First and foremost, I am a Metaphysical Minister, a role that brings me much peace and joy. It’s like this role was tailor-made for me. I will go into that later, but right now, let me give you some insight into being a Wedding Officiant.
To begin with, I love people! And I love meeting new people. So, when I am contacted by a couple who is
planning on getting married, I can hardly wait to meet them. And I am often contacted by people who want
to get married 2 or 3 years from now.
But I want to meet them right now! And when I do meet them, I invariably fall in
love with them. It’s not hard to do when
the couple is just oozing love from every pore.
It’s bound to spill over.
So, in this meeting, we talk about how they met, what keeps
them together, how they plan on making their relationship grow, what they hope
for in a ceremony, how many people are going to be at the ceremony, what their
plans are for afterwards, all the big stuff.
And we also talk about their life now, their jobs, their pets, their
favourite restaurants, favourite TV shows, movies, music, what they like to do
in their spare time, and it’s a back-and-forth discussion. They get to know me as well as I get to know
them. It’s important for me that they
know me well.
I do get the occasional couple who will tell me that they
don’t care about the ceremony, that they just want something short and legal
and want to get it over with as quickly as possible so they can party. This makes extremely sad. Your wedding day should revolve around the
ceremony, because why get married if your ceremony doesn’t mean anything to
you? I will still do these ceremonies, I
will write something meaningful, and I will also take the time to make them
feel like the ceremony really is a special occasion. I will send them off with a copy of it just
so they can look back and perhaps realize it was special after all.
Being a wedding officiant is mostly a joyous occasion, but
there have been times that have tested my resolve. On one occasion I was officiating a ceremony when
a knife fight broke out in the back seats and a gun was fired. Everyone ducked for cover as I dialled 911
and waited for the police to arrive.
Luckily, they were close by and managed to contain the people involved
and we carried on with the ceremony! We
were a little shaky at first, but as the ceremony progressed, we relaxed. It ended up being a very lovely ceremony with
a delightful couple.
Other times I have been hit on by the father of the bride, thrown
up on by the ring dog, kicked by a flower girl, been mistaken for the wedding
planner (an easy mistake), called an imposter by an extremely old wedding
guest, constantly winked at by the best man, and lastly, forced to show my
credentials to a grandparent because “a woman can’t possibly marry
people”. But mostly it’s smooth sailing.
But here are my actual confessions.
2. My husband usually accompanies me on my longer trips. He enjoys the drive and I can rehearse in the car with him. Nothing like having a captive audience.
3. As much as I would like to, I cannot notarize documents. That’s a whole other profession. I can however, serve as a guarantor on passport applications and such. But so can anyone else you like.
4. I write every wedding ceremony from scratch. I believe the ceremonies should be more special than official. I will still make sure all of the right words will be said, but the ceremony itself will be memorable for its meaning to the couple.
5. I’m always a little bit sad once the ceremony is over. I’ve spent a long time getting to know the couple and even their friends and family, and in most cases, this is the end of the road for me. They don’t need me anymore.
6. I will play (and have played) any role you want in your ceremony. I will be the dog wrangler, flower girl babysitter, ring bearer catcher, mother-of-the-bride shoulder to lean on, whatever you like. As I mentioned before, I LOVE what I do.
7. And lastly, I am a minister. And I LOVE being a minister.
