I'm going through Beach Ball events for my wedding and part of the package includes officiant services. Included in my paperwork was a mock-up of the vows from the officiant. After reading through the vows numerous times over the summer, I realized that I hated them. Let me just say that the vows are worded in a way that I've never heard them before and I've been to many weddings. So at first I thought I would just suck it up and deal because I figured getting nitpicky with the vows was borderline bridezilla behavior. I can choose not use the officiant and looked into other officiants in the area. But then I had an epiphany while reading the sunday paper last week:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/10/mail-order-ministers/So I went online to see if online online ordination is legit in NC and they are:
http://north-carolina.usmarriagelaws.com/. I'm going to call the clerk's office just to double check before I make any arrangements. We decided to ask our family to see if anyone would be interested in marrying us and FI's brother-in-law stepped up to the challenge. He doesn't want us to pay him for his 'services' but I got him to agree to allow us to pay for the ordination (which is around $30-40 depending on which website you go to- I think we're going with
http://openordination.org/index.phpbut there's a few on the internet) I think this is a good alternative to hiring an officiant if you're comfortable with the idea (we still haven't sold my FMIL on the idea since she wants a member from her church to perform the ceremony but that's a whole other issue- the rest of the family thinks its a really cool idea and that's what matters to me--I'm dealing with a FMIL control issue with this wedding planning). We're going to help FI's brother-in-law with writing the vows and I'm pretty design savvy so I'm going to create our marriage certificate. Our 'officiant' needs to sign our marriage certificate and marriage license, then return the license to the clerks office. He's one of the most dependable guys I know (definitely make sure whoever you pick is dependable!)So I know a few of you were asking around about officiants and if you can't find someone, you could always get a friend or family member to marry you! While our ceremony will be religious, this is a good alternative for those who want a nondenominational wedding. I think it's just another way to make a wedding more personal, unique and definitely memorable.