Choosing the officiant

Hi Candace!

I am excited to share the solution my FH anf I found to the same situation your have!

We wanted Gord's brother to perform our ceremony, but Ontario must have similar rules to Alberta. HOWEVER the rules are that an officiant must only witness the ceremony where you "state your intent", and sign the legal document, and declare you are now married.

So our ceremony will look like this: Dave (FH's brother) will lead the ceremony, we will exhange our vows and all of the meaningful parts with him and the officiant will observe. When it is time to sign the license, our officiant will come up, sign and show us the parts where we sign, and announce us to the crowd. After that Dave will say a few more words, and we are done!

Maybe you can ask an officiant near you to do the same?

Haha ya I guess that part doesn't help much. I found most venues have a list on their website. So you could just check there! Also I found the last bridal/wedding show I went to had a TON of officiants there (at least 10 booths!).

Since we are getting married at our church, our priest knows us well

Hey Candace, welcome to the community!!

I think it's important to know what you want from your ceremony. A good officiant will make the effort to get to know you, but you definitely want to find someone that fits what you are looking for.

We looked at a list of officiants our venue recommended. I emailed a few on the list and one sent me back a questionaire with a TON of questions about FH and I and if we had any ideas of what we speficially wanted or DIDN't want in the ceremony (for example, we are not religious so I asked for no mention of god and I did not want any mention of someone "giving me away" or "asking for my hand", we DID want to include some humour and keep it fun and simple). He then made up a sample service for us... and I cried reading it . It was beautiful and practically perfect! So we booked a meeting to chat and meet him, make sure we clicked. He just blew us away.. he went over some ideas, read through a sample and made edits as he went and got to know us for what would fit us.

Anyways, he was more than double what I planned on spending, but it was worth every last penny!!

I LONG anecdote short… try asking your venue if they have recommendations and start there! Book some meetings, trust your gut. You’ll get a feel if they are the right fit for you

Hi Candace Welcome to the community!!

I'm really happy you're reaching out! Choosing the right officiant for your ceremony is so important! Even if it's not someone you already know, you want someone who will match your personality and will be able to say the right words that will transmit your love for each other on your big day.

You should have a look at officiants in our directory. I'm sure you'll find one you'll be able to have a great connection with!

Wedding Officiants Alberta

Are you having a civil or symbolic ceremony?