What are my options for who I can find to officiate my wedding ceremony?

Question

A minister/pastor isn't what we're looking for (I never got over having to be baptized in the church PARKING LOT because my dad is Jewish). A Justice of the Peace just bungled my friends' names at their wedding and didn't seem to know anything about them. What are other options if any? We live in New York state.

Answer 1

When my husband and I got married, the church we were using gave us a list of approved ministers/preachers etc. Since we were getting married in a University Chapel they were set up to handle all religions. Neither my husband and I are regular church goers but we do believe in a higher power. So I went down the list till I found a nondenominational minsiter. We met with him twice to discuss what type of service we wanted and he asked us questions about us. Then he gave me a packet of what could be done during a wedding service (kinda like ala carte) and we were able to pick and choose exactly how and what we wanted our service to be vows and all. Then we took it all back to the minister and he went over it with us making notes. So this way he got to know us and since we were paying him for a specific service he was very attentive to us, our names and had a script with him that day so that he didn't mess anything up. So I believe that my answer would be to check out nondenominational ministers in your area. Try this web site below. And if you decide to get married in Maryland look up Rev. Gaffney. *grins* Best wishes to you both on your up coming wedding!

Answer 2

You get use a minister, judge (justice of the peace), or you can use anyone who is a notary public. A notary public is someone who uses a seal to notarize official documents. You can find a notary in your local town/city hall, ask them if they would perform a wedding service for you. OR find out if any of your friends or relatives are notaries.

Best thing is a notary or justice of the peace, just make sure you clearly write down your names on a piece of paper and have them practice saying your names before the service. Have a wedding rehearsal the night before the wedding.

Answer 3

In Yahoo or Google type in your city, state ,wedding officiant. There should be some to pop up.



Also go here to my site. There are wedding sites where Officiants register. I'm with several. Ask around.



Make sure you know what you're getting. Ask questions. If you are not comfortable with one Officiant, look for another.



An acquaintance just had a priestess & priest do their ceremony. The priest didn't show, she had her sermon on neon-colored paper, kept whispering to the couple during the ceremony that "I'm not going to do that part", as the bride had taken different ideas & tailored her ceremony to her liking.



Contact me if you need help. :)



http://www.weddingvowsandpromises.com/Links.html



Congratulations! And good luck!

Answer 4

The legal paperwork makes it respected. you may desire to touch the marriage license place of work to be sure regardless of if that's even legal on your state to have a chum replace into ordained online and officiate the ceremony. some states have no subject with it whilst others do not realize it in any respect.

Answer 5

You can even have a close friend, that is willing to, do it. They just have to be a notary....or I believe they can even get the proper authorization to officiate for a day. I would suggest getting in touch with someone in your local city/town hall for further details.

Answer 6

Any Judge can marry you, but you must make an appointment.

Answer 7

try looking in the yellow pages