One way to personalize your wedding is to ask a close friend or family member to officiate the ceremony. Given the ability to become ordained as a wedding officiant online, your friend can easily prepare for and administer the entire marriage ceremony. That being said, it is possible to quickly create hurt feelings if you don’t clearly express your expectations and accept that some flexibility is also in order. Here are some great tips from start to finish for having a friend officiate your wedding.
Ask Without Expectations, but with Details
When you ask your friend to officiate your wedding ceremony, it should not seem like a foregone conclusion that they will say yes. (After all, people do have lives that don’t revolve around your wedding!) They may have their own valid reasons why they aren’t interested in being the officiant: they may have a different understanding of spirituality than you, or they may hate public speaking?the list goes on. Accept that there may be another role for them in your celebration (or none at all!). If they are interested in the opportunity, try to have a general picture of what you want from them: will they be reading froma script that you write" Do you want to co-author the ceremony with them" Do you want them to write the ceremony script alone" Beyond the details of the ceremony itself, ...