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Pennsylvania brides...non-religious officiant??

posted 1 year ago in Ceremony
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    Busy bee
    FutureMrsBPB    October 1, 2011   Maryland

    My fiance is not religious, and insists that we are not married by a member of the clergy.  After doing some research, I also discovered that PA doesn't recognize marriages done by any of those "get ordained for a day online" things, so we can't even have a family member or anything do it.  I called the local courthouse for advice, and they suggested looking in the yellow pages for local magistrates to call.  I feel ridiculous just calling these individuals offices and asking if they'll come do my wedding; I don't even know if they DO weddings!!  Does anyone have any advice??

     
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    Sugar bee
    stephinPA    October 29, 2010   Reading, PA

    Where in PA will you be getting married?  If it's Philadelphia or the metro area, I have a cousin who is a judge.  She married us in October and it was perfect.  PM me if you're interested.

     
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    Helper bee
    eupenmalmody    September 5, 2010   Living in NYC - getting married in Philadelphia

    Check out Journeys of the Heart. We used Maria Odilia-Ramou. She gave us the option of a sacred or secular ceremony. You actually write everything yourselves with her (she has plenty of options to choose from - you can mix and match, or write sections yourself). She is a non-denominational officient.

     
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    Sugar bee
    rachaelrobin    January 16, 2011   Philadelphia

    @eupenmalmody: The officiants of Journeys of the Hearts are ordainded ministers.  I don't know if that matters to you , FutureMrsBPB: but it mattered to us.  We were married by a Pennsylvania magisterial district judge - we called around to a bunch of different courts and found a judge who would marry us on a Sunday.  We absolutely loved our judge, let me know if you want his contact information.

    ETA - Don't feel weird calling the courts.  The clerks are there to help you no matter what and are almost always very nice and helpful.  They will know if the judge does ceremonys out of the court (I am assuming that is what you want) or if they will only officiate during the week, between cases.  A lot of people call up and ask, so they'll know what you are asking for.  Also, don't get discouraged! You will find someone!

     
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    Helper bee
    eupenmalmody    September 5, 2010   Living in NYC - getting married in Philadelphia

    @rachaelrobin: That may be true, but you can have a completely secular wedding through them. They don't wear a robe (normal wedding guest clothing) and there is no obligation to have anything religious included in your ceremony. We had no biblical readings, prayers or anything like that. My husband is an athiest and was very happy with the result. Hope that helps.

     
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    Sugar bee
    2dBride    October 6, 2009   Washington, DC.

    Pennsylvania has provisions for a "self-uniting" ceremony, which doesn't require an officiant at all.  If you used those procedures, you could have a friend acting as MC for the ceremony, without having to worry about the friend's credentials.

     
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    Busy bee
    Monkeygirl    September 5, 2010   Philadelphia

    We also used an officiant from Journeys of the Heart. Contact Marguerite Sexton, the founder; she will put you in touch with the right officiant based on your needs.

    http://www.journeysoftheheart.org/meet-our-officiants.html

     
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    Bumble bee
    SweetAdelineXO    June 5, 2010   NJ

    I got married in PA (Bucks county) by http://sheilagay.com/about/ - she was unbelievable. Seriously - everyone laughed and cried and then all of our family and friends pronounced us husband and wife together. It was amazing.

     
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    Sugar bee
    rachaelrobin    January 16, 2011   Philadelphia


     
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    double0bride    April 23, 2011  

    I called a judge's office to inquire. The judge personally called me back in 30 min., and has been awesome to deal with! Don't feel ridiculous!

     
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    Busy bee
    FutureMrsBPB    October 1, 2011   Maryland

    Soooo an update on this process for you all...we called the county courthouse, and the judges won't do any weddings outside of the courthouse.  They will only perform weddings inside the courthouse during normal business hours "due to security".  Mind you, we don't live in a big city...it's a hillbilly town back in the woods...so I'm not sure why we have DC security mesaures in place, but whatever.  I'm now bitter haha.  So now, my next step was to reach out to a local unitarian church to see if any of the pastors are willing to do a non-religous ceremony.  Details to follow as I hear from them  :-(  I'm stressed out, and now feel like everything is totally backwards!  We have everything BUT someone to marry us!!!

     
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    Busy bee
    FutureMrsBPB    October 1, 2011   Maryland

    Soooo FYI in case anyone else is in the same predicament...we ended up reaching out to a unitarian church, and the pastor was SO EASY to work with.  He was super nice and understands what we need/want in the ceremony.  We sent a deposit and booked him as soon as we got home!!  Crisis averted!!  Laughing

     

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