over $700 for an officiant?

jamiebean · February 2011

Looking up an officiant.We basically just want a quick ceremony,non religious.... over 700 bucks for one I found ! Thats a lot of money right? Who did u guys use,how much and what did it incluse? TIA ; )

Amerbutt81 · February 2011

That seems a little steep to me. I used my childhood pastor and donated $150 to his congregation.

However, a lot of other girls have used Journeys of the Heart. I'm not sure about the pricing however.

http://www.journeysoftheheart.org/weddings--civil-unions.html

ashleylovesmark · February 2011

i was really surprised at the prices for officiants as well. We also wanted non religious, quick, but personal ceremony. We ended up deciding on having a friend perform the ceremony (technically it will be a self uniting ceremony which is allowed in PA because of quaker tradition, but the friend will it). Just an idea

Cmaugeri · February 2011

I found our officiant on Craigs list...we want something personal, yet affordable. We'll see...good luck!

Bride_to_be_2011 · February 2011

My officiant is 450 Andy Mahaney 'the wedding pastor'

SteveandKris · February 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_over-700-officiant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:105Discussion:40e3c27c-baab-4e85-9321-eb9f6116aa49Post:03b77296-11ab-4fd3-a02d-cb9387b3d2a1">Re: over $700 for an officiant?</a>:
[QUOTE]My officiant is 450 Andy Mahaney 'the wedding pastor'
Posted by Bride_to_be_2011[/QUOTE]

I'm using Andy as well... I thought he was 400, but maybe that's what i still owe... must check contract...

LaRositaMonita · February 2011

I wonder if you are referring to Journeys. They are pricey (probably over $700 if you choose to do a rehearsal the day before the wedding), but I can assure you that they actually are every penny. If it means anything, I was married a year and a half ago and cannot remember exactly what we paid - which was probably closer to $500-600, maybe? - since it was such a small drop in the bucket compared to the rest of our costs. My family still raves about our officiant, Maria Odilia Romeu, every time we talk about the wedding though. We did meet with another officiant for comparison and truly felt that there was none. It made the decision to spend the extta cash easy. (To be fair, the other person we met with was not one of the people mentioned in this thread...) Even for having a simple, secular ceremony, the service was got form Maria was terrific. I can't offer anything but the very strongest of recommendations for her.

Josephine0716 · February 2011

That's totally ridiculous. $700 for a 30 minute ceremony. I can't believe that's the price they are charging. I'm lucky I have a cousin that is a minister and he'll be doing mine. That's crazy.

jamiebean · February 2011

Yeah it is a quote from Journeys... I just dont see me paying that much for a 30 (prob not even 30 min) ceremony.

joysaw00 · February 2011

As someone who officiates weddings (I charge $500), I can tell you that what you are paying for is not the 30 minutes of the ceremony. It is the (on average) 10 hours you will spend 1) meeting with the couple to see if you are the right "fit" and see what kind of ceremony they want 2) writing the ceremony personalized to their wishes and theology 3) answering their phone calls and emails with questions in the months leading up to the event 4) driving to and from the event and 5) staying afterward to "schmooze " appropriately with the guests and basically be a friendly and open presence.

Weddings are also usually done on weekends and evenings, so the officiant is giving up her family time, and, possibly, hiring a babysitter, since she is working outside of regular "work hours" when day cares are open.

If you are someone who does not want a personalized ceremony, there are definitely cheaper ways to do it -- the self-uniting license, as someone else mentioned, is a great option in PA. And a judge or justice of the peace will usually charge more in the $100-$200 range. They won't meet or speak with you before hand, will simply show up, do a 10 minute or so service, and leave. [If you factor in the amount of time they are spending on such an event, they are actually making more money for their time than an officiant who charges $500 for a much more personalized service -- but it would be less $ outlay for you.]

Anyway -- I don't mean to sound defensive or anything! I just wanted to explain why you are finding the prices you are finding.

Good luck to you on your special day!

Joysa

RecoveringActor · February 2011

That does seem high. Mine is a $250 donation to the church.... but next year it's apparently doubling. And that's just for members of the church. Non-members is $800.

nancyr · February 2011

Anyone thinking of doing a self uniting ceremony in Delaware County is going to have a tough time unless they are Quakers or a similar religion. Media has been refusing to give out licenses, it may have changed but... your other option when we last looked into it was to get a license in Philadelphia. Just wanted to give you a heads up.

joysaw00 · February 2011

The City of Philadelphia issues self-uniting licenses that can be used in any county. I have officiated several couples who used these licenses.

http://secureprod.phila.gov/wills/marriagelicense.aspx

Bride_to_be_2011 · February 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_over-700-officiant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:105Discussion:40e3c27c-baab-4e85-9321-eb9f6116aa49Post:e96b6418-05b3-4e5e-9229-0884bd4d536e">Re: over $700 for an officiant?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: over $700 for an officiant? : I'm using Andy as well... I thought he was 400, but maybe that's what i still owe... must check contract...
Posted by SteveandKris[/QUOTE] LOL yea I can't remember right now. He is awesome though. How did you hear of him?

jilly2121 · February 2011

So random I was at Starbucks in Cherry Hill and I saw a couple meeting with a guy and I heard them discussing what they wanted for their wedding ceremony. When they were done I asked the guy if he was a photographer turned out he's an Officiant and it was Andy "The Wedding Pastor"! He seemed really, like the other girls said he met with the couple and spent at least an hour with them going over what they wanted for their ceremony. I will definitely be booking him when I get there in my wedding planning.

ashleylovesmark · February 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_over-700-officiant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:105Discussion:40e3c27c-baab-4e85-9321-eb9f6116aa49Post:6da781e5-eb66-43ca-bccf-782158427063">Re: over $700 for an officiant?</a>:
[QUOTE]Anyone thinking of doing a self uniting ceremony in Delaware County is going to have a tough time unless they are Quakers or a similar religion. Media has been refusing to give out licenses, it may have changed but... your other option when we last looked into it was to get a license in Philadelphia. Just wanted to give you a heads up.
Posted by nancyr[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the heads up as I was planning on doing this. We're getting maried in Philadelphia and from everything I read it should be no problem.

over $700 for an officiant?

Re: over $700 for an officiant?

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