Wedding Officiants Near Me

Your officiant will play a vital role in your ceremony. Not only will they officially marry you, but they’ll often set the tone for the day. Creating a mood for the occasion. Which is why, when not having a courthouse wedding, you should consider carefully the officiant you select for your big day.

For those who do not follow any kind of religion, but want their wedding ceremony to feel meaningful, personal. An officiant is typically what couples would look for. Someone who can officially marry them, but without it feeling scripted. A ceremony created for, and about the couple, using stories and anecdotes to paint a picture of their love story.

Officiants can perform religious ceremonies, and this is particularly useful when couples come from two different faiths. As it allows both of them to celebrate each other’s backgrounds’, without forgetting their own. This type of ceremony is especially meaningful to those who would not be allowed to marry in their place of worship if their partner did not convert.

The LGBTQIA+ community also often finds solace and support through wedding officiants. Discovering that the service they provide is much more fluid, and open to ideas, than a typical religious or state run setting. Meaning, couples of all races, and backgrounds feel free to be themselves within a space that has been personalized to make them feel special.

As officiants play such a significant, and personal role in a ceremony, it’s vital you meet a potential vendor in person before the event, and make sure you gel with them. Liking your officiant, understanding their sense of humor, and feeling comfortable sharing stories with them is key – if you want a ceremony that feels authentic.

Before picking one vendor out of your shortlist of officiants, be sure to read as many reviews as possible. At Wedding Planning Assistant, we gather reviews about all the officiants we have on our site, to ensure you get a well-rounded view on the service they give. If possible, speak to the officiants on your list, and ask if they’ll share contact details of their past couples, or let you observe a future wedding.

The beauty of having an officiant is that the ceremony will be bespoke to you. Either written completely from scratch, or adapted from a script to include your stories and personal anecdotes. Plus, an officiant will also be able to help you with your vows. Professionally guiding them to sound better, while also subtly coordinating them with your partner.

With this in mind, once you’ve chosen your vendor, you will need to work with them considerably before the big day, if you are to achieve a ceremony full of unique personality. Phone calls, emails and chats over coffee will all need to be had if your officiant is going to really get under the hood of your relationship.

On the other hand, officiants do not need to make your ceremony particularly personalized. And if, for you, the ceremony is just an official thing you have to do. Then find someone who’s professional, reliable, and able to create a straightforward ceremony.

You may not want an officiant who tells stories from your past, but you could want them to dress in a certain way, or be able to put together a ceremony in a unique location. This is certainly something that some officiants thrive in.

Whether your officiant is creating a bespoke ceremony for you, or something off-the-shelf, they need to be confident. You should feel that when meeting them, and watching videos of them perform, that they’re at ease talking in front of people. That they speak clearly, with a natural flow and rhythm to their voice that makes people listen.

Arranging to have a rehearsal may be too late to swap officiant if they don’t perform as you had expected, but it does allow you to iron out any creases. Gaps that you can fill together, and possibly little changes to the script that’ll make the whole thing feel more you. But don’t let them share everything they’re planning to say on the day! Save some natural surprises for the ceremony photos.