American Weddings Blog

Our very own Lewis King recently joined the Your I Do Crew! Podcast in Ohio for some engaging, humorous, and insightful podcast sessions.

So save these links, and whether you're on your commute to/from work, enjoying a mid-day break, or just looking to join in on some of the important conversations going on at American Marriage Ministries -- please give them a listen! 

Part 1: "Get Ordained!"

All about online ordination, why American Marriage Ministries is different, and what's going on in the state of Tennessee

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Asked to Officiate

Originally written by expert and professional wedding officiant Bethel Nathan (who has performed nearly one thousand ceremonies), AMM recently acquired and updated this workbook - making it the most comprehensive, detailed, and helpful book of its kind on the market. Asked to Officiate will:...(continued)

Here at American Marriage Ministries, we are frequently asked questions regarding timelines of ordination and performing marriage.

Like, How long does it take to get ordained? How long will it take to complete officiant registration in New York City? When will my paperwork and credentials arrive? When should I meet with the couple? When should I start practicing and rehearsing the ceremony? (Hint: Several of these are answered in our FAQs.)

We realize that many folks are asked to officiate at the last minute (which is totally awesome/fine, and we're still here to help you in a time crunch!) - but in order to deliver the best ceremony possible, this is what an ideal officiant timeline should look like:

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Officiating demands a substantial amount of your personal time, effort, thought, consideration - and almost always, love.

So it’s only fair when a new officiant wonders, “How much should I charge for my services?”

The answer in short is this: Officiant fees vary drastically across the country, so you will have to do a bit of research to determine this magical number.

If you are considering performing ceremonies in a professional capacity, you will want to start by looking into what others are charging locally, and proceeding from there.

We recommend doing an online search along the lines of, “Wedding Officiant in [City Name]”. You can also use vendor searches for your area - like looking up Officiants in Wedding Wire's Vendor Search based on location.

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It happens to the best of us… we make a goof while delivering a wedding ceremony. It may be missing a word (or words), it may be pronouncing something incorrectly, or perhaps it’s a matter of losing our place in the ceremony. We’ve all been there. You’re not alone, so if it happens, don’t worry!

But truthfully, 95% of the time, it is not the goof that matters, but how you handle it. So, here are some tips:

Stay Calm

This is sometimes tough but if you realize you made a mistake or lose your place, staying calm will prevent you from making more mistakes. If you let yourself get flustered by the one mistake, you increase the likelihood of making more mistakes. If you have to, wait till you get to a natural pause point (e.g. the end of a paragraph), take a deep breath, quickly center yourself, and then move on.

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