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Celebrate your love and commitment to each other in a special, meaningful, and joyful ceremony. Together we will create a personalized ceremony that reflects exactly who you are as individuals and as a couple, and that expresses your unique love story.
My extensive knowledge of multicultural ritual and celebration insures that the ceremonies I design can speak to all belief systems and cultural practices. No matter how diverse your gathering, everyone will feel included and enriched.
JOYFUL NUPTIALS
• Spiritual
• Secular
• Interfaith
• Multicultural
Common Ceremonial Elements can include:
• Hand Fasting
• Broom Jumping
• Candle Lighting
• Tree Planting
• Ring, Crown, Flower Exchanges
Unique Personalized Additions can be created Especially for You.
This is your special day. Let us work together to create a magical, meaningful, magnificent celebration of your unique relationship.
Planning a less formal ceremony?
Get married in Mama Donna's Chapel of Love! My stunning multicultural ceremonial space is now available for intimate weddings with up to 30 guests. I am also comfortable officiating weddings in a wide variety of locales from the sublime to the silly! Budget friendly.
Contact me for details and to reserve your complimentary 30-minute session. In person or by phone.
Fees vary depending upon the complexity of the ritual, supplies required, location, and number of attendees.
Please contact me by email or call 718-857-1343 to discuss your ceremonial needs.
We had our wedding on the boardwalk of Coney Island on what happened to be the busiest day ever. While gathering the party proved incredibly difficult in the dense crowd Donna remained poised and calming even after we had to change the location. The service itself was beautiful and was so much more than I had imagined. She delivered a beautiful ceremony in the middle of a lot of chaos and we were touched to have her play such an integral role in our wedding.
—Adam and Marlaina, Brooklyn, NY
Donna was incredibly accommodating, and helped us put together the exact ceremony we wanted. Her help leading up to the day itself was indispensable. She was very professional during planning and execution and was a very genuine, helpful and encouraging officiant, who delivered a very heartfelt and memorable ceremony. Her personality was so delightful that we wish we could've spent more time with her!
— Melissa and Pierre, Manhattan, NY
On behalf of my lovely wife and me, we can surely say that for any couple looking to tie the knot this is one the best experiences that you will never forget! Mrs. Donna's professionalism and kind tender heart ensure that you and your mate will have the best wedding that you have never dreamed would be possible. As a man, seeing your bride walk down in her wedding dress will melt your heart! And Mrs. Donna will be right there by your side. So what are you all waiting for? Your dream can come true Mrs. Donna's Urban Wedding is best for any crowd. She is the grandmother of weddings! My wife and I will never forget the day we set foot there in her own private Chapel of love. John 3:16
— Derek and Sandra, Brooklyn, NY
The best of the best. PERIOD. Mama Donna saved our wedding, even though on short notice she was able pull out a miracle for us. Thank you so much for the blessings Mama Donna . Thanks for bringing joy to us and making the very special moment of our union to happen. Very, very appreciated. Biggest THANK YOU EVER! God bless you. Highly recommended!
— Vilana and Branko, Brooklyn, NY
We could not have chosen a better officiant. Everything was just as we had wished, we booked Donna for a small ceremony at the Statue of Liberty and it took place on Valentines Day, which I believe was the coldest day in New York for 100 years. This posed no problems to Donna though. We discussed the ceremony and vows before the day via email. Then we arranged to meet in Battery Park. We then got the ferry across to the Statue and proceeded to find a spot we liked for the ceremony. We chose to get married inside the Statue by the old torch, as we had decided it was too cold (-15) outside. Donna married us and the ceremony she had written was perfect for us and reflected many of our thoughts. Donna also brought her assistant to take some photographs for us. All in all she was excellent and extremely good value, especially as it included her assistant. We were supported from start to finish with licenses, etc. We would definitely recommend Donna to any one.
— Julia and Simon, Newcastle, UK
Mama Donna is great! She gave us the wedding we wanted and more. My partner and I are a non traditional couple and I especially didn't want to have any sort of traditional wedding. Mama Donna sat down with us twice (though if we needed more meetings, she said that we could have them) to discuss us as a couple, our vision for the wedding. I knew her before from other activities (which is why my hubby to be and I wanted her to officiate), but she took the time to ask questions, listen to us and understand us better. When the day came, she met with us beforehand to discuss what was going to happen and then did her thing! Because of Mama Donna, we had a warm, inclusive celebratory ceremony that exceeded our expectations. Because some of our families are more traditional, I thought that they might be put off by our spiritual rather than religious, feminist rather than patriarchal, non traditional rather than conventional ceremony. But I heard nothing but love and praises. Mama Donna, with our help, created a beautiful ceremony that reflected who we are as a couple. I highly recommend Mama Donna for your wedding!
— Kim and Reggie, Brooklyn, NY
We could not be happier with Donna's services as our wedding officiant. We felt very comfortable with her right away, almost as if she were a member of our family! We wanted a spiritual, but non-religious ceremony that would incorporate some elements of a traditional Greek Orthodox wedding. Our ceremony turned out better than we could have ever imagined and our guests were raving about it. I still get compliments about how beautiful it was. We will cherish these memories always. Thank you, Donna!
— Susannah and Patrick, Manhattan, NY
My fiancé found Mama Donna when we were searching for an officiant for our elopement ceremony - after the austere experience we had getting the marriage license we didn't want a ceremony confined between four walls and wanted to hold our ceremony in open air, in Prospect Park. We found a nice spot and contacted Donna with our intention and she was very responsive and happy to comply with our wishes and location. She also accommodated our wish to have an interfaith marriage ceremony, with vows of our choices read during the rite. We were even late, and she was kind enough to wait for our friends and setup, for which we were grateful to her. The ceremony was short but meaningful, she read her ceremony and our vows and gave us her blessings and we felt most happy. My bride fiancé was most beautiful that day. Then we signed the license, she mailed it and the next week we received the official marriage certificate with our most unique location mentioned on it.
— Irina and Ilya, Brooklyn, NY
We just marked the one-year anniversary since our elopement ceremony in Prospect Park. Mama Donna was the officiant. We booked her on short notice, as our plans almost got scrapped. But we decided to go for it anyways. Our wedding party looked more like a picnic with just few friends and family members. But this was exactly what we wanted, in full-blown nature. Donna gave us her blessings and our marriage is going strong one year later.
— Irina and Ilya
My husband and I were married a few weeks ago by Mama Donna and we couldn't have asked for a more professional, warm, and attentive ceremonial officiant! Though we had given some thought to what we wanted for our special day, during our planning meetings, Mama D came ready with all the right questions which guided us to think about aspects of the ceremony we hadn't given shape to yet. She actively listened to our ideas of what we absolutely wanted, and also provided us with ideas and suggestions that inspired us to craft a ceremony that was a true expression of who we are as a couple. At our reception, and in the weeks to follow, so many of our friends and family told us that our wedding was one of the most beautiful, meaningful, and memorable ceremonies they had ever been a part of and we agree 100%! We highly recommend Mama D - her vibrancy, wisdom, and lightness of spirit was a blessing to us on our wedding day!
— Beth and Harry, Brooklyn, NY
I was together with Kurt, my future husband for 13 years, but as a radical feminist, I had no interest in marriage. But when he suggested we get married by a female spiritual ritualist, I knew exactly who to call: Mama Donna Henes, the Urban Shaman. I liked her commitment to social issues of justice and equality for all, and her deep knowledge of spiritual traditions. She liked our incorporation of poetry from Sappho and worked in her own poem from the late Adrienne Rich. She did a traditional Hand Fasting ceremony by tying our arms together with a gold cord on a pink altar to Aphrodite. She does quality work: we are happily married now, and have enjoyed 27 years together.
— Ann and Kurt
As a wedding planner I've worked with Donna twice, and both experiences have been wonderful.
She brings her unique voice to weddings that she officiates, but expresses great detail about each individual couple.
— Jason Mitchell Kahn, Wedding and Social Events Planner, Shiraz Events
Mama Donna performed our wedding ceremony and it was so beautiful, our guests as well as both my wife and I, still talk about it 3 years later. We plan on renewing our vows in 2 years and yes, no one but, Mama Donna, could continue to bless our union. We use the oil she gave us to renew in our spirits, our love for one another. We have had some difficult times, but our Love has been steadfast, thanks to the blessings that spoken over us!! We even had uninvited guests at our wedding that was also moved to tears, because of the love they witnessed and the ceremony. (New York Central Park, English Garden in the summertime!!!) She is awesome!!!
— Dorien and Terri, Detroit, MI
Thank you so much once again! Your contribution to making our wedding special was incomparable and highly appreciated by everybody!
— Egidio and Nikos, Mikonos, Greece
We love what you created for our wedding! And so did our guests. Although we were both very reluctant to have any type of traditional ceremony, you helped us customize something very personal and unique to celebrate our marriage with our friends and family. You guided us through incorporating just enough elements from our different backgrounds while still helping us to create something new for ourselves. The ceremony was so lovely - we can't thank you enough!
— Darren and Peter, New York, NY
My husband and I aren’t exactly religious people, but we agreed we wanted something special and spiritual without being “overly Catholic” or “overly Pagan.” What we got was more amazing than we could have ever imagined. Mama Donna was easy to work with and through her experience and professionalism; she was able to understand the vision of what we wanted for our ceremony. She put together a beautiful ceremony that was unique to our personalities, with a sprinkling of poetic words from her about marriage and about us. Mama Donna came up with great ideas to involve our friends and family, and also flawlessly improvised on the spot when one of our ceremony tools went missing! It was everything we wanted and more. We received so many compliments on the ceremony that day and still continue to get them! It was truly perfect.
— Isabel and Kevin, New Rochelle, NY
We want to thank you for the lovely ceremony you performed! It was wonderful and moving and we are both so happy with our wedding. We have such great memories, and cherish all the advice, love, ideas, and handholding you did with us before the wedding, when we were planning the ceremony. We really liked that part as well, and it was great to see how it all came together and made sense with the ritual involving all of the senses included. The ceremony itself was more amazing then we imagined. It was everything we wished for multiplied. You are wonderful, and such a generous, strong and very loving presence. It was an amazing event. We feel VERY fortunate to have found you! Love,
— Marieken and Scott, New York, NY
We can’t thank you enough for the beautiful ceremony you created for our wedding. It was absolutely perfect in every way. Our married life will always be blessed by the joyous spirit of that day. We thank you from the bottom of our entwined hearts.
— Sarah and Erica, Washington, CT
Thank you a million times for the amazing ceremony on the beach that you performed at our wedding. When we jumped the broom, we really felt that we were leaping into our new life together. And it was a perfect ritual element that blended our African and Celtic heritages. With love from a very happily married couple,
— Wednesday and Brian, Brooklyn, NY
Mama Donna's Tea Garden & Healing Haven, PO Box 380403,
Exotic Brooklyn, NY 11238-0403,
CityShaman@aol.com, 718-857-1343
Copyright © 2018 Donna Henes. All Rights Reserved.