Virginia officiant

No. Find a pro. By the time they marry you they won't be a random person.

You can get married by the courts and then he can get up there and say anything he wants but Virginia is sticky about legalities.

A blessing from above is who we're going with.

I don't think this would work. I had a friend "get married" by a friend of hers who is ordained in West Virginia. It wasn't actually legal because he wasn't ordained in Virginia.

Hire a pro. I used the vendor tab on WW.

I'm getting married in NC and my cousin is marrying us but is only ordained in VA. So we are actually doing a courthouse wedding 3 days before the wedding so we don't have to worry about it. We don't want anyone else marrying us either.

The person at the courthouse is the one who will marry you so they will be a stranger. Your cousin will not be marrying you as you will already be married on your "wedding" day.

Darn those random officiants.

We have friends who did this. They actually had to set up a "church" and get a ton of people to write in and say they were part of the church and this person was the leader.

Are you close to D.C.? D.C. has a cool thing called a temporary officiant where you just pay like $30 and anyone you pick can marry you. If you don't have a venue yet and D.C. is an option, it's something to consider.

Following. Also getting married in Virginia...

My godmother is a minister in NY and will be marrying us in VA. She had to get certified in VA- I think she had to contact the county clerk where we are getting married. I know she has received her official letter stating that she can marry us in VA.

Hire a pro. They'll get to know you and personalize your ceremony so it won't feel like a "random person" marrying you. I see your profile says you're in Washington, DC. Check out Joyce Hilberry. She's based in MD, but does weddings in MD, VA, and DC. She was my officiant... She is a super sweet woman, has a great personality, and her accent is awesome!!

http://mddcweddings.com/

Check the laws carefully. My FH's best friend is marrying us and we could not be more excited. In Ohio you can get ordained in any state and then file an application to perform marriages. You only have to provide your license along with your application and $10. He is also getting ordained because his mother starting a wedding planning business and he plans on working for her if needed. I would start this process now just to make sure everything goes accordingly.

Some states allow your officiant to become a temporary state officiant for your wedding.

My aunt is an officiant certified in Utah & Oregon. When FH & I were going to get married in Las Vegas, the state of Nevada was going to allow my aunt to get certified for one day in Nevada.