Officiant Pricing

View quoted message

We booked Henry Madsen. Found him here: https://www.servicealberta.ca/Find-a-marriage-officiant.cfm

He is in Alberta though, not sure if he is licensed in your province

So it looks like you live in BC, I do as well. You can go on the provincial government’s website and search for marriage commissioners. They are restricted legally on what they charge for. They are usually for pretty basic ceremonies but they’re $75 for the first hour and $25 for each additional hour you need!

Our officiant is charging us $175 for the ceremony and $100 for the rehearsal in Ontario

View quoted message Hello Miav,

Which officiant are you using?

Our officiant is charging 200 cad with additional 125 for rehearsal. (Getting married in Alberta) So far he is the most affordable we have found, the rest are 300 ++ or even 600++

View quoted message

Not as expensive as per quoted by a legal Officiant

View quoted message I looked it up and in Canada it costs to get licensed

Non city hall Officiants have a less amount charge due to their service and no tax added. They all depend on how much they offer their pricing rates. Your getting a good price for what you paying as oppose to $50 more for what I paid for our officiant.

City Hall Officiants do offer outside service with additional charges based on the area. They also limit you on how many meetings you have and Rehearsal charges too on top.

Don't get fooled for what you pay and whom you choose to marry you. An Alternative to Officiants is having a family member or friend go online doing the Officiant program and marrying you instead at no charge.

Have you looked into government options?I am not sure but think they are called marriage commissioners.They charge a much smaller rate and offer non religious ceremonies.

I thought the same thing. I still don't really get it but it seems to be the going rate for it so we just accepted it.

View quoted message I don’t sorry!

I have found some officiants for less than $300. Our officiant is charging $175. Although we are customizing our vows, we are not customizing anything else in the ceremony and it is an elopement so it will be fairly brief with no rehearsal. I think the higher prices are generally when the ceremony involves customized readings, a rehearsal, etc.

I don't know if you are in Ontario, but here officiants have to either be given authority to perform marriages from a recognized religious organization or have other authority (ex. city clerk). Either way, it usually requires specialized education. They work in a high stress environment where there is low tolerance for mistakes. They need to have planning meetings with the couple. And because they are usually self employed, they aren't receiving any employer-paid benefits. Their take home would be substantially less than $300 for what could easily be 5-6 hours of work. I don't know, I don't begrudge them that pricing.

View quoted message Do you have any recommendations for non religious services?

Our priest is charging $300 as well. I think it has to do with their time really. They have to prepare, you meet with them a few times usually and then of course the ceremony itself.