Wedding Officiant

Find a wedding officiant near Alpharetta, GA

Find a wedding officiant near Alpharetta, GA

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Top 10 Wedding Officiants near Alpharetta, GA

Q & A

Answers to commonly asked questions from the experts on Thumbtack.

Do wedding officiants offer remote or virtual services?

Reach out to wedding officiants in your area, and ask them if they can offer a remote or virtual ceremony. Some officiants may be willing to meet in person while maintaining 6 feet of distance, while others may prefer to conduct the entire service over the phone or a video call service such as Skype or Zoom.

Familiarize yourself with the social distancing rules in your community, city and state, and move forward only if both you and the officiant are comfortable with the arrangement. 

What does it mean to officiate a wedding?

To officiate a wedding is to oversee the official union of two people in marriage. A wedding officiant is vested with the power to legitimize your union in the eyes of the court. An officiant also sets the tone for your ceremony, leading the couple through their vows and shaping the experience with the words they choose and the pace they set. An officiant may be based in a religious faith, may be an interfaith officiant, may be a secular officiant, or may be a friend or family member who has received ordination online.

You can have a traditional wedding officiated, or you can also have an officiant oversee a commitment ceremony, a vow renewal or an elopement. Once the wedding is complete, the officiant will ask you to sign the wedding certificate, and will then submit the document to the court on your behalf. This makes your marriage legal. Wedding officiants work with you no matter how simple or elaborate you would like your ceremony to be. The more involved wedding officiants are in the planning and customization of the ceremony, the more they will typically charge.

Who performs a wedding ceremony?

Anyone who is authorized by the court or a credible online source has the power to perform a wedding ceremony. Traditionally, wedding officiants were ordained members of a religious organization or civil officiants authorized by the court to legally marry two people. With the increasing customization and personalization of weddings, many couples are asking a friend or family member to become ordained and act as their wedding officiant. Wedding officiants can represent a wide range of backgrounds including Christian, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, nondenominational, interfaith or nonreligious. There is no legally required structure for a wedding ceremony, so couples can customize the language of the ceremony and their vows in any way they desire (though members of some religions may have specific requirements). To legally validate the marriage, the couple and the wedding officiant must sign a marriage certificate after the ceremony verifying the date and names of those involved. The wedding officiant should then submit the certificate to the court, which will in turn mail an official marriage certificate to the newly married couple.

How much does it cost to officiate a wedding?

The national average cost to hire a wedding officiant is $150-$200. Wedding officiant rates are affected by the date of the ceremony, the time of day, and how far the officiant has to travel. Some officiants may charge extra for additional ceremonies like unity candles or sand ceremonies, as well as the cost of the supplies. Many wedding officiants have higher rates for larger weddings and lower rates for smaller, more intimate ceremonies. Personalizing the ceremony means a lot to some couples. Wedding officiants may have flat rates for standard ceremony templates, perhaps $100-$125, and charge more for a more customized experience, such as $150-$200. This allows the couple to collaborate with the wedding officiant as they are building a unique ceremony script. At the pre-wedding meeting, the officiant will ask whether the couple plans to write their own vows and how much input they have about the rest of the wording and flow of the ceremony. Additional planning meetings and extra communication can add up to a higher overall cost. If your venue has parking or other fees, you may need to pay on behalf of the officiant. Often wedding officiants can rent sound systems and wireless mics if you have an outdoor wedding location or venue that is not wired. These extras will also increase the overall cost.

Reviews for Alpharetta wedding officiants
Gabrielle L.
My fiancé and I just booked Mr. Harrison to officiate our wedding. A great man with great Christian values. Very responsive and helpful with planning our special day. We are very much looking forward to having him officiate our wedding.
Harrison Wedding OfficiantHarrison Wedding Officiant
Nicole W.
At the last minute we were left without an officiant and Bailey stepped in and was wonderful!! She fit in with our family and sense of humor and completed our wedding perfectly!
Simply I Do Wedding Officiants&Event Planners LLCSimply I Do Wedding Officiants&Event Planners LLC
Elizabeth T.
Doyle was one of the kindest people to work with. He really made our wedding ceremony very special. You could tell that he spoke from heart. I'd highly recommend Doyle as an officiant.
Weddings with DoyleWeddings with Doyle
Thumbtack Customer
Fred Forsh was absolutely wonderful officiating my son's wedding on 4/16/16! He was very professional & our guests loved his sense of humor. I would definitely recommend him for any occasion!
Fred WedsFred Weds
Thumbtack Customer
We were married on 01/09/2015. Minister Forsh was great to work with. Our ceremony was small and very simple. He even took time to take some snapshots for us. We really appreciate him officiating our wedding. We will never forget our special day.
Fred WedsFred Weds
Thumbtack Customer
Reverend Grant did a wonderful job. Not only were me and my husband pleased, everyone who attended told us how wonderful it was. I definitely have to give credit to Patty though. She helped us to create a unique wedding ceremony just for us. It was great how she came to our home and went over everything for us and let us decide what we wanted in our wedding. I would definitely recommend Wedding your way to anyone who wants a wedding ceremony that they get to make the decisions on what is said and the officiant or reverend does not make them say anything that they do not want to say.
Your Wedding Your Way/Patricia BurgessYour Wedding Your Way/Patricia Burgess
Sarah C.
Michael was so enjoyable to work with and did an excellent job officiating our wedding ceremony. He spoke with enough projection that everyone in our outdoor ceremony could hear and went at the perfect pace that it was fluid but we could still savor every word. H even asked what to wear so that he fit well into our color scheme/dress code so that he fit well in all our pictures! It was exactly the ceremony we wanted. I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a reliable and well-spoken officiant!
WesnikWesnik
Thumbtack Customer
Your Wedding Your Way helped my husband and I plan a perfect wedding ceremony, that, incidentally, went flawlessly! Patty (Patricia) Burgess was organized, efficient, but best of all caring about every detail. When I called to introduce myself to her on the phone, she spent over an hour with me asking questions and getting to know me, and then she came for the official consultation a few days later, with a binder full of ceremony segments that my husband and I pieced together to make the perfect ceremony for us. Your Wedding Your Way is exactly that, and Patty performed ours perfectly. I would recommend her and YWYW with great confidence!
Your Wedding Your Way/Patricia BurgessYour Wedding Your Way/Patricia Burgess
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