Virginia Van Zandt

Virginia officiated our wedding Summer 2015. My husband and I couldn’t be happier with our decision. She is kind, has so many great ceremony ideas and is responsive (so critical when you’re in the midst of wedding planning).
Neither of us are religious and we did not want to have a friend officiate us, so we searched for an officiant on Unilocal.
As soon as we met Virginia, we knew that we wanted her to officiate our wedding. Her demeanor put us immediately at ease. She presented different ceremony options to us (all of which had the right balance of substance and efficiency).
We met with her at her home and we talked about how we met, what marriage meant to us and what we’d like people to take away from the ceremony. Virginia incorporated all of the elements of our story to make it «our» ceremony.
On the day of, Virginia showed up on time, was well prepared and had such a great presence. We got so many compliments on the ceremony, and still do months later. She even presented us with a copy of our vows on the day of for our records.
So glad that she was a part of our special day!

When my wife and I went to city hall, we were expecting to just be ‘going through the motions’ to get a certificate of marriage. We were going to be married in Mexico the next month in front of family & friends, so this was a quick way to take care of the legal stuff in the United States first. Everything was pretty much «governmental» about this process, that is, until Virginia took us upstairs to do the vows up in the top floor of city hall.
Once Virginia started our little ceremony, her authenticity and honest, heartfelt expression touched my wife and I deeply. Based on Virginia’s beautiful words and style we both realized ‘oh my gosh! we’re really getting married!’ and got tears in our eyes. In the midst of a semi-​unfriendly governmental process, it was really amazing to have an officiant who was so earnest and true. It made something special out of what would otherwise have been a transactional experience at city hall. We will never forget that day — thank you Virginia!

For my 50^th birthday my husband of 21years planned a trip for our family to one of the places I most wanted to visit, San Francisco. Unbeknown to me he had contacted Virginia and arranged to renew our wedding vows while we were there. The week before he let me in on the secret because Virginia wanted us to contribute to the vows, 10 things we loved about each other !!!
We met Virginia for the first time when she picked the 4 of us up from our hotel in SF and drove us to the Golden Gate Park for our renewal ceremony. Between us we found a beautiful spot on a little wooden foot bridge above a water fall. The ceremony was absolutely wonderful, after which the girls Melissa and Molly signed the certificate; and Virginia presented Graham and I with a copy of our vows, the certificate and photos of the park.
We all then went for lunch at a restaurant over looking the beach which had a beautiful view. From there Virginia drove us to the twin peaks and again the view was fantastic, but it was rather windy !! we would never have seen some of these sights without our chauffeur and guide, Virginia !!. Before she dropped us back at our hotel we also called in at her home and met her husband Jim.
Virginia and Jim joined us once again for coffee on the morning of our flight back to England. As a final surprise they had brought along an album of photos which she had taken at our renewal and also a much larger photo of myself, Graham and the two girls.
These gifts along with everything else and all the trouble Virginia had to gone to was so much more than anybody could of wished for or expected.
It was a truly wonderful day that we will never forget, and I would just like to say if anyone out there is thinking of renewing their vows or getting married in SF we would recommend Virginia a thousand times over. She is a lovely lady.

My wife and I scheduled our SF City Hall wedding and had no idea who would officiate our ceremony. We lucked out with Virginia! I cannot express how kind Virginia was and how much she added to such an important day. Our wedding day was unforgettable, and Virginia played an integral role in making our day so wonderful. The vows Virginia read for us focused on creating a partnership rooted in equity and love and could not have been more aligned with how we feel. What Virginia does is truly special. Thank you Virginia!!!

As others have said here, we didn’t have a chance to meet or speak to Virginia until a few moments before our City Hall wedding ceremony. Knowing that we weren’t going to be able to choose our officiant on the day, we had set pretty low expectations. Virginia promptly exceeded those expectations and set a high bar for any weddings we attend at City Hall in the future. She was warm, caring and her words were perfect for the occasion. Her opening lines were one of the few things I remember from a whirlwind of a wedding day — and she was nice enough to email a copy of our vows a few days later. Thanks, Virginia for making our wedding day a special one, in a special place!

Virginia officiated our wedding at San Francisco City Hall and I have nothing but praise for her. We had a chat with her over the phone and then met once in person and we knew right away that she would be the one to officiate. She gave us different versions of the draft including one that had some of our personal touches. During the wedding she had a very calming presence that made the most important time in my life a heck of a lot easier. I would definitely recommend her for anyone getting married in the San Francisco area especially for those who are using City Hall as a venue since she knows the place so well. Thank you again Virginia!

Virginia, was Awesome, our wedding will always be remembered with warm thoughts, largely in part due to the kind, and professional efforts of Virginia. We eloped to San Francisco, and showed up on the court house steps, Virginia made it happen. Single handedly make our special day, one that could only be described as very special. She helped with every detail, and made a civil service one that you could expect from church service, with love. Thank You Virginia …

Virginia officiated our wedding and it made that special day so wonderful. As a gay man, I had never even thought about marriage that much, but when my soul mate came into my life, Virginia walked us through the process, taking away any jitters and replacing them with joy. The ceremony was on a beach below Pescadero, and her officiating was as beautiful as the scenery. She made the most important moment of our lives something we will always remember with such happiness (we’re wearing out the dvd of the ceremony). Virginia is a warm, genuine person and that comes through in the beautiful words she gave us that day. I recommend her without reservations for a perfect ceremony you will always remember.

Virginia officiated our wedding at City Hall and she was absolutely wonderful. Although we didn’t meet her until a few minutes before the ceremony, she immediately put us at ease with her warmth and kindness. The vows she read at the ceremony were perfect for the occasion and she was nice enough to email a personalized copy to us a few days later.
If you ever have a chance to choose Virginia, do not hesitate!

We had Virginia officiate our wedding in San Francisco on October 11^th. She was absolutely wonderful!!! She incorporated a sense of sweet intimacy and personal touches throughout the entire ceremony. Prior to the wedding, we met with her twice so we could get to know each other. She was inviting and super informative because we had no idea what we were doing!
If you’re looking to have someone represent the two of you, I recommend Virginia 100%. She’s thoughtful and listens to everything you want or need out of the perfect wedding ceremony!

My husband and I couldn’t be happier with Virginia. We do not live in SF (we live in Chicago) so we pretty much planned everything via emails and phone conversations. Virginia was very attentive, listened to what we wanted and was extremely communicative throughout the whole process.
When we got to San Francisco, she met up with us and took the time to do a trial run of our ceremony. On the day of our wedding, Virginia was prompt and delivered the most touching and sweet ceremony.
We couldn’t recommend her enough! Virginia was truly amazing!

Virginia is warm, classy, and kind. She met with us for three hours on our first meeting, taking the time to get to know us. We hired her to officiate our wedding in April 2014 in SF. She worked hard to make sure we had the exact ceremony that we wanted, and was great at communication and follow through. The ceremony was so warm and romantic. She wears a black robe which looks good in the pictures. She is just lovely!

Virginia was perfect. Absolutely perfect.
I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect person to marry us. We toyed with the idea of having a friend marry us, but there just wasn’t the perfect person in our lives. Having been through the process now, I am so glad that we decided to have Virginia marry us.
The ceremony was short, sweet, and wonderfully meaningful.
Again, we can’t recommend Virginia enough. She was so wonderful to work with. Personable, thoughtful, and detail-​oriented.
Thank you a million times over Virginia!!!
Nalani and Ben

Virginia recently was the officiant at our wedding at the San Francisco City Hall. She was great to work with and made the entire experience as easy as can be. She listened to what was important to us and fit that into the ceremony. We would recommend Virginia to anyone!