5 Surprising Book Recommendations for Wedding Officiants This Winter

Updated for 2026: Books to help you grow your wedding officiant business from the inside out! 

 

Fine tune your professional wedding officiant skills with these expert book recommendation -- from improving your marketing strategy, to writing better wedding ceremony scripts, and even deepening your understanding of lasting love. This reading list from business owner & professional officiant Liz Rae (of Liz Rae Weddings) can help you improve your skills and grow your business, from the inside out. 

 

Related: The Ultimate Wedding Officiant Business Guide: All Our Pro Officiant Resources in One Place

 

It’s no secret that most of us at AMM are booklovers. Heck, we’ve even written a couple of books ourselves. (Start with Asked to Officiate and AMM’s Minister Manual to learn the essentials of conducting wedding ceremonies and to ensure your weddings are legal.) So when the opportunity arose to talk with AMM Minister and fellow booklover Liz Rae about what’s on her bookshelves, we couldn’t pass it up. 

 

Liz is an internationally-successful wedding officiant and has a knack for capturing the essence, substance, and quirks of a couple’s love story through custom ceremonies. She credits authentic connections with couples — and her voracious reading habits — for much of her storytelling superpowers and marketing savvy. 

 

Scroll down to see what should be on your reading list this year! 

 

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5 books for wedding officiants to improve your ceremony writing, up your marketing game, and deepen your understanding of love

 

(We’ve linked to bookshop.org, an organization that helps you support the local, independent bookstores in your area by ordering through them online.)

 

 

1. Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers From the Very First Sentence 

by Lisa Cron

 

Want to write better wedding ceremony scripts? Create moments that your couples and their wedding guests will never forget? This is the book!
 

“This guide reveals how writers can utilize cognitive storytelling strategies to craft stories that ignite readers' brains and captivate them through each plot element.”

 

(For fast help writing ceremony scripts, start with our free online Wedding Ceremony Script Library.)

 

 

 

2. How to Win Friends and Influence People

by Dale Carnegie

 

A big part of succeeding as a professional wedding officiant is about nailing the first impression: responding to leads with confidence and warmth, handling consulations with professionalism, and showing couples they can trust you on the wedding day. This book can help! 

 

“With an enduring grasp of human nature, it teaches his readers how to handle people without letting them feel manipulated, how to make people feel important without inspiring resentment, how to win people over to your point of view without causing offence, and how to make a friend out of just about anyone.”

 

(Start with our online article How to Work Best With Your Wedding Officiant.)

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3. Bird by Bird

by Anne Lamott

 

Worried that all your custom wedding ceremony scripts are starting to sound the same, despite your best efforts? This excellent writing guide can help you break the familiar mold with tips on how to create fresh, provocative, personal stories -- the kind that keep wedding guests on the edge of their seat. 

 

“Superb writing advice... hilarious, helpful and provocative." -- "New York Times Book Review."

 

(Start with How to Write a Wedding Ceremony Script in 9 Steps in our free officiant training guide.) 

 

 

 

 

 

4. This is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See

by Seth Godin

 

Marketing for wedding officiants is all about building a memorable, trustworthy presence that will help you stand out online and in-person -- and Seth Godin is a master of this type of modern modern. This book is for you! 
 

“A game-changing approach to marketing, sales, and advertising.”

 

If you’re planning on officiating more than one wedding, you’ll want to get your message in front of the right couples. Us officiants might not all be Don Drapers, but there’s always something to be learned from the sales folks. 

 

(Start with our online article, Putting Yourself Out There, How to Build Your Portfolio and Gain Exposure as an Officiant.)

 

 

 

5. A Natural History of Love

by Diane Ackerman

 

Your business is built on a love of love! So why not deepen your understanding of love, relationships, and what makes us so uniquely human when it comes to romance? This surprising book reccomendation is the perfect addition to your wedding officiant reading list! 
 

“Following the triumphant success of her book "A Natural History of the Senses," Diane Ackerman has turned her formidable gifts to that greatest gift of all -- the elusive, eternal, and endlessly interesting matter of love.” 

 

(Learn about our philosophy on marriage and why we believe every couple has a right to marriage and to choose who marries them.)

 

 

Start With a Strong Foundation: "Asked to Officiate" Ceremony Writing Guide Book

 

To build a strong foundation for your officiant business, we recommend you start your officiant journey by reading Asked to Officiate, a comprehensive and easy to understand step-by-step guide on how to write and conduct wedding ceremonies. It will unlock the mysteries of performing marriage and help you prepare for anything along the way. 

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You can follow AMM Minister and wedding officiant Liz Rae on Instagram: @lizraeweddings and @vowswelltraveled

 

Updated March 2021

 

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More AMM articles featuring Wedding Officiant Liz Rae: 

 

• Officiant Quick Tip: Ceremony Writing with AMM Minister Liz Rae (of Liz Rae Weddings)
• Bride Or Groom MIA On The Wedding Day? Here’s What To Do!

 

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