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5 secrets to officiating your friend's wedding
I recently officiated a wedding for two of my dearest friends. I had never officiated a wedding before. It was not easy, but I'm proud... Read more
Officiants have a big ol' job to do at your wedding. They have to preside, be all clever AND bring the tears, and most of all… they must.be.fashionable. Okay, maybe it's more about the couple, but if you're the officiant reading this, I'd wager you're wondering what the hell to wear.
We heard from reader Tim recently who was wondering what to wear to his pals' bow ties, blue, and tan wedding. In his case, it sounded like a matching bow tie in their spot color and khakis was the way to go. But with offbeat weddings, you never know what you're going to get. Let's go on a wedding officiant fashion retrospective to all kinds of offbeat weddings where the officiant was totally on point. Oh, and snag a few wedding officiant fashion tips along the way.
Wedding officiant fashion tips
- Check with the couple for guidelines (or if you're the couple reading this, give your officiant the guidelines!)
- If there are no guidelines, feel free to take your cue from the venue and the theme
- When in doubt, play it safe. Unless you know the couple is totally open to a little wildness, stick to a nice version of your own style
- If there's a theme, run with it! You'll see how some of our faves have pulled it off below…
Matching the theme
From steampunk to carnival to a self-described “drag clown nun,” offbeat themes can pull out the BEST officiant fashion:
Following traditions
Sometimes you just have to follow the cultural and religious traditions, but that doesn't mean you can't rock it.
Cosplaying with the cosplayers
Looking straight-up fly
Offbeat Wed Vendor
This page features vendors from our curated Offbeat Wed Vendor Directory. They're awesome and we love them. If you're a vendor let's get you in here!
About the Author: Catherine Clark
Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.
Our officiant Jeff was so stressed about what we want him to wear, even though he is the dapperest mofo we know. We basically ended up going through an inventory of our favorite of his steampunk outfits so he looked dashing, official, but wasn’t showing us up (his wishes, not ours). So he looked very much like an old timey formal judge, in short, with a splendid waistcoat and cravat. And then my groom presented him and the groomsminions matching medals he had made so they all looked very dashing. Jeff’s wife who had volunteered to be an all around gofer for the day bought a glorious new Victorian dress just for the occasion and they looked amazeballs. The Q officiant above is making my day! So many sweet ideas.
PS I would post a picture if I could but I don’t think we can in comments? So it’s here:
https://studiosequoia.shootproof.com/gallery/2390901/photo/296021727
The book is hollowed out and says THE LAW on the cover; inside is a flask, also labeled THE LAW.
PS I found my photographer, Studio Sequioa, on Offbeat Bride! You can see our engagement shoot somewhere (Nov 2015).
We didn’t give our officiant any restrictions for his costume at our Halloween wedding. But once we sent him the script and he realized we had him opening with the Mawwiage speech from The Princess Bride he didn’t look back! He came as The Impressive Clergyman and the most impressive part about his costume was the fact that it was actual priests robes that weighed a total of 20lbs!! He made his own hat out of poster board and gold glitter glue and the best part was that he stayed in full regalia all night long!
One dresses for the occasion and if the occasion is a retro-carnival-gamer-Dr.Who wedding – don’t be shy about asking your officiant to participate in your idea.
As an officiant, I understand that some people are offended by themes and “get ups” because marriage is a serious commitment, but by the time you’re actually at the wedding, all of the serious decisions have been made – the wedding is a celebration of that commitment and the love that inspired it. I say rock the day your way and I’d be happy to dress as “Q” or a steampunk, or whatever, but if your officiant is uncomfortable with wearing something non-traditional, maybe they can do or add something small rather than overt, so as not to offend your grandma.