Officiant Payment

Go on Thumbtack.com for your area or browse officiant websites in your area to see what the going rate is.

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Thanks, that really helped. I also figured if she said "No" to payment then I would ask her if I could make a donation somewhere in her name

View Quoted Comment Be very careful with donations in other people’s names because at the end of the financial year, charities frequently come after the person whose name is on the donation, not the one actually giving the money. Also not everyone shares the same ethics and beliefs where charities are concerned.

When my mother got married, the Officiant was a family friend. He didn't ask for payment so she wrote a sweet thank you card and enclosed $100 cash. The professional officiants in my area charge anywhere from$250-$500. If the friend also attends the rehearsal dinner and takes time to get to know the couple ahead of time, I would consider that in coming up with the payment amount also.

A few hundred dollars. I would probably do $300. $100-$500 depending on the COL in your area.

Another idea—our officiant wouldn't accept money really wanted time with us and to see how our marriage was going. So we took him and his wife out to dinner around our 6 month anniversary. It was so lovely to catch up over a nice meal. I think the bill was around $500 for the four of us?

View Quoted Comment Oh that is a great idea! I'm going to put that on my calendar.

Will you be getting a block of rooms for your guests? Another idea is you could offer to pay for their room for the weekend.

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It was one of the last nice meals out we had pre-COVID and such a special time! We all (including our officiant) still bring up how much we enjoyed that dinner and how special it was to share that time beyond the wedding.

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This is what we did. My officiant was my childhood pastor who remains a very close family friend. I had a destination wedding at a resort, and I simply had the resort put his room on my tab. He and his wife were shocked, but appreciative.

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No, we are leaving that part up to our guests, because some wanted to stay close, and others voiced staying further away close to site seeing stuff in the area.