American Weddings Blog

The first step before officiating a wedding, even before you start talking about the ceremony, is making sure you are legally allowed to solemnize weddings. Everyone has the legal right to do so, but much like other important life events, the government has found a way to involve itself. So, as a wedding minister, you need to ensure that you meet your state’s requirements – which always starts with getting ordained online here at theamm.org
 
Having got that out of the way (we’ll wait for a minute here while you fill out and submit the form), let’s move on to certification, and what that entails.
 
The reason this is confusing is because different states and municipalities use “certification,” and “licensing” interchangeably. In other words, they mean the same thing.
 
In a nutshell, getting certified to marry someone involves the following steps:
 
First, y...(continued)

If this is your first time officiating a wedding, your first concern might be, “how do I make sure the wedding is legal?” The good news is, it’s actually pretty easy. But, you’ll need to figure out the following: Do you need a government minister license, or is your online ordination sufficient?
 
Let’s start by breaking down the difference, and then learn about which states require a government license or some other form of registration.
 
An ordination is the first, and often only requirement to officiate weddings in all 50 states. Ordination grants someone the authority to perform certain acts as a “minister” or religious authority, sanctioned by a religious institution. When you get ordained by American Marriage Ministries, it empowers you to legally join couples in marriage and sign the marriage license as an AMM minister. You don’t need to hold any specific beliefs. All that is re...(continued)

Finding the right wedding officiant is a very, very, very common problem. If that’s you… relax! We’re here to help.   

For couples who believe that the wedding ceremony is one of the most significant parts of their wedding day, the question of who should perform the wedding ceremony is a very important one. In this blog post, we’ll cover your options, and pass along what we’ve learned along the way. 

So, who's out there...?

A Friend or Family Member...(continued)