Weddingbee boards

Do you have a really good friend or family member that's good at public speaking?  We asked our friend, who's a TV broadcaster, to perform our ceremony and he did a phenomenal job!

It varies from county to county, but we got married in OC and our friend went to City Hall the day before and got deputized to officiate and sign the marriage certificate.  You can also get ordained online at a variety of sites.

We were able to write our ceremony from start to finish.  We researched online and just grabbed things we liked from different ceremonies, and left a part for us to say our own vows.  Our friend weaved in personal things about each of us, so it was a very touching and personal ceremony, yet funny and easy-going.

We didn't want to pick any random officiant who would botch our names or mess things up like you said, so this was perfect for us.  This is the most important moment of your life, so if you don't have a clergymember who's close to you, it made sense to us to have a close friend officiate.

However, I have seen weddings where this goes very badly.  It all depends on who you pick, and make sure you work on the script with them way ahead of time so they have time to practice.  Don't pick someone who's going to be too silly or not take it serious enough.

Good luck!

Hi there - I am a bay area bride, too, and I had a TERRIBLE time finding an officiant.  We went with George McLaird (http://mclaird.manilasites.com/stories/storyReader$11) and our wedding isn't until August, but he was certainly the best of the bunch.  PM me if you want more specific info.  good luck..

We are getting married by Michael LeBlanc in August.  He is fabulous, absolutely fabulous!!  I got so excited seeing that another bride recommended him.  So excited!!