Officiants in Asheville?

Rachel5527

Hello!!  Im Rachel, I'm new to this board, but I have been lurking for a little bit I'm from Asheville, and we are getting married downtown "On Broadway" 

So I have a quick question.. We thought we had an officiant for the ceremony, a friend of my mom's was going to do it, but his health has started to decline pretty rapidly lately, and he doesnt think he will be able to do the ceremony for us.

The wedding is May 7, so we still have a little time to find someone else to do it. But who? I didnt grow up here, and neither did FI, so we never really attended church here or anything. Neither of us is super religious, so we would be happy with just about anyone doing it, as long as we felt good about them.

Any of you ladies have an suggestions?

TobeSAS

You might want to try Jeanne Sommer. She owns and operates Hidden River Events just outside Asheville. She is our officient for our August wedding as well. You can find contct info at the website hiddenriverevents.com

daydreamzz

I need to find one also. I've emailed a bunch of people but I just can't seem to bring myself to making any decisions. I just want someone inexpensive....It's a 10 minute ceremony...hardly seems worth paying someone >$300. So far I haven't found anyone but if I do I'll let you know.

Rachel5527

thanks daydreamzz. Who is charging $300? I thought most ministers, or persons of God,lol, went on something like "charitable donations" doing wedding ceremonies. Or I thought they had like a $50 donation minimum. Hell, I dont know.

NcsuPsych

If you go through a church, typically you'll give a donation in lue of paying the minister of the church.

If you get someone outside of the church, you can look at paying them anywhere from $50 - ???

It can get outrageous and so be sure to ask what all they charge for and what all they do. One lady that DH and I looked at wanted $300 for the ceremony (a 15min ceremony) + another $100 just to come to the rehearsal (again, about 15 mins).

I realize travel is calculated into this, but still. . that's one heck of a paycheck for not even a full days worth of work.

Ask your venue about officiants. They may have some good suggestions )

kgorman307

Sorry this turned into a little bit of a rant while typing

My wedding is in Lake Lure in October and I'm also having a really hard time finding someone to officiate. My main problem is that my venue's preferred vendor list only has ministers on there, and my FMIL (who is already very opinionated) was offended by the idea of us having a pastor/minister officiate. She is not religious at all, but her husband is Jewish and my fiancee is technically Jewish even though he hasn't stepped foot in a temple since his Bar Mitzvah. I grew up Catholic and while I don't go to church all the time, I think it would be nice to have someone bless the marraige. My idea of a compromise (that I am comfortable with) is to have a non-religious officiant who would be willing to read a bible passage/say a prayer/something like that. BUT I can't seem to find anyone non-religious for under $300. Has anyone else found a non-religious officiant in Western NC for a reasonable rate?

jacobrooks

I ran into the officiant dilemma and called the register of deeds office and they directed me to Magistrate Joe Knight and he came to my wedding location and did the ceremony for us, I tipped him $200.