How to have a friend officiate a wedding… specifically, YOUR wedding!
This is a notion that is near and dear to my own heart because that’s how I got started as a professional officiant. My best friend asked me to perform her wedding ceremony, and her big fat Jewish-Lutheran-Pagan ceremony inspired me to become a Life-Cycle Celebrant.
Having a friend-officiate can be a lot of work — in the end, it is DIY project. But if it is something that you have your heart set on, there are ways to really make it work, and make it work well. So, as a friend-officiant turned professional, I’d like to offer some advice and suggestions for having a friend officiate at your wedding.
Cory & Joe’s laid-back winter wonderland wedding
This mellow holiday wedding lit the electric menorah and decorated with Christmas trees, featured appearances by a female Elvis impersonator AND a female Santa impersonator, and had a fountain — not of chocolate, but NACHO CHEESE. The ceremony involved compromising on vows, touching readings, and family blessings, and as one small guest put it, some WHOA. Snuggle in for some holiday cheer and peek through this winter wonderland wedding…
Stephanie & Morgan’s whiskey and wildflowers wedding
If you can’t settle on just one theme, go ahead and blend in all the things you love. This pair started with the wildflowers, and added whiskey, subtle sci-fi quotes, funky music, and robots, and in one photo, the groom looks like he’s so happy he could float on air. Check out how they blended their faiths, families, and traditions into one amazing wedding.
Heather & Tim’s tiny fall guerrilla wedding in the park
Follow those ruby slippers! Loving the simplicity of this ceremony in the park with a brother from each side of this partnership co-officiating before heading back to the couple’s apartment to celebrate. The cozy party features lots of beaming faces of all ages — even a quiet moment with their cats.
Anne & Stew’s happy hippie hoedown cross-country wedding
This pair had a sweet, tiny redwood forest elopement, but it didn’t end there. They then went on an cross-country party marathon with all of their family and friends in New Jersey, NYC, Texas, and California! Think Austin hokey-tonk bar, Jewish deli catering, a Deadhead-inspired barn dance, and a special guest: Mel the CAMEL. You have to see it to believe it.
An elegant gothic Iron Chef wedding
As someone who has never really adhered to the concept of “gender” and felt like I fall somewhere on the scale between tomboy and androgynous, I was surprised to find planning for my wedding made me feel unexpectedly girly. I fought it for a little while, but eventually decided to just go with it. Wearing makeup and doing my hair for one day didn’t make me a new person, it was just the side of me that decided to pop out for the occasion.