Officiants?

[TiffinyKaye]

Hey everyone!

I'm sure I'm going to regret answering this question (because I'm sure it's answered in Carrie's book...but I don't get it until Christmas!)--what is everyone doing (or has done) for their officiants? I looked at the website for one, and it almost looks like the fee you pay them is a "donation," rather than a set fee. Others, though, have a set fee. I have no idea what is "fair" or "standard" for a wedding officiant though.

Anyone have any thoughts or advice? Both of us are heathens, so we want a non-religious ceremony.

Thanks all!

Tiffiny

 

[elphie101]

Heathens

DF and I are also "heathens" (sorry I just love that word) - neither of us feel tied to the churches we were raised in, or any church in particular. So we've asked my brother to become ordained via the Universal Life Church and perform our ceremony. I just feel like since neither DF nor I feel like religion needs to be a part of our ceremony, there's no need for us to hire a stranger when we can have someone who knows and loves us on a more personal level. And (as I keep telling my mother) it's completely legal in Florida! (She still can't believe FL doesn't require blood testing....)

If you can't think of anyone you would feel comfortable marrying you/would be up to the task, Carrie had a great sounding minister on her podcast a long time ago that I definitely would be checking out if I hadn't decided to ordain my brother!

 

[Sweet Melissa]

Another set of heathens here. My brother got ordained via Universal Life to marry us too. I thought it was much more personal and genuine to have someone who knew and loved us both perform the ceremony, and that way we weren't asking a man of the cloth to censor his own beliefs for our ceremony.

 

[geek+nerd]

More heathens! My brother-in-law got ordained through Universal Life Church also to perform our ceremony. Being non-religious, this made so much more sense for us than hiring an officiant. Plus, it made the ceremony much more personal and I know my BIL was honored. Plus, now he has the cool nickname of "Rev"

 

[jcnewton]

We're using Rev. Tim Herring. He asked us during our meet with him if we wanted a religious ceremony, civil, or mix of both. We chose both since my fiance wanted some religious elements. After checking out several different officiants online, we got the best feeling from him, and after meeting with him...we definitely made the best choice for us!

 

[jessiegirl84]

Neither of us are overly religious so we had Rev.Kevin Knox perform our ceremony.
He was really great. Have us lots of information / booklets so we could customize our ceremony, this was really important to us, as I had read some celebrants don't do this. In his information pack he included lots of different options and ideas to choose from.

 

[TiffinyKaye]

For those of you who actually had people not related to you perform your wedding--approximately how much did you pay them? I'd like to get an idea of what's fair.

Thanks!

Tiffiny

 

[Bewitch324]

We're using Renee Silverman; she's about $500 but she specializes in customized, unique and personal ceremonies. We really clicked with her (I'm a heathen, he's a recovering altar boy ) and I wanted something that would be special and while we are going to include a couple of religious elements for Frank's family, for the most part, it's going to be a non-religious ceremony.

Good luck in your search!

Brooke

 

[MooskaMinnie]

We had Rev. Tim - I don't remember how much we paid but he did a rehearsal for us too. We aren't super religious but our parents are so we opted for a traditional ceremony.

Rev. Tim did a great job; I was very hesitant to use him and his communication was lacking but he really did an outstanding job the day-of.

 

[jennamarie]

We are going to use Rev Jack Day. He is really sweet and you can customize your ceremony. It was $300 w. rehearsal included and not due until the day of the wedding.

 

[impromptudisneybride]

We had Rev. Tim - I don't remember how much we paid but he did a rehearsal for us too. We aren't super religious but our parents are so we opted for a traditional ceremony. Rev. Tim did a great job; I was very hesitant to use him and his communication was lacking but he really did an outstanding job the day-of.

Agreed. We used him too and wasn't thrilled about the communication aspect but the ceremony was nice.

 

[MissPeppers]

We are going with Rev Jack. He just sent us his "Jack Pac" and lists that his price is $200 or $300 for custom. They charge more for custom ceremonies because they need to take the time to memorize it. I would say $200-$300 is a pretty fair price.

 

[TiffinyKaye]

I think what we've decided to do is use my step-sister's boyfriend. He's not a minister...but he can become one through the Universal Life Church and marry us. So, it'll save a lot of money to do that. I'm pretty confident he should do pretty well. He and my step-sister both do care and education stuff at Sea World. So, when you're used to speaking in front of people...it should be fine. Plus, he's pretty hilarious.

Tiffiny

 

[SMorgan711]

Hi! We are using Reverend Kevin Knox. We met him during our planning session trip in November. He was a really nice and funny guy. We liked him initially because he gave us tons of options and we could basically create our own ceremony from the choices he gave us.

 

[lcataldimay]

We are using Teresa Knox. I just talked to her today and she is so nice.