Not Meeting Officiant before booking??

I would never book any business blindly without meeting them in person or over video chat. Especially for something as important as a wedding which is a once in a lifetime event that you can't redo if something goes wrong. With email, you could be talking to anyone and there's no guarantee at all that they are actually the real person you want on the other end.

I met my officiant officially the day before but there was constant communication and before booking we did a Google duo meeting but I didn't want to die to the start of covid.

We booked our officiant without ever meeting her! I read her outstanding reviews on multiple online platforms and saw examples of her ceremonies from other couples who had uploaded their videos. But, tbh, I knew the moment I saw her infectious smile & that I wanted her to officiate; I just had that gut instinct.

I would definitely recommend at least having a video call with your officiant before hiring. It’s a very visible part of your wedding and I would want to get a better idea of how they speak.

I personally wouldn't hire someone without meeting them either in person or through video chat. However, if you feel comfortable enough with the communication so far, and they have good reviews, and you don't feel the need to do a video call, then I say go for it!

Mine was booked without having been met. I knew from our first interaction she was the one. She wrote to me in such a kind manner and seemed like she really cared about us and the quality work more than anything else. My previous interactions with officiants made me feel like they all wanted my money and even wanted to charge me unreasonably high prices to be there for rehearsal, which I had no idea the officiant doesn't have to attend (depending on your venue) until my officiant told me. So I knew she was in it for the right reasons. She even checks on us every now and then to see how we are doing and how wedding planning is going. We plan on meeting in person before wedding day but had to cancel due to covid so thats postponed for now. But it's totally possible to know if someone is a right fit just from the way they talk to you.

I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that. In fact my fiancé knew a fellow firefighter who’s ordained but I’d never met him & he’d only performed 1 other ceremony. Definitely not something I was going to sign off on. My nephew (who’s a minister) & my brother (who’s ordained) were options but neither of us wanted to involve family with something like this. Our venue has an all inclusive package & the officiant we ended up booking was one of their options. W

I recommend having a phone call before officially hiring an officiant

Thanks For the responses, everyone!!

I think I'll see if she's open to a phone conversation before booking just so I can hear her voice and ensure a good fit. I know she's legit because she has been very responsive with communication which I Love, she's done a lot of weddings as I can see on her social media pages, and has even been on the news with her services too.

We didn't meet our officiant until the night before the wedding at our rehearsal. However, we did speao to him on the phone previously.

We did a video interview with our officiant. You'll want to hear their voice and see how they present


They'll be in a lot of your ceremony photos

There’s no reason to meet in-person, but a phone call would be recommended!

Hey there! We found ours online through Wedding Wire's vendor search last year. We exchanged a deposit through mail and only a couple of emails prior to that, then maybe a couple more messages since then. It wasn't until last weekend we finally met her in person and our wedding is less than 3 months away.

My suggestion is to make sure you read reviews and what they offer. For example, we knew we wanted a secular ceremony and we wanted to make sure she would allow us to remove some of the "standard" phrases used in a lot of secular ceremonies.

Phone conversations are definitely helpful but I disagree with PP about meeting in person. There's something to be said for being in the same space, however, your wedding is over a year away, so I think until maybe this time next year would be a good idea. That will still give you a few months to find someone else if, for some reason, you're dissatisfied with the officiant you previously chose.

Good luck, hun!

We found ours through a JP referral. After exchanging faxes, he said he wanted to meet with us when we had rehearsal. Since we were not planning one, we asked if he could meet us 8 weeks in advance when we were driving to our venue to time the walks, and meet with out live musicians and our band. That worked well. He turned out to be a nice older man with a good sense of humor, and nothing weird. An very tolerant of our coming from different religions, accepting our blend of average secular, and my religion (tribal) that was unfamiliar to him in set up, but he was a quick study.
I have been in weddings where the couple never met with the officiant til a rehearsal wedding week, who e def up with someone a little strange, or loud and dominating who declared he was not willing to do anything but his usual way. And one scolding female minister, all upset that the bride had tattoos on her wrist and the back of her hand, each the size of a quarter, and the groom wore silver ball earring studs. All of which would have to be removed because she was a Christian woman, on and on. She had asked to see all gowns, and those brought on a rant. covered shoulders and high neck, nothing bare, but bright red satin. She had fits. And the bride was wearing white, and was a second time bride. Awful. Ever since being MOH in that one, and having mafe hours of phone calls to get another minister from the service memorial:s list, I swore I would never Not meet the officiant. Yet my first wedding, the guy assigned at the courthouse was fine. But there are lots of independent ones I would want to meet.

View Quoted Comment OMG!!! This was our same situation (and we have a female officiant too). She’s been great with communication, offering suggestions and has been very professional and organized with the process thus far. In addition to reading other couples’ reviews, she also has positive reviews from other vendors and venues. So I have no worries and we’ll communicate more via phone/zoom once the wedding is closer.

Have you seen The Princess Bride?? If not go watch it immediately (it's a classic), and if you have then you already know why I'm mentioning it: what if your officiant turns out to be that guy?? You definitely need talk with the person who will be the one mainly speaking during your wedding ceremony.

I had never met my officiant until the night of our ceremony, but it's a little different because my husband knows her very well. It's his old stepmoms sister so he grew up with her. I trusted his judgment and she did amazing.

View Quoted Comment Yes! We saw amazing reviews of her from other vendors as well. Tbh, she has been the most organized and communicative of all our vendors. She has set up zoom meetings with her upcoming clients just to check in with everyone and see how they’re holding up during the pandemic. And we had a fun surprise.. we watch the tv show “Married at First Sight”, and she ended up being one of the officiants this season!

Thanks for your responses everybody I'll most definitely have a phone call with before booking just in case ^_^ I'm fairly confident I've found my officiant though

View Quoted Comment How cool! And I love that crazy show along with 90-Day Fiancé (I actually got FH hooked on 90-day even more than I am) 😆