Wedding Officiating |
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So Recently I went and got myself ordained on line through the Universal Life Church in order to officiate at my son's wedding. I did a number of these gigs back in my church days, of course, but no denomination was ever foolish enough to ordain me, so since then I've been helping people tie the knot with one day deputizations from whatever county the ceremony is in. In this case, however, our good friend Covid made that process so cumbersome that doing the online ordination thing was actually a recommendation from the county to avoid having to go through what was now a multiple week process, something I used to just walk in and do.
All that to say, helping out with these things is something I enjoy and people seem to appreciate and I thought, "Since I'm good to go now, why not make that available for people who need an officiant to help make their big day something special?"
These days any friend or family member or rando off the street can officiate at a wedding by becoming qualified to do so in the way that I did. I know someone who was at a wedding where the officiant didn't show up, so he got ordained on his phone standing there and took care of it. If you just need someone to read the script and sign the paper, that's easy. My thing is to have a conversation with the couple, find out what makes their relationship unique, and try to help make the ceremony reflect that. No pre-conditions regarding religious emphasis or anything like that, or requirements for counseling etc. I just like making the day be what you want it to be. It occurs to me that there are a growing number of folks who grew up in church settings and for various reasons no longer have a congregation they connect with. But there is still this picture of what their wedding is going to look like in their heads, only now without a church and a pastor to automatically call on to accomplish that. I think I may be able to offer some assistance in circumstances like that in particular.
FAQs:
cost: I asked around, and it appears people ask for anywhere between $500 and $1,200 for this service. The low end of that seems good to me, but at this point everything on this site is "pay what you can, and what you think it's worth."
Who I will marry: yes, I will and have done same sex weddings.
All that to say, helping out with these things is something I enjoy and people seem to appreciate and I thought, "Since I'm good to go now, why not make that available for people who need an officiant to help make their big day something special?"
These days any friend or family member or rando off the street can officiate at a wedding by becoming qualified to do so in the way that I did. I know someone who was at a wedding where the officiant didn't show up, so he got ordained on his phone standing there and took care of it. If you just need someone to read the script and sign the paper, that's easy. My thing is to have a conversation with the couple, find out what makes their relationship unique, and try to help make the ceremony reflect that. No pre-conditions regarding religious emphasis or anything like that, or requirements for counseling etc. I just like making the day be what you want it to be. It occurs to me that there are a growing number of folks who grew up in church settings and for various reasons no longer have a congregation they connect with. But there is still this picture of what their wedding is going to look like in their heads, only now without a church and a pastor to automatically call on to accomplish that. I think I may be able to offer some assistance in circumstances like that in particular.
FAQs:
cost: I asked around, and it appears people ask for anywhere between $500 and $1,200 for this service. The low end of that seems good to me, but at this point everything on this site is "pay what you can, and what you think it's worth."
Who I will marry: yes, I will and have done same sex weddings.