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...
Category: Officiating Best Practices
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...
How to Handle Disruptive Kids During a Wedding Ceremony (Without Losing Your Cool)
Let’s just say it: kids at weddings will be adorable—but they can also cause a bit of chaos. And when you’re the one up front, mic’d up, trying to land every line of the couple’s story and facilitate a magical moment, a rogue toddler yelling “BANANA!” at full volume can throw you right off your game. So what do you do? How do you keep things calm, cool, and collected when the littlest guests decide to make the ceremony momentarily about them? Here’s my best advice—straight from experience and...
The 5 Qualities Every Top Wedding Officiant Has (And You Can Too)
If you’re wondering how to be a truly great wedding officiant, you’re my kind of person. There are too many "okay" officiants. But true greatness is right within reach. So now that you're on this quest with me to be the best (high five!), let's get right down to it: what does it take? Whether you're about to officiate your first wedding for a friend or you're building a professional wedding officiant business, one thing is clear: being a top wedding officiant isn’t about being the funniest,...
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