How to Start a Website for Your Wedding Officiant Business

Looking to step up from Side Gig to Full-time Officiant? You’ll need a website. 

 

If you’re ready to find more clients and get more couples married this year, you need a website! 

 

Word of mouth, Instagram or Facebook business pages, and profiles on sites like WeddingWire or The Knot are all great ways to put yourself out there, establish yourself as a new officiant, and increase your visibility online. But a personal website can help get you to the next level. 

 

Having a professional website is one of the best ways to show potential clients that you take your role as a wedding officiant seriously. 

 

Websites lend your business credibility, help establish your personal brand, generate organic traffic to your site to get you more leads, save you and your couples time and energy, and are a convenient place to provide timely business updates and ceremony tips. 

 

Starting your site doesn’t need to be complicated or intimidating.

 

Follow these 4 tips and you’ll be up and running in no time.

 

 

Marrying people is the best job in the world.

Congratulations on becoming a professional wedding officiant! 

 

1. Don’t spend a ton of money creating your website

 

First things first. Don’t be fooled into thinking you need to hire a web designer or pay a ton of money to a web hosting service. You don’t, and if you’re new to the biz, you probably shouldn’t.

 

We repeat : You do NOT need to spend a lot of money to create your website. 

 

There are several easy-to-use web building platforms designed specifically for tech-novices and beginners like you, that will make creating a custom site simple and straightforward. 

 

Better yet, these platforms offer reasonably priced options – ranging from a free site (without a custom domain name) to an ad-free professional site for about $100 a year. 

 

You can always spend more to upgrade down the road, once you have a solid wedding portfolio and a steady supply of new couples to work with. (But you probably won’t need to.)

 

 

 

2. Find existing websites you like and take notes

 

There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Find existing wedding officiant websites with qualities you like and take notes. 

 

Like an officiant’s About Me page? Use it to inspire your own. Love the way they set up their photo gallery? Take the same approach on your site. Dig the way they cover important wedding topics and share business updates on their blog? Start a blog that captures your unique voice and style.

 

Don’t spend hours agonizing over what to include. Find a few officiants doing something cool, and add your personal twist to it. And remember, you can always make changes and additions later! 

 

Here are a few AMM Minister websites we think do a great job at presenting the most important info about their businesses while communicating their individual style – from simple to sophisticated: 

 

LizRae Weddings , The Vow Guy - Weddings By Mathew, Once Upon a Vow, Weddings by Bonnie, Officially Hitched, Minister Sharise Sears, Your Wedding Man

 

 

3. Choose a web building platform + hosting solution

 

It’s ok if you don’t have much tech experience, there are several web building platforms created for complete beginners, offering a wide variety of templates to choose from. And as we said before, you won’t need to spend a lot of money to get started.

 

Most of these platforms also offer web hosting services, which is ideal, especially if you decide to invest in your own domain name (a custom URL address).

 

Here's a brief review of three popular and easy-to-use web building platforms. 

 

WIX

This user-friendly platform has 500+ customizable templates to choose from, free options for those just getting started, and an intuitive ‘drag and drop’ interface for true web-newbies that make it easy to add a shop, blog, photo gallery, and fine-tune your site for desktop or mobile views. WIX is a top choice for officiants who want to get really creative with the look and feel of their online presence. 

 

Squarespace

The slick design and professional look of Squarespace’s templates make it a popular platform, especially for officiants who want to showcase visual aspects of their role through colorful photos and videos. Squarespace’s pricing is a bit higher than others and there’s no free option, but they provide a clean website design and easy-to-navigate backend.

 

Weebly

This straightforward platform uses a ‘drag and drop’ editor interface that’s easy for novices to use, but it’s more limited than other options. Weebly’s partnership with Square makes it a popular choice for ecommerce businesses, or officiants who want to sell products online (such as wedding planning guides, custom marriage certificates, or other online merchandise). 

 

 

Don't forget to ask a trusted friend or colleague to look at your website for feedback!

 

4. Be sure to include these essential elements

 

Whether you choose a long scrolling template or classic menu navigation template with distinct pages, you’ll want to include these 6 essential elements. 

 

Homepage : 
Your homepage is usually a couple’s first look at your site. It should clearly announce what your site’s all about while reflecting your personality and style.

 

Think about your homepage aesthetics the same way you would think about the interior design of your office – what colors, arrangements, personal details, and ‘tone’ do you want to include? Do you want bright colors or neutrals? Florals or color blocks? Casual or professional? Maximalism or minimalism? Your home page should show your couples who YOU are. 

 

About Me :
Tell couples who you are! This is the place to share what you love most about working as an officiant, what drew you to the role, and what your personal values are (such as being LGBTQ+ inclusive). If you’ve been officiating for a while, say so!

 

You can also let couples know where you received your ordination to help them feel confident in your qualifications.

 

You should always include your location, too, and any areas you’re available to serve. 

 

We wrote an entire article to help you with this section:

• How to write a compelling minister profile or personal bio

 

Services:
Fine-tune your officiant offerings and list them here. Do you offer an elopement or signing-only package? List it! Offer hourly rates in addition to full packages? Let couples know your package rates, flexibility, and how to contact you for a quote on less common requests. 

 

Being transparent about the types of services you offer and your typical fees will make it easier for couples to decide if you're a good fit for their wedding plan and budget. Ultimately, this saves them (and you) time and energy. 

 

Photo Gallery/ Wedding Portfolio:
Don’t worry if you’ve only performed a couple ceremonies for friends or family members. Just grab the best photos you have of you doing your thing, and add them to a gallery or portfolio page.

 

Couples want to see you looking professional, friendly, warm, happy, and comfortable in front of guests, so choose photos that reflect these qualities. Make sure the photos you pick aren’t out of focus or pixelated, and that you have permission from the couple and the photographer to share them.

 

Advice on building an online portfolio that will attract the right couples: 

 

• How to Market Your Wedding Officiant Business With a Great Online Portfolio : AMM Talks (Video with Officiant Sherri Crawford)

 

Choose photos that capture your personality and officiating style.

 

 

Blog:
Don’t make the mistake of not including a blog on your website! Having a few well-written posts will be incredibly helpful in generating organic traffic and can help you get you more leads. 

 

If you’re not sure what to write, start with an introduction post that goes into more detail than your ‘About Me’ post. You might: tell couples about your very first wedding; post a video clip introducing yourself so couples can hear your voice; share photos of you doing a few of your favorite hobbies. 

 

Then, update your blog at least once a month to keep your site looking and feeling fresh. You might post: a helpful ceremony planning tip; a cute observation from a recent wedding; or a friendly greeting about an upcoming holiday.

 

As you write posts for your blog, keep a few SEO basics in mind.  Use ‘keywords’ that potential clients are likely to type into a search engine (like Google or Bing) when looking for someone to officiate their wedding. For example, words like ‘wedding officiant,’ ‘wedding vendor,’ ‘ceremony planning,’ ‘elopements,’ your city/ location, and keyword-loaded phrases like ‘an experienced inclusive wedding officiant in Tennessee,’ are all great choices to help the right couples find you.

Contact:
Make it very easy for couples to contact you. Embed a simple contact form for couples to ask questions, and make sure this page includes your phone number, your email address, and has links to your social media. Include your city and state on this page, too. 

 

 

 

That’s it! 

 

These 4 simple steps will help you get your own wedding officiant website up and running in no time. For more suggestions on how to get started as a marriage officiant, read all our articles for First Time Officiants. 

 

Good luck, and happy officiating! 

 

 

 

Get ordained online with American Marriage Ministries and start a new side gig or career as a wedding officiant. 

 

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You might also like: 
 

• Putting Yourself Out There, Pt. 1: How to Build Your Portfolio and Gain Exposure as an Officiant
   

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