In recent years a trend has become common among couples planning their weddings—the use of personal friends and family members to officiate ceremonies. 

At first, this may seem like a good idea and is even occasionally promoted in bridal magazines and on the Internet. Unfortunately, many brides and grooms end up regretting this decision once their wedding day arrives.

In order for someone to conduct a beautiful and organized wedding ceremony, that person must have a specific amount of skill, knowledge and experience.  Your officiant must have:

A.     The experience to organize and coordinate the dozens of details concerning your wedding ceremony. (Including the ability to run an organized rehearsal if necessary).

B.     Excellent public speaking and communication skills in order to convey the beautiful message of your ceremony to your invited family and friends.

C.     An extensive knowledge of ceremony styles, formats, options, placement, timing and flow.

D.     The necessary experience to stay cool, calm and collected when things ‘may not’ be going as planned. And the knowledge of “what to do” when things are “not” going as expected.

E.      The experience to effectively communicate with all of your other vendors—and to coordinate the ceremony with your DJ, photographer, florist and caterer—allowing everyone to work together and on the “same page” during the wedding ceremony.

F.      An extensive and detailed understanding of wedding licensing, legal matters, county documents and other important ‘paper work’ issues.

It takes years of training, study and experience to become a good wedding officiant.

Unfortunately, “inexperienced” friends and family members are just that—inexperienced.

However well intentioned, they often do not possess the knowledge, experience or skills necessary to perform the type of wedding ceremony that most brides and grooms want (and expect) on this very special day. Inexperienced friends and family members are often visibly nervous, uncomfortable and ultimately ‘unsure’ of what they are doing—leading to a wedding ceremony which is often ‘not very good.’ Keep in mind that all of this will be taking place in front of your closest friends and family members!

The person officiating your wedding will, simply put, “make” or “break” your ceremony—the centerpiece of your entire wedding day!

If you select an officiant that has years of experiences and hundreds, if not thousands of weddings ‘under their belt,’ you will likely have a beautiful ceremony that is professional, organized and memorable in a positive way.

If, on the other hand, you select an officiant that does not have the necessary experience, skills or knowledge to conduct a beautiful and organized ceremony—you may end up wishing you had made a different choice. (Regardless of how special that person is in your life).

So choose your wedding officiant wisely, make sure they have the years of knowledge and experience that will lead to a beautiful and organized wedding ceremony.  You will only have one opportunity to perform this service, so select an officient who is an experienced professional.