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We paid ours $250. I think they recommend a $200 payment, through the church's literature. There were also other related checks to write, such as to the custodian, organist, donation to the church, etc., but I'm not sure if you're having yours in a church or if those would apply to you.
Our's is $250. We're not tipping him, but we will give him a thank you bag of chocolates or the like. We are also not inviting him to the reception.
I haven't picked anyone yet. We aren't part of a church or any specific religious group. I think that's why I'm having a problem. I don't know anyone ordained, and don't know how much someone outside of a church costs either! (I guess I could have explained that better in my thread post!)
We contracted ours through our wedding coordinator, who offered officiant recommendations in her packages (the officiants work strictly through her referrals). We paid our coordinator $200, and provided a $50 tip, plus a small "thank you" basket with goodies from our hometown, because it was understood that of that $200, the officiant also got a cut. She also went above and beyond for us, so that's why we provided extra goodies :)
I think if you hire someone through a church, they ask for a "donation" and anywhere from $100-$300 sounds average.
I'm not at all certain about this, but I think justices of the peace cannot ask for a fee, so the norm is to tip them as well.
I think what I'm getting at is most officiants won't charge fees, but ask for donations. I could be wrong, though.
We aren't overly religious, and so we looked into notary laws for our state. We asked a mutal friend, and for the low cost of $50 (and of course our chosen officiant's time to read thru the material and take the onlien course) we well have an officiant who will always be a part of our lives and treasured memories.
Best of luck to you!
We paid $500... thats what you get for living in CA! He is super nice and is exactly what we want so we don't mind spending a little bit more for him. So excited!
Yup ProudPeacockBride, just like ILovePanks said you don't need to know anyone ordained! If you want to pick a close friend or family member they can become "ordained" online (I think there's even sites to do it for free). We're having a friend be our officiant and she got ordained online! It's a good way to do if, like you mentioned, you aren't part of a religious group :-) Bonus is you get a really personal ceremony since you know the person!
As far as payment, since it's a close friend, we're not paying her, but we are treating her like a member of the bridal party; ie, she's coming the rehearsal dinner, sitting at the head table, gets the bridesmaid gifts (and maybe a little something extra since her job is harder than bridesmaid!)
Living in Alberta, we had to find an actual officiant - so that ran us about $350. That said, she said that she will work with us to tailor the ceremony, travel out to our venue, do rehearsals, the whole nine yards.So that's awesome :)
We didn't "pay" anything for our officiant because our pastor did it for free. However we tipped him $150.
I would think paying anywhere from $100-$300 is normal with a $50 tip.
This raised a question of mine, are we supposed to invite the officiant and his/her spouse to the reception, too?
My rates for full, custom written wedding ceremonies range from $500-$700, depending on travel, rehearsal, date, etc. I know that seems like a lot, but there is a lot that goes into creating and writing a wedding ceremony from scratch... it's not just 30 minutes of work on the day of the ceremony. I really try to get to know my couples, and often get asked if I am a friend or relative after the ceremony. I've very rarely received tips (twice, and once I received a gift card and small gift of the over 60 weddings I've done), and don't expect one, but if you ask a clergy member or pastor to do your wedding, they may ask for a donation or a tip in lieu of their fee.
This also very much depends on your location, and the kind of wedding you are looking for, too.
As for inviting to the rehearsal dinner / reception - I do often get invited, but I very rarely go. If you do invite, it is nice to include the partner or spouse, and that would make me more likely to stay. So - it's nice to invite, but totally not expected.
We got our JP through our wedding coordinator. She was $100 and we didn't tip.
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Hey bees! I just posted a question in "ceremony" about officiants. I was wondering how much the average cost is (what to expect) and do you tip them as well? I don't want to offend anyone and NOT tip because I'm ignorant! What's the normal protocall?