Friday, January 22, 2010

Making it Official

My rule of thumb for our wedding day is this: There are three important people that need to show up, myself, Dan, and our officiant. Everyone else, it's lovely for you to join us, but if you don't make it the day will still go on. That may seem a little harsh, but it's the honest truth. If one of those three people doesn't show up, no wedding!

Now this bring us to an important question, just how exactly do you choose your officiant/priest/minister/guy who's been ordained on the internet?

Source

My process wasn't overly complicated. First, I asked around. I'm at the age where just about every other person I know has gotten married in the past two years. I got a few recommendations from friends, ideas about how much this should cost, etc. Next I started reading local wedding boards. I got a few names off there and contacted them. I'm not sure why, but I have this thing about not wanting anything else I've seen at another wedding. I don't want your venue, I don't want your officiant, I certainly don't want your dress. I want to be a "unique" bride. *I realize by saying this I am exactly like every other bride, don't worry*

I contacted one woman who was spoken of very highly on a wedding site. I emailed her and a couple days later that got a response that simply stated "Thanks for your inquiry. Please fill out the contact form on my website". Ooookay. So I did. A few days later, an envelope showed up in my mailbox. In this were said officiant's standard ceremonies, and a contract stating the amount owed ($400!!!!) and request for the down payment of $150 to secure our date. Now call me crazy here, but I'm thinking two things:
A) I'm not getting married by some woman who can't even be bothered to pick up the phone and call me to start a bit of a rapport.
B) I'm not sending a complete stranger a cheque for $150.

Needless to say, she got crossed off the list and it made me very weary of internet recommended sources. That led me back to my list of friend recommended officiants. I've been to a lot of great weddings the last few years, so I was really happy to have a lot to choose from. The first one I spoke with was a lovely gentleman who's manner of speaking reminded me so much of my Dad, it made me so comfortable! Thankfully his fee was reasonable and we booked him pretty much straight away! It's not a dramatic story really (thank goodness). Although I said I didn't want an officiant that had already married friends of ours, it's actually really nice to hear him reminisce about our friend's wedding. So we're meeting with our officiant Tuesday evening to discuss the ceremony and start to sort out the details! It's so real!



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