Wedding Officiating

Weaving wedding experiences that celebrate all you are

Wedding Officiating

Weaving wedding experiences that celebrate all you are

Be supported and celebrated in your journey toward your wedding day.

Choose a wedding that feels like you. In your own words about each other, God/dess, marriage, spirituality and tradition. An experience that holds you and welcomes your family and community as they celebrate the next step on your journey together.

Co-creating your Toronto wedding ceremony, woven with your values 

For interfaith, LGBTQ+, Jewish and

folks of all backgrounds who want a customized, non-traditional spiritual ceremony

I might be your ideal wedding officiant if:

  • you’re getting married in Toronto.
  • you’re looking for a Jewish officiant for your interfaith wedding who wants the partners to be fully involved and present in your co-created ceremony, without leaving any part of you behind.
  • you’re Queer or Polyamorous and want an officiant who can relate and weave a ceremony with all the right pronouns and nuance for your unique partnership.
  • you want a ceremony that you and everyone you invite will recognize as uniquely you, beautiful, meaningful, relevant, and joyful.
  • you want a wedding ceremony that your bubbe and your partner’s Atheist/Christian/Sikh/Finnish (etc.) dad will love and feel proud to be a part of.
  • you want an officiant who is interested in your whole selves, families, work and home lives, understanding that this journey is a holistic one.
  • you want an officiant who doesn’t want you to settle for what you think “should” be done.
  • the ceremony is the most important part of your wedding day to you. 
Book your complimentary ceremony consultation here

Make your wedding the meaningful and memorable experience you want it to be.

I am Annie Matan.

I am a licensed Officiant with the Centre for Spiritual Living and a Kohenet Hebrew Priestess with 12 years of experience officiating spiritual weddings for interfaith, LGBTQ+, Jewish, Polyamorous, and otherwise out-of-the-box folks.
 
I bring my extensive database of traditional and creative liturgy, songs, writings and ritual tools to tailor your wedding to your unique relationship and personalities.

I am passionate about supporting families through the journey of preparing for marriage as well as planning a ceremony.

As a non-rabbi Jewish Spiritual Leader in the Toronto community, I can serve interfaith couples with ease and joy to have a wedding ceremony that is woven with the values of those getting married and your families.

her beautiful singing voice was an added bonus to the ceremony!

Nell

Annie was absolutely amazing. She created a ceremony that was completely personalized, incorporating our community, both our faiths/cultures, and old and new traditions. She was kind and warm and easy to work with. And her beautiful singing voice was an added bonus to the ceremony! So many friends got in touch afterward asking to be put in touch with Annie as they planned their own weddings. I would recommend her to anyone looking for a warm, unique, personalized wedding ceremony.

She immediately drew our families closer together.

Rob

Annie presided over our interfaith wedding several years ago. My wife and l feel that Annie’s unique, wholehearted and holistic touch essentially redefines the term holding space. Those who attended, still mention her engaging, dynamic leadership.  She blew us away with how she managed to both respectfully honour the tenets of our respective traditions while finding threads between them. Her approach immediately drew our families closer together. From the procession, to the hymns she sang to the beautiful words she chose,  she made us feel comfortable every step of the way. We can’t say enough about our beloved Kohenet! I still feel touched when I think of those sacred moments that we shared. Thanks to Annie, we will forever cherish those joyful memories.

the most unique, heart-felt and loving wedding

Lexy

My partner and I planned a very non-traditional wedding ceremony, one that embodies our connection to the spiritual world with touches of Jewish tradition in support of our family. Annie not only completely understood what we were looking to achieve, but was also able to help us envision why we wanted a wedding ceremony and how we could make it completely unique to us. Her unique empathic ability allowed her - after only a few conversations - to recognize and package what our unconscious was telling us what we were truly looking for. I appreciate how she was able to bring out the best in us, both leading up the wedding and at the ceremony itself. To this day, many have said that our wedding was the most unique, heart-felt and loving wedding they have ever been to. We couldn't have done it without Annie.

Craft something meaningful with Annie

Sarah A.

Working with Annie was perfect. She made space for our anxieties and nerves while helping us articulate and create a very personal wedding day and ceremony. She was responsive to our needs and we always felt that she was really taking is in, and helping us craft something meaningful.

She integrated our religious backgrounds and heritage in a profoundly meaningful way

Samantha G.

Annie will make it meaningful & personalized beyond your wildest expectations. Annie Matan is a gifted orator, mood creator, and spiritual leader. Her ceremony for our wedding was a highlight not just for my partner and me but for our entire community of well-wishers and witnesses. She personalized her ceremony to our individual & coupled qualities and integrated our religious backgrounds and heritage in a profoundly meaningful way. I cannot recommend Annie highly enough for your ceremony. Congratulations! On getting married, and finding Annie!

Better than we could imagine.

Michael L.

The wedding was better than we could imagine. Annie took the time to get to know us as individuals and as a couple. The resulting ceremony was thoughtful, warm and personal - perfect really.

Many people told us it was the best wedding they had ever attended.

Martin D.

Annie was a life-saver for us, crafting a thoughtful, personalized, and beautiful ceremony with less than two weeks' notice. She was comfortable bridging our desire for a non-traditional wedding with the needs of some of our guests to see recognizable elements and symbols. Many people told us it was the best wedding they had ever attended. Can't recommend her highly enough.

The ring ceremony was so beautiful

Peter Deitz

The ring ceremony was so beautiful!  It continues to be the part of the wedding that almost every guest remarks on when they talk to us about their experience.  Just today, our friend said it was incredibly participatory and meaningful for her. She said she knew it was special right from the very beginning when you brought people together for the toast through song. We also loved the ceremony and appreciate all the care and attention to detail that you worked into each part of it.

Most memorable experience of our lives

Lauren Avinoam

I wanted to say thank you for what was truly one of the most memorable experiences of our lives. I am so grateful that you officiated our spiritual Union and it should be mentioned that we heard from so many people that is was the most moving ceremony they have ever seen and they were loving how personal it was to Sam and I.

Such glorious integrity and conscious attention

Sarah & Ali

Thank you for making our wedding such an exceptionally meaningful and beautiful, tender and fine, vulnerable and strong experience. The time we spent together leading up to the wedding was significant in the best ways, and we felt held and supported by you on the day. Thank you for joining us with such glorious integrity and conscious attention. Thank you for joining the circle of our life. Looking forward to more joyous gatherings!

Annie is a gifted community leader and wedding officiant

Jesse Ovadia and Diana Radulescu

She worked with us to craft an incredibly special and sacred wedding ceremony. She spent time getting to know us individually and as a couple so that she could tailor the ceremony to us and to our families and make it exactly what we wanted to have. She helped us decide what traditions were important for us to keep and in what ways we could make the ceremony our own. She helped make it an extremely enjoyable and memorable experience for us and our guests. Annie has a beautiful, soulful voice and a wonderful grounded presence. She projects love, openness and authenticity. She checked in with us on every aspect of our ceremony to make sure we would be comfortable—what she would say, what language and translations she would use, how she could support us, and what kind of participation we wanted from friends and family. We could not be happier with the final result. Multiple guests told us afterward that it was the most meaningful wedding they had ever attended, and we thank Annie for working with us and going above and beyond in facilitating our wedding.

Packages

Simple & Soulful Wedding

            In Toronto:                 $1111.00 plus transportation

Personal Priestess Wedding

            In Toronto:                 $1999.00 plus transportation

            Out of town:               Ask for pricing

 

Simple & Soulful Wedding Journey

  • Co-creation process with email support and meetings in person, by zoom or by phone including:
    • one session with partners for beginning the journey*
    • online wedding questionnaire
    • guidance for applying for marriage license
    • ceremony co-creation session (up to 90 minutes)**
    • customized, spiritual ceremony woven with your stories and prayers, poems, songs, rituals and intentions from my wide and varied database and experience 
    • final check-in meeting in the last 2 weeks before the wedding day*
    • facilitation of wedding ceremony
    • legal signing and handling of marriage with the Ontario Registrar’s office

Your Investment: $1111

 

Personal Priestess Wedding Journey

  • includes all of the above plus:
    • 90-minute content weaving interviews – one with each partner to get to know language and beliefs about marriage, spirituality, and each other (instead of the questionnaire) *
    • an additional 60-minute ceremony co-creation session with the partners*
    • up to 3 Spiritual Guidance sessions for support through the journey towards marriage as well as other life transitions (e.g. relationship counselling, new job, moving, new baby, family dynamics and more.) *
    • “First Look” or Bedekin ceremony on the wedding day (or other ritual support to a max of 3 hours total of officiating or $222.00 per each additional hour or portion thereof and must be prearranged)
    • vendors and resource recommendations for the wedding and marriage preparation

Your Investment: $1999

Payment plans available.

These services are available on request:

  • co-creation or editing of spiritual marriage contract (Ketubah)
  • text for programme book/explanation of Jewish customs
  • ceremony co-creation and coordination sessions with civil or spiritual co-officiants (if applicable) 
  • calls with family members (as needed) 
  • planning calls with other members of the wedding team

Investment: $222 per service or meeting

 

*Until further notice, all meetings are taking place on Zoom or by phone.

**All additional meetings: $222.00 per hour payable at the time of the meeting.

If you’d like to explore co-creating a deeply meaningful, inclusive and uplifiting ceremony with me, we begin with a conversation. Let’s talk.

 

Click the button below to schedule a call with me to see if working together is a fit.

 

Book your complimentary ceremony consultation here

My daughter was married in a blended ceremony of the Jewish and Christian traditions, with Annie Matan as our Jewish officiant. I think this was probably the most meaningful, moving, inclusive, uplifting ceremony that I have ever witnessed.

Indeed people of both faiths at the wedding kept remarking over and over just how unusual and wonderful it was.

On the simplest level, Annie respected and brought to life fully the wishes of my daughter and son-in-law. But more than that, she made a packed room feel like an intimate gathering: filling the room with the spirits of beloved father and grandparents who had passed away; encouraging guests to share openly the love and good wishes they felt for the couple; gently explaining Jewish tradition to those not of the Jewish faith; showing those of the Jewish faith how our old traditions can be revised and renewed to be relevant in our own time and place; making people feel so at home with her beautiful singing that we, too, joined in joyously and lovingly.

Annie’s fresh approach brought both humour and weight to the ceremony. She cared deeply, not only to express the richness and emotion of the Jewish tradition but also to work hand-in-glove with the Christian officiant to celebrate and officiate as a team – honouring each other’s role and the religions of both families.

The next day my daughter and son-in-law told me that the ceremony was better than either of them had ever imagined. I have been to a few weddings in my time, as had most everyone at the wedding, and we all agreed, this was very special. I cannot recommend Annie highly enough.

Phyllis Cohen

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