Richmond Wedding Officiants

This whole ordeal with wedding planning has thrown you for a loop. There is a whole lot more to this wedding day planning than you ever thought there would be. And yes, it is starting to stress you out just a bit. You have wedding vendors still to hire and checklists to double check. The danger when you get into the wedding planning hot and heavy is to not give some of your decisions the time and effort that they deserve either out of mere frustration or because you feel you just can't give them the time and effort because you are putting so much into the rest of them. Let us give you this one word of wisdom: do not let even one vendor slip through the cracks. And one vendor this can happen with very easily is your wedding officiant. Do not take your officiant for granted. Believe us when we tell you that a warm body will not be enough to make you feel good on your wedding day. Your wedding officiant is important. They control the flow of events and activities during your ceremony. They give the most important parts of your ceremony a tone and feel that you can either love or hate. An experienced professional will know how to overcome any potential hazards. But you are probably thinking, where do you find such a person? Well, you can start by searching the Richmond area in a number of ways. Use the online search engines like Google, ask people you know like your friends, family and coworkers, or ask your other wedding vendors. Once you have a number of great potential candidates, start setting up interviews with each one. This brief guide will help you through the process so that in the end you will be confident in who your choice should be.

There is no substitute for meeting your candidates face to face. Here are some questions that you will want to pose to each candidate. What is their philosophy about weddings? Are they adamant about certain events and activities having to be part of a ceremony or are they really flexible as to what can be included and what can be taken out. If you and your fiance are interested in writing your own vows, bring the topic up and get their feedback. Make sure that you see a video or two of them officiated at a real wedding. How do you like their mode of operation. Talk about what you had in mind for the ceremony and evaluate their honest response. Maybe they have a suggestion that you had not thought of. Tell them what type of ceremony you are looking for. Do you want religious language included? If you are looking at having more of a religious ceremony, find out if it matters that you and your fiance are not from the same faith. If you only want a straight civil ceremony, can they handle that?

Some officiants require that the couple that they are going to marry participate in premarital counseling with them. If this is the case with the candidate that you are talking with, find out what is included and whether there is an extra cost or not. They will need to file your marriage license with the county. It doesn't hurt to just throw this out as a reminder. Are they willing to be present at your rehearsal. The answer should be yes. It is important that all of the important players at the ceremony be present at the rehearsal. This makes everyone aware of the exact same details. As for at least three references and make sure that you call each one and have a discussion about how the officiant operates.

What is their fee? This will be one of your least expensive vendors. Have a nice chat about their experience. How long have the been an officiant? How many weddings have they officiated? How many do they do in a year? The more they have officiated, the better for you because they have probably seen all of the potential problems that can befall a ceremony but they will have learned some tricks of the trade as to how to overcome these problems. Some people are really particular about the sound and tone of the officiants voice. If this is you, you will want to pay close attention. Do they seem to really care about making your wedding the best it can be? This guide should give you enough information in order to bring you to a confident decision as to who your officiant should be. We wish you well as you say I do.