How much is your officiant/pastor fee?

Our church didn't charge us...the priest is very old school and doesn't believe that a couple should be charged to take a sacrament...we did have to pay the organist too and the church coordinator.

We're paying our officiant $300 but we're not getting married in/not affiliated with a church. I've seen a range from $200-$600 in our area (New England).

Our officiant service fee is $600 including the rehearsal. I'm in Chicago.

I think our priest fee is $75. We're also paying $400 to use the church, $75 for the coordinator, and $200 each for the cantor and organist. Maltese - my parents were shocked that the church is charging us anything...I wish we had an old school priest like yours!

Usually church pastors don't require fees at all when performing the wedding of members, but it's customary to give them a stipend. We'll have a fee for our organist and then just give money to the priests and altar servers at ours.

Our officiant is $395. We are also in the Chicago area.

Our officiant is $240

I didn't know churches were doing that now. Kinda sucks actually. I much prefer the idea of "gifting" your own pastor for his help. It's more personal and I hate the idea that a church is making money off your marriage! Anyway. I moved away and didn't find a closer church to go to and the pastor I knew left my old church so I went with an Officiant. He is charging $350 which includes my adding whatever I want to the ceremony, a rehearsal (which he doesn't need to come to), two traditions, and gas miles.

$200.00 - Central NJ

$345 but that is on the lower end around here

$350 for our officiant in Hawaii.

Our officiant charged us $125, she was one of the best (and cheapest) we found.

@mrsa2b isn't it strange? I hadnt heard of it before either, just if you are getting married in the church..which we are not. I don't mind paying but I didn't know how much was standard.

$400.

@ninjaaa I don't know- it's crazy expensive to have your ceremony there but that includes musicians, a coordinator, etc. I think it's high for a church but there's not much I can do- FH has been going there for years...we are going to pay it but I'm just intrigued.

We are using an officiant service (recommended by our florist) the fee is $375 for the ceremony and then an additional $100 if we want him to come to the rehearsal. I think those are pretty standard.

We met with him a month or so ago and chatted to make sure it was a good fit. Then he asked both of us to separately send him the story of how we met so he could use this in the ceremony, I thought that was kind of cool.

ETA - we are in Cleveland, Ohio. I am sure it ranges by region.

Newsflash; if your church doesn't 'make money' you won't have one. They have bills just like you do, so of course they are going to charge you for opening the church and paying the people that need to get paid.

There are actually two discussions going on here; how much do you pay an independent officiant (like me) and how much does your church/temple charge for the clergy on staff there. In the second case the clergy is supported by a salary from the church/temple; in the first, not.

My fees in NJ run from 250.00 for a "let's get outta town and elope" to 700.00 for personally written ceremonies with love stories, ritual elements and, of course, making it all legal. I'm the norm for someone with my experience in my area.

We paid $200 for rehearsal and ceremony just outside DC...the typical price for our area is $450 for the ceremony and $100 for the rehearsal.

$400 is what we will be paying.

My church charges $250.00 if you're a member and $500.00 if you're not a member.