Maryland-Baltimore

Hiring an officiant vs.having a friend/family member ordained?

I am having a major dilemma in regards to finding an officiant. I haven't called the county clerk's office yet, but has anyone in MD explored the possibility of having a family member or friend ordained online and perform the ceremony?

Otherwise, does anyone know of an officiant in MD who has reasonable pricing (possibly under $300) to perform the ceremony?

Please help if you can, thanks!

Re: Hiring an officiant vs.having a friend/family member ordained?

  • celticmysscelticmyss member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I had a friend who did thi9s a few years ago so I know it can be done.

    I am faced by this dilema as well. I can't see paying someone $450 or so to do something that someone who knows and loves us can do for a small fraction of that price. However, I can't really think of any friends we would want to have do it. We're only inviting 25 people to the wedding and none of them are good candidates. 
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  • weezie825weezie825 member
    First Comment Combo Breaker First Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    I was not comfortable with the idea of havcing a friend get ordained to perform the ceremony.  We ended up going with Rev. Alberta Eaton.  I don't know what her pricing is now, my wedding was in 2009.

    Rev. Alberta was great to work with and we were really happy with how the ceremony turned out.
    http://revalbertaeaton.com/

    My sister used Rev. Hope McNew.  She was great too.
    http://www.revhope.com/services.php
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  • LoveKissLoveKiss member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We were married in Talbot County and had no problem with having a freind who was ordained online performing our ceremony. He was ordained by the Church of the Latter Day Dude for free. I wrote our entire ceremony, and our friend did a great job making my words on a page into something real and meaningful.
  • Maggie0829Maggie0829 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    edited December 2011
    I was married in Baltimore City and one of our close friends became ordained to perform our ceremony.  I would not have done it any other way.  He was amazing...he took so much time writing the ceremony and making it perfect.  Since he had known us for so long he was able to speak a little more personally then a hired officiant could.  He received so many compliments from all of our guests and for my H and I, it was so much more special having someone we know marry us rather than a complete stranger.

  • breanessbreaness member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Laura Cannon is wonderful, and she did my friend's wedding. She was also really helpful when my Uncle passed away last year, she gave me guidance as to how to deal with the pain and I really appreciated that.

    Another friend had the girl who introduced her and her husband ordained and had her do the ceremony. It was funny, touching, and perfect for them. 

    It's really up to what you're looking for. If there's someone that brought you two together, it could be a nice way to get them involved.
  • edited December 2011
    My wife and I were married at the court house and then at our ceremony the day of before our reception (as our mothers would have not been very happy if we didn't do some kind of ceremony for friends and family to take part in/witness) she had a very close friend of her family 'officiate' everything. Since we were already legally married, he didn't have to get ordained or anything like that and everything worked perfectly for what we (well, really she) was looking for. I was indifferent either way - I just wanted my wife to be happy and to have everything exactly how she wanted it to be. 

    The facility I work for recommends Rev. Laura Cannon 443.562.4709 as well as Rev. Chris Adams 410.796.9490, although I have no idea as to what they charge.

    Best of luck with your decision! Cheers.
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