When you're a wedding officiant, it's important to know what is different when you officiate a big wedding ceremony vs. an elopement - and what stays the same. Because when you shift from a big wedding to a small ceremony, a lot of things you’re used to relying on disappear. The room is different. The vibe is different. The “rules” are different. And you can’t just autopilot your way through. First, let’s define “elopement” like the wedding industry does now When most people hear “elopement,”...
Category: Ceremony Kickoff
Politics and Your Business: A People-First Blueprint for Officiants
At Wedding MBA, a fellow officiant came up to me and asked, “There’s a social/political issue I care deeply about. I think it's hurting people. Should I talk about it in my business or just keep saying nothing?” It’s a fair question — and one most of us wrestle with quietly. The world is noisy. Things happen that tug at your heart or light up your sense of justice. You feel like you should say something. But then that other voice chimes in: Will this hurt my business? Will clients walk away?...
Only 7 (Sometimes 10) Times a Wedding Officiant Should Say ‘I’ in the Ceremony
As wedding officiants, we walk a fine line. On one hand, we don’t want to be impersonal robots who could be swapped out for anyone. We want to be personal — we want the ceremony to be about the couple, AND we want to be personable — we want the ceremony guests to feel connected to us as we facilitate for our couple.On the other hand, we definitely don’t want to turn the spotlight onto ourselves and make the wedding feel like The Officiant Show.Guests notice this, even when they don't know they...
Wedding Ceremony Scripts: How Much Control Should You Keep (and Share)?
Every wedding officiant eventually faces the same question: how much of my script should I share with my couple? Should you hand over every word for their approval, or should you lock it down like top-secret intellectual property? Somewhere in between? The truth is: there’s no single “right” answer. But after more than a decade of officiating (and plenty of trial and error), I’ve landed on some guiding principles that might help you figure out where you sit on the spectrum. By the end of this...
How Wedding Officiants Can Get Their Best Photos from Pro Wedding Photographers
If you want to get booked as a wedding officiant—and keep getting booked—you need proof you can actually do the job. And no, I don’t mean your ordination certificate or a story about how you married your cousin in a backyard last year. (Although... congrats on that gig!) I’m talking about photos. Photos of you in action are one of the most powerful tools you have to build trust with couples who’ve never met you. They show proof. They tell a story. They build that know-like-trust factor faster...
The Wedding Officiant’s Guide to Vendor Networking That Actually Works
When you’re a new (or even seasoned) wedding officiant hoping for bookings, there’s a magical moment when you realize… “Oh no. I can’t just sit here and wait for the phone to ring.” You’ve got to get out there, network, and build relationships with fellow wedding vendors. And not just the ones you meet by chance at weddings — I’m talking about cold calling too. Yep. That slightly terrifying “reach out to people you’ve never met” kind of calling. Before you start picturing yourself in a...
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