Officiant Help!

When I meet with clients I like to hear from them. What is their wedding vision, do they want religious elements or not, what do they want/not want said, will they write their own vows, any reading or unity ceremony? Then I talk. I like to let couples know what I do and how I work. They need to decide if I would be the right person for them. So get an idea on who this person is and the direction they tend to go, then have a list of what is important to you and make sure they are ok with that. I have even had couples ask if I was ok letting them write the majority of the ceremony. Not all officiants are comfortable with that if they are used to a script. You'll also want to settle on ceremony length and if you're going out of the area, see their license and confirm how that marriage license process works.

View Quoted Comment Thank you! This is a big help! I had never really thought about what to discuss with an officiant, and I do not want to be under prepared for her.

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She is the professional and should guide the conversation. But definitely get some thoughts together on paper of those things you feel strongly about. Also make sure you will have the ability to communicate with her leading up to the wedding. I always come across couples that want to add or change something along the way. I let me couples know how best to reach me and expected response times.

Hey there Chrysta How did the phone call go? Did you book her for the wedding?

View Quoted Comment The phone call went great! She was very personable and pretty much took control of the conversation, so I didn’t have to “soooo ummmm....” my way through it LOL I booked her immediately after hanging up! She then sent us a questionnaire to fill out in order to get to know us and learn more about our ceremony and what we want. She also sent us samples of ceremonies she has done that we can look over. Once we get closer to our wedding date, we will have a phone consultation with her (since it is a DW wedding) where we all just chat and tell her more about us, and we can tell her different parts of the sample ceremonies we liked, and didn’t like, so she can get a feel for our style. Then she will custom write a ceremony for us. Then, the evening before the wedding, we will meet with her and go over what she wrote and make any changes we need. Then, she is going to do a rehearsal with us at the venue- she even offered to direct everything at the rehearsal since I don’t have a wedding planner!! So glad we found her!!

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Oh my, she sounds amazing! What a gem of an officiant

I'm so happy you got this ticked off your to-do list! What's next?

@Chrysta We're also in S Florida. Can I ask who she is? I'm just starting to research.

View Quoted Comment Hi Denise I am actually not located in Florida- does it say I am somewhere on my profile??

View Quoted Comment Oops sorry!

Since this is not their first rodeo, the officiant will likely have several questions that they will want to ask you about the ceremony (religious elements? vows? readings/unity ceremony? etc) and some get to know you questions about you and your FH! So definitely be prepared to speak to what you vision for the wedding day and elements that are important to y'all! Your officiant will want to know what you value so that they can tailor the ceremony to the two of you.