Officiant Seating at Reception

I do not think most officiants stayed for receptions unless they are invited as a guest as well. Did you promise your officiant?

View Quoted Comment Oh, I didn't know that! We actually haven't even hired an officiant (we're doing the seating chart kinda out of order because we had a second). I'll definitely make sure to ask them then now that I know that's not normal!

Our officiant was someone we hired online and he choose not to stay for the reception. Had he wanted to stay I would have sat him at the same table as the other vendors.

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I would not ask lol do not even put the thought in their head. I loved my officiant but when it came to the dinner afterwards she only went to the restaurant as my official day of coordinator as well to make sure everything was set up but I did not invite her to stay. I am pretty sure after the signing of the licenses and officiating they take off. Other vendors you should feed that stay through the reception like photographers or DJ. They don't need special seating I do not think.

Unless they’re a friend or family member, they aren’t usually even invited to the reception.

You guys have been so helpful! Thank you for all your input! I guess I just won't even offer it to the officiant then. I might still have an extra table if we have room but I'll figure that out later.

It is polite to invite the officiant to the reception but unless they would be a regular guest otherwise and are not simply hired for a service, they usually decline

If you are not personal friends with the officiant, I can’t imagine them staying for the reception. Most vendors will eat outside the presence of you and your guests. They typically go into the kitchen or prep area of the venue. Between my wedding and weddings I have attended, I have never seen vendors sit down with guests.

I agree with others that it probably is a non-issue. Also, I'd caution to not really spend time now making your seating chart since your wedding is in November. Anything you do before you get your RSVPs back may not count for much since you'll most likely have to redo everything once you get all your responses in. Once we got our RSVPs in, we wrote every couple's/family's name on an index card and then arranged them in piles based on who they knew. Then, for those that didn't make a full table, we matched based on age/shared interests/etc. It did not take very long. If we had done our seating chart with the whole guest list and not just who was actually coming, it would have looked wildly different.