Future brides and grooms often aren’t certain who can — and who cannot — perform their marriage ceremony. If you attend church, it’s easy enough to ask your pastor, minister, priest or rabbi to handle the task. But what if you want your favorite uncle or aunt, sister or brother, cousin or best friend to serve as your Officiant? How does he or she become ordained? Does he or she have to register with any governmental agency before performing the ceremony? How long does the process take? What does he or she have to do before, during and after the ceremony? We take the stress and worry away from this part of your wedding plans with comprehensive information so that you can focus on making your wedding day perfect!
We'd like to thank Brides magazine for the shout-out yesterday in their article, "Friends Officiating Weddings 101: Everything You Need to Know." Along with noting that having a friend or family member perform your marriage ceremony can be more intimate and personal -- not to mention cheaper -- than hiring a professional Wedding Officiant, the article… Continue reading Friends Officiating Weddings: Everything Else You Should Know
You were engaged over the holidays? Congratulations! If you are getting married this year, now the fun begins — the planning, the worrying, the "sweating the details." Okay, "fun" may be a relative term, but there's no reason for one of the biggest days of your life to be daunting. The first thing to know… Continue reading Getting Married This Year? Here’s What You Need To Know…
So you were recently engaged to get married -- congratulations! Now the fun part -- planning your wedding -- begins in earnest. On your long list of things that need to get done, you probably know who your bridesmaids will be, and you have an idea what your wedding dress will look like, and where… Continue reading Choose Your Wedding Dress, Flowers, Bridesmaids … and Your Officiant!
The entire First Nation family extends its congratulations and warmest wishes for a lifetime of joy and love to Dr. Irim Salik and Mahmud Riffat, who were married last weekend at Park Savoy Estate, with Kim Kirkley serving as their Celebrant. Kim Kirkley, an ordained and licensed First Nation ceremonial minister, is one of the leading life-cycle… Continue reading First Nation Minister Kim Kirkley Celebrates Salik-Riffat Nuptials
We recently received an inquiry from Robert Marsh, a First Nation ceremonial minister in Texas, who asked: What type of clerical garments are we able to use? This is a great question, and a great subject for us to discuss in detail. For most ceremonies, including weddings and funerals, Officiants will generally wear what is commonly regarded… Continue reading What To Wear: Proper Attire For Officiants
One of the most-asked questions we receive — right up there with "what the heck am I supposed to do next?" — is actually fairly important: What is the standard structure of a wedding ceremony? Most weddings follow basically the same format, with minor adjustments here and there depending upon the desires of the bridal… Continue reading The “Standard” Format For Marriage Ceremonies
We extend our best wishes for a lifetime of love and joy to Elise Chang and Alastair Kusack, who were married in Manhattan this weekend, with First Nation ceremonial minister Kim Kirkley officiating. Their full, wonderful story is detailed in the pages of today's edition of the New York Times.
We are often asked for sample ceremonies, or guidance on how to perform a specific style of wedding, by members of our clergy. We were recently contacted for assistance on planning an Elizabethan or Olde English ceremony by a minister who was asked to perform a marriage at a Renaissance Faire-style event. In our research, we… Continue reading Anglican Wedding Ceremony (1662): The Form of Solemnization of Matrimony
We had gone through all the prep work -- putting together lists, getting a variety of opinions, listening to dozens of songs -- on the way to writing an article about the perfect song for the first dance. We had checked off all the boxes: It had to be memorable. It had to be meaningful. It… Continue reading Choosing The Perfect Song For Your First Dance
This article is part of a series for ministers on performing marriage ceremonies in the United States and elsewhere. In this article, we focus on New York State, as well as New York City, which has its own specific set of rules and regulations. We often hear from ministers and officiants that are concerned about the… Continue reading State of the Union: Serving As A Wedding Officiant In New York
