dear heidzilla: officiant hiring?

today’s question comes from an out of town bride who is having her ceremony and reception at the same location.

If you aren’t having your wedding in a church what should you look for in your wedding officiant?

the first question i’d ask myself is “what am i looking for with all of my vendors?” what personality type are you and your fiance? how do you envision your ceremony to be? when you talk about your ceremony to friends and family in the future, what are the adjectives that you want to be able to use to describe it?  are you looking for someone whose service is more solemn and serious? relaxed and witty? romantic and light-hearted? religious or spiritual? next, talk to all of your prospective officiants – in phone or in person, you know email doesn’t always translate personality types! -to see who clicks with you both just in conversation.

also consider the actual ceremony format from start to finish. does this person provide every single portion in written form for you to review? how much input do you want to have with your officiant with the ceremony or how much are they willing to let you have? do you want them to pick  readings or bible verses or do you want to write the entire thing with them? do you need to integrate more than one faith or cultural aspects? have they done that before? how will you work it all out? find out the process and paperwork and see if it fits with how you plan.

of course a few other basics need to be met:

1. this person is available on your wedding date 
2. his/her fees are within your budget and you agree with the contract terms
3. this person IS ordained and knows the state’s wedding license procedures
4. he/she has experience in officiating weddings like yours
5. this person has made time to meet with you to develop the ceremony… considering it’s the whole point to the day!

coincidentally, the today’s bride blog covered this a couple of weeks ago here.

do you have a question? email me at heidi at heidzillas dot com! i might answer your question on a future blog post.

previous posts:
dear heidzilla: what anti-perspirant?
dear heidzilla: best way to make payments?
dear heidzilla: 831 photography?