Long time family friend Officiant

srfgirlie5

. I'm having mine outdoors and there's no longer an affiliation at all with a church since he's retired.

Ideas?

jessicabessica

You could make a donation to the church where he used to work, or you could see if there's a charity that he particularly supports or likes that you could make a donation to in his honor.  

July2012bride

How about a nice gift or a gift card with a nice thank you card?  That way he wouldn't be doing it for free (aka you'd still be thanking him graciously), but it is a bit more personal than just paying him like a normal vendor (especially if he told you that you don't owe him any money).

ETA: edited for clarity

emilyinchile

I would probably go the gift card route in this case - either to a store you know he'd love (ie. if he's a big gardener, a gift card to a nursery) or something like a nice restaurant

laurenclaire1386

My uncle is a pastor, and he wouldn't take any money from us. We bought him a nice set of cufflinks as a thank you gift, and paid for his room at the venue (a bed and breakfast/plantation home).

NcsuPsych

If he's traveling, you could offer to pay for his travel expenses or hotel.
Possibly get him a nice gift or something to go along with that.

DH aunt married us. She said she didn't want anything either, but we paid for her and her husbands hotel room and then gave her a really pretty Jim Shore gift (one she'd been wanting for a long time, but couldn't find).

meganb1977

We don't think our officiant (family friend of fiance's) would charge a fee or take money from us, but we plan to get a gift card for him and his wife to go out for a nice dinner.

Avion22

I agree -- a gift or gift card, plus a donation in his name to a charity you think he would like