Who can perform a wedding ceremony in Pennsylvania?

Under the Vendor Tab in WeddingWire there is a category to lookup an officiant. Have you tried that? Looking up an officiant in your area through the Vendor tab?

Try looking for wedding officiants in your area. As the PP said, you can find some under the vendor tab. You could also ask you venue, photographer, or any other vendors you've already booked if they have any recommendations.

Do you mean you can't have someone who got ordained through online? I got mine through universal life church. I live in NY though so they allow it. If you lived here I would do it for you for free. Stinks if they don't allow people to do it who went through it online.

View Quoted Comment Yes I looked into it and PA won't allow an online ordained minister. To have a legal marriage in PA you have to go to the Justice of Peace Office or have a pastor marry you that has a congregation but we do not belong to a church and no Pastor will marry us unless we belong to their Church. Thank you. You are very kind.

View Quoted Comment Thank you! I am new to the site and never saw that. I'll look there.

PA allows self-uniting marriages. You only need two witnesses to make it official. This way anyone can stand up front and "lead" the ceremony.

Are any of your family members in PA? If so, why not reach out to their churches (if they attend). Often you can have a church marry you through family members belonging to a church versus you belonging.

Just reiterating two posts above: two of my friends were married in self-uniting ceremonies in PA. They're very common and no ordinance is required.

If you or your fiance went to college in PA, another option is the university chaplain. They will often do ceremonies for alumni.

Not sure where in Pennsylvania you are getting married, but my husband I got married in Pennsylvania. We are not members of a church and my husband doesn't believe in God so we didn't want to have a religious ceremony. I looked up celebrants in Pennsylvania. I spoke with several different ones. The one we went with was Mayor Dan McDavitt. As a former mayor, he was able to perform our ceremony. He is based out of Lewisburg, PA. He drove about 1.5 hours one way for our wedding. He was very nice. He made the ceremony very personal to us. I found him on here under vendors.

Are you trying to have a religious ceremony, or are you fine with a civil service? We had a friend become a Justice of the Peace to serve as our officiant in our wedding. The entire process in New Hampshire took maybe a few months - if you start now you probably have time.

I'm in Ohio and also don't belong to a church, but I used the vendor tab on this site to find an officiant in my area.

Good luck and don't panic, it will be ok! ::hugs::

View Quoted Comment Wow I'm sorry to hear that. I'm religious but I don't belong to a church and my fiance is not religious as all. So I understand the issue with the church and not wanting to do JOTP.

My friends officiant had a family emergency the week before her wedding, and she and her now husband are atheist so didn’t want to consider a pastor. I posted on several local fb groups assuming it was a long shot, but by the next day I had messages from 2 people who were ordained and available...

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You actually can have an online ordained minister marry you in PA - my fiance got "ordained" through Universal Life Church and married our friends at their wedding in Philly in March! He did call and confirm with the city before committing and was told it wasn't a problem at all.

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Yes, it really depends on the county in PA in which you want to get married. For example, near me Philadelphia and Bucks County won't bat an eye at a Universal Life Church minister. Your best bet is to call your county clerk and see if they will accept it - they may also be more lenient right now because of COVID, some couples would probably prefer to have a family member or close friend due to health risk.

In boyertown pa my brother used the mayor of boyertown to officiate his wedding. Check with your local mayor...

We are getting married in Bucks County and found a fantastic pastor named Chuck Blair. We don’t belong to a church either, and overall he’s been wonderful about everything. The only kind of ceremony he said he wouldn’t perform was one with costumes, haha.

Hi Kathryn! It's true that Pennsylvania is super strict about online ordinations, and that most counties do not recognize online ordinations through ULC or other popular sites - but you do have options!!

You can use our local search to find wedding officiants for hire (don't need to belong to a congregation or anything!): Find Pennsylvania Wedding Officiant.

JOPs can also officiate in PA and you can also apply for a self-uniting marriage license!