Your Personal Ceremony

10/04/2025

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07/07/2024

Two Your Personal Ceremony weddings today - at 9 am out at Ponzi Vineyards and at 8 pm in our home. The first was a destination wedding - a couple from Georgia chose to zoom their Oregon wedding to family and friends from a well established vineyard. Given the heat it was fortunate that the winery booked them for early morning before they officially opened. Lovely, heartfelt personal vows was the centerpiece of the ceremony with wedding celebrant Joan Levine officiating. The couple brought a small quaich to drink from to bless their past, present and future.

The evening wedding was “let’s just sign the certificate” given the intensity of the heat. Yet once inside our home they signed, exchanged rings and spontaneous words from their hearts.

May both couples have many happy years together!

05/09/2024

Portlanders! In need of hands on physical therapy and energy work?
Below is posting from Dr. Autumn LeBank who is now working at both the Fanno Creek Clinic and MBody Health in NW..

Read on:

Ready to tune up your instrument? Pay attention to nagging pains that get in the way of your dance? Of your life?

Come get some physical therapy from a community member and charge your insurance!
(Sadly not OHP)

💆‍♀️🦋🏋️‍♀️

I do hands on work, energy work, and lots of therapeutic exercise and diagnostics.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6uIcPQPeYY/?igsh=OTAwMnZsajJwdHg1

There are 2 clinics where you can find me.

In SW pdx
https://fannocreek.com

In NW pdx MBody Health

https://www.wembodyhealth.com

Mbody Health Here’s to your health. Here’s to a place that puts people in front of profits.And here is where health care professionals come to do the best work of their lives.Mbody. Now open. Here we go. What we believe. Health care is a team sport mBody is fully integrated—and every provider ...

11/06/2023

Saturday Your Personal Ceremony Wedding Celebrants Yehudah Winter and Joan Levine performed a lovely ceremony - including a small bamboo tree planting and handfasting - marrying Melanie, dressed in green and Brendan dressed in blue. Earth and water marrying! And it didn’t rain in the Mcmenamin’s Kennedy School courtyard!

09/05/2023

Your Personal Ceremony Wedding Celebrant, Yehudah Winter, officiated the wedding ceremony of Gianna & Ray this past Saturday at the Shakespeare Garden of the Portland Rose Garden. Despite the very hot weather all went well. Much luck to this wonderful couple!
(Photos by Joanie Levine)

08/27/2023

Thrilled to be featured on EvePla, a leading platform connecting clients with top-notch event planning services worldwide. Check out our profile to see how we turn visions into unforgettable experiences, one event at a time: https://www.evepla.com/US/Portland/320969700789/Your-Personal-Ceremony"

Do you want to co-create the ceremony of your dreams with a wedding officiant? Would you like the w

08/10/2023

We, Yehudah and Joanie, co-officiated a lovely Jewish wedding ceremony at Ainsworth House and Gardens in Oregon City last weekend. Ironically, the following day we attended a Celebration of Life for a friend at the same location and so saw the place from a different angle - Both heartfelt, lovely events -

08/05/2023

Wedding rehearsal today at Ainsworth House and Gardens in Oregon City. Yehudah and I are co-officiating plus lots of people doing blessings, readings. Tomorrow is wedding ceremony!

Ainsworth House & Gardens is Portland, Oregon’s premier full-service, indoor/outdoor wedding and private event venue.

08/01/2023

Your Personal Ceremony Officiant Yehudah Winter is performing a Jewish Interfaith wedding ceremony at the Kennedy School tomorrow afternoon. Rehearsal was at the St. John’s Pub upstairs - crowded, noisy with both family from out-of-town and sweet and cooperative young crowd - all feasting on tater tots and beer. Salads did come first!

07/31/2023

Yesterday I co-officiated a Hindu-Jewish wedding ceremony with Swami Jagadishwarananda (of the Brahma Premananda Ashram/Temple in Tigard) at Jenkins Estate in Beaverton, OR. It was truly an amazing wedding, with 2 days of gatherings before the actual wedding. Friday eve we attended a combined Sangeet-Shabbat dinner at Crystal Springs Rhodie Garden. Many received henna designs on hands and arms, including us.

The wedding began with the groom on a very well decorated horse! Of course! Just like in India! With drums and fanfare….a huge crowd surrounding him (the groom is Jewish). Will post photos later as I didn’t take many day of but will get from photographer.

Swami-Ji clocked the ceremony at one hour - considering we interwove Jewish ritual into the Hindu - and spoke of the similarities, including between the Mandap and Chuppah - both structures under which brides and grooms marry - The Swami and I co-officiated 2 other ceremonies over the years, so we’re delighted to work together again.

275 guests from all over the country and the world mingled together, danced the hora, the bride and groom had well rehearsed their Bollywood-style first dance, we all danced to “we are family!” Swaggat food was served buffet style. Scrumptious! I enjoyed being at a table with family members from Delhi, Iowa and CA.

Such an amazing evening!

Blessings to the amazing couple - Jonah and Nirali - and looking forward to another wedding next weekend.

I am taking on very few weddings this summer - as they require so much energy, especially these large affairs. Delighted to have been involved in this one.

Will include here the not great photos I took of the now empty mandap/chuppah, some dance photos and their ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) executed by the groom’s father. Plus a cool one of DJ Anjali (winds up she is good friends with one of Yehudah’s sons).

07/11/2023

YPC Wedding Celebrant Joanie Levine just married a Cambodian couple in their backyard, decorated with balloons and flowers! Simple, traditional. Lots of family and friends in attendance. Great food!

07/11/2023

Native-Jewish wedding ceremony co-officiated by Yehudah Winter and Head Woman of Cowlitz Tribe at Horning’s Hideout.