Lindsay
We met with Rabbi Annie over Zoom during Covid and immediately liked her knew we had found our officiant. She is warm, caring, and thoughtful. As an interfaith couple (Jewish and Muslim), we value that Rabbi Annie understood and respected that while we wanted a nonreligious ceremony, bringing in certain aspects from each of our faiths would be meaningful to us and our families. Annie helped weave together a modern interfaith ceremony that incorporated the traditions and prayers that resonated with us. Rabbi Annie brings a modern interpretation that we found to be a perfect blend of old and new. In addition to her expertise at bringing together a multi-faith/cultural wedding ceremony, Rabbi Annie spent time getting to know us as a couple. We felt supported by Annie throughout the process, particularly when my husband suddenly lost his father a few months before our wedding. Throughout our meetings, she truly got to know us and understand our relationship, resulting in an incredibly intimate and heartfelt ceremony. The Rabbi’s words to us were personal and purposeful and something we will remember and cherish for a lifetime.
Jeffrey
Rabbi Annie Bornstein is so much more than a Rabbi. In the months that led up to our wedding, she became family to us. Our pre-wedding meetings with her were incredibly heartwarming and personal. By the time our wedding day arrived, it became apparent that she knew us both very well. Annie incorporated key details from our discussions into the actual wedding ceremony. It was like a finely woven tapestry! Like us (bride and groom), our guests also felt that something very special had taken place during the ceremony. Annie made that happen! In fact it was obvious that Annie too, was quite moved by what was taking place under the Chuppah and in the room. We feel that God had His hand in bringing Annie to us. We could not have been more satisfied with the choice we made for our Rabbi. We intend to stay in touch with Annie and get together with her from time to time. As we already stated, Annie is now family to us. Please consider hiring Annie Bornstein as your Rabbi. You will be very happy that you did.
Eric
Rabbi Annie was the perfect choice to officiate our wedding and we’ll forever fondly remember our ceremony and the time we spent with her in the months leading up. From day 1 until the day of the ceremony, everything was better than we could have ever expected.
Rabbi Annie spent hours with us over Zoom in the months leading up to our wedding, learning about our relationship, our families and our preferences for the ceremony. She always had nice things to say and great advice for us along the way. We had a lot of laughs and still remember her words today. She was also sure to take note of every detail we wanted for the ceremony and was extremely accommodating of everything. Her dedication is clear when you see how much thought she puts into every detail – down to the pronunciation of everybody’s name. The day of was perfect as well. Our ketubah signing was memorable and our families and witnesses loved her. She conducted the ceremony with grace and humor and we’ve heard so much feedback that our ceremony was emotional and beautiful. It went perfectly according to plan and included everything we wanted. We would wholeheartedly recommend Rabbi Annie to anyone and everyone!
Debra
Finding Rabbi Cantor Annie Bornstein to officiate our wedding ceremony was truly a blessing. We could not believe our good fortune. I’m not exaggerating when I say we adored her from our first FaceTime meeting. Annie is so incredibly warm, caring, hip, and vibrant, we both felt comfortable immediately and we were so excited that she was going to marry us. Annie worked really hard to customize a ceremony that would resonate for us. My new husband and I have never been particularly religious, however since we are both Jewish, we thought it made sense to have a rabbi marry us. I worried that a rabbi might be offended by our not wanting a lot of the religious aspects of a Jewish wedding, but Annie was more than happy to accommodate us and she really wanted to do a ceremony that felt comfortable for us. I really like many of the Jewish wedding traditions and symbolisms, and I expressed that to Annie the first time we spoke and she definitely heard me. She never pushed her own agenda; it was all about what my then, fiancé, and I wanted.
We did connect effortlessly with Annie. She was very easy to talk to, in fact, we ended up doing the pre-marital sessions she offered as part of her officiant package. Initially, we had no intention of doing them, but it was such a pleasure talking to Annie–we totally changed our minds.
Our wedding ceremony was absolutely perfect. Annie learned so much about us during our 3-4 FaceTime sessions, that when she officiated our wedding, and spoke to us and about us, it felt like she had known us forever.
Rabbi Annie Bornstein was my 2nd best online find ever!!! My husband was my first. 🙂
True BESHERT??
Jimmy
Dear Annie,
There aren’t enough accolades to adequately describe the heartfelt, intimate and personal wedding and ketubah signing ceremonies you lovingly created and delivered for us and our family and guests.
We don’t have to tell you about the overwhelming emotion because you saw it all looking at us and all our guests and participants. And we saw your emotions in your eyes and heard it in the subtle trembling of your voice as you spoke to us the words that will remain in our hearts forever. We spend a good amount of time with nearly all our guests and they universally praised you (we heard dozens of times “your rabbi is amazing!”), confirming what we already knew but it was delightful to hear their perspective. We also loved your graceful and funny recovery after accidentally dropping the microphone. There’s a reason some of the greatest comedians are Jewish 🙂
We also heard from many guests about the butterfly that flew across the front row during your personal words to us, while you were telling the s tory of Andrew’s stomach butterflies during our early dates. Thanks for the good word you must have put in with God who apparently coordinated with our late parents and grandparents to make it happen, along with the miraculously delightful weather for early August in the Washington area. We’d like to think that’s what happened and not just coincidence!
Every aspect of our wedding was perfect and we will be forever grateful to you for treating us not as clients, but with love. From the first time we met you through each of our in-person visits and then culminating in our breathtakingly beautiful ceremony we enjoyed every minute with you.
We were told by many guests that our wedding was one of the best they had ever attended. You certainly get a lot of the credit.
Fondly,
Andrew & Jimmy
Shelby
Rabbi Annie was unbelievable every step of our wedding process. We had an unique situation living abroad up until the wedding but we kept in touch via Skype and email. Our ceremony was perfect and everyone complemented how well she did. We had an interfaith marriage and she did a great job explaining the traditions. She truly made the ceremony about us and we really enjoyed working with her. We would recommend her to EVERYONE!
Peggy M.
Rabbi-Cantor Annie’s beautiful voice and skills are remarkable. They are not only unparalleled, but they are also gifts for all those who work with her.
Deborah P.
Rabbi-Cantor Annie brings warmth and insight as well as her glorious voice and spirit to every ceremony at which she officiates.
Bobbie L.
I have been thinking about my dad, Alex Grossman, and the beautiful funeral at which you officiated. Thank you so much. He would have been pleased.
Pat N.
We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for giving us the opportunity to attend your Service yesterday evening. Your warmth, caring and kindness touched us in a way that is difficult to describe.
Bruce K.
It is uncanny how Rabbi-Cantor Annie Bornstein’s presence at our wedding was warm and deeply meaningful – so much so that her participation was like that of a close family member.
Margot
Where to even start?? Rabbi Annie truly made our day so special! When we first started looking for an officiant, we knew that we wanted to have a ceremony that was personal and inclusive– and Rabbi Annie delivered! After the ceremony we heard from dozens of guests about just how wonderful and unique the ceremony was. We can’t thank Rabbi Annie enough for ensuring that our wedding day was all that we hoped it would be!
Paula
My husband and I were very happy we chose Rabbi Annie to officiate our wedding! She did a beautiful job. We are both jewish but we’re not affiliated with a particular synagogue or Rabbi. It was still really important to us to have a Jewish ceremony and Rabbi Annie made that happen. From the moment we met her I knew Rabbi Annie was the perfect fit for us. She is extremely warm, caring, and truly takes the time to get to know her couples. We met with her in person twice and then had multiple skype sessions. We had about 3-4 sessions of marriage counseling and then the remainder of the sessions were for us to plan our ceremony. She made sure that it incorporated everything we wanted and had many readings and vow options for us to choose from. We actually didn’t realize she was also a Cantor so when she started chanting during the wedding we were surprised, but it was so beautiful! So many people complimented us on how nice our ceremony was and how much they loved our Rabbi (and we agree!!). I would highly recommend Rabbi Annie to other couples! She was everything we could’ve hoped for and more!
Shannon
Rabbi Annie was an incredible pleasure to work with and it was a joy getting to know her. She is professional, receptive, and she made our ceremony feel special and personal. We had an interfaith ceremony and Rabbi Annie closely worked with us to incorporate the traditions from each side we wanted to observe. She even made premarital counseling something to look forward to! We feel like we lucked out finding Rabbi Annie and could not recommend her more!
Kimberly
Rabbi Annie was absolutely amazing, not just as our officiant for the wedding ceremony but for the entire journey leading up to it. She guided us perfectly with each session throughout the planning process, always with the utmost level of professionalism, grace, warmth, and enthusiasm. We wouldn’t have done this with anyone else!
Elana
My husband and I loved Rabbi Annie! We wanted a reform Jewish, interfaith wedding on Saturday before sun down, and she had no problem with that. We had just moved to Bethesda, so did not have an officiant from a congregation that we could look to. We wanted a strong, socially-liberal officiant to match our values. Rabbi Annie meets at least 4 times with each couple to do marriage counseling, get to know us, and thoroughly plan the ceremony. We met 5 times, and she was great about scheduling in the evenings to accommodate our busy schedules. She is funny, warm, opinionated, and puts her whole heart into her work. Her chanting was beautiful and the parts of the ceremony that she wrote specifically for my groom and I were very personal and clearly the product of careful listening and getting to know us as a couple. We got many, many comments back from guests that our officiant was a perfect fit, funny, and chose incredibly meaningful words for us. Her ceremony was perfect and the highlight of our wedding! If you compare to an officiant from a congregation, she is somewhat pricey, so we had some initial sticker shock, but we felt that her effort and personalization were well worth the cost in the end–especially considering all the time she spent meeting with us. We’re thrilled with our choice and would absolutely recommend her!
Carey
Rabbi Annie was amazing! She helped make our wedding day so incredibly special and conducted our ceremony exactly how we wanted. We would absolutely recommend her to anyone!
Neal
Rabbi Annie was fantastic. From the first time we met she was totally engaged. The meeting lasted over an hour where we shared our lives, interests and love for each other. Rabbi Annie continued to take notes and was really interested in our story. She was engaged at every step, not overbearing, but truly wanting this to our best day ever. I have a continued sense of humor and she jumped right in which made the whole experience perfect. It fit our personality and joy for life.
The ceremony was outside on July 2 and was hotter than ####. Yes, we had beads of sweat dripping, yes, we were drinking water and YES, Rabbi Annie was terrific and didn’t miss a beat. She expressed what she had learned about us, making so personal, we thought we knew for years. It was true, comfortable, and joyful as she played back what our feelings were. She knew me and there was a sense of personal feedback when, with a smile on her face and joy in her voice, she stated the word “binding” which made me smile because she “got” us.
Rabbi Annie is a person want to get to know after the wedding, when all is said, the vows exchanged, and your living as husband and wife. She brings the true spirit of life. Our thanks to Rabbi Annie, for being the person you are, getting know us and join us in marriage.
Thank you,
Carole and Neal
User5352967
Rabbi-Cantor Bornstein conducted a lovely service. She spoke with passion and integrity, explained traditions clearly and meaningfully, and sang beautifully. Rabbi-Cantor Bornstein provided worthwhile advice before the wedding, was always accessible when questions arose, and was very patient and helpful.
Judith
Annie was so wonderful and a delight at the service. She really made the ceremony special and everyone loved loved loved her singing of the 7 blessings. It was perfect !!
Judith
Rabbi Annie made our wedding the special Jewish occasion we had hoped for. She spent a good deal of time learning about us, our families, and why we had decided to “”try it again”. We were so happy that she was a part of the celebration. The highlight of the ceremony (in addition to the breaking of the glass) was the 7 blessings that she sang, they were beautiful. Our 5 children were included in the ceremony and it was indeed beautiful.
Thank you so much for helping us tie the knot and bring our two families together as one.
Judith and Mark
AD
As an inter-faith, same sex couple, we were happy to find Rabbi Annie through an online search. Initially, we were seeking a rabbi who would officiate for our wedding before sundown on the Sabbath because our belief system didn’t preclude us from marrying on a Saturday. In Rabbi Annie, we found more than an officiant. Annie helped make the experience of preparing for our nuptials thoughtful, intimate, and special; and what she brought to the big day, itself, made the ceremony powerful, rich and meaningful both for us and our guests.
Annie understood and appreciated that our belief systems include a blend of secular Humanism and Judaism, and worked with us to plan the right balance of Jewish ritual with non-religious content. Annie worked with us to create a ceremony that blended tradition and modernity.
Rabbi Annie was generous with her time in pre-ceremony consultations. And she both patiently and assertively advised us to act on ceremony priorities when wedding planning got hectic. She worked well with our style of planning, and brought everything together prior to the ceremony so all pieces fell into place.
User3677062
Rabbi Cantor Annie was a phenomenal officiant. After my home Rabbi would not co-officiate I was really disappointed but I got connected with Rabbi Cantor Annie and she reassured me and gave me the comfort of a warming officiant. On the wedding day she was wonderful and did everything we asked and her performance surpassed expectations. We were so pleased!
Lauren
Rabbi Annie exceeded all of my expectations. My husband is Jewish and it was important to me to have a Jewish ceremony as I hope to convert after the wedding. While wanting to keep Jewish traditions, I also wanted to make sure the ceremony reflected us as a couple and felt personal. Through our meetings, Rabbi Annie really got to know us and understand our relationship. We reviewed a traditional Jewish wedding program and Rabbi Annie helped me alter the layout to better fit our needs. Even after our meetings I still wasn’t sure what to expect from the ceremony, as I had never been to a Jewish wedding. I was completely blown away by how perfect it was. As the majority of our guests were not Jewish, Rabbi Annie took the time to explain the different elements of the service. She also incorporated conversations that we had in our meetings to share with the guests the love my husband and I have for each other. She knew we wanted the ceremony to be under 30 minutes, and she had it completed in 22! Every guest I spoke to during our cocktail hour couldn’t stop talking about how perfect the ceremony was.
Rabbi Annie thank you so much for guiding me through this process and making our ceremony so incredibly special.
Jessica
Rabbi Annie was absolutely fabulous. She was always very responsive. In fact, when my grandmother was quite ill on a Friday night and we couldn’t reach any other rabbis to come say a prayer, Rabbi Annie answered my calls and said the prayers via speakerphone for us. It was quite a blessing. Rabbi Annie really took the time to get to know us during our premarital sessions and put together a beautiful service for the wedding. Our friends and family were very impressed. Would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for a wonderful Rabbi to be by their side on their special day.
Frank & Ada
Rabbi Cantor Annie Bornstein was amazing from the beginning to the end. We would recommend her to anyone looking for her services.
My wife and I are both military and were living in different states during the wedding planning process. In addition to that, our wedding was an interfaith wedding between Jewish, Catholic & Latin traditions. Rabbi Bornstein was very understanding and always was working around our schedule. We skyped or group called in order to make the arrangements and coordination. She provided us with questionnaires that created healthy conversations between us and confirm ideals that are important in our relationship. She ensured that we never forget where we came from and what made us made a unique couple.
Rabbi Bornstein was everything we expected and more. Very understanding, patient, organized and truly cared about out marriage. There was no point during this process where we felt like another costumer. She was very detailed and always kept us in the loop.
Jesse
Annie was one of the most genuine and caring individuals I have ever met. She made us feel special and she was genuinely excited for us. Annie made us feel so comfortable that we felt as though she was family. We will continue to use her as our rabbi throughout our lives. We feel so lucky that we were able to find her.
User3520829
Great job, moving ceremony, very professional
Sharon
Cantor Annie was a dream. She lifted the spirit of the wedding with her words and her voice. Our guests were captivated from the start to the finish of her moving and eloquent service and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. We will remember it forever. Thank you Annie!
Dr. Raphael S.
It is an honor to be invited to speak about Rabbi-Cantor Annie Bornstein. The experience of Rabbi-Cantor Annie has been a pure joy. Rabbi-Cantor Annie always manages to find just the right words.
Adam R. N.
When Rabbi-Cantor Annie sang to our older daughter at her Bat Mitzvah service, Rabbi-Cantor Annie sang with such tenderness that it was as though she was singing to her own daughter.
Jessica
Rabbi Annie is simply the best. For our interfaith wedding, she wrote and conducted a beautiful service which explained the jewish parts of the ceremony as well as included both the hebrew and english for the prayers. So many of our guests came up to us and stated that it was the nicest wedding service they had been to. Rabbi Annie really listened to what we wanted our ceremony to look like and delivered a highly customized and tailored event. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!!
Rachel
From the moment we first spoke with Rabbi Annie, we knew we wanted her to be part of our special day. She invested time in getting to know us as individuals and as a couple, and was both warm and compassionate while also punctual and professional. We had an interfaith ceremony and Rabbi Annie worked tirelessly with us to craft a unique blend of both Jewish and Catholic traditions that would honor both families. The day of, her presence made for a beautiful ceremony and I found myself profoundly moved by her personal, thoughtful message to us as husband and wife. Thank you, Rabbi Annie, for making our wedding both meaningful and memorable!
User6111271
Rabbi Annie is not your typical “officiant.” She really has the “heart and soul” that is advertised! The pre-wedding discussions and planning are literally conversations that we looked forward to and were not only helpful, but also brought us important areas to think about for think about to enhance our ceremony as well as our lives. Every guest at the wedding commented on how this was the most beautiful ceremony (including her voice!) that they had ever witnessed. Our hearts and lives have been improved by her genuine caring and belief that a ceremony is a life event, not a performance.
Jeffrey
When you hire Rabbi Annie as the officiant for your wedding you are not just hiring someone who will say the prayers and take you through the motions. Rabbi Annie provided hours of valuable pre-marriage counseling and advice, which my wife and I will carry with us throughout our marriage. Rabbi Annie took the time to get to know us personally and was able to integrate these discussions into a deeply personal speech about my wife and me during the ceremony. One who listens to her speech would have thought we had known Rabbi Annie for years. Rabbi Annie is also willing to tailor the ceremony to how you would like it done. Rabbi Annie went above and beyond to integrate my wife’s cultural heritage into the Jewish ceremony, spending time to learn customs (Hindu), and the language (Bengali), in order to welcome all of our guests and make them feel part of the ceremony. All of our family and friends in attendance found the ceremony to be deeply meaningful and highly informative. I also recommend having Rabbi Annie chant the prayers because she has a truly amazing singing voice. By choosing to hire Rabbi Annie Bornstein as your officiant you are not just hiring a Rabbi to perform your wedding ceremony, you are hiring a person who you will want to continue a spiritual relationship with long after the wedding ends.
kennis
Where to begin? We wouldn’t want to make you verklempt again, so we’ll try to keep it short and not too overflowing with emotion, but it won’t be easy. You were great. Just great. Such a huge heart, a sharp mind, and your voice? Holy s*&%^&! Hearing it ring, echoing through the hills, seeing the deer running from the sound, being told of the horses behind us, stiffening their necks with attention at your song and hearing from everyone- but we mean everyone, but we mean, seriously everyone, who told us how amazing the ceremony was and that it was the best ceremony they’d ever been to, you can’t imagine what that means to us.
We were told by a judge who performs weddings regularly that this was the best ceremony she’d ever seen. We were told by the photographer who shoots weddings every weekend that this was the best ceremony he’d ever seen. We were told by a mother that this was the best ceremony she’d ever seen- that she’d liked her own daughter’s wedding and all, but that this was through the roof. Most importantly of all perhaps, though, we both heard from each other how blessed we feel to have stumbled on you by accident via a google search or two and to have instantly fell in love with you, and to agree without any reservation, that the ceremony very simply just kicked ass.
love, andros and kennis
Patty A.
In fact, our daughter’s Bat Mitzvah speech was remarkable because Rabbi-Cantor Annie was able to impart a wisdom to her well beyond her 13 years! Rabbi-Cantor Annie was able to do this because her communication skills are extraordinary – with both children and adults.
Ruby Jo & David H.
I can’t tell you what a beautiful ceremony today’s Bar Mitzvah was. It was so meaningful and hamish. Ruby Jo and I realize that it was like this because of YOUR contribution and participation. We both realize that you add a very personal and warm touch to everything you do.. Your closing blessing, which was sung so beautifully, could not have been more touching and appropriate. We feel blessed to have been fortunate enough to have had you as our officiant.
Melissa P.
I have to say that one of the greatest strengths (and gifts) that you have is, for me, the ability to take the world of Torah and Jewish life/learning and open up a Reform Jew’s eyes to its beauty and depth . I would say that this is the value of a true teacher.
Carole
Thank you Rabbi Annie for helping to make our wedding so memorable! We consider you a new friend.
Everyone who reads this should know that Rabbi Annie is fun and easy to work with. She made sure that our questions were answered and she had many good suggestions to make our day unique. Rabbi Annie guided us in the selection of a Ketubah that will become a beautiful work of art in our home for years to come. She sent us suggested readings that brought us to tears. Thank you Rabbi Annie for adding so many beautiful memories to our day!
Carole & Neal
Suzanne
Rabbi Annie was wonderful throughout the entire process. Her pre-marital counseling was excellent, and she made planning the ceremony – even with our custom elements – very easy. All our guests told us how beautiful the ceremony was. We are so glad we worked with Rabbi Annie!
Laura
Rabbi Annie is wonderful. We spoke to several Rabbis and my son chose Rabbi Annie for his bar mitzvah. She tutored him for 8 months and provided encouragement and support. She worked with us to put together a service that we thoroughy enjoyed and held a lot of meaning. At the service, her presence and lovely voice received many accolades from our friends and family. Overall, we enjoyed working with Rabbi Annie and highly recommend her. We will miss her!
Jodi
My son just had his Bar Mitzvah with Rabbi Annie, and she was wonderful. She is such a warm and caring teacher. She worked with my son for about a year, and he was very well prepared on the day of his Bar Mitzvah. He read from the Torah beautifully and led many prayers. Rabbi Annie taught him how to chant, helped him prepare his speech, and custom designed a service to fit our family’s tastes On the day of the Bar Mitzvah, Rabbi Annie performed a heartfelt, touching and beautiful service (helped by the fact that she has a gorgeous voice). When the Bar Mitzvah was over, my son was sad that he wouldn’t be seeing Rabbi Annie for lessons any more. Luckily for us, my younger son will be preparing for his Bar Mitzvah soon, and we will get to see Rabbi Annie again!
Marilyn
We could not have been more happy with Rabbi Annie. We were not an easy couple, and Rabbi Annie went out of her way to do everything we asked of her, always with a smile on her face. We had a difficult family situation and Rabbi Annie not only worked with us, but helped us navigate our way through everything.
The day of, Rabbi Annie arrived on time and delivered a beautiful ceremony that so many of our guests complimented on. In addition, the day of, my husband and I forgot several items Rabbi Annie had asked us to bring and bring, and she was so callm and helped us figure out what to do and how to gather what we could and make do otherwise.
We had such a positive experience and would recommend Rabbi Annie to anyone!
Alexandra
We had a fantastic experience with Rabbi Annie. She truly invested in getting to know us as a couple and was dedicated to making the ceremony both personal and beautiful. Following our ceremony we were bombarded by people telling us how fabulous they thought Rabbi Annie was. They found her funny, her voice beautiful and her words meaningful.
Ashley
I don’t even know where to start! We hired Rabbi Annie about 8 months before we got married. I’m jewish and my husband is agnostic. I grew up in a conservative household, but really view myself more on the reformed side of things. My husband was a little hesitant to go through all the interviews, but after we had one Skype call with Rabbi Annie we knew she would be the right officiant for our wedding. It wasn’t about pushing any jewish stuff onto my husband, but more about taking the time to work with us and help us open up about ourselves and our future. Rabbi Annie took the time to get to know us, chat about the things that come up when you marry someone and ALWAYS was available to us for questions or whatever we needed. Rabbi Annie spoke to my husband and I during the ceremony and provided her blessings for us…. everything she said was us. She listened and CARES. Super responsive to emails or phone calls/texts, whatever you need she was there.
We had so many compliments and my parents loved the ceremony, Just enough of the jewish traditions, but Rabbi Annie even took the time to explain the parts of the ceremony as the majority of our attendees were not Jewish.
We couldn’t be happier with having Rabbi Annie perform our ceremony!!! I can’t recommend her enough!!!!
User5603742
Rabbi Annie was spectacular. We will remember our ceremony forever. Guests told us that it was the best wedding ceremony they had ever attended. We really enjoyed getting to know Rabbi Annie during the months leading up to our wedding. Her interest in getting to know us was obvious from the quality of the ceremony. We are an interfaith couple and wanted a ceremony that reflected our diverse traditions. Rabbi Annie more than delivered. It was a pleasure to work with her.
User6007472
Rabbi Annie was the best. She was professional, helpful and thorough. We found her to be disarming, engaged and eager to learn more about us as we moved through this process. We have referred Rabbi Annie to another couple and they chose to use her- we would do that many more times over. Our guests also loved her!
Rachel
Rabbi-Cantor Annie Bernstein helped make our ceremony incredibly personal and heartfelt through her efforts to get to know as a couple. We had several Skype-sessions of couples counseling in the months leading up to the wedding where we talked about our hopes, concerns, goals and views as well as what we wanted in our ceremony, wedding, and marriage. She was thoughtful, funny and kind in our talks and was very helpful in suggesting how to navigate some of the trickier family dynamics that come out during wedding planning. She helped us plan the program for the ceremony, made suggestions for where to find a ketubah, reviewed the language for the ketubah and ceremony, and was very organized in what she needed from us for the ceremony and what we needed to do to prepare. She truly became a friend through the process, and we are so fortunate to have found her.
Amanda
Rabbi Annie was so kind and thoughtful in her questions. Over a series of Skype chats, we really felt like she got to know us and it showed in the service. She helped us personalize it, while keeping time-honored traditions.
User5320885
Rabbi Annie’s eloquence, poise, insightfulness, and of course BEAUTIFUL voice, helped make our interfaith ceremony incredibly meaningful and memorable. She and our Catholic co-officiant collaborated warmly & seamlessly, in spite of this being their first time working together. The day of the wedding, Rabbi Annie went out of her way to make sure all parties and parents were comfortable and excited about the ceremony. My mother in particular, who was nervous throughout this process, called the ceremony the most beautiful, ideal interfaith wedding ceremony she could imagine.
In the months leading up to the wedding, Rabbi Annie was very accommodating, letting us do our premarital counseling session via Skype since we were from out of town. She was very patient with all our questions and ideas. When it came to our emails, she always responded in a timely manner. She even agreed to marry us on a Saturday before sunset at our request.
Thank you, Rabbi Annie, for all your support and helping us start of our married, spiritual journey off on such a joyous note!
Richard
Rabbi-Cantor Annie Bornstein and I recently co-officiated at my niece’s wedding at the University of Virginia Chapel. It quickly became a warm and wonderful collaboration as we crafted a ceremony that honored the religious traditions of a Jewish – Christian union, and of course, the wishes of the couple. All of us were deeply moved by Annie’s beautiful voice chanting of the Seven Wedding Blessings and her stories and explanations of the Jewish wedding customs which were part of this service. The result was a beautiful ceremony and a lovely memory for the couple, their families and friends.
The Reverend Richard H. White
User4509024
Rabbi Annie is wonderful! She is extremely thoughtful and caring, and a really good listener. She is also very helpful leading up to the wedding, providing different options and thoughts for the ceremony, and even books to read up on. We had so many guests tell us about what a beautiful ceremony we had – something guests don’t normally emphasize! We couldn’t have been happier and we intend to keep in touch with her! We definitely recommend Rabbi Annie 100%!
Sarah
Rabbi-Cantor Annie was an amazing officiant. She was warm, friendly, accommodating to our special wishes, and sang with the most beautiful voice that gave our chuppah an extraordinary atmosphere. We cannot recommend her highly enough! Toda raba and chibukim!
Leah
Rabbi Annie Bornstein worked closely with us to put together a meaningful ceremony that represented both our Jewish and Christian backgrounds and brought our families together as one. She was flexible and easy to work with. I would highly recommend her as an officiant for multi-faith weddings.
User4243538
The wedding ceremony was beautiful, meaningful and memorable!
Sarah
I can’t even put into words the experience Ben and I had with Rabbi Bornstein. She is one of the most amazing people I have met and quickly became one if my favorite people to work with for our wedding. She was extremely flexible and scheduled skype sessions with us to really get to know eachother.
We received so many compliments about our wedding-most about our rabbi and how kind and heartfelt her words were. She is a wonderful person, an incredible rabbi and now-a dear friend.
Sandy
We used Rabbi Cantor Annie for our daughter’s Bat Mitzvah and couldn’t have been happier with her services. Instead of going through the traditional Hebrew School, our daughter skyped several times a month with Rabbi Annie. She worked really well with our daughter and our daughter was able to pick up the Hebrew in a stress free environment and she did beautifully. Scheduling was pretty flexible- it is always hard to match up schedules exactly but we both made it work.
For the service, she arrived on time (even with several mishaps in the morning) and performed a beautiful service. She was patient and kind, she has a lovely singing/chanting voice, and the service came from her heart. We would highly recommend Rabbi Annie to anyone looking for a Rabbi for a wedding or Bat/Bar Mitzvah or any lifecycle event.
User2948411
We were having an interfaith wedding near Raleigh, NC and having a hard time finding a Rabbi to officiate. We found Rabbi Annie Bornstein online at jewishheartandsoul.com
She was WONDERFUL! She travels to different areas, we were able to communicate via Skype and she was very accomodating and flexible. The ceremony was BEAUTIFUL and she personalized it to include what we had said about each other (the bride and groom) and sang Hebrew at times. We CANNOT stop getting compliments from our guests on how personal, genuine and intimate our wedding ceremony was. There was not a dry eye in the house!
HIGHLY recommend!
Cheryl
Rabbi Annie is quite simply amazing! Our co-officiated wedding was extremely unique. My husband’s father is a Southern Baptist Minister, and he was the other officiant. Rabbi Annie was extraordinarily understanding of the fact that this ceremony was very special to the other officiant. Through this understanding, we had a flawlessly integrated ceremony that celebrated both faiths beautifully. I know that Rabbi Annie will be a part of our lives as we continue to integrate and celebrate Judaism as a part of our interfaith family!
William
My son’s wedding to his dear bride was one of the greatest days of my life. A huge part of that was the guidance, blessing and leadership given to the ceremony by Rabbi Annie L. Bornstein. She and I co-officiated the ceremony and I found her to be incredibly sensitive to the needs of all involved. She made herself available in the weeks leading up to the blessed day so that we could develop a beautiful order of service that reflected the richness of all families involved. She was a blessing to each and everyone whom she came in contact with. She expressed a respect for our particular tradition while at the same time adding so much to the service reflecting her own tradition. There simply are not words to adequately expression our appreciation to her for making this a day one that will always reside in our memory as incredible and most special!
Whitney
We were so thankful to have found Rabbi Annie. With a Jewish groom and an Episcopalian bride Rabbi Annie struck a perfect balance of Jewish tradition with accessibility for the various denominations in attendance. Both of our families and our friends commented on how wonderful and inclusive the service was. Rabbi Annie spent time getting to know both of us as people and her understanding of what made us tick was clear in the service. She was incredibly flexible throughout the process and met with us as our rather busy schedules allowed. Also to mention, as you talk with Annie it is immediately clear how much she enjoys her work and she is also a wonderful resource for both the actual marriage ceremony, but also the life that comes afterwards. Annie was recommended to us by a friend, and we have every intention of referring any friends looking for a Rabbi to Annie.
Peggy M.
Most recently, Rabbi-Cantor Annie was a major support to my family as we suffered the dual loss (10 weeks apart) of my parents. Rabbi-Cantor Annie not only officiated at the funeral services for my parents – both of which were loving and accurate tributes to their lasting memories – but she gave spiritual and emotional support to my family, and myself but to my extended family who travelled from distant places (including Paris), for these services. Her ability to connect with mourners and then support their needs effectively has helped in all of our healing through this most difficult time.
Dr. Lonny S. G.
Cantor-Rabbi Annie’s beautiful voice has filled our services with joy.
Hannah
Rabbi Cantor Annie Bornstein was a fantastic officiant at our wedding! Rabbi Annie was always the consummate professional, and really took the time to tailor our wedding to fit us and our background (we are a Jewish-Catholic interfaith couple). Rabbi Annie also really took the time to understand and explore our relationship during our pre-marriage counseling sessions, which we found to important and revealing for us as a couple. Rabbi Annie is sincere, caring, and understanding, and her voice is absolutely beautiful! We continue to hear wonderful feedback from our guests, and would highly recommend her to Jewish and/or Interfaith couples looking for an officiant.
Dr. Maryam Nazemzadeh and Michael
Rabbi Annie was remarkable – better than anything we could have ever imagined. She had the difficult job of officiating a 1/2 Persian and 1/2 Jewish wedding with an Imam. She did an incredible job integrating the ceremonies and leading a transition from the Persian ceremony to the Jewish.
She speaks beautifully. She did a wonderful job explaining the meaning of marriage and the meaning of our relationship. She also did a wonderful job of explaining the Jewish traditions so that everyone felt included. Her singing is incredible and even surprised us. She has a powerful voice.
Annie has great vision and creativity and knows how to design ceremonies from scratch. She is also inclusive and knows how to defer to the wants/needs of the couple so that what ultimately gets designed is the result of a true collaborative process.
We also loved our counseling sessions. Annie always makes you feel loved and safe. She is full of knowledge and we learned a lot from her.
She is A+++++.
Lela
Rabbi Annie was an INCREDIBLE officiant for our wedding! We loved getting to know her throughout the planning process; we were always more excited about our marriage after talking with her during our counseling sessions! Several people commented on how wonderful, personalized, and fun our ceremony was, and that was largely due to Rabbi Annie’s fantastic support during the planning process. We are sad our wedding is over because we will miss talking to her, but hope to have a happy occasion to work with her again soon. She is great!!!
Nita
We loved having Rabbi Bornstein officiate at our daughter’s wedding. She was kind, reliable, and committed to our family. Most importantly, she provided spiritual guidance and created a true sacred space for our growing family before and during the ceremony. And she’s fun and has a great sense of humor on top of all that! Many of our friends commented on the ceremony, Jewish and non Jewish friends as well. We were so happy to have her officiate at this joyful event and help make the day special.
Sam
We were so happy with Annie as our officiant. She took the time to plan the perfect ceremony for us and we got a lot of compliments about how great our ceremony was. We did a Jewish-Persian combination ceremony, and Annie went out of her way to make sure that both traditions were represented in the ceremony and went together perfectly. She also has a great voice for singing some of the Hebrew prayers. We would recommend her to anyone looking for an officiant.
Wendy
We hired Rabbi Annie for our son’s wedding. Everyone sent us cards and telephoned us to tell us this was the best wedding ceremony and most moving and loving ceremony they had ever attended. We love Rabbi Annie very much. She is a treasure!
User6927045
Rabbi Bornstein was absolutely amazing from stat to finish. Our guests were even raving about her! We were looking for someone who was thoughtful and authentic but also knew their place – not a “rent-a-rabbi.” Rabbi Bornstein is professional, responsive, and kind. In addition, she really takes the time to get to know the couple. She is also very insightful and her speech at our wedding was just so beautiful and heartfelt. She truly did an excellent job. We liked her so much we even ended up inviting her to stay for the reception! I would highly recommend her. She is the best!!!
User6774253
Very good and understanding of couples and family issues.
Kay and Larry
We would highly recommend Rabbi Cantor Bornstein. Our daughter (who is Jewish) and her fiancee (who is Catholic) found and chose Rabbi Cantor Bornstein, and we Skyped with her early in the process. Right from the beginning, we felt that she understood the sensitivity of this mixed marriage, and she was very confident in her ability to work with the kids to develop a meaningful ceremony that was respectful of both faiths. She had at least three sessions with them alone. As the ceremony proceeded, we were amazed at how well she understood both our daughter and her fiancee, how well she was able to express their relationship, and how she did so with a great deal of warmth and even humor. It was as if she had known them for many years. Quite a number of family and friends of both families and faiths told us how impressed they were with Rabbi Cantor Bornstein, and just how beautiful and meaningful the ceremony was. All in all, it was a wonderful experience!
Sally
Rabbi Annie truly helped us make our wedding so personal. She allowed us to have a wedding ceremony that couldn’t have been found in a book – it was uniquely ours! From the moment we first reached out to Rabbi Annie, she wanted our wedding to be the way we wanted it; never pressuring us into anything but only giving options and letting us choose what we’d like. We really enjoyed our sessions leading up to the wedding where we got to know her, she got to know us, and we got to know each other. We loved that she allowed our wedding ceremony to be as religious as we felt comfortable, recognizing our faiths but not pushing us into anything we didn’t feel comfortable doing. We appreciated her guidance and advice as we created the perfect wedding ceremony for us! By the time of the wedding, she had really gotten to know us and was able to portray that during our ceremony, giving us heartfelt love and advice for our future. Rabbi Annie was one of the best decisions we made during our engagement. We will never forget our beautiful ceremony – and neither will all our guests! It was truly special.
We wanted to thank you for such a special ceremony. It was everything we wanted – intimate, touching and focused on family. You were fantastic and everyone told us how heartfelt it was. There are so many great memories from this weekend and the ceremony was better than we could have possibly imagined.
It really meant a lot to us how you worked in personal touches from our discussions. We’re both going to miss talking to you every few weeks but will keep in touch and will pass along our photos as soon as we get them from the photographer.
Thank you again for a ceremony that was beyond what we expected and everything we dreamed; our family and friends all loved it as well.
With love,
John and Rachel
ps. You have an amazing voice!
Ian
Rabbi Cantor Annie Bornstein was amazing!!! Over the course of a year Rabbi Annie really took the time to get to know is and tailored our ceremony to meet our needs. I am sure that the wisdom she shared with us during our premarital sessions will guide us during the years to come.
Harriet
We immediately connect with Rabbi Annie. How could you not as she is so warm and kind. She went over and beyond the call of duty with our counseling sessions, so by the time of the ceremony, she truly knew and loved us as we do her.
If you can contract Rabbi Annie to be your officiant, you know you will have a beautiful ceremony you and your guests will never forget!
Alison
My husband and I truly enjoyed our experience with Rabbi Annie! Her warmth, sense of humor, and kindness were apparent from our very first meeting. She made both myself and my husband (who is not Jewish) very comfortable with the planning process, Skyping with us regularly to get to know us and gain a better idea of how we envisioned our ceremony. She worked closely with us to design a personalized wedding program, and (unlike many other officiants) she was very flexible in terms of allowing us to choose what we did and did not include in our ceremony.
The ceremony itself was beautiful. Rabbi Annie provided very short, helpful explanations of the prayers so all guests could understand the meaning. She has a stunning voice, and her chanting of the prayers left a lasting impression on everyone.
I highly recommend Rabbi Annie — my husband and I feel very lucky to have had her as our officiant!
Allison
Rabbi made our wedding personal, and we both loved that aspect. She is very kind and everyone loved her. She also has a beautiful voice!!!! Mentioned she would be there if we ever needed her and that means a lot to both of us. Recommend her completely!
Emily
Annie absolutely made our wedding. The ceremony was incredibly personal and delivered with passion, thoughtfulness and just the perfect amount of detail. She found every way she could to make the ceremony completely personal so that it was not only incredibly special for my husband and me but brought my guests into the emotion of the moment as well. Annie was funny, poignant and shared words of wisdom that will stay with us throughout our marriage. I know she would bring the same level of care and thought into any wedding ceremony she would officiate. She was also extremely flexible and willing to make the whole process as convenient as possible having meetings over video chat to have personal interactions despite our busy schedules. I can’t thank Annie enough for the gift she gave me on my wedding day, it was truly unforgettable. Her presence would be an invaluable addition to any wedding, I cannot recommend her highly enough!!
Benjamin
From pre-wedding collaboration to the final event, Annie brings a level of warmth and professionalism that ensures a perfect ceremony. This was a second wedding for both of us, with children from both sides holding the chuppa, and it was all beautiful!
Daniel
Rabbi Annie Bornstein was a pleasure to work with and we’re so happy she could be a part of our wedding. We were referred to Rabbi Annie through a family member who had engaged with her to officiate their wedding. Even though we had never met her before, we instantly felt at ease with Rabbi Annie and felt comfortable with her as someone who could run such an important and intimate event in our lives. We first decided to hire Rabbi Annie well over a year before our wedding and in that time, we had a number of one on one sessions with her where she helped facilitate great discussions between us and really helped prepare us for our lives together. She was always flexible on scheduling sessions and was a joy to have as a part of our process. Couldn’t recommend Rabbi Annie enough
Ann
Rabbi Annie was the biggest hit of our ceremony. She was professional, organized, knowledgable, and funny. Many guests came up to us afterwards and told us how much they enjoyed her ceremony. Thank you, Rabbi Annie!
User6192510
Rabbi-Cantor Annie is an excellent officiant for a multicultural wedding. She is open minded and asked thoughtful questions to learn more about the non-Jewish culture and attendees. She also made a real effort to engage with the non-Jewish member of the couple, including taking the time to explain the meaning of various Jewish wedding traditions.
For the wedding ceremony, she worked with us to make it both concise and meaningful, and showed up with plenty of time to spare on the day of the event. Our guests told us afterwards how powerful the ceremony was, and particularly when they had a chance to hear Rabbi Annie’s singing voice.
We were grateful to have a chance to work with her throughout the process, and her work definitely made our wedding a special occasion.
Jeffrey
Rabbi Annie married us two weeks ago. It was wonderful. She worked very well with our other officiant in our interfaith wedding. We had her chant some of the vows and prayers, and she has a lovely voice! We worked with her throughout the year prior, helping us craft a ceremony that reflected both the views of my wife and myself. She was very responsive to us and willing to discuss what she thought was important in a wedding ceremony, while also weighing in on what we thought was important to have as well. She is extremely flexible and easy to work with. She is a very sweet woman and we could tell she was genuinely happy for us and our marriage. She explained many of the Jewish components of our service to non-Jewish family and friends, and even made inside references to our relationship which made everyone laugh. You will be very lucky if you have her as an officiant at your wedding.
Dan and Georgia
Rabbi Annie is the best! She made our wedding feel super personal and captured our personality, values, traditions and stories perfectly. It really felt like she’s known us for years. I was also really impressed with her flexibility. We’re a mixed faith couple and stressed to her the importance of combining our traditions. Both of our [very sensitive] families thought the ceremony was perfect and everyone felt included. Our wedding truly wouldn’t have been the same without her!
Talya
Rabbi-Cantor Annie Bornstein was so wonderful to work with throughout the process. We had a situation where we needed to find a new rabbi within just 6 months of our wedding and Rabbi Annie stepped in and helped us get our bearings. We met with her initially and then skyped with her for our pre-marital counseling sessions. She also spent lots of time communicating with our co-officiant (a pastor) to make sure that the service exactly what we wanted. Rabbi Annie has a beautiful voice and sang the seven wedding blessings which was a great touch. Wonderful officiant for an interfaith wedding!
User3463589
Annie had lots of suggestions for nice/appropriate Hebrew songs and prayers to celebrate the event.
Peggy
Rabbi Bornstein brought a warmth and beauty to the service that was incomparable. When she was speaking to our daughter, it was as if she were the only person in the sanctuary (and there were 200+ there). Her words were inspiring and her delivery was memorable. Her voice/singing was amazing and provided a deeply spiritual ambiance for everyone. It was a beautiful service and one I will remember with love and warmth always.
David & Pamela
Rabbi/Cantor Annie Bornstein couldn’t have been more empathetic when our elderly, much-loved dog died. When she heard that Fergie had died, she wanted to know how she could help. She understood fully that we needed and wanted a way to memorialize Fergie. She conducted a beautiful service in Fergie’s favorite park for family and friends. The meaningful tribute combined verses from the book of Genesis referring to Noah’s covenant with God and taking every living creature onto the ark with comforting words about Fergie enriching our lives and holding her memory dear. It was perfect.
Melissa
Annie was instrumental in the fact that this was one of the most important, meaningful, and beautiful moments of my life. She took the time to understand and nurture my motivations and conflicts to create even more than I had hoped to experience.
Nancy
We were so fortunate to have Rabbi Cantor Annie Bornstein tutor and officiate at my son’s Bar Mitzvah. My son was fully prepared for this day chanting his haftorah and torah portion and leading other parts of the service. The service itself was beautiful, intimate and meaningful.
There wasn’t a person in attendance who didn’t remark about Rabbi Cantor Bornstein beautiful voice, the connection she made to my son and that the service was individualized and special.
Six years later we were lucky enough to have her officiate at my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah. The service was completely different and customized to her. Here again, Rabbi Cantor Bornstein made this a most special day and lasting memory for all of us.
Nicki
Rabbi Bornstein was a pleasure to work with!! She made our wedding such a perfect event that so many of our guests commented on how beautiful and heartfelt the ceremony was. She was very accommodating the first time we met and agreed to meet us over an hour away from her home. The Skype sessions after were something my husband and I looked forward to, and when we had to cancel at last minute, Rabbi Bornstein was very easy going and rescheduled with us immediately. I would highly recommend Rabbi Bornstein to anyone who is looking for a sweet, kind, and thoughtful Rabbi!