Inviting your officiant to rehearsal/wedding reception

Hopefully you will build some relationship with the Officiant you choose but it really is up to you, traditionally the Officiant and thier spouse were always invited but a lot of couple's forgo this tradition these days.

I typically I will skip the rehearsal dinner since it's generally a small group of close friends and family. An invitation to the wedding reception for me and my spouse is always appreciated but in no way is required, in the event I do attend the reception my spouse generally does not attend with me.

If you choose to do invite him/her please send them a proper invitation, some couple's haven't mentioned the invitation to me until the night of the reception or worse right before the wedding...it's hard to accept on such short notice and it make me feel terrible when I have decline...so just give them so notice if you do decide to invite them.

"Rev. Hoot"

Generally speaking, I would say the officiant should be invited to the wedding-in my experience they do not stay long, but they always appreciate the invite. I am not sure about rehearsal dinner, if they will be there for rehearsal, I would say, yes, invite them...they may decline, but at least you offered.

However, I love the idea of asking your friend, the worst that could happen is they decline-but it would still make them feel pretty special.

Good luck, I am eager to see what others post.

As an officiant, I can appreciate your situation. Most times, we are not invited to the rehearsal dinner or to the wedding reception. In those instances when we are, we generally decline. I believe that you are paying me to officiate the ceremony. I do not believe that you need to pay to feed me. If the wedding is in a home and the family has prepared the dinner, then we might consider staying, if invited.

I think it is very nice to be invited. I do believe that if the bridal couple is to extend an invitation, that it be timely given to the minister/officiant and spouse, if any. A wedding invitation sent to the minister's home is very nice. I find it awkward to be invited to the wedding reception by a family member, who graciously asks following the wedding ceremony. And then I have to comment as to why I cannot attend.

Anyway, in short, I do not think that you must invite the minister to a "paid-for" dinner or reception.

I hope this helps,

Reverend Stan

We are inviting our officiant and his wife to both our rehearsal dinner and reception... he was my FI's youth pastor and a good family friend to my FI's family. I am catholic and even though I am not getting married in a catholic church it is customary for the priest to attend the reception as well (even if they dont stay very long) so this is something I have grown up with and am used to.

I think this decision is up to you... I personally dont really see the officiant services the same way I see ceremony musicians or the florist being that I probably would not invite them to my reception if I didnt know them well but I would probably include the officiant... Like I said its up to you and your personality and what you want...

My FH and I are very close with our pastor, who is marrying us. i was his youngest daughters youth leader and he and his whole family (wife and 3 kids) are invited to the wedding and reception, however just he and his wife will be at the rehersal dinner.

i couldnt imagine someone i dont know and am not close to marrying us. plus it makes for a much more interesting and enjoyable ceremony.

you should invite your officiant to the reception and dinner, but i guess its really up to you

The officiant situation might depend on the state. In Vermont, Justices of the Peace are not allowed to charge for their services in marrying people, but it is customary to give them a donation. So, in other words we are not "hiring" her. She has communicated with us about our ceremony (we wrote our own) will attend our rehearsal dinner, will do a personalized introduction and greeting, etc all with no promise of payment. In addition to the donation we are giving her, we are also inviting her and a guest to whatever part of the ceremony/rehearsal/reception that she would like to be involved in.

As an officiant, I disagree with your thought that a total stranger will be doing the wedding ceremony. We have consultations with our couples and write very personalized ceremonies and in the process become friendly with them by the time the ceremony comes along. Having a friend do it is not such a great idea. He or she will probably be ill at ease unless they have done a lot of public speaking and your friends should really have the opportunity to enjoy your wedding without having to "work". Some of our couples invite us to the reception and some do not. We realize it is often a financial decision and have no hard feelings if we are not invited. Please, if you do decide to invite the officiant make it a proper invitation. Being invited at the last moment is awkward for everyone.

My fiance and I originally had the same feelings as you do. We ended up deciding on hiring an officiant and now I think it's a good decision. I talked with several officiants and found them to be really warm and friendly but many of them were priced outside of our budget. The officiant we ended up choosing is great, and has offered to give us a lot of control over what is included in the ceremony, something we were looking for. We are getting married in Tampa the week before your wedding. Here is a link to the officiant we are going to use: http://www.weddingsbylilyana.com/. Hope this helps!

I am an Officiant and I officiate weddings in the St Pete beach area often.

To answer your question, No you do not have to invite the Officiant to neither. Generally they would not attend as they don't really know anyone and do understand and realize it does cost you extra.

I am so glad you decided not to have your friend Officiate. I receive last minute calls all of the time for that very reason.

Friends will agree to, then as the time gets closer they realize they don't have the skills. Officiating a wedding is not just reading a few words, stamping the license and off they go if they are good!

They will help you put together a ceremony that is meaningful to the both of you, they will offer suggestions, keep your guests focused, know how to handle last minute and problem situations.

Good Decision!

I have been invited to several of the ceremonies I officiate to rehearsal dinners and the reception- I am grateful for the invite but I do decline- only once did I stay for the rehearsal dinner and that's only because the father of the bride forced me to so he wouldn't have to sit with his ex wife!

We invited our offciant, but they nicely declined. They said it was a kind offer, but wanted us to have our celebration with family and friends. We went with Ceremonies Just for You and they were fantastic!

You don't need to... the officiant will not be mad at you