The People Behind the Ceremonies
We’re Tracy and Sam—the creative partnership behind Linden Grove Occasions.
We see a wedding ceremony through two different lenses. Sam sees the scene. Tracy finds the words and brings them to life.
Together, we think about far more than what will be said. We consider what your guests will see, when they'll laugh, when the room should grow quiet, where a story should turn, and when the most powerful thing we can do is simply let a moment breathe.
That combination of storytelling, design, and performance is at the heart of every Linden Grove ceremony.
And while we take that work very seriously, we have an enormous amount of fun doing it.
Tracy Schottenstein, MDiv
Officiant · Storyteller · Ceremony Designer
Long before Linden Grove, Tracy was creating meaningful experiences through words, ritual, and the art of gathering people together.
She earned a master's degree in Biblical Studies and was ordained in 2010, spending 14 years in Christian ministry. That experience gave her something far broader than a knowledge of traditional ceremonies: years of experience in liturgical and worship design—understanding how words, ritual, movement, silence, music, and story work together to create meaning.
Today, she brings those skills to ceremonies created for couples of every faith, tradition, identity, and worldview.
As a storyteller and officiant, Tracy doesn't simply read what has been written. She performs it. She understands when to pause and let the laughter come, when to soften her voice, when an emotional moment needs room to breathe, and when the attention should move away from the officiant entirely and belong to the two people standing in front of her.
Her goal is never to sound like she's telling your story.
It's to make the room feel like they're inside it.
Samuel Schottenstein
Creative Design Lead
Sam sees ceremonies cinematically.
With a background in film at NYU and more than two decades in education as a teacher, professor, and educational consultant, he brings an unusual combination of visual storytelling, curiosity, and creative problem-solving to Linden Grove.
Where Tracy often begins with words, Sam sees the scene around them: how people move through a space, what guests will experience, how an unexpected detail can become meaningful, and how an idea can become a moment no one has seen at another wedding.
He's particularly at home creating custom unity ceremonies and rituals from seemingly ordinary pieces of a couple's life—because sometimes the smallest detail tells the biggest story.
Together, Sam and Tracy challenge each other's ideas, find the moments worth lingering over, and keep asking the question at the center of every ceremony they create:Does this feel unmistakably like them?
