DATE inquiry - general
LET US KNOW THE (1) DATE (2) TIME (3) LOCATION OF YOUR WEDDING. WE’LL MATCH YOU WITH AN OFFICIANT IF ONE IS AVAILABLE.
Know which officiant you’d like to work with?
Message the officiant directly to check their availability.
“After the ceremony, our guests were wondering how many years we have been friends with Rachael! This is how incredibly well and personal she was able to narrate our story through the ceremony. ”
Rachael A. Tanner
Officiant, Founder, and CEO
Available for Weekend & Evening Weddings
Dominique + Marquis, December 2018
Kellyne + Jose, 2018
PASSION + TALENT
I officiated my first wedding in July of 2016, for 2 dear friends—Dan and Melissa. I enjoyed working alongside them to create a ceremony that reflected their relationship. I enjoyed the ceremony and received such encouraging feedback, I knew I’d love to offer this service to others.
This creative and spiritual endeavor combines my love of public speaking, strong writing skills, and my love of love! I love to celebrate with my couples and honor the joy of the wedding day.
SECULAR OR SACRED, WEDDINGS ARE DIVINE
I firmly believe that each person can marry who they want, when they want, in the way that they want. Full stop. I am here to help couples have a wedding ceremony that fits them. For some couples that’s a secular ceremony, for others an interfaith and/or intercultural ceremony, and for some a fully spiritual experience.
Whatever path you take, I am here to help you make this transition from singledom to marriage meaningful. I’d love to meet you and learn what will make your marriage and wedding sacred to you!
RELATIONSHIP COACHING - Pre-marital coaching
The engagement period is a unique period for any couple. Consider using this time to invest in your relationship through pre-marital coaching. You can select a variety of topics to discuss. As your coach, I bring structure, accountability, skill building, and new resources to help you deepen your connection and strengthen your relationship. Consider a free Discover Session!
ORDINATION
I am ordained by American Marriage Ministries, a non-profit, interfaith and non-denominational church. American Marriage Ministries believes that the choice of wedding officiant belongs to the couple. Read more about this ordination here.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME
I am in my thirties. I grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan—a small city in southwest Michigan. I attended the University of Michigan for undergrad, directed a faith-based non-profit in Kalamazoo, and then headed to pursue a graduate degree in City Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After a few years in Long Beach, California, I settled here in San Francisco. I also work as a consultant and am active in the San Francisco community.
About
Annie Malcolm
Annie Malcolm
WEDDINGS
I thought everybody loved weddings, cried at every one they saw including those in movies, and made careful notes about what worked and what didn’t. Turns out, not really! This is a calling.
My wedding ceremony was one of the most transformative experiences of my life. It was like falling in love, but quickly, and calmly. My spouse and I entered into a portal as we stepped under the chuppah. There, we were held, described, blessed, witnessed, sung to, and cheered for. We laughed and cried multiple times throughout those thirty minutes.
A year later I had the opportunity to officiate the wedding of dear friends on Catalina Island. Collaborating with them through this process and writing their ceremony with them was profound. At their wedding we chanted and remembered, thanked, and joined. The ceremony honored their incredible twenty-two year love story, the land we stood on, the guests who participated, and the spirits.
RITUAL DESIGN
I have planned two weddings and a funeral. These experiences have all been unique and emotional, designed with deep attention to the story of those they honor. There is no one script to follow, and there are so many possibilities. I love designing rituals to mark life’s biggest and most surreal moments with words, community, and aesthetic experience.
EDUCATION AND WORK
I have a PhD in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. I research and write about the particulars of human experience–the exquisite detail in which our universal stories play out. I currently work with Bay Area artists, helping them articulate their vision, and producing texts that express the meaning and process of their artworks.
ME
I am interested in all kinds of weddings, and especially queer and/or Jewish weddings.
In my free time, I hike with my black lab, visit family, practice yoga, and eat cake.
Queer the wedding! Love is the answer to all existential questions! Meaning for all!
“Mary...was so flexible, collaborative, and absolutely amazing to work with. Mary is an absolute gem”
Mary Lim
VISION
I have devoted my career to engaging humans who have been muted, ignored or forgotten. I believe that we should expand ways that we express love and care for each other and for our planet.
EVOLVING FAITH
I identify as Roman Catholic and have been a professional community organizer among people of faith for 15 years. I am grateful for the opportunity to explore with couples how they want to express their values (whether it be with the language of faith or not) in their ceremony. Let's get creative!
ABOUT ME
I am a resident of Oakland and work as the Executive Director of Genesis, a faith/community based organization. My 15 year career as a community organizer is informed by two things: 1) being the proud daughter of Chinese immigrants and 2) being the mom of a fierce, courageous 16 year old.
Community organizing is connected to my work as a wedding officiant, as both focus on creating a love story among us as humans.
I have a B.A (cum laude) in Political Science from University of Missouri-Saint Louis and a Juris Doctorate from Saint Louis University.
“Matty did an awesome job expressing our story in the script and delivering it beautifully on our wedding day.”
Matty Wolka
ABOUT MATTY
I'm a California native who has also spent a lot of time in New York, Chicago, and Brazil before settling down here in Oakland since 2008. I love living in the Bay Area because of the diversity and energy of the people I've met. That and the beauty of living near the sea, Muir Woods, and the mountains.
OFFICIATING
I've planned and participated in hundreds of weddings, often as a music director/principal musician, and love working with couples to make the magic of their wedding day match the magic of their love for one another. When I'm not officiating weddings, I direct a concert series in San Francisco that features classical music, world music and jazz.
IN OTHER WORK
Years of composing operas with children as an SF Opera Teaching Artist has taught me patience, grace, and the ability to get everyone to the finish line together with a smile.
Matty Wolka at San Francisco City Hall
Ordination
american marriage ministries
If you want to know about Rachael’s ordination, you can read about American Marriage Ministries here.
All content was taken directly from the American Marriage Ministries website.
What american marriage ministries believes
All people, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, have the right to marry.
It is the right of every couple to choose who will solemnize their marriage.
All people have the right to solemnize marriage.
American Marriage Ministries' Articles of Our Faith
American Marriage Ministries, its members, ministers and congregants, believe that marriage is a sacred union. We believe that marriage is the natural right of all people, regardless of race, sexual identity, nationality, socioeconomic status, or religious background.
Marriage is celebrated all around the world in a variety of ways, each marital ceremony celebrating the values of the couple, their community, and their cultures. The traditions of marriage predate the founding of the United States, the Abrahamic religions, and the emergence of democratic society. We believe that a phenomenon so ancient and revered, and so ubiquitous throughout the ages, can only be defined as sacred.
Our faith is one that is universal. Marriage is an institution that crosses cultural boundaries and unites peoples. We believe that marriage is of a higher power.
We believe that every couple united in marriage has the right to choose how they will observe, and who will conduct, their sacred rite.
The AMM Tenets
All people, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, have the right to marry.
It is the right of every couple to choose who will solemnize their marriage.
All people have the right to solemnize marriage.