About Me

Mom Best Black

I believe in the power of love…
I feel awed by the rhythm of life
I am deeply moved when people gather
to share their most meaningful moments.

I’m a teacher and writer by profession, and I have a special connection to nature, having worked as an environmental educator at a California wilderness preserve for several years. The very first ceremonies I created were “Welcome to Earth” ceremonies for each of my three sons, held beside Adobe Creek in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

From those personal ceremonies, I began creating and officiating services to celebrate the lives of church and community members who had died. Then, with the encouragement and support of friends and loved ones, I began studying at the Celebrant Foundation and Institute. My own children—who have always believed that people have the right to love whom they will—were especially excited that I would be able to perform weddings for all committed couples.

It is a tremendous honor and privilege to work with my clients to find the words, music, poetry, and rituals that best express what is in their hearts and minds. For me, it’s a passion…and a calling.

 

“Celebrations of the changing fabric of our lives can help us to grow.
They are needed as much now as they were in the old days.”
—Sun Bear, founder of The Bear Tribe Medicine Society