Article written by “The Wedding Professor”
This the Internets’ most thorough article on hiring a wedding minister (also known as officiant, officient, wedding clergy, and celebrant). It takes you from the “Getting Started” phase, through “E-mail Communication” with prospects, to “Phone Interviews” followed by “In-person Interviews”, to “Money Matters”.
Getting Started More … How to Hire a Wedding Minister
It is assumed that you have a list of wedding officiants (celebrants, clergy, pastor, justice of the peace etc.) and are about to make inquiries.
Get a clean writing pad out as you will need to take lots of notes. Now is the time to create a vendor communication log. Many of the answers to your questions will become contract points.
Before spending your valuable time in a face-to-face interview, or creating more greenhouse gases through excessive driving, get some key questions answered by e-mail and/or over the phone.
The questions in the “Preliminary E-mail Inquiry and Preliminary Telephone Interview Questionnaire” are intended to help you to screen out inappropriate officiants.
Your goal is to find out which officiant (s) meet your basic criteria so that you can make appointments. Save your breath by not asking questions that are only meaningful if you decide to make an appointment.
Preliminary E-Mail Inquiry … more How to Hire a Wedding Minister
Please feel free to use the following italicized e-mail verbiage to get initial feedback from prospective officiants.
My fiancé and I are searching for a reasonably priced wedding officiant that is available on (insert your dates/times/location)
Are you available? So as not to waste your time, we have a budget in mind and would like to check your package options to decide whether we are a good fit.
Should you not have packages, please tell us the average cost of the last ten weddings at which you officiated.
At this time, we are accepting contact by e-mail only. We will be in touch after we discover if you are available and are within our budget.
Thank you in advance for your kind consideration.
Sincerely,
Preliminary Telephone Interview Questionnaire
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The below series of questions are ordered and phrased in a way to:
- Educate you about the role/duties of an officiant
- Put the officiant on notice that you are armed with the right questions
- Screen out inappropriate officiants
- Ascertain which officiant (s) you wish to interview in person
Are you available to do a wedding ceremony on (your wedding date)?
If the answer is yes;
Tell the officiant the following:
- The type of ceremony you prefer; non-denominational etc.
- The site, date and time of day of your ceremony
- How many guests you expect to have attend
- How many bridesmaids and groomsmen there are in the wedding party
- Whether you have arranged for sound amplification
General Questions … more How to Hire a Wedding Minister
Before asking about pricing, find out what the officiant will actually do for his/her fee by asking:
What gives you the credentials to legally do weddings?
How long have you been a wedding officiant?
Do you specialize in weddings or do you do other services as well?
Why do you do wedding ceremonies?
How many weddings do you do in an average year?
How many ceremonies have you performed?
What training do you have in creating and officiating at ceremonies?
Do you do other public speaking?
How do you go about creating the ceremony?
Can we personalize our ceremony by writing our own vows or selecting specific readings or music?
Do you have sample wording/ceremonies/readings to show us?
How much in advance of the ceremony time do you arrive at the site?
How many meetings will you have with us?
How accessible are you by phone / email for help?
What is your fee range?
What is included in the service?
What is not included in the service?
Do you have a written agreement/contract?
Do you help us to get our marriage license?
Would you personally be performing the ceremony or will you be sending someone else?
If someone else, ask if you can meet the officiant in person before the ceremony.
When saying the vows, do you read them or do you memorize them?
Do you have a back-up if you are unavailable to do the service?
If appropriate; do you normally attend the wedding rehearsal?
Are you available to attend the rehearsal on _____________(date)?
How will you be dressed for the ceremony?
Are you a preferred vendor at any local wedding sites?
Can we check your references by contacting the last 3 couples that you married?
Deeper Questioning When Appropriate
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Will you marry us if one or both of us have been divorced?
Will you marry us if we are of different faiths?
Can we use contemporary readings or are they required to be religious or scriptural readings?
Will you give a sermon during the ceremony? If so, can we have some input?
If appropriate; would you allow another officiant to take part in the ceremony?
Can we include religious touches?
Do you have sample wording/ceremonies/readings to show us?
Do we have final approval over the script?
Do you require premarital counseling?
Can we choose non-religious readings or music?
Can we vary the traditional choreography of a wedding? You may wish to face your guests rather than the officiant, or have the officiant stand to the side instead of between you and your spouse.
Face-to-face Meeting Questionnaire
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Early on in your appointment let the officiant know that you want to be thorough and are working from a list of questions in Smart Wedding Contracts.
Your first question needs to be: “Do you have any objections to my/our getting every detail of our agreement in writing?” Remember, if the vendor won’t put it in writing, it means that they are not obligated to do it and you may have little, if any, recourse.
The Wedding Professor’s Council: The key to finding an officiant who is in sync with you and your partner is to ask questions, taking note of the answers given, and using your intuition as a guide.
Questions to Pose:
… more How to Hire a Wedding Minister
How much in advance of the ceremony time do you arrive at the site?
Do you have other events scheduled on our wedding day?
How many meetings will you have with us?
How accessible are you by phone / email for help?
How do you go about creating the ceremony?
Do you have sample wording/ceremonies/readings to show us?
Will you wear a microphone if the videographer requires one to capture the ceremony?
What is included in the service?
What is not included in the service?
Do you have a written agreement/contract?
How will you interact with our other wedding vendors?
Should we bring you the marriage license before the wedding date? Will you mail it to the state for us?
Will you personally be performing the ceremony?
Do you have a back-up if you are unavailable to do the service?
Does your contract allow us to approve your replacement should you become ill?
Are you available to attend the rehearsal on _____________(date)?
Can we check your references by contacting the last 3 couples that you married?
What are the reasons that you think we should hire you?
The Wedding Professor’s Council:
How elaborate will the ceremony preparations be?
Many officiates have only one ceremony they offer. Be sure you get to read their ceremony and make sure it harmonizes with what you want said at your wedding. Ask if they also have an extemporaneous sermon they will add, or if what you see is what you’ll get. Others have a few simple choices (with the option of you adding some of your own ideas) so you can create the ceremony that most speaks to you. Still others want to sit down and design an elaborate, customized wedding just for you. Always ask how long they think the ceremony itself will take; this is critically important information for your facility, photographer, caterer, etc. You may prefer something more simple than what the officiant is offering, or more flexible: whatever you want, let the officiant know up front.
MONEY MATTERS … more How to Hire a Wedding Minister
What is your fee range?
How much is your deposit?
What is your payment policy?
When is the balance due?
Does your fee include a full rehearsal at the wedding venue?
What is your refund and cancellation policy?
Who are payments made out to?
What is included in your fee?
What is not included in your fee?
Do you take credit cards or Pay Pal?
Are there any other possible charges that I should be aware of such as parking, travel, postage etc.?
The Wedding Professor’s Council If your wedding officiant books only one wedding a day, you will likely be paying top dollar for his/her services, which is fine if you want to be assured of a prompt ceremony start time.