The growing trend among couples these days is having a close friend or family member officiate their wedding. It is especially for those who do not prefer a religious or secular ceremony. It is necessary to decide the officiant first who will perform the ceremony.
There are plenty of advantages to officiating the wedding by close friends and family, such as it feels more personal, extraordinary, and it is less expensive. But this also puts a hell of responsibilities on the shoulders of organizers.
These are the following steps to officiate a wedding ceremony –
1. Get officially ordained to perform the wedding –
The person who will officiate the wedding needs to get ordained first. Many online websites ordain people.
2. Contact the County Clerk to solemnize the wedding –
How to solemnize the wedding depends upon the laws of the respective country from where the couple belongs. It is necessary to figure out a way to solemnize ceremonies. In some Countries, an affirmation ‘I DO’ is enough, whereas some require a marriage license or other legal formalities.
3. Create a checklist –
Write down all the responsibilities and respective deadlines. It is necessary to mark the important dates on the calendar and gather all the required documents and the formalities to get a marriage license many more.
4. Prepare the format of the ceremony –
As an officiator, the person would need to write a minute to minute program from introducing everyone together to exchanging vows, rings, and the pronouncement of marriage. Also, being a close friend or family, prepare a short and sweet speech for the couple and their journey to marriage.
5. Discuss the Ceremony plan with the couple –
It is the couple who finalizes the plan. It seems more appropriate to keep the couple in the loop so that everything goes accordingly. Be open to all amendments if suggested by the couple as, after all, it’s their day.
6. Rehearse the Ceremony –
There is always a rehearsal dinner kind of thing one evening before the wedding. Rehearsing the ceremony is a great idea to ensure that everything goes well at the wedding, and it’ll be perceivable that what may go wrong so that you may take care of it. Ensure that the couple practices vows too.
7. Sign the Marriage Certificate –
When all the duties are complete, the final ritual awaits. The couple signs the marriage certificate along with two witnesses before the concerned officer. And this is when the wedding gets officiated.
