Honorarium amount for our rabbi?

Where are you located? I would see maybe how much other rabbis are charging and provide that as a donation. Just a suggestion. Our Rabbi charges $500, but hes located in FL. the cost varies from area to area.

We're in Chicago. Is $500 normal? I know it's an honorarium, so they don't like to say how much to give, but I'm also not Jewish (my FH and his family are) and don't want to insult him by giving too little. FH's parents have no idea how much to give; we already tried asking them...

It all varies on the area. In S. Fl where we're getting married, the norm for Rabbi's cost, is $500. So I would just donate what the cost of a Rabbi is normally for your area. We're both jewish (as are our families) and while I like the idea of donating because he's doing your wedding for free, I don't think donating several thousand dollars is necessary.. But its just my opinion. I'd say anywhere from several hundred dollars, to under a thousand..

I asked the receptionist at our catholic church office what the average amount was, is there a receptionist, or someone in the office of the church you could call up to get an idea. We were told the range was from $300.00 to $10,000.

That is a huge range! Did she say why one would be so low and one so high?

We're not getting married at the temple, but the rabbi is coming downtown for our ceremony.

Is it normal to call the office and ask for an amount? I don't want to be tacky or make a faux pas (especially because it's not my religion)...

You can always call several temples in the area or state, and maybe avoid calling the one the Rabbi participates at?

That's a huge price range (300 - 10k).

San Francisco Bay Area rabbis charge $750-$1500 + expenses. I've heard of the $10,000 figure but that's often when rabbis/clergypeople are charging an estimated percentage of the weddings cost. Different rabbis have different criteria as well as having different backgrounds. I.e. I had 5 years graduate work in a seminary prior to ordination. Does this make me a better officiant? A better counselor? Probably not. Have a more substantial religious background? Rabbis are not immune to your budget constraints but brides also need to understand the pride some rabbis have in their profession. I believe that I'm a rabbi first and an officiant second. I teach Bar and Bat Mitzvah, Hebrew classes, work in rest homes, teach at the University level, do burials and have been a chaplain in hospitals. I also cooficiate and will sometimes officiate on Saturday. Understand that it is not greed that motivates many of us. It's the fact that we too need to earn a living for our families.

Rabbi Levinson

The wedding officiation fees vary tremendously depending on location and content. I suggest that you consider what is included in the fee. Is pre-marital counseling included in the fee? How accessible is your officiant throughout your pre-wedding process? Is the rabbi/cantor available to offer advice on ketubah selection, ceremony styles, inter & intra-family issues? What is your officiant's background and what are the nature of his/her reviews? For this very special time in your lives, you ought to select someone with whom you want to stand on your wedding day.