Wendy Duncan Ministries – Central Oregon Wedding Officiant and Ordained Minister

© Ely Roberts Photography

Wedding Disaster vs. Wedding Success
Why hire a professional officiant?

By Wendy Duncan, Ordained Minister
www.WendyDuncanMinistries.com

The fee to invest in hiring a professional officiant is one of the lowest costs a couple will have for their wedding…yet… many couples opt to have a “family member” or “family friend” officiate their wedding just to cut down on costs. The scary truth is the officiant can make or break one of the most important days of the couple’s life! Wedding professionals, i.e. photographers, videographers, and DJ’s, bemoan a “family member” or “family friend” performing a ceremony. Why? Because, quite often, they are doing extra work that they have not been hired for, to instruct the family member or friend on when to have the congregation stand up and sit down, how to handle the microphone, how to not “photo bomb” the couple’s first kiss, etc., etc. Worse yet, there are many cases of the wedding license being filled out incorrectly and/or not being returned in the time frame required by the county. Any of these small details, if missed, can ruin the ceremony.

If you are searching for a wedding officiant, here is something to consider: do they even know what they are doing? How many weddings have they performed?

An experienced professional will know how to guide the couple on procuring their marriage license. There are strict time frames that must be adhered to, or the couple will not be legally married.

An experienced officiant will interview the couple and get to know them. This will put the couple at ease and will help them to really enjoy their ceremony. The officiant can make suggestions on how to connect the couple with their guests.

An experienced officiant will know when everyone is to stand, how to handle the sound equipment, be able to direct the parents of the bride, the ring bearer, even the maid of honor on how to handle the bride’s flowers during the ceremony. And, the officiant will know when to have guests stand up, sit down, and they will be completely out of the picture during the couple’s first kiss?

An experienced officiant will know exactly what to do with all the wedding license paperwork and will return it to the County Recorder’s Office in a timely fashion.

Don’t be shy… stalk WeddingWire.com, TheKnot.com, FaceBook and Instagram to find the perfect officiant for your special day. This is the one area that you will want an experienced professional. Your guests will either walk away saying, “What a disaster… that officiant was such a dork. He (or she) totally forgot what they were saying.” Or, they will say, “I never cry at weddings, but THAT was SO beautiful!” Wedding Disaster vs. Wedding Success!