Ceremony/officiant Options?

I have hired someone to just to the signing of the licence. she even said she could do it that day,before,or after. i said that day during the ceremony as she is a doll and i feel comfortable having her be a small feature. but my brothers are doing the ceremony. look at officiants and when talking to them ask about just doing the signing of a licence and say you want family to do the ceremony.

You can have a friend or family member get licenced. i believe its just an online course and they get a certificate for it. then on the day of you all sign and your witness and then the licenced person submits the paperwork with the government.

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Great to hear of someone working with them, thanks for the info, definitely going to check them out!

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Definitely not looking to cheat the system! And I know in Ontario you can't get ordained online. Just looking to see if it is legally allowed to have a family member speak for a portion of the ceremony, while the officiant is present to sign our paperwork, and pronounce us, if require.

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Hi allison, Im using all seasons wedding officiant. She will basically doing the legal paperwork and a close friend of the family will perform the ceremony.

Erin, they will work with you. I would give them a call or email for questions.

A legal certified Officiant can marry you only as they have the power by the government and papers to prove their signatures in the system to show your married.

A family member who will marry you can go online to get their license and then marry you given the same power to show they did the same program.

Cheating the system gets you nowhere and the courthouse can provide one given you have to pay extra for them to perform at the venue of your choice. Also he/she will probably say if the marriage license needs to be in their hands before or on the day of the ceremony. Ask about that aspect too.

View quoted message This is a great help, thank you!!

Hi Erin! Daughter of a licensed officiant here!

All you need is someone legal licensed in Ontario to sign your paperwork. The "pronouncement" can be done by anyone, as can the entire ceremony. All you need is someone licensed to come sing your marriage paperwork! You can have them be present for the ceremony and come up after to sign the documents if you wish. Or you can do the paperwork with them before the wedding, or sign at a city hall. They have to be of the opinion that no one is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and that's pretty much it! But the "pronouncing" thing is just a wedding tradition that is not required by law, so it has no bearing on whether or not you are legally married. Just the paperwork!!

My FSIL had her aunt officiate their wedding and she wasn’t ordained and in Ontario getting ordained is difficult. They went privately to do the legal portion with someone who was ordained. I do know that specifically the aunt could not “pronounce” them as husband and wife. I would suggest, as others said, getting legally married at city hall and then having your family member do another symbolic ceremony. Or maybe have an officiant in the wings to step on at the ceremony to do the legal portions that your family member can’t do at the ceremony.

In Ontario it a logistical nightmare to become an officiant as they are super picky with who they license. Not only is it costly - were talking thousands of dollars here - but it also takes forever to do, and its basically impossible.

My advice would be to get married legally at city hall and then have your friend 'wed' you guys at the ceremony. That way can they still marry and all the paperwork will be done legally ahead of time.

It sounds like you might need to call an officiant and ask.
I'm not sure about the government of Ontario, my province has a list of licensed officiants on our provincial website. If there isn't a list like that a Google search of lawyers who perform weddings might give you a few people to ask. Send them a quick email with your questions.

I know All seasons wedding officiants will let you have a friend/family member perform the ceremony, but have the officiant take care of the legalities (i.e. signing, the pronouncing).

I don’t know for sure but I think they have to do the ‘i know pronounce you husband and wife part’. If you don’t have your venue yet, check out Gatineau. In Quebec you can get ordained for the day! (We are also in Ottawa and are getting married in Quebec)