Wedding Vows & Ceremony Discussions

officiants

What questions do I ask to make sure that the officiants that I interview are legally allowed to perform wedding ceremonies?
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Re: officiants

  • RB had a ton of great options for you. Most court houses will be able to tell you if that person is licensed within the state to perform marriage ceremonies.
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_officiants-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:10Discussion:6f3b49b8-b8d7-4348-9631-cd134141f9c6Post:0e531d24-94c6-4e4c-8b2b-e0f3572b5e08">officiants</a>:
    [QUOTE]What questions do I ask to make sure that the officiants that I interview are legally allowed to perform wedding ceremonies?
    Posted by torrieshere[/QUOTE]

    Legally allowed?  I've never heard of an officiant who advertised themselves as performing weddings but wasn't actually ordained/certified.  But maybe I live in a hole where people have ethics.

    Ditto Retread... go to city hall and get a list of officiants.  Or a church.  Or better yet - get a word of mouth recommendation from someone in your city who has used the person so you can get a better idea of what kind of ceremonies they do, their punctuality, attitude, etc.
  • Here's what the Penn. Domestic Relations Code says:
    § 1503. Persons qualified to solemnize marriages.
    (a) General rule.--The following are authorized to solemnize
    marriages between persons that produce a marriage license issued
    under this part:
    (1) A justice, judge or magisterial district judge of
    this Commonwealth.
    (2) A former or retired justice, judge or magisterial
    district judge of this Commonwealth who is serving as a
    senior judge or senior magisterial district judge as provided
    or prescribed by law; or not serving as a senior judge or
    senior magisterial district judge but meets the following
    criteria:
    (i) has served as a magisterial district judge,
    judge or justice, whether or not continuously or on the
    same court, by election or appointment for an aggregate
    period equaling a full term of office;
    (ii) has not been defeated for reelection or
    retention;
    (iii) has not been convicted of, pleaded nolo
    contendere to or agreed to an Accelerated Rehabilitative
    Disposition or other probation without verdict program
    relative to any misdemeanor or felony offense under the
    laws of this Commonwealth or an equivalent offense under
    the laws of the United States or one of its territories
    or possessions, another state, the District of Columbia,
    the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or a foreign nation;
    (iv) has not resigned a judicial commission to avoid
    having charges filed or to avoid prosecution by Federal,
    State or local law enforcement agencies or by the
    Judicial Conduct Board;
    (v) has not been removed from office by the Court
    of Judicial Discipline; and
    (vi) is a resident of this Commonwealth.
    (3) An active or senior judge or full-time magistrate
    of the District Courts of the United States for the Eastern,
    Middle or Western District of Pennsylvania.
    (3.1) An active, retired or senior bankruptcy judge of
    the United States Bankruptcy Courts for the Eastern, Middle
    or Western District of Pennsylvania who is a resident of
    this Commonwealth.
    (4) An active, retired or senior judge of the United
    States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit who is a
    resident of this Commonwealth.
    (5) A mayor of any city or borough of this Commonwealth.
    (5.1) A former mayor of a city or borough of this
    Commonwealth who:
    (i) has not been defeated for reelection;
    (ii) has not been convicted of, pleaded nolo
    contendere to or agreed to an Accelerated Rehabilitative
    Disposition or other probation without verdict program
    relative to a misdemeanor or felony offense under the
    laws of this Commonwealth or an equivalent offense under
    the laws of the United States or any one of its
    possessions, another state, the District of Columbia,
    the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or a foreign nation;
    (iii) has not resigned the position of mayor to
    avoid having charges filed or to avoid prosecution by
    Federal, State or local law enforcement agencies;
    (iv) has served as a mayor, whether continuously
    or not, by election for an aggregate of a full term in
    office; and
    (v) is a resident of this Commonwealth.
    (6) A minister, priest or rabbi of any regularly
    established church or congregation. (b) Religious organizations.--Every religious society,
    religious institution or religious organization in this
    Commonwealth may join persons together in marriage when at least
    one of the persons is a member of the society, institution or
    organization, according to the rules and customs of the society,
    institution or organization. (c) Marriage license needed to officiate.--No person or
    religious organization qualified to perform marriages shall
    officiate at a marriage ceremony without the parties having
    obtained a marriage license issued under this part.
    (June 22, 2000, P.L.443, No.59, eff. imd.; Nov. 30, 2004,
    P.L.1618, No.207, eff. 60 days; Dec. 1, 2004, P.L.1777, No...
  • On a meta-level, I'd be really spooked if I could call whatever government agency and get a list of all area "ministers, priests and rabbis of regularly established churches or congregations." It is a violation of the Constitution to require religious organizations to register with the government. (restricting religious participation) I think it might also be a violation to set up an opt-in program whereby religious ministers have the option to be on the government's list. (encouraging particular religious participation)

    Also, all the court houses and public law libraries where I work have big signs about how the staff cannot give legal advice, which would included stating a determination of whether a particular individual may officiate at a particular wedding.

    Meanwhile, I'm looking at the relevant website from my State, because there was no relevant info from my county. The State's website is incomplete.
  • Are you saying there's a law that requires a government agency to keep a list of religious ministers? That law is unconstitutional, and I'm already indirectly lobbying to have it struck down. Same goes if a government agency has an opt-in list. It's the list of individuals I have trouble with, not the general family and domestic relations codes. (Well, I do have trouble with them, but unrelated to this discussion.)

    My problems mentioned here are not with any state statutes or judicial decisions I'm aware of, but with these mythical lists of individuals and this idea someone at the courthouse (besides a judge and jury) will make a determination about a particular individual. I talk to county clerks every day. If I asked them if the officiant we selected has the proper qualifications under state law to officiate, they'd laugh or stare at me blankly or help me look up the relevant section in the Family Code. They would not say, "let me check the list."

    And here's the law in N.C.:

    (1)       a.      

    A valid and sufficient marriage is created by the consent of a male and female person who may lawfully marry, presently to take each other as husband and wife, freely, seriously and plainly expressed by each in the presence of the other, either:

    (1)       a.         In the presence of an ordained minister of any religious denomination, a minister authorized by a church, or a magistrate; and

    b.         With the consequent declaration by the minister or magistrate that the persons are husband and wife; or

    (2)        In accordance with any mode of solemnization recognized by any religious denomination, or federally or State recognized Indian Nation or Tribe.

  • I'm just gonna throw in that for the province I'm getting married in, on the government website there's a section where I can enter my officiant's name and find out if he's allowed to perform a marriage there. Anyone who can perform a marriage in that province needs to be registered with the government and has a registration number (which I had to give to the church). I can't look at a list of all the officiants in the province though, I can just enter his name, my wedding date and then it tells me if he'll be allowed to perform the wedding.

    I'm sure not everywhere has that though, I know the province I live in doesn't have that. 
  • Very interesting, poison. In a way, it supports my point, because Canada has very different laws about the government and religion.
  • It totally varies from state to state. In Florida, notaries, judges, and ordained clergy can perform marriages. You can go online and get ordained in 30 seconds and be cool. Several of my friends were married by someone who did this.
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