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Getting certified as an officiant

kjkbeankjkbean
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in Wedding Vows & Ceremony Discussions
I would like a good friend to serve as the officiant for my wedding.  He has a degree in theology but is not ordained; in fact we do not have a religious ceremony, as we are having an inter-faith inter-cultural wedding.  I'd like to pay for him to be certified - but there seem to be a lot of scams online - does anyone know a simple, legit way to do this? 
 
Thanks!
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Re: Getting certified as an officiant

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    aerinpegadrakaerinpegadrak member
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    Ditto ULC.  The county where we got married has some pretty imposing restrictions, but we were able to get him approved with some extra paperwork.
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    2dBride2dBride member
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    Definitely check out relevant state laws.  As this New York Times article points out, in some states using someone ordained online may invalidate the marriage.  And you likely won't discover the issue until the validity of the marriage is in question, e.g., upon death, divorce, or bankruptcy.  I'm not sure what state you are getting married in, but Virginia and DC are among those states that do not recognize officiants ordained online.

    In Virginia, there is a procedure to get any Virginia resident authorized to perform a wedding.  It basically requires some paperwork and a $500 bond (but you get the bond amount back after the wedding).  If you actually live in DC, you may be reasonably safe, because DC still recognizes common law marriage.  (However, this does not apply if you live elsewhere and are getting married in DC.)

    If you are getting married in a state that does not have a one-day officiant program, and there is any doubt about the validity of marriages performed by offficiants who are ordained online, you may want to consider a brief courthouse ceremony for the paperwork, followed by a bigger ceremony elsewhere.  That way, you have a back-up in case there is an issue with the officiant.
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    simbidisimbidi
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    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_getting-certified-officiant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:10Discussion:140f1759-3cda-40a8-b5ad-e59d31cd21d2Post:40f12628-64ae-4373-9dec-3c974b77047c">Re: Getting certified as an officiant</a>:
    [QUOTE]First, check and make sure this will fly with the county/state you are getting married in.  Some don't allow online ordinations. <strong>I would recommend Universal Life Church for this.</strong>  DH is ordained through them.  It was easy, really affordable, and they have great resources for writing ceremonies, dealing with filing paperwork, etc.  Definitely not a scam.
    Posted by StageManager14[/QUOTE]

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