I was wondering how some people picked their officiant? My FI and I aren't very religious, so we don't have a pastor or anything like that. I've been looking officiants up online for my area, but I really have no idea where to start with this. What are the main questions I should ask? Any insight would be great.
Thanks.
Re: Officiant?
As for how to pick an officiant I think it comes down to cost, experience, viewing their portfolio (if they have one), and the connection you feel with the person. More often then not you can feel if you like the vendor or not when you first meet them.
Also if you want a lot of input in the wording of the ceremony then look for an officiant that doesn't have a set repertoire and is willing to work with you.
If you're planning to do a completely non-denominational service you can, like PP said, ask a friend or family member to do it. FI and I are planning on doing a non-denominational service but didn't feel like we had a friend or family member that we wanted to have do it, and we ended up coincidentally looking into the Ethical Culture Society, which is a nationwide organization for secular humanists. Once we found that, we found our local chapter, went to a couple meetings, and then reached out to the leader, who officiates weddings.
I know that there also officiants at bridal shows (or, well, there were a few at the one bridal show I attended) and you can find them on sites like wedding wire.
If my brother wasn't going to marry us, I'd probably search the area and find a local nondenominational officiant.
I'm trying to decide who I would like to have officiate my wedding, because I'm pretty much the big attention whore of the family and almost everyone else has a fear of public speaking.
Good luck!
We were in charge of writing our own ceremony, and she went over it and adjusted some minor wording. Mostly, she just read it as it was written.
I've been to three weddings now where someone had a friend officiate for them. They were all beautiful ceremonies!
Our officiant is a distant friend of my grandparents. He is a minister, but he also performs non-denominational ceremonies (which we had).
Otherwise, via googling, start making a few phone calls/ send emails. Of course talk price, are they available. But you should also ask how they typically run a ceremony, is it flexible, any requirements they have, how long is the service usually.