Officiant Cost?

We're paying 600 for ours, he said we can choose to invite him to stay and he would help get people for pictures and stuff, or he doesn't have to stay he's leaving it up to us

I'm just going to say, you get what you pay for. And the rest of your vendors are going to want to eat at the reception if they have time. And at that point, I wouldn't call your officiant a stranger, usually after the time they spend (which is well worth of $500) getting to know you and you FS and the dynamics of your relationship enough to be able to write you wedding ceremony for you, they know you pretty well.

I can't really help with your officiant cost question. We have a special circumstance with a military chaplain who cannot accept money.

Regarding reception. It is customary to extend an invitation to your officiant.

My officiant is my family priest, so when I asked how much the cost was he just smiled and said "whatever you feel is right. I've done it for free, I've done it for $50 and I've done it for $500. Just talk it over with each other and decide how much you can spend." And yeah, we're inviting him to the reception, but normally that's up to you, I think.

My FBIL got his officiant's license and is marrying us. Didn't cost him anything to get it.

It's polite to extend the invitation and most usually decline unless they're close to you.

@Amanda, yes! That is what I'm used to. My first wedding was in a church that I have been a member of since I was a child. The donation amount was up to me and of course I extended the invite to the reception to him.

I suppose, I guess it just struck me as odd and I was wondering if this was the usual cost or the cost I was looking at because I have been looking at former priests. My future MIL is a very devout Catholic and I knew this would make her happy. I mean there are officiants out there marketing themselves as "quick and easy" so I was just sort of wondering if $500 was around the base point for all, or because I was looking at folks who have been to seminary etc.

It is even ruder for the officiant to in effect demand an invite. I would pass on that one and keep looking. The reason people feed photographers, band, etc is that they are required to be at the reception (and the photographer, also the ceremony). Long day. Officiant, not so long a day.

Traditionally, people invite officiants, but that was also when it was it was the minister, priest or rabbi they worshipped with (which is why we are inviting ours).

I will say the officiants that specifically said in their contract that they should be invited to the reception....I immediately put them in the "No" pile.

IMO that's a detail they could mention in correspondence with you, not place on a contract. And they offer their services as a team. So that's 2 more people to account for. Perhaps it sounds tacky of me, but I'm on a super tight budget.

I don't mind extending the invite to whomever we choose, I did with the my first wedding. But that was because it was my childhood Pastor. I didn't even think about it this time

@Karen : Well said!

We're paying close to $1,000 for ours but it's for a 30-minute custom ceremony. The prices for Justice of the Peace ranged from $300 to $600 and I thought that was a lot for such a quick ceremony. You are usually supposed to invite all vendors to dinner.

We paid $200 for ours, and gave a donation to the church (either $50 or $100, I can't remember now). We also extended an invitation to her and her husband to join us at the reception. She declined.

$595 - but well worth it, to me. It's through like, an officiant company of sorts, but we basically filled out a form about who we are and they matched us with a few officiants from there, then we chose. Their fees ranged from $595 to $875 with varying "benefits" depending on how much you paid.

The required invite part is weird... I'd pass on that.

We actually looked a few different places for an officiant before settling and thought we had one... until we Googled his name for reviews and it came up that he had been arrested for soliciting a prostitute 2 or so years ago... we noped out of that one!! His business what he does but yeah, didn't want that to be affiliated with us.

We're paying $450 for a WONDERFUL officiant. We had a free consultation where she gave dozens of examples so we could customize our ceremony. She replies to all emails within a day (sometimes with an hour!). She sent us home with a sheet to fill out separately and send back to her with our story and how we feel about each other. She's going to use our responses to build her ceremony around us, and she'll include our responses with our marriage license so we can read them after we're married

Can you tell I'm excited about her? Definitely worth every penny.

There are some officiants/vendors who are frequent posters so hopefully one of them will chime in.

I don't know about the cost in the US - we're getting married in the UK using a government official which would be equivalent to the judge that marries you in the US at a courthouse or city hall. We're paying the equivalent of $650 - but legally there need to be two of them to "register" the marriage. Because they have weddings at the venue (a city hall in London) all day and it isn't the custom, no invite to the reception.

I think it would be nice to invite them if you are having a bigger wedding and/or can easily bare the cost, but not necessary.

My officiant is currently in the process of adopting a child - so I know she would rather have the tip to cover costs than a dinner with people she doesn't know. She made it very clear she doesn't stay for receptions -so I just plan to give her a better tip than if she did stay.

Ours is $300, but she's very local so she doesn't really have to travel, and although she is a pro - it's not her full time job. That was about average for a personalized ceremony in our area.

Our pastor is doing it for $175 which I guess is a lot less than what he usually asks for, so that's really nice. I'm not sure what he usually charges though. We're also planning on giving him a gift card to a nice restaurant for him and his wife as a thank you. Since he's our pastor and not a random officiant he and his wife and kids will be invited to the reception.

Ours is $425 which is way more than we were expecting, but after our first meeting with him I can tell he's well worth the cost. Our initial meeting lasted almost two hours just because we got along so well. He will definitely be invited to the reception if he'd like to stay.

Ours is asking $300, and we're also covering his travel/lodging and inviting him to the reception. Totally worth it. We're already so impressed.

I would be SUPER put off by someone demanding an invite to the reception in a contract...

Oy vey. @Heather; look at the other thread about the 'great' brother who officiated......probably not what you're hoping will happen...

In a church where you are a member, and presumably tithe on a regular basis? All bets are off, but I'd say 200-400.00 since that pastor is being paid and part of the pay is shepherding the congregation through milestones like Christenings, marriages and funerals. Still, officiating a marriage takes time and prep, and sometimes they will require counseling, which also takes time.

500.00 is too much for 'quick and easy", if you're talking an elopement (ours are 250-285, but they are not personalized in any way.... ) But for a fully written ceremony, with an officiant who will work with your venue, music, photography and bridal party, it's on the sorta low side, depending on location.

Great officiants in my area, who actually write personalized ceremonies, cost 500-1000.00 with most (including me) sorta in the middle. It's a time consuming process to really do this right, and talent costs, like anything else; photographer, music.....

Anyone who specifically mentions a tip or being invited? Ditch them. That is completely classless.

BUT for those of you who are using a family pastor/rabbi/iman who knows you and/or your family , they should be invited. Most of the time they will decline, not because we don't love you, for me at least, it's awkward to be at a party with no one I really know (except the couple who are usually busy, lol), I don't want people to pay for me, and very often I have to be somewhere else. I almost always stay for a bit of cocktail hour because I don't want it to look like I was rented for the duration, and because I do love hearing how fabulous the ceremony was. I got a new review here this morning; it mentioned that most of the guests assumed I was an old friend, which is the highest praise ever......

This is one of those, 'spend all you can for the best you can afford' things. Fortunately, with officiants, the difference between 'meh' and great is going to be a couple hundred bucks. Of course that's not an insignificant amount of money, but it is truly money well spent for someone who will start your day in a spectacular way instead of, "oh shit, is this ever going to be over?"

And, in a nod to the other thread? It's good to have someone who can actually walk you through all your processional, music, reading, vow questions and troubleshoot license issues, which are more common than any of us would hope.