shyamala was such a pleasure to work with. Our first time meeting with her she asked such gentle but thoughtful questions – and felt so safe – that I remember weeping while I tried to answer one of them. My (now husband) and I were immediately struck by her calm demeanor, her depth of presence, and her desire to really connect with the two of us and know our story and who we are as a couple. My husband is an aetheist and I’m «spiritual but not religious» and Shyamala did an excellent job finding common ground for us both in the ceremony.
We had two meetings with her over tea at her lovely home, where we went over the details of the wedding, the structure, our story, any any other rituals we wanted to add. We had our readers send their material to her (but keep it a secret from us), and she communicated with them directly to keep the wedding day a bit of a surprise. One of the most fantastic things was that she sent us a complete write-​up of the ceremony a couple weeks before the wedding, which we went over, gave comments, and then sent back. Almost all of it felt so spot on in the first go – we were really touched and impressed.
Finally, the day of she was just fantastic. We got so many compliments on her way of speaking, her warmth, the way she spoke about us during the ceremony… it was so incredibly intimate. We are SO happy we had Shyamala as our officiant and HIGHLY recommend her.

When we first met with Shyamala via Skype during our process of hunting for a wedding officiant, we immediately knew that she was the person we were going to hire. It’s difficult to describe and would be different for different people, but we just got the exact right vibe and energy from her immediately. Searching for a wedding officiant was an odd, uncomfortable thing because all the officiants we «interviewed» asked us important but very personal questions –How did we meet? When did we first fall in love? And it was often an awkward experience sharing that information with someone you just met. But with Shyamala, we simply felt like it was so easy to share that kind of information with her. We wanted to tell her. And she genuinely seemed interested.
The process of writing the ceremony material was very straight-​forward and simple. Shyamala emailed us a packet containing all sorts of ideas and information such as sample rituals and poems, and descriptions of things to include like «Referencing the location» and «Honoring our parents.» From that packet, we sat down on our own time and highlighted what we liked and created an outline of the material with our specific story in it. Then we met with Shyamala once in person where we went over the outline and she asked us more questions and we all brainstormed together over coffee. Then about a month or so later she sent us a written draft of the ceremony, which was pretty much perfect already. We only had to tweak some minor details pertaining to our specific stories. So we gave her those edits and then we saw her again the day of the wedding. And that was that!
Shyamala was easy to work with and had such a calming, loving energy about her. She got a number of compliments from our guests, and was willing to work with our budget. We had a non-​denominational ceremony and she truly respected that (as opposed to some other officiants we researched who said they would perform a non-​denominational ceremony but the sample ceremonies they provided were, in fact, religious). We would definitely recommend her for anyone else’s wedding ceremony.

After searching for months for an officiant for our wedding, we came across Shyamala on her website. As my partner and I come from different countries/​religious backgrounds we were looking for someone who could combine both of our backgrounds without sacrificing tradition. Shyamala went above and beyond in helping us plan our ceremony, and the best part of all is that in the process we ended up with a beautiful and unique wedding that captured the true essence of what it means to become one. We can not recommend Shyamala highly enough.

Shyamala Littlefield, highly respected and a must for your wedding day! For some cosmic reason, the second she opened the door and welcomed us into her charming home, we felt safe and confident that she would be the right person to marry us. Shyamala listened to each critical and special detail of our story, and then crafted the most touching, heart-​felt wedding statement which far exceeded our expectations. Shyamala is incredibly articulate, and possesses incredible social intelligence. Every word that was spoken during our ceremony was crystal clear and our guests are still passing compliments on the beauty of her statements two weeks later! Consider yourself lucky to have Shyamala as your officiant, and consider it a blessing to have her as a friend. Thank you again! –Scott & Chanel Ullrich

Shyamala was the heart of our wedding ceremony. She helped guide us in building a unique ceremony that fit us and breathed life into it. She has a wonderful, loving, supportive spirit. We feel fortunate to have met her and honored that she officiated our wedding.

Loved Shyamala. Couldn’t be happier. My husband and I come from different religious backgrounds and wanted a ceremony that was personal and heartfelt, but not terribly religious. Shyamala was patient and gracious, while we figured out ourselves out and in the end the ceremony was everything we could have hoped for. Shyamala has the authoritative presence and gravitas to make even a non-​religous ceremony feel sacred. Highly recommend her. Lovely person!

Working with Shyamala has been absolutely wonderful. The meetings over Skype worked for us as we live far from her, but she was able to capture the essence of our relationship over the chats we had on Skype throughout the wedding planning year.
On the day of wedding, she was on time, fully prepared and was extremely pleasant through the ceremony. She’s extremely respectful of different cultures, religions (or lack there of) and does not push anything on couples.

Planning a wedding in San Francisco when you live in New York can be a bit daunting. I submitted a request for a wedding offciant through
and Shyamala was the first to respond; and thank goodness she did — we had this immediate connection that was so comforting; almost as if we knew each other already!
About a week after our initial online contact my partner and I had an appointment to meet Shyamala via Skype and if we weren’t 100% certain before we knew we had made the right decision within the first few minutes of our «in person» Skype meeting. We talked for about an hour discussing where my partner and I were from, where we grew up, how we met, what we felt when we met; what drew us together and continued to connect us, etc.
Flash forward to July 3^rd … we had our ceremony in the San Francisco City Hall that evening at 6:30 with Shyamala as our officiant. From that initial Skype meeting and throughout some brief email exchanges after that Shyamala magically mined so much information from us that it was crazy (in a good way). She was able to capture our essence … what brought my partner and I together, what led us to getting married, and what will keep us together down the road. At the ceremony she spoke about my partner’s and my first meeting and how that led to the wonderful moment when we were getting married. She made us laugh and brought tears of happiness to our eyes as she deeply moved us as she spoke about us and the importance of the day!
If you are looking for a wedding officiant in the San Francisco area I would recommend Shyamala without any reservations! You will be amazed and over-​the-​moon pleased with her … I know we are!

Looking for a wedding officiant can be in the bay area can be tough. What sets Shyamala apart from other folks that we spoke with — was her flexibility, kindness, and perceptiveness.
Flexibility: We wanted to incorporate a Tibetan signing bowl into our ceremony. She researched and presented to my wife and I amazing options on how to use it. We also wanted a ceremony on the Sonoma coast, and she helped to pick out an amazing location.
Kindness: You want someone with kindness that radiates from the voice as well as the person, right? Shyamala kindness was so perfect. From her kindness in the initial discussions about ceremony logistics — to keeping us calm on the wedding day, we are forever grateful.
Perceptiveness: She picked up on details that we mentioned in our initial meeting and incorporated those things into her speech. Amazing!
To top all of that off, she is professional and her rates are reasonable. At a minimum, you owe it to yourself to give her a call. Best wishes! (And a thank you a million times over Shyamala!)

Shyamala officiated our wedding last weekend and she was perfect!
She was the first person we met with and the obvious choice. When we met with other officiants, my fiancé and I were confused as to why they didn’t ask us any questions about ourselves and our relationship.
Shyamala made us tea, offered us cookies, and took time getting to know us. A few weeks later we skyped with her again to talk through the first draft.
Her understanding of our personalities and relationship definitely showed during the ceremony. It had a great balance of solemnity and humor, making it a perfect reflection of us. We recommend her to everyone!

Great Experience. Shyamala helped me and my husband create a very memorable wedding ceremony. I found her on Unilocal,and here I am reviewing on an amazing experience.
Since we live in Texas now we arranged a Skype meeting with her and she was so warm and friendly. We instantly knew that we wanted Shyamala to marry us. We explained to her that we didn’t want a religious ceremony, instead we wanted a spiritual one where we used our love as a message to our guests. And she came up with the most amazing draft that brought tears to my eyes. I absolutely appreciate every touch she added to make our ceremony unique and memorable.

Choosing an officiant was not simple for us because we aren’t affiliated with a particular faith. My husband’s parents are, but did not feel it was important for someone from their faith to officiate for us. So I scoured the internet for local officiants with great reviews and moderate fees. This was how I came upon the delightful Shyamala.
Shyamala helped us SO much in preparation for our ceremony. First, she invited us to her home and was such a loving and open presence, which was a great help to a couple like us who really had few ideas about what we wanted to say in our ceremony. After our first meeting we met a second time so that she could get to know us more personally to gather material for what she would write. After that we corresponded via email.
Over the course of about 6 months leading up to the wedding, Shyamala was a wise and comforting support for us! Using her tools and suggestions, my husband and I were able to collaborate and customize the ceremony in a way that felt magical. Shyamala led us through the actual ritual with total grace and flexibility. I recommend her service wholeheartedly and if we were to do it all over again, we would not change a thing about our experience with her.