We are writing to express our deepest gratitude and appreciation for your invaluable presence and guidance during Sunny’s and Mary Kate’s Hindu wedding ceremony. The blessings and mantras you chanted, coupled with your genuine warmth and kindness, made us feel truly blessed to have you officiate the wedding. Your words of wisdom and guidance during the Vedic readings left a profound impact on both the couple and all the attendees, reminding us of the sanctity of marriage and the importance of love, respect, and commitment.
We were particularly impressed by your ability to explain the rituals and their symbolic meanings in a manner that was easily understandable for everyone, regardless of their familiarity with Hindu traditions. The harmony and unity experienced by everyone in attendance were testaments to your remarkable ability to create an inclusive and welcoming environment.
On behalf of the Roccato and Seetharam families, we extend our heartfelt gratitude for your invaluable contribution to Sunny’s and Mary Kate’s Hindu wedding ceremony.
May you continue to inspire and bless others through your noble service.
With heartfelt thanks and warm regards,
— Shobha & Ram, Carol & Dan
(San Diego, May 2023)
Hare Krishna. I’m happy to hear the return flight went well! It was truly our pleasure having you perform our wedding ceremony. You really exceeded our expectations and we are confident we made the best decision to work with you.
I speak on behalf of myself, Aarti, our families, and our guests when I say you did an amazing job! We received so much positive feedback on how you performed the whole wedding. Everyone felt so connected with the ceremony and learned so much about the beauty of it all. We were pleased with the whole thing, our families were also extremely happy with it all, and working with you in general leading up to and after the wedding was a great experience. We are so happy with how you collaborated with us and we are so appreciative of your patience and understanding when the cancellation with the inbound flight happened. You were so prepared and extremely considerate to do whatever you could to arrive in time.
Considering every single part of the planning and execution of the wedding, from sharing the ceremony template with us, and the item list, and the way you performed the ceremony in a way that everyone was able to follow, there is no doubt in our minds that you are definitely the best officiant we could have worked with. Even with the extra effort required with a destination wedding, we were very pleased with the whole process and you did so much to make our lives easier, and we think you’d be amazing for any destination wedding. We know for certain that any time someone we know is going to have a Hindu wedding ceremony, we will be happily recommending you as an officiant. We cannot thank you enough for making our wedding ceremony a beautiful, successful, and memorable experience for not just Aarti and me, but for all of our guests as well. We really appreciate you!
— Take care, Saajan and Aarti
(Costa Mujeres, MX wedding, February 2022)
Our Thank you to you – really is one of the most important ones from the entire event/vendor list. Thank you for being so patient in your responses to us via email. The moment you sent us templates of ceremonies, immediately, Raja and I were so relieved. We have been to many weddings, where one of us was completely in the dark, or both of us were. We had been to weddings where the Priest was able to personalize the ceremony to the couple, and engage the crowd at the same time – and when planning a destination wedding – this was one of the things we were most nervous about – finding the right officiant/priest! You absolutely delivered on this, and far exceeded our expectations/hopes! It was so important to us to feel that we were doing our wedding ceremony in a way that reflects how we manage our day to day, seamlessly molding our two selves into one life together, incorporating what’s important to us, and understanding exactly what we are doing every step of the way.
Thank you for setting the time aside for phone/video calls with both of our parents to understand what was important to each of them, and thank you for promptly sending us an updated template for us to review. Thank you for the suggestions along the way about the cloth being held up, or even how we would be seated. Thank you for going through it again with me in detail at the end, and again, for not just explaining things on the phone, but also again in person, and even making suggestions for the program wording. Thank you for making us smile and laugh, and thank you for engaging our guests, and making them a part of every step of our wedding ceremony. Thank you for incorporating vows for us in English, and for saying the prayers in Sanskrit. We felt so complete and fulfilled at the end of our wedding ceremony, as did our families. Thank you for coordinating seamlessly with the rest of our vendors/planners. Thank you for your blessings at the wedding.
We received so many compliments on the day of, and the weeks after, about the ceremony, how it was carried out, how much people enjoyed it, how much people learned, and how well things were explained. Even some of our family members who are far more conservative, and a few of my relatives from India – were in awe of how well it was explained and executed, and mentioned that they themselves didn’t know how to explain some of the traditions. They were stunned to see that you were acquainted with the ceremonial traditions and steps for both a Telugu, Bhrahmin, Hindu Ceremony and also Jain, Rajasthani/North Indian Ceremony. The personalization/individualization of the ceremony to us was truly something we will cherish forever. We are so fortunate to have had the opportunity to have you perform our wedding ceremony. Thank you again —
— With much love and appreciation,
Swati & Raja – Temecula, CA 2022
“Thank you so much for conducting such a beautiful wedding ceremony for Parinda and Robin. We appreciate that you travelled all the way from San Diego. All of us thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed the ceremony. A number of relatives and guests have sent their complements on how the mantras were so clear, and their meaning explained very well. We will remember and cherish this wedding for a long time to come. Please let us know if you are back in the Bay Area, and we can be of assistance in any way.”
— Ashwin and Nila
“We absolutely loved the ceremony and most importantly we received nothing by compliments from each and every guest. They were stunned and impressed and most of all they said you really portrayed the combination of love, culture, virtue, spirituality, and humor. Thank you for your blessings and being part of such a memorable day which we will always hold so dearly. Hare Krishna.”
— Nimisha and Jayant
Dharmasetu,
You have an incredible way with words. Your control of the crowd during the Milni as well as your control of the room during our ceremony made our experience infinitely more memorable. Additionally, the explanations you provided allowed for a much more meaningful marriage experience. You have our highest praise. We will be excited to see you again in the future on the other side of the ceremony!
— JSK
With love,
Catherine & Milan Columbus, OH 2024
Hare Krishna Pundit Ji,
Thank you so much for the wonderful ceremony you performed for us. We were so pleased with the warmth, compassion, and humor you brought to the ceremony along with the respect you paid to the traditions and slokas recited. You were so gracious in taking our edits to modernize the ceremony while staying true to the Hindu meaning, and we appreciate that so much! Everyone in attendance raved about how warm and welcoming everything felt and how for many people, this was the first Indian ceremony they actually understood and paid attention 😊 Both our families were also so grateful that you embraced the intimacy of the ceremony and made everyone feel so included. Thank you again and please let me know if you ever need a referral or a testimonial as we’d be more than happy to provide that!
Best, — Anil and Hema
Prabhu Dhamasetu Das,
The wedding turned out to be one of best the guests have ever experienced—as expressed by all the guests. I also have never witnessed such a pin-drop silence and such attentive guests during the Indian wedding—that’s the testament as to how good you performed the wedding. In a nutshell, it was simply marvelous.
I, on behalf of my family, wanted to express our sincere gratitude to you for coming out to New Orleans and demonstrating to the guests, from all sorts of backgrounds, that how beautiful a Hindu wedding can be.
Hare Krishna!
Ranjit Patel-father of the groom
(January 2023)
Hi Dharmasteu Ji,
Thank you so much for marrying us! It went so well and we loved all your jokes and the lighthearted way you lead us through the ceremony. Both of our families throughly enjoyed the ceremony and felt like a part of it thanks to your great explanations. We had so many family members pull us aside to let us know how great of a job you did and how beautiful the ceremony was. Thank you so much!
Best, — Natalie and Zach
Jai Shri Krishna Dharmasetu Das,
We have just returned to San Francisco after our mini-moon. We just wanted to reach out and truly thank you for the incredible job you did. We have started to receive some feedback from family and friends from all over the world who were so impressed by the ceremony. As we start to reflect back on the day Paige and I never had a doubt of how great you were as we had gone thru the full ceremony with you many times. However to bring it all to life was truly your gift to us. We are so thankful for the thoroughness of it all, how you were able to engage not only all of us who were there but also all the people who were there remotely via zoom. In addition to providing context and understanding of the ceremony for all of our guests was very much appreciated. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, we will always remember the ceremony as well as you!
We very much hope to see you again soon, hopefully up here in the bay area.
Please let us know if there is someplace where we can provide a review as we would be happy to articulate our amazing experience with you on any platform. Thanks again for mailing the wedding licence in for us.
— Kind regards, Sheil & Paige
“Dear Ujjayan & Saumi,
Wanted you to know that as always I enjoyed the Satyanarayan Katha conducted in your home by Dharmasetu das from San Diego. I truly relish the way he explains the simple yet profound tales and the incessant, complex implications of our human deeds and their effects. For true peace and sanity’s sake the need for humility, honesty and simple minded devotion is paramount in a world gone crazy with arrogance of human creativity, feats and technology. .. Please convey my deepest regards to the adorably cleansed Prabhu…..so fortunately close to Lord Krishna….Hari….Govinda….Narayan.”
— Jyotishko-da
“I just wanted to send you a quick thank you for being wonderful at our wedding last weekend!!!! You were amazing and the ceremony was perfect!!!! William and I were thrilled that you were able to perform on such short notice. Everyone loved you and you made it very special!! I think most importantly the ceremony was exactly us!! I know my mother has kept your info to pass on to other mothers for their children’s weddings!!!! Again thank you so much!!
PS: my in laws keep talking about how beautiful the ceremony was and that they want us to have ceremonies with you and our family often;-)”
— Jyotika
“We had a lovely peaceful experience with our Griha Parevsa. Everyone gave their undivided attention at all times due to Dharmasetu Das' eloquent and interactive way of proceeding with the puja. It was a great pleasure to see individuals who had no background in Indian culture saying "Om Shanti" repeatedly without requesting for their involvement. Everyone had a great memorable time. Thank you so much Dharmasetu Das for your blessings and time.”
— Drs. Amit and Avani Gupta
“I’ve seen so many pandits perform weddings, but you are special, how you explain everything and are so easy to work with… I told my husband that when our daughter gets married I want Dharmasetu to perform the ceremony.”
— Veena (Krushna Mandap and Decorations)
Mirada, CA.
“You performed our daughter’s wedding ceremony with love and humor, with spirit and divinity. It was beautifully done. The whole event was flawless. We are truly grateful to you for accepting our invitation and for blessing the newlyweds. Thank you from the bottom of our heart.”
— Rekha and Lalit Savla
“Brintika and I want to send our sincere thanks and deep appreciation for your service that was rendered to my brother as his last rite. Your kind words, devotion to Krishna and His messages are very comforting, uplifting, and brought a genuine peace in us. Today’s service much have been felt by my brother’s consciousness in heaven. Thank you again.”
— Bobby Purkait
Thank you pandit ji for the beautiful ceremony and also officiating the vows.
Our friends had a wonderful time witnessing the ceremonies and they left some incredibly thoughts and reflections about our ceremony. Sharing a few here and we hope this brightens your day just like it did ours :)
“This was the most meaningfully explained Hindu ceremony I have ever witnessed. Especially because our kids born in the States never understand the meaning of the rituals and now they do. Thank you for doing that - it was beautiful and inclusive”
“This was a beautiful amalgamation of Western and Indian ceremonies and the pandit ji made it very easy to follow and the explanations helped understand the significance of the ceremony”
“We loved how the pandit ji explained the part about the cosmic calendar and sending the message to the ethos of your union. We felt that was so beautiful and meaningful “
We have so many more of us heartfelt messages all of which conveyed how thoughtfully you reeled in the crowd and helped us signify the meaning of why we wanted the ceremony in English and Sanskrit.
We will forever remember this ceremony and have your delightful and positive energy and kindness to thank for it!
Hare Krishna Pandit ji!
Namaste,
Soneri and Amogh,
"Thank you for making our wedding so memorable. We are appreciative of your craft and the passion you put into your work.
We hope our paths cross again and are happy to refer you to any of our friends. Everyone at our wedding really appreciated you. Now we can understand why you are booked up in 2024.
We are especially grateful you took the time to explain each tradition to our guests. Thank you for looking out for us and being amazing."
Best wishes,
— Sabin and Pooja
(San Diego wedding 2024)
“Thank you very much for the engagement puja, it was done very nicely and we all enjoyed it. It was our pleasure to have you do it.”
— Chaitali
“Thank you for the wonderful Diwali experience. Your puja is very inspirational. My family and I love the way you conduct them. Thank you also very much for the gifts that you gave all of us.”
— Mukesh
“Our family and friends wish you a special thank you for the excellent puja you performed at our home. Everyone of us felt the presence of Laksmi Narayana Dev. The house feels so peaceful and we deeply feel Lord Krishna’s divine grace with us at all times. Thank you once again.”
— Ranjana and family
“First of all I would like to thank you for such a beautiful sraddha ceremony and wonderful presents. We enjoyed very much and definitely we will be coming every year for this ceremony. Now we are really happy. This ceremony is the most powerful ceremony. Again we are so grateful to you.”
— Gisela
“Wow! Sharing in our wedding with you was an amazing and beautiful experience…I absolutely loved our ceremony and it could not have been more meaningful to us…Thank you for creating a one of a kind and beautiful moment we will treasure for the rest of our lives. We are indebted to you.”
— Anasuya and Andy
“Thank you for the guidance and support in our time of need. We’ve never had to deal with a situation such as this and we are grateful that we could call upon you.”
— The Bajpai family
“First of all, thank you very much, from Dilip and myself, for such a beautiful engagement puja for Vishal and Bhavani. Everyone was so happy to be there. There was such a peaceful and pure atmosphere that day at the Temple.”
— Ranjana and Dilip
“We cannot thank you enough for the beautiful niskrama puja you did for Avinash, and your continuous blessings on our family. The puja was absolutely perfect, and I have to tell you that with your blessings, Avinash slept through that night, it was fantastic!
— Ravi and Neha
“Your guidance throughout the planning process and the thoughtful ceremony you conducted was wonderful. I appreciate you traveling such a distance to be part of the wedding…It was a pleasure working with you…I look forward to the opportunity again soon!”
— Karli Tanner, CMP, Simply Mumtaz,
Los Angeles
“ It was such a beautiful ceremony – our guests loved it – and most of all we felt it was a perfect combination of spirituality, ritual, love, and friendship.”
— Vanessa and Steve
“We all enjoyed the mudan ceremony. My father said: this was a better experience then the one’s in India.”
— Dilen G.
“We want to thank you for performing my mother’s pooja and invoking blessings and auspiciousness for her final journey. It was a profound and moving experience…Thank you again for your excellent, very caring service.”
— Sandhya and family
Jai Jinendra and Hare Krishna Panditji,
Thank you for performing our Jain wedding ceremony with such grace, beauty, patience and compassion. The level of care and attention to detail you have to ensure that the ceremony outline follows what the couple and family want is much appreciated. From the first call we had with you, we knew that we would be working with someone who would perform our ceremony with a level of calm that is much needed on an otherwise chaotic day. The ceremony was beautiful, and your explanations of each step were so enlightening. One of the best compliments we received was from guests sharing that this was the first Indian wedding ceremony that they paid attention to throughout the entirety of the ceremony. For anyone who is considering working with you, we would give our strongest recommendation! Thank you for blessing us for the beginning of our new life together.
— Neelam & Vatsal
Long Beach, CA
July 2024
“First of all I would like to thank you for such a beautiful sraddha ceremony and wonderful presents. We enjoyed very much and definitely we will be coming every year for this ceremony. Now we are really happy. This ceremony is the most powerful ceremony. Again we are so grateful to you.”
— Gisela