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My officiant priced us at $350.. she gave us about 6 or 7 ceremony readings to look at/choose from, i believe there was no additional fees either.
We had an officiant from Lyssabeth's. We had the classic custom ceremony for $389.
Wow! We're paying $50, but I think this is the price mandated by the province where we're getting married. She's been really sweet so far 
Hi, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were posting in a denver forum.. I just clicked on the post and thought I would respond. Sorry for the confusion!!!
That seems about right for a customized ceremony. We budgeted the same amount and decided to write our own, our officiant if going to edit it, help us make it run smoothly. She also offers several pre-written ceremonies and is really the nicest woman ever!
Gabrielle, Mindful Marriage Consultants
I'm a wedding officiant out of NJ and NYC, and my ceremonies range from $450 to $750, depending on a few factors. I offer my couples a completely custom written wedding ceremony, unlimited consultations and updates, and guidance and help along the way... along with officiating at the ceremony and taking care of all legality.
Wedding professionals, officiants included, put a lot of time, energy, effort, and experience into making your wedding really perfect for you. You can find officiants for less, but if you are looking for them to custom write your ceremony for you, it's worth the peace of mind.
On another note, my fiance and I are getting married in October, and our officiant is $750. We had quotes from other officiants for $500 and $600, but the extra money is worth it because our celebrant is awesome.
holy shit! that's crazy to pay that much, it just seems outrageous. I understand lots of times go into it, but damn, really??? I'm not even there yet, but luckily, we don't NEED a special officiant or anything, we're already married, just now getting to the wedding, so now i have to just find a friend!
we are not being "charged" anything. we will make a very generous donation to the synagogue. Religion and the meaning of our wedding is is most important to us and so therefore this is the place we will splurge (the most we can afford...we are not rich my any means). :D
I dont think of it at a charge or paying too much. I think of it as an opportunity to show our Rabbi, family, and community how much we appreciate them; it is the least we can do. I could go on and on about how this is the best place for US to splurge :D
you should ask your officiants what this money goes toward. that is what i would be most concerned about. is it a donation to your church/synagogue or is it payment directly to them personally?
I'm not religious, but yea it should be a donation rather than a charge to your church or whatever you believe in. kind of why i'm having a friend do it!
We're not being "charged" anything per say but we are flying the Pastor (a family friend) and his wife out to Sedona for the wedding and are putting them up for 2 nights. So that ends up being roughly $600.
AzinAugust-we are flying them in as well. :D it sure adds up.
PirateJenn-well said :D that is pretty cool you are having a friend marry you. if we were not religious then we definitely would never spend as much as we plan or as some people are. its whatever is important to you. like when i see someone who spends $4000 on a dress, i almost pass out :D hehe
My jaw also hit the floor when I learned how much officiants cost in my area (NY/NJ). I figured we would encounter high prices with photography and catering, but I was blindsided by the ceremony costs.
That said, we're going with an celebrant who charges $700, and having her officiate is one of the things I'm most excited for with the wedding. When we met with her, both my fiance and I were in tears because she's so perfect for us. In the end, I think it'll be worth it.
well technically we're already married, and finally getting around to the wedding, oh, 5 years later, lol. But if we needed someone to marry us, i'm sure one of our friends would still help us out. I have a 3k budget, so 700 for an officiant is outrageous to me. The cheapest I've even seen, from getting emails, is like 150, which i guess isn't bad, but I would find it odd, because thats a stranger, so I think it'd be weird, but hey people do it everyday. I agree with people who spend 4k on a dress is insane, but its all about priorities, i'd totally spend a bunch of money on a dress, if i had the money for it. My dress was just over 2k (it was a gift or else i'd be getting married in rags, lol) and I find that insane to pay for it!
Since you two are already married, why do you even need a real officiant? You could just have a friend stand up there and lead the ceremony.
yea we don't need a real officiant, our plan is to use a friend, but before we ran off to the DMV and got married (not my choice, but gotta do what you gotta do), i was looking at prices, and i was just shocked. And now i get emails about pricing through some other site, which just has a huge email list and sends out specials from vendors. And I'm halfassedly paying attneiton, cause I'm trying to find a friend who wants to do that, and what if they all bitch out (i have little trust in the human race, lol, always need a backup plan).
Our ministers' honorarium is $300. Imho, somewhat reasonable cost. But he's also a family friend too.
I think I need to take up a side job and do a few weddings! What a happy job too! Who couldn't use a few extra hundreds for an hour or two of work? Sign me up! lol!
@ piratejenn...we are finally having our "wedding" 8 years after going to the JP, so very similar! we are trying to find someone we know who seems official enough, but since some of our family doesn't know-we'd like to keep em fooled lol. officiant cost is way out of our budget, but my husband and I both did the online thing where we're official/legal to marry people, and from what I've read, you can actually marry yourselves-if you'd be into that, and instead of having someone marry you, you can get up and recite vows etc. i think it makes it a little more personal..
well since none of it is for legal purposes, it doesn't matter who "marries" us or anything. I'm too chickenshit to have us do it ourselves, i think it would be kinda weird, lol. I need someone to keep me on track, because I'm not gonna remember what to say or anything, and I have ADD, really bad idea for me personally, but I'm sure for the right couple that would work out great.
Glad to know someone else is in the same situation, as i don't know many people who are, and lots of people think its a stupid idea for us to have a 'wedding".....but now we just have 2 ring bearers, lol.
Simone, since you posted this in the Denver board, I'm assuming you are getting married in CO. If this is the case, you should know that CO is one of the few (only?) states that permits the bride and groom to self-solemnize. That is, you sign the license, he signs the license, send it back to the County, and that's it. No witnesses, no officiant needed. You can, of course, use an officiant if you wish (and then he or she has to be the 'usual' priest, rabbi, leader of native tribe, etc).
This is a huge opportunity that I'd encourage you to take advantage of, if it fits your religious (or other) views. My husband and I had a dear friend 'officiate' the ceremony, b/c we weren't religiously affiliated and didn't want a stranger to marry us. Technically speaking, we self-solemnized, b/c he and I were the only ones that signed the license.
Incidentally, CO license are good for 30 days, and are $30 (or $35?---ours was $10 but they raised the price just after we got married). You both have to show up in person. You do not have to be a resident of the state of CO.
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Just wondering how much everyone else is spending on their officiants. We budgeted $300, but we're finding that is not enough for someone to write ours customized. We don't really want to go the route of a judge, city clerk, etc, and we're not affliated with any churches, so we can't go that route either. The few we have met with or spoke to are quoting $400-$600. Is this the range that everyone else is in? It just seems like a lot of money! Yikes!