Finding an Officiant for Your Wedding

The most important part of choosing and officiant for your wedding is finding someone you are comfortable with, as they will have a large impact on the vibe of your wedding ceremony. Ideally, you want to have someone who not only reflects your individual qualities, but also shares the same values.

Now, neither K nor I had any desire to be married in a church being that we are not belonging to any particular religion. Luckily, we had it easy...

Enter our beloved friend Josh.

He became an ordained minister a few years ago through the Universal Life Church to marry another good friend of ours, so he was an obvious choice for our upcoming wedding. And, how many other ministers teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes during the day? That's right, not many.

The good thing about having a friend officiate your wedding is that (hopefully) they know you well enough already and will personalize the experience. We began brainstorming with Josh a few months before the wedding. He came to our apartment and we went over the details and the order of the program. We decided early on that we wanted to write our own vows. We also asked some of our close friends if they would do us the honor of reading selected pieces. The only danger of having a friend perform your ceremony is if they don't take the task as seriously as they should. Nobody wants a clown at their wedding!

Those who would prefer a religious ceremony should bear in mind the same qualities when choosing someone. All the better if it's a person who is close with you and your family. If that's the case, i.e., a clergy person, etc.

In the end, Josh did a fabulous job officiating our wedding and we were very happy with our decision. He brought just the right balance of sincerity with quirkiness – a true reflection of us.