Friend/Relative as Officiant?

[GIJasmine]

Does anybody know if FL allows internet ordained ministers? We're thinking of having DF's uncle officiate our wedding if it's legal in FL.

Has anybody had any experience with having a friend or relative officiate their wedding? Would you recommend it?

I know I should probably call the county clerk office about this, but I thought I'd try here first to hear your experiences.

 

[weedee]

My father in law was our officiant and he was ordained through his church to marry us. It was a great choice and I definitely recommend it My husband and I aren't big church people so we didn't have a family minister to perform the ceremony, but I've always wanted to be married by someone who really knew me...so having my father in law there, whom I'm very close to, was really special - someone who knew us both so well. It definitely put us at ease!

I'm not sure what Florida's rules are about online ordained ministers but I would just contact the clerk's office for the rules if there are any!

 

[lurkyloo]

Does anybody know if FL allows internet ordained ministers? We're thinking of having DF's uncle officiate our wedding if it's legal in FL.

Yes, Florida allows it, and numerous Disney couples have had family members officiate at their weddings this way.

 

[Stephie77]

Yes. My husband's friend got ordained on the internet and married us in Disney last year. It was one of the best decisions we made being we are different faiths and not religious. Our "Reverend" as we now affectionately call him, just signed the marriage certificate along with us and the witnesses, I filed it with Broward County and got my stamped copies back a few weeks later and that was it. Noone needed to see his "creditials". I would so recommend it.

 

[helloirishkitty]

Yes, they definitely allow it. My uncle, a unitarian universalist minister, married us at the WP.

 

[GIJasmine]

Thanks for your replies everyone! I'm pretty much sold on the idea, I just have to get DF on board! He was just worried about the legality of it all, so I suppose there should be no issue.

 

[stitchaholic]

no issue, however, do remember that if it is not a disney suggested officiant, they count toward the guest count

 

[GIJasmine]

no issue, however, do remember that if it is not a disney suggested officiant, they count toward the guest count

We're having a SoG wedding, so we're not restricted to a guest count. That is good for others to know, though! Thanks for the heads up.

 

[DisneyBride1207]

Yes - My future father-in-law was ordained online (I did it for him). I did ours through Universal Life Church.

I'm not 100% clear on how it goes down in terms of letting the local govt know he is ordained???? But in all I have read about others that have done this for their Disney weddings is that he signs the paper and that's all. I think it was like $30 to have him ordained online...? But for me, that beats paying for an officiant that I don't even know!

 

[GIJasmine]

Yes - My future father-in-law was ordained online (I did it for him). I did ours through Universal Life Church.

I'm not 100% clear on how it goes down in terms of letting the local govt know he is ordained???? But in all I have read about others that have done this for their Disney weddings is that he signs the paper and that's all. I think it was like $30 to have him ordained online...? But for me, that beats paying for an officiant that I don't even know!

This was something I was wondering too. From what I’ve read, FL does not require you to register your officiant’s credentials, but I’m not 100% positive on that.

Thanks for suggesting Universal Life Church! In an article in Martha Stewart Weddings, they suggested Universal Life Church (ulchq.com) and Esoteric Interfaith Church (northernway.org). DISbrides- have you used any other site? Any advice on going through the process?

When I looked into it, Universal Life Church will do online ordination for free and Esoteric Interfaith Church charges $150. On the website for Esoteric Interfatih Church, they state, “t is worth pointing out that organizations offering to ordain you for free online are usually not recognized. In other words, you will not be able to perform weddings or get any kind of legitimate recognition for your ministry… ULC ordinations for instance are not accepted in 32 States and counting.” Is there any merit to this statement?

 

[lurkyloo]

This was something I was wondering too. From what I’ve read, FL does not require you to register your officiant’s credentials, but I’m not 100% positive on that.

This is correct - there is no registration requirement. I know it sounds too good to be true, but it's true: thanks to ULC, just about anyone can perform a wedding ceremony in Florida.

When I looked into it, Universal Life Church will do online ordination for free and Esoteric Interfaith Church charges $150. On the website for Esoteric Interfatih Church, they state, “t is worth pointing out that organizations offering to ordain you for free online are usually not recognized. In other words, you will not be able to perform weddings or get any kind of legitimate recognition for your ministry… ULC ordinations for instance are not accepted in 32 States and counting.” Is there any merit to this statement?

Well, it's true that many states have tougher requirements that don't recognize online ordination, but A) Florida is not one of them, and B) How do we know that an online ordination from Esoteric Interfaith Church will be considered acceptable in those states either? Sounds like a marketing ploy to me!

 

[karentots]

Sorry this is not much help to OP but just wanted to add... as for FL residents...
My BIL was our officiant... he is a Notary Public in the state of FL and has the power to legally wed couples. I was surprised to also learn... although many of the functions of a Notary Public legally disclude doing so for relatives... marriage is not one.