Wedding Officiants...how much is too much?

Ours charged 250, and that was for the rehersal and ceremony

Wow! We're paying a fee for the church which includes the pastor, organist, wedding coordinator, janitor, and use of the facilities...so I can't really compare.

BUT, does it include any kind of marriage prep? that might be a difference between the two. Ours includes our marriage prep.

Does anyone know what the appropriate fee/donation is for a catholic ceremony?

Mine is super cheap. She's charging $75. But the average price range I found was $250-400 in my hometown. Of course, you also have to take location into account.

Mine is $700 which includes rehearsal and ceremony and her travel costs. She lives about an hour away.

Your cost will involve several factors: the region you live in, the experience of the officiant, and the amount of personalization you are getting. Also, a minister of the church you are using will charge mostly for the church usage and ask for a donation. Unless you are a member, that can be quite costly, too. An independent officiant will not be at the same scale as those tied to a particular church.

We're going non-denominational as neither of us have ties to a particular church. And we are getting married in a chapel where you have to provide your own ofiiciant. They each are ordained ministers and have over 20 years experience. I guess if we get a better feel for one over the other, that's who we go with.

Thx for the advice ladies.

Ours is in Hawaii and is just for the ceremony. It is costing $450

Ours in the minister of the church where we are getting married. He is charging $100 for both rehearsal and ceremony.

Ours is $375, we have a discount because we are "off" season (february) and a sunday, his usual fee's are $450

The standard around the DMV area is 375-450 but if you can get what you need for less then hop on it...and no to the $800!

WOW! We must have gotten an amazing deal then because ours is $135 for the wedding and $50 for the rehearsal! If we do pre-wedding counseling classes it's an additional $325, but the $185 for our rehearsal and ceremony covers unlimited emails and an almost 30 page booklet of prepared options for our wedding ceremony along with several links for additional ideas if we want to personalize it further!

Our wedding officiant is going to cost $95. To answer the question about donating to a catholic ceremony, when my father got married in the catholic church the priest wouldn't except any money unless it was donated to the church. I would say maybe 50 to 100 depends on where you live.

Wow, ladies! It makes the $800 seem completely out of the question. After this weekend I will let you all know how it goes.

Our officiant is $350, but that is because we are totally writing our own ceremony and wanted optional meetings with the officiant and unlimited phone calls and email contact with him so that everyone was on board with the ceremony. We are planning a Celtic/Pagan ceremony and wanted the vows to match. We could have gotten it for less had we chosen to go with a pre-written ceremony.

...we met the first officiant today and absolutely knew he was a perfect fit! By the end we booked him. No need to meet the others we made appts with (which I did cancel them). He was the $450....and that's for everything! Thx for your help ladies.

Dawn, so you booked the $800.00?

No, we booked the $450. We got such a great vibe from him!

My church costs $750 for the ceremony and $175 for the music coordinator. Additional music people (like a harpist) will cost more.

The one I spoke to today says we will need her Platinum package, $350, since we are holding a rehearsal dinner the night before. She also said if we would like we can meet before but we do not need too. We are to pick the wording we would like her to use from the list on her website and then she says by the way she also charges mileage. We get 10 miles for "free", the wedding is 45 miles from her house so it would be an Additional $170! Really, $1 per mile!!?!