What, exactly, IS an Officiant?

What is an officiant, you ask? And what do they even do?

Glad you asked. Well, basically, we just stand at the front of the ceremony and read off a paper for about 20 minutes. We'll probably get you to say some pretty words about how much you love each other, lecture your guests about what love is, get you guys to make some promises to each other, get you to slap some rings on, tell everyone that you're now married cause we said so, and then we leave. Sound about right?

NOT.

I think that's the misconception everyone has about Officiants. That they're overly sentimental at best or patronizing and boring at worst. Geez, if that's your conception, I'm so glad you're here and let me just say, you deserve more than that. Because we are soooo much more than that. First off, we don't just read off a sheet of paper for 20 minutes. Second, I'm pretty certain a large majority of your guests are married or have been in relationships and they don't need me telling them what love is. I WILL get you guys to make some promises to each other and get you to slap some rings on, and then tell everyone you're married cause I said so. That much is true. ;) There's a whole world going on behind the scenes most people aren't aware of. That's why it's called behind the scenes. So let's pull back the curtains and get a look into what an Officiant is and does.

An Officiant is simply someone who is legally allowed to marry you according to whatever jurisdiction you're getting married in. This could be a religious official - preacher, priest, deacon, minister, etc., a civil official - judge, Justice of Peace, etc., or someone who has - gasp - gone online and received an ordination from one of the various online institutions that offer such ordinations, which is the route I have gone.

Now that we've got that out of the way, what does an Officiant do? My job, as I see it, is to get to know you and your soon-to-be-spouse (henceforth referred to as your STBS), to determine what your vision is for your wedding ceremony and then use that to create a ceremony script that will have your guests laughing, crying, and cheering at all the right points. It's my job to take that script and practice reading it until is reads as close to flawlessly as I can get. It's my job to show up at least 30 minutes early on the Big Day, to put your mind at rest. I will liaise with your other vendors so that your Photographer knows I will get out of the way during important photo ops, and to let them know if there are any other potential photo ops they weren't aware of. I'll meet with the DJ so they know what all the musical cues are so they can follow along and not feel blind-sided by any potential surprises. I'll work with your Day Of Coordinator or Wedding Planner to make sure that we run on time and that any Plan B's are put into place if needed. I make sure the sacred ceremony space is in order and ready to go. I make sure that you and your STBS are properly lined up and ready to go a minimum of 5 minutes before Go Time, so that everything goes off without a hitch, so you can get hitched smoothly, which includes wrangling everyone that we have determined needs to be honored with special seating Pre-Processional - or at the very least delegating the wrangling! We walk down the aisle and THAT'S when I read off that ceremony. I get ya to make some promises, say some pretty words, slap some rings on, then pronounce ya cause I said so. And I'm still not done! After the Recessional, we meet up behind the scenes and sign the license with your witnesses, whom I wrangled into being there so you wouldn't have to worry about where they were going to be and when. And after that I get to leave. But I'm still not done! Cause now I have to submit the license to the proper authorities. Only then am I technically done.

BUT... that's just the basics of my job. Yeah! The BASICS. There's still more that an Officiant does. For example, based on my experience with weddings, I can give you suggestions on song choices, readings, processional orders, musical selections, ways to stay calm before the ceremony, and help you get ready for the ceremony. This can mean many things: I might help someone get a boutonniere put on, sew on a button, provide batteries for your microphone, get your brothers to act as ushers to seat guests if the seating is looking a bit lopsided, and I might even personally ask guests to move up a few rows to fill in some space so that, in your photos, it doesn't look like no one showed up to your wedding. There's so much more that an Officiant does, but I can't tell you everything. Let's leave some things to surprise you with! Suffice it to say we are not just there reading off a sheet of paper for 20 minutes. Hopefully now that you have a better understanding of what goes on behind the scenes, you'll be better equipped to compare Officiants.

I'd love to help you with YOUR behind the scenes - and up on stage, front and center for you Big Day. Contact me today so we can create the ceremony of your dreams and get some rings slapped on ya and pronounce ya married - cause I said so!!!