South FL Bilingual/Interfaith Officiant

nadiax

Hi everyone,

We are getting married at the Cooper Estate this Sept. 2016.
We are having a hard time finding an officiant that is bilingual and that will do a Catholic/Christian wedding.
Priests will only marry us in the church, and pastors will not marry us because we currently live together. We want a religious ceremony, incorporating something from both of our faith's (I don't have exact details yet but a few passage readings would be nice, as an example).

We need help finding someone! They also need to be bilingual since we both come from Hispanic families and we have grandparents/other members of the family that do not understand English. Can anyone recommend someone?

Nadia

drmariner

Hi Nadia. I'm having a similar problem (getting married in Colombia in July and having trouble finding an officiant who is bilingual or speaks English). I hope you can find a bilingual officiant in South Florida (sorry I can't help with that specifically) but if you can't or if you find an officiant you like but (s)he is not bilingual consider hiring an interpreter (or asking a bilingual guest). Also there are other ways around language issues. Many of the forum posts I've read for bi- (or even tri-) lingual weddings said they preferred not to interpret their entire ceremony but only parts.

We plan to use a translated program (translate = written, interpret = verbal) for most components of our ceremony. To ensure the Spanish speaking guests feel equally included we plan on having a mix of Spanish and English readings. The program will have the words spoken written in the second language so everyone can follow along without having to say everything twice. Perhaps you could have a Spanish speaking guest do a reading or two, if you can't find a bilingual officiant.

Also, do you and your fiance speak Spanish? Another option is to say your vows in both languages. Even if your Spanish isn't perfect - I've seen several spouses learn enough Japanese, Thai, or Latvian to exchange their vows in their partner's family's language.

I'm sorry I can't help with the priest/pastor issue. Is there a Unitarian Universalist church in the area? For many the UU faith is a bit liberal but UU ministers tend to be very respectful and well educated in other faiths and might be able to help you craft the interfaith ceremony you desire.

Also have you asked the venue for recommendations? If they do lots of weddings - surely the pastor/priest issue isn't new to them. And in South Florida the bilingual consideration may not be new either.

Hope this helps!