How much should I tip our officiant?

Are you paying anything to the church you are using? I think you are fine not tipping your uncle. I think it might be weird if you do. I would donate to the church you are using if anything.

Give the church whatever they're charging you -- and if they're not charging you, come up with at least $150 for the pageantry and backdrop they're providing for your ceremony. They're obviously agreeable to having a relative of the bride officiating the wedding ceremony in their building,so, yes, you at least owe them some rent for the occasion.

Ehhh...you're obviously convinced of, and cemented to the belief, that your uncle will meet every expectation you would review an experienced professional for providing. I don't have your confidence or share your belief...however, I'm not going to change your mind. A full meal and and drinks will be offered to every guest -- so, that's nothing special -- and it's exactly what every guest is expecting. Accommodations? Yes, if you need him to be there, then you should cover that expense. Obviously, he is more than the average guest. Give him a healthy gift -- exactly what you'd give a professional -- and in my neck of the woods, that figure starts at $500.

Is this something you uncle normally does? The way I read your post made me think your uncle is a pastor of some sorts, is this the case?

Yes, my uncle is a pastor and officiates many weddings. Hence why we are having him do ours. It's more personal to us to have someone close to us officiate the wedding rather than a random pastor in our area as we are new to the area we live in. We are paying the church to use their building but needed advice on what to pay my uncle.

Rachel - not sure what the issue would be with believing that he would be the same as a professional as he is a pastor and officiates weddings all of the time. I don't think that officiating a family member's wedding means they will conduct the ceremony any differently. And I only included the info that of course we would pay for his accommodations and that he would be at the reception as most people would comment to be sure we are doing that as well.

We gave our pastor 400$ but him and his wife helped us out a lot the week of as well. I'm not sure about a relative that's a pastor. I've had friends (pastor) dads do theirs and assumed they didn't pay obviously. I think paying for his hotel is super nice. I would maybe give 100$ in a nice thank you card as well and then he can decide whether or not he wants to accept it.

My cousin is marrying us. He's not a pastor or anything and we're not getting married in a church. He's pretty well off & refuses any and all gifts. Since we're getting married on a golf course, I thought I'd buy him some rounds of golf and some really nice cigars, engraved lighter, and welcome package for his condo that he's staying in with his family. But of course he's a member of that golf course lol.

I'd get him a gift. Maybe a nice bottle of whiskey or a gift card to his favorite restaurant.

I completely understand having your uncle officiating your wedding. We're having a family friend who is a pastor do ours! It's important to me that the person is someone I know and has the same faith as me.

I think you could probably get him a gift. Or look up how much do you usually tip officiants and go from there. Or do both if you really wanted too.

OP, you didn't mention that he was a pastor in your first post; you just said he was your uncle. That makes the question very different than, "A random friend is officiating our wedding."

Since you're paying his accommodations, I'd say 300-500. depending on where his home parish is (which would dictate his fee).

And do pay the church; if they haven't come up with an amount, I'd say 300.00 which is about the lowest I've ever personally heard of for a non member.

Correct me if I am wrong. I was under the impression that pastors (family or not) do not charge for weddings. You are however expected to donate toward the church. We are having a friend who is a pastor officiate ours. We do not belong to the church. I'm leaning toward a $400 donation.

Pastors usually charge for weddings, members or not, and depending on the structure of the church and the salary, it's good manners to tip the pastor as well.