Hi ladies! I'm new to this whole board thing and was pretty excited to see a board just for sharing things in Central Pennsylvania. My fiance and I are getting married in October this year in Cumberland County and would like to have a good friend be our officiant. Do any of you have any clue whether or not this is legal in Pa? I've called the County Clerks' office and they're pretty cryptic about whether or not it's allowed. If any of you have some insight about this, it would be much appreciated! Thanks a bunch!
Re: Have a friend officiate?
however, there is a way around it. when you go to apply (you can apply in any county you want), you will need to ask for a self-unitying license. instead of having an ordained officiant sign your license... you and your FI will sign it, as well as two witnesses. its claiming that you are "marrying yourselves" in front of two witnesses. you can then have whoever you want run your ceremony.
for us, my cousin performed the ceremony which we wrote then we had him and my H's godmother sign the marriage license.
if you have any other questions you can PM me or email me at steeser03 at yahoo dot com
I think steeser's idea is a great one and a good way to get around any potential issues. FWIW, DH and I got married with a self-uniting license with no problem. We didn't have anyone officiate, but even if we had, I think we would have used the self-uniting license anyway. This way you can have whoever you want "perform" the ceremony, but you and your FH sign the license yourselves (along with some witnesses).
Thanks for your responses... I really appreciate it! I (obviously) had no idea that this self-uniting license existed. I am definitely going to look into that as our way to go. It's comforting to know that others have looked into and done this same thing and have had succes! Thanks again!