What is a Wedding Officiant?
By definition, a WEDDING OFFICIANT is any person who performs the role of officiating a legal marriage ceremony. There are two categories: a Religious Officiant who is authorized to perform the rite of marriage through a religious organization. A Civil Officiant who is authorized to perform a legal marriage by a state or local government with no religious affiliation.
You may never have heard the term "Wedding Officiant" for a wedding as you are familiar with the sight of a Rabbi or a Priest performing a ceremony and as such you simply use their religious titles. But with the increase in many couples preferring to remove religious association, there Is a trend now to use a civil officiant. In many other parts of the world for example New Zealand and South Africa, a wedding officiant is known as a wedding celebrant. I love the term celebrant but it is less familiar in the United States and might confuse people if I began using it exclusively.
For years, religious marriages have been the norm but as couple become less binary, less traditional, and more unique, the all inclusive wedding officiant has become very popular. A wedding officiant does not have to adhere to a wedding protocol, such as might be necessary in a church or synagogue or other formal religious setting.
The services of the wedding officiant can run the gamut from a few brief words and a stamp administered by a notary public to a highly personalized and individualized story from an experienced writer and skilled public speaker. I am the latter and use an extensive selection of questions and answers from which to gather my information. I create a ceremony that talks about the couple's past, present and future. The intention of my wedding ceremonies is to entertain the guests, ensuring that they feel compelled to listen to a ceremony that is both funny and tender. At the same time. I also do my best to have the couple enjoy themselves during the ceremony despite having dozens of eyes watching them!
Since acquiring a license to officiate a wedding does not include any training or a test, the barrier to entry is rather low and the quality of the ceremony can vary greatly. I always request that couples who are considering hiring me should have a complimentary face time conversation to ascertain if I am the right personality for them and of course vice versa.
When you are choosing an officiant to perform your wedding ceremony, you really need to ensure that it is someone you trust and like. After all, you don't normally hire a random clergy member- rather it is someone who has been in the family for a long time and has a history with you. You want to be sure that this person who will pronounce you married is someone for whom performing a wedding ceremony is an actual career path, and not a part time hobby.
There are always exceptions to the rules. You might have a particularly funny and eloquent friend, He or she will get ordained on line and then prepare to marry you. Some of the time this will be a hit and some of the time this will not be.
Being a wedding officiant is not as easy as it looks. Although anything goes, there are certain requirements that must be inside the wedding ceremony. Being experienced goes a long way to holding the attention of the guests.
Whatever type of wedding officiant you end up choosing, make sure that they make it a fun experience for you and your partner.
