Have you chosen your officiant?

This is the only thing we have left to do! We were planning on having my aunt do it for us, but after some minor drama (thanks mom...), we’re currently still looking. Our dilemma is that my FH does not want anybody religious, so the hunt is on!

We were looking for a rabbi. We didn't have any trouble finding one who would marry two women. The hold-up was a) finding one in a city we had never visited, and b) finding one who would perform an interfaith marriage. Friends were able to refer us to rabbis in the city in question, but one after another refused to perform an interfaith marriage. Finally, when we called one synagogue, they said, "Rabbi X won't do it, but Rabbi Y does them." It turned out that Rabbi Y had a YouTube video of himself giving his annual address to the synagogue board--complete with banjo. We were amused at that, and contacted him. He turned out to be very warm, flexible about arrangements, and to conduct a personal and warm ceremony. We were very pleased with our choice.

We have not, but I know we need to soon because just like venues they book up fast!

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My husband was the opposite! I wanted a friend or family member and HE wanted a "real" minister. It was one of the few things he wouldn't budge on.

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That's awesome! i'm glad you found one that will marry you being interfaith. My husband and I had some issues with that. I'm Episcopalian, or was growing up, and he's Baptist. Neither of us wanted to marry in each other's church, long story short it' was a second marriage for both and each of us had our first weddings in our individual churches

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They sure do! I spent awhile finding one we could agree on, but as soon as we found ours we knew he was the one. Several of my guests were really bummed to find out he didn't have an actual church and does just weddings and funerals. I told him to call me if he ever has a church!

My grandfather will be our officiant!

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That's awesome!!!!

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Aww, that is so great!

Well, funny story, but our officiant is my boss at work!

I'm sure most people would throw up at the thought of their boss even being at their wedding. But my boss is the nicest, funniest, and most warm individual you've ever met. And I'm confident he'd light up the room with his bright personality. I am looking forward to him being our officiant.

We’re going to have my uncle marry us!

We found ours by googling "wedding officiant", he has his own website. He's a retired naval officer who does this simply because he loves weddings. He's such a nice man, very affordable, and super genuine. I can't wait for him to be a part of our day!

We're using the guy the venue coordinator recommends. He's been added to our bill and we'll meet him at the wedding

I have 2! One is my uncle, who is a pastor, and the other is my FH's pastor. FH's pastor will probably do the prayer and scripture readings, and my uncle will marry us.

We picked our officiant at church

FH's grandfather is a pastor and has officiated for all of his grandchildren! So we will be next

We are going to have the ceremony at our chuch, the main pastor can't marry us because he needs to get ready for services few hours after our ceremony. So we asked for a bilingual pastor. While we preferred the main pastor, we ste glad that we can get married at chuch.

We chose someone recommended by Wedding Wire. They are a wife and wife duo and we absolutely love them! We went out to dinner before the wedding for our initial face to face meeting and stayed out with them for 4 hours and we have gone out with them a few times since the wedding which was a month ago. They were definitely the best pick for us!

We chose my BF since middle school to be our officiant. She went online and became ordained and it was the best decision ever. She knows us so well and made the ceremony so personal and made everyone feel so included.

My fiance left this choice up to me, but I knew from the start I wanted the same Rabbi that bat-mitvahed me. He was amazing. He incorporated things about me into his service, he had the guests laughing, and he was just so amazing and personable. I told my parents and my dad insisted on calling him himself.

He called and my rabbi said "Yes, of course I remember you. I bat-mitvahed your daughter and then your son a few years later. The air conditioning went out at your son's! How can I help you?"

So my dad said "well we were hoping you would do another event. My daughter is getting married now."

And the rabbi said "That can't be right... I only bat-mitvahed her a few years ago!" They laughed and my dad confirmed the date of my bat-mitvah (about 15 years ago haha) and he said "Oy vey I'm an old man..."

They discussed all the details and my rabbi was getting ready to set the date when my dad mentioned there was one more thing. My fiance isn't Jewish. He didn't want to lie, and he explained my fiance isn't particularly religious at all and he struggles with G-d and his beliefs. My rabbi got very quiet for a moment and then said "Ah, I see. Well does he love her? Is he a good man?"

My dad loves my fiance and he said "Of course, of course! He loves her and they're a wonderful couple."

And my rabbi said "Well then that's all that matters! Of course I'll marry them. And you know sir, Israel means 'to struggle with G-d' so he's not alone and there's nothing wrong with struggling. He will find his own way, but as long as he remains a good man, that's the important part."

With all that, I knew I made the right decision in asking him. He called me himself a few days later to talk to me and my fiance and get to know him and he sent us a questionnaire so he can tell stories about us and make the service about us and our relationship. I'm excited and my fiance is as well. Just need to finish up with that questionnaire now!