How to Get a Celebrity to Officiate Your Wedding: Simple Steps to Book a Famous Officiant!

Obviously, the easiest way to get a celebrity to officiate your wedding is by being one yourself – like Adam Sandler officiating Taylor Swift’s wedding, or Sir Ian McKellen officiating Patrick Stewart’s marriage to Sunny Ozell. If you don’t have that kind of star power, however, you’ll probably have to book that famous wedding officiant the old fashioned way – through their agent!

Before we dive in, let’s clear up something important: the difference between a legal marriage ceremony vs. symbolic wedding, and where your celebrity fits into things on the wedding day.

Legal Marriage Ceremony vs Symbolic Wedding with a Celebrity Guest

Let’s be practical – a bona fide celebrity probably won’t agree to handle the legal aspects of your marriage ceremony. (Can you imagine Zendaya signing your marriage license and then dropping it off with the clerk on her way out of town? Not gonna happen!) Although you can certainly hire a celebrity to deliver a wedding script in front of your guests, most stars will refuse to take on legal responsibilities as part of a job.

Instead, we recommend that you ask a close friend or relative to get ordained online to perform a quick, legal marriage ceremony first. Then, hire a celebrity to perform a symbolic wedding for guests after your paperwork is complete.

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Your legal wedding officiant will guide you and your partner through a simple wedding script that checks all the requirements, sign your marriage license, and return the completed license to the county clerk’s office on time. Once your paperwork is taken care of, you can have a fun symbolic ceremony with the celebrity of your choice!

Follow the simple steps below to hire the celebrity wedding officiant of your dreams.

Casting Call: How to Get a Celebrity to Officiate Your Wedding

Step One: Identify Your Budget

This might be the least glamorous step, and the most important one. Be honest: Are you working with an A-List wedding budget, or a B-List budget? Decide how much you’re willing to spend to have a celebrity officiating at your wedding, and write that number down.

Your celebrity budget shouldn’t just include appearance fees for your event – add in travel expenses, rider requirements, insurance, and a 20-30% buffer for unexpected costs. Once you have a number, you’re ready to create your pitch.

Related: How Much Does the Average Wedding Cost?

How much does it cost to have celebrities officiate weddings?

Be prepared for fees that start in the mid-five-figure range just to make an appearance, with additional costs for things like luxury travel, lodging, security, and other wedding-day requirements. These add-on expenses can quickly double or triple an initial rate. The bigger the star, the bigger the fee.

Can’t afford a celebrity wedding officiant? Hire a look-alike!

If you discover you don’t have the budget for a celebrity, don’t despair. Many couples hire a celebrity lookalike instead! “Character for Hire” agencies specialize in booking look-alikes for special events like weddings.

Or ask a friend to get ordained with AMM to officiate your wedding. Put them in a stylish suit or themed costume, add some SPFX makeup, and you’ve got a star!

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Step Two: Prepare Your Event Details

Before you contact a celebrity booking agency or talent agency, take time to write down your event details – everything the celebrity can expect at your wedding ceremony, and exactly what you’d like them to do. Include as many details as possible – you’ll present this info to booking agents and talent agents.

Outline exactly what will happen on the wedding day and your officiant’s responsibilities. Are you looking for a famous comedian to roast you and your partner before you exchange vows? A Shakespearean stage actor to lead your cosplay wedding? Or maybe a reality tv star willing to read your ceremony script, ghostwritten by your best friend? Will they be expected to show up early, and how early? How long will the ceremony last? Do you have a private area for them to get ready as guests arrive? These details matter!

Related: Cynthia Nixon Will Officiate a GIANT Sapphic Group Wedding This Winter

Step Three: Contact Talent Agents and Booking Agencies

If you have a specific celebrity in mind, you should contact their agency or professional team. (Never contact a celebrity directly; always reach out through professional channels.)

If you don’t have someone in mind, but know the type of talent you want – such as a musician, comedian, stage actor, or athlete – you can contact a specialized talent and entertainment agency or booking agency that works with that type of star. For example, “Athlete Speakers” is a sports booking agency specializing in well-known athletes, while “MN2S” is a talent and entertainment agency with a diverse roster of talent, including reality tv stars, journalists, LGBTQIA+ icons, music stars, and more.

You’ll have the best chance for success with this step if you reach out to representatives for celebrities who have performed weddings in the past, and agencies or celebs that actively promote celebrity bookings for private events. For example, Chris Harrison (former host of The Bachelor), has a contact form on his website for fans who want to hire him to officiate a wedding at his mansion; and writer-actor Kevin Smith has frequently offered to officiate weddings for fans.

The earlier you start your search, the better; even minor celebrities and influencers have busy calendars and need advance notice to schedule a private event.

Related: When to Hire Your Wedding Officiant: Timing & Checklist

Stranger Things Have Happened: Booking a Celebrity as Your Wedding Officiant With a Single Tweet?

2018 was a simpler time. A time before $9 eggs, before AI data centers and COVID. A time when a fan could tweet at their favorite television celeb and have a cute, appropriate, back-and-forth conversation about having them officiate a wedding while an adoring internet watched on:

In 2018, a fan named Ericka tweeted at David Harbour, rising megastar of Stranger Things, asking what it would take him to be the officiant at her September wedding. Nearly 70k retweets later, Harbour responded to negotiate his terms: if Ericka could get 125k retweets, he’d officiate the wedding for a love letter of his choosing, the first slice of wedding cake, and the date couldn’t interrupt his filming schedule. The exchange went viral, quickly surpassing the retweet goal. True to his work, Harbour headed to Illinois that September (in costume!) and officiated Ericka’s wedding. (See the wedding photos here!)

Would this same technique work today? Maybe, maybe not. Social media’s not what it used to be... Still, if your heart’s set on having a special celebrity perform your ceremony and it’s not in the budget to book through proper channels – it never hurts to tag them and ask!  

Step Four: Submit a Request, Get a Quote, and Negotiate

It’s time to submit a request and get a quote! At this point, the agent will check a celebrity’s availability and interest in performing your wedding. They’ll quote you a price for the celeb’s services – and you might discover the celeb charges more than you expected.

If the quoted fee is outside your budget, or if there’s lukewarm interest on the star’s side, ask the agent if there’s room for negotiation. In general, the answer will be no, but you might be able to reach an agreement by adjusting the length of their appearance or negotiating other details, such as travel, lodging, security, meals, or expenses.

And once again, if you have a friend who looks like Pedro Pascal (or might pass for him in the right lighting, with the right faux mustache and brow gel), consider having them officiate your wedding instead! Online ordination to perform weddings is free with AMM, and it only takes a minute.  

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Step Five: Sign the Contract and Pay a Deposit

At this point, it’s time to sign a business contract and pay a deposit for your celebrity officiant – just like you will with any other wedding vendor you hire for the big day.

Make sure you understand the terms of the contract clearly, especially what happens if your famous wedding officiant cancels at the last minute. Does the agency provide a backup officiant, or should you secure a backup officiant on your own? Will they refund your payment/s? Other questions to consider include whether you own the rights to photos taken at your wedding of the celebrity, and whether these photos can be shared publicly. Will you need to contact your venue to update them on any security or timing details? Take your time to read the fine print thoroughly before paying the deposit. 

Then, celebrate! You’ve booked a star officiant!

Step Six: Online Ordination to Officiate a Legal Marriage Ceremony

As we mentioned earlier, the person who performs your legal marriage ceremony has certain responsibilities, including completing the marriage license and (in many states) returning it to the county clerk’s office. In addition, your officiant must be legally authorized to perform marriage in the state where the wedding takes place.  

Because of these legal responsibilities, we recommend having a friend or relative conduct a short legal ceremony first – followed by a symbolic wedding delivered by your celebrity guest.

For many people, the easiest way to be “legally authorized” to perform marriage is by becoming an ordained minister through a reputable online church like American Marriage Ministries. (It’s so easy, in fact, that several notable celebrities and public figures are already ordained with American Marriage Ministries, including Stephen Colbert, Carly Rae Jepsen, Lisa Vanderpump, comedian Adam Sank, and performer Brian Sims (Borah!).)

Related: AMM Minister Performs ‘Hocus Pocus’ Celebrity Wedding in Salem

Once your officiant is ordained online as a minister, they may need to register locally before performing the ceremony. Minister registration is a straightforward process but can take several weeks, so don’t wait until the last minute to start this step!

Make it easy on your chosen wedding officiant: Send them a link to an AMM Minister Ordination Package, which includes all the documents they’ll need to officiate a wedding in your state.

Step Seven: Your Legal Marriage Ceremony, Followed by a Symbolic Wedding Officiated by a Celebrity!

On the day of your legal marriage ceremony

Join your legal wedding officiant and wedding witnesses (if required) for a simple marriage ceremony. This can be done in just a few minutes. After the ceremony, your officiant will complete your marriage license. Depending on where your wedding takes place, you might sign the license too, along with one or two witnesses. Once it’s complete, your marriage license must be returned before the deadline.

On the day of your symbolic wedding with a celebrity officiant

This is what you’ve been waiting for! Make sure any contracted requirements have been taken care of by your wedding vendors and venue before your celebrity arrives.

Your celebrity officiant will deliver the wedding ceremony script you’ve agreed to and introduce you as married. Depending on the terms of your contract, they might pose for photos with you and your guests, or deliver a short musical performance, comedy set, or toast. Don’t forget to savor every moment of this unique and special celebration with friends!

Congratulations on a star-studded ceremony!

More Celebrity Wedding Ideas & Inspiration from American Marriage Ministries

• Married by a Mascot: Weddings Officiated by Costumed Characters
• True Crime Fan Asks 'Dateline' Star to Officiate Her Wedding
• 10 Beloved Celebrity Wedding Officiants & the Lucky Couples They Married
• 5 Nontraditional Wedding Ideas from Reality TV Stars Caelynn Miller-Keyes & Dean Unglert

• Celebrity Inspiration for Your Second Wedding Ceremony & Vow Renewal

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