“The ceremony was magical...”

Sonia was our officiant for an impromptu marriage ceremony.  I would say from decision to get married to actual ceremony was about one month. Sonia was an excellent guide throughout the process.  Starting with a wonderful meeting in person to really put together the entire ceremony.  She was open to doing it as we wished, was hands off on stuff we were handling, but also took the reigns and ran with it.  She checked in with us periodically to inform us of progress, and see if we had changes. Sonia also did a great job of asking us questions that not only would be worked into the ceremony, but also items for us as partners to discuss in our marriage. The ceremony itself was magical.  Sonia knows how to hold space, and create a special moment that is what the couple fully expected…with some wonderful surprises! We would recommend Sonia with a full heart of love and joy for your ceremony. So much love and light to her.

— Amanda and Adam

The process of working with Sonia is, in itself, a spiritual experience.

We were lucky enough to have Sonia create and perform our wedding ceremony in August of 2014.  Prior to the wedding, she met with us and asked questions that really allowed both of us to explore our spiritual viewpoints and create a meaningful experience for ourselves and our guests.  

We have a blended family and it was important to include the children in the vows, so Sonia suggested that we each collect sand from our favorite beach and, during the family vow, pour our own cup of sand into one large vessel to represent our lives blending and becoming a new unit.  People still tell us that our wedding was one of their favorites because it was so heartfelt and meaningful -  each word, each prayer carefully chosen to reflect our hopes, dreams and beliefs.

We were fortunate enough to work with Sonia again after the birth of our daughter, Emma.  While we wanted to honor my family's Catholic roots with a traditional baptism, we also felt strongly about having a spiritual gathering in our home following the baptism.  Sonia suggested a baby blessing, and we again met with her to create an intimate ceremony that included readings and prayers from a variety of faiths.  This time, we poured a new cup of sand for Emma, gathered from the same beach, into the large vessel from our wedding day (Sonia's idea, of course).  We read a family prayer to welcome our new little blessing into the family circle.  It was perfect.  

Quite simply, Sonia embodies pure love and she brings this to every endeavor.  She is a wise and peaceful resource when helping to create a ceremony.   We especially appreciated her knowledge of all faiths and traditions, which allowed us to create deeply personal moments in our wedding and baby blessing.  There are not enough words to accurately describe how wonderful Sonia is.  We love her and highly recommend her!

— The Boyd Family

We would highly recommend Sonia to everyone!

The process of working with Sonia was awesome.  The way she got to know us, and then make our ceremony one of a kind was truly a gift!
Almost 2 years later, people who were at our ceremony still bring it up.
Sonia guided us along with suggestions, but always gave us the final say on everything that was going into the ceremony.
We wouldn't have changed a moment of the ceremony.  It was everything we wanted and more.  So often you go to a wedding and it doesn't even seem like the officiant knows the couple.  Sonia made it a point to know us on a personal level and it showed throughout the entire ceremony.
We would highly recommend Sonia to everyone!

— Michael & Barbara Farrington

Baby Blessings

“...a beautiful & memorable experience that will last a lifetime.”

"We had the sincerely awesome opportunity to work with Sonia, who guided us in the planning of our son, Finn’s, blessing. Although we are very spiritual, we are not the most religious family and it was a concern of my family’s to not have a traditional baptism. Thanks to Sonia, the process was simplified. She helped us to organize our ideas and point us in the right direction as to what we wanted our baby’s blessing to incorporate. After meeting with us, and emailing back and forth, Sonia was able to handcraft the ceremony to perfectly reflect and fit our personalities.

The blessing ceremony itself was flawlessly delivered, Sonia gave it a very organic and spiritual atmosphere. Her presence is so laid back and peaceful, that it alleviated my anxious nerves to be in front of a large group of our friends and family. We treated the blessing as a celebration of our love for Finn and reflected on our wishes for his success in everything he does in the future. Sonia provided us with such a beautiful and memorable experience, that it will last for a lifetime."

— Jaci and Brian Murphy

Sacred Union & End of Life

“Rev. Sonia is nothing short of a miracle to me..."

She will forever be part of my life story, and her spirituality, sensitivity and sincerity made the most difficult day of my life also the most joyous. When my long-time partner, John, learned he had pancreatic cancer in December 2013, it was just a few weeks after my Father had passed away. I was still reeling from that loss. I decided that I could not give in to losing someone else I loved so much. We were together through all of it. Sixteen months. Surgery. Dialysis. Chemotherapy. In and out of the hospital more times than I can count. And through it all, John remained his positive self. He accepted whatever came his way.

He often took the time to tell me that this, the worst of times for him, was also the best of times for him. We grew closer than we had ever been. In  September 2014, on the 35-year anniversary of the day we met, John asked me to marry him. We planned a spring wedding. When we got the news that he would no longer be able to have chemo treatments, and hospice stepped in to help us, John told them his last wish was for us to be officially joined together.

John kept telling the hospice chaplain he wanted to marry me. He told the hospice nurses, over and over again. His family was scheduled to arrive on Saturday, March 21, 2015. I thought that would be the best day to make our wishes come true. But John kept getting sicker and sicker. The hospice chaplain put me in touch with Sonia. She listened to my story. She pulled together some appropriate sentiments for our interfaith service. On Thursday evening, March 19, I called her to let her know that John was a rapid spiral downward. She decided to take a half day off work on Friday to come and perform the ceremony at our home. She said she would return on Saturday to do it again after the family arrived. This is just a small example of her compassion and her caring. If it had not been for Sonia, our miracle would never have happened.

Then, Mother Nature also intervened. Snow, and a lot of it, was predicted for Friday. John’s family moved their plans up and arrived an hour or so before Sonia did….they were all there for our beautiful ceremony. After 35 years of knowing each other and 18 years together, John and I were finally able to complete our destiny, with Sonia’s help. Three hours after Sonia joined us together forever, my beloved John passed from this earth. Sonia made it possible for his last wish --our last wish-- to come true.  So…you can see why Sonia is much more than a reverend. In my book, she is an angel.

Months later, I held a memorial service for John. I asked Sonia to help me find a verse to close out my eulogy. She delivered this….and I ended my remarks with it. It was pitch perfect.

“Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul, there is no separation.” - Rumi

— Angela Buonocore Wilkins

Memorials

"She gave us a moment in time, that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives"

If you’ve landed on this site and are reading some of the remarkable acknowledgments to Rev. Sonia, I can assure you, there are not enough sentiments to capture the true meaning of her glorious spirit.

This past year has been a true anomaly for me, I’ve lost several family members all in a very short period of time and during all these times, I’ve never been more grateful to have Sonia to turn to.  When my nephew Jaime passed away, his death was sudden and completely unexpected.   My family and I turned to Sonia for spiritual guidance and to help prepare and conduct a service of remembrance for a light too quickly gone.  She was amazing, kindly and gently helping assemble a service that combined moments which would both sooth our sadness and yet celebrate Jaime’s life.

Sonia prepared a lovely sermon, speaking of why we all gather in these moments.  To not only grieve, which is part of the process but to all share in the grief to help support each other and bring us all together.  She asked people to come forward and share special memories of Jaime, many of which brought laugher through the tears.  And she asked us to all remember that the light that lived in Jaime would forever live in our hearts and we would always have him near through our memories of him.

Messages were written on the balloons and released into the glorious summer sky.  With tears in our eyes, we all turned toward each other, embraced, knowing, feeling, Jaime was smiling down on us.

Sonia’s gentle voice, soothing words and generosity of spirit helped us all feel connected with Jaime and we each other that night. She gave us a moment in time that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.

—M S

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