Cost of officiant

Maybe because of all the rituals? A Christian officiant here in Texas is $200-$450, depending on what all you want October

I meant want "included"... hit send by accident

View Quoted Comment I’m Christian and was thinking of having a rabbi and pastor

It depends on where you live and what they include in it. We're in NYC where everything is expensive. Our officiant is charging almost $600. In addition to the ceremony he will also meet with us a few times prior to our wedding to plan our ceremony and he will be available if we want him to be for our rehearsal.

View Quoted Comment 600 sounds better ! I’m in Orlando . And I feel like 800 is so much but also so is a wedding lol I’m going to look around . Thank you !

I live in a HCOL area and officiants charge around 300. I'd keep looking

View Quoted Comment I think I will . Thank you

If you're really in Orlando and managed to find a rabbi that you liked for only $800, then I would book this person RSVP. That is on the low end and quite a steal! Most people don't realize that rabbis typically cost at least around 4 times as much as officiants from other religions. Our rabbi's going rate to officiate a wedding was $2000 as of summer 2019 (but we got a large discount because the rabbi was a family friend). However, my husband and I did meet with the rabbi for several premarital counseling sessions, which was included in the fee. You'd want to specify how many meetings are included in that $800 fee.

That doesn’t seem unheard of to me! We’re are in Baltimore, having a non-denominational officiant, and it is $550. Originally $650, but we got a great deal. The cost includes prep, the rehearsal and day of, and submitting our paperwork for us!

If rabbis really do charge that much, I feel lucky that my brother-in-law is doing it for free! Maybe look for cantors, not just rabbis? Try not to have two officiants, that sounds crazy expensive.

We're paying $1800 for the rabbi for our interfaith wedding. We only expect the Jewish portion of our ceremony to last 15 minutes, but we're also having some preparation sessions with the rabbi leading up to the wedding. Our other officiant will only cost $500. We're located in Atlanta. What your rabbi is charging seems very reasonable

My officiant was $200 and my wedding was in North Carolina.

That 30 minutes has a lot more time behind it! He simply won’t just show up and start talking. Please keep in mind all of the time and preparation needed to do be done prior to the ceremony.

Does that fee include the venue? We are Catholic and are paying $800 for our priest to officiate, and the fee includes the church.

I have no idea what religious officiants cost but it seems like $200-$500 for a non-religious officiant is the norm around here. We had a friend do our ceremony for free (the cost to become a JP was about $75, which we offered to pay but they "gifted" that to us).

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Because everyone's answer is going to be "depends where you are": I live in the Orlando area and worked in the wedding industry here. 800 is very high for our area. It's usually 200-500, with most being 300 or less, regardless of religious affiliation.

I can't speak to whether or not the fee is reasonable because I didn't hire a religious officiant, but I do know that an officiant's services are never just about the "30 minutes" or however long the ceremony is. There is prep time, including one or several meetings and/or phone calls. Plus possible travel time. Ask what is included in the fee and then get two more quotes (making sure to compare like services) from other officiants in your area. That is the only way to know what price is reasonable.

View Quoted Comment Wow hearing this makes me feel better ! Thank you Hanna .

View Quoted Comment You’re so lucky !

View Quoted Comment What a steal !