American Weddings Blog

COVID-19 (aka Coronavirus) is dominating headlines and rapidly changing everyday life across the globe.

For those with obligations to officiate an upcoming wedding, you may find yourself amongst some very frantic and stressed individuals. While some cancellations are inevitable, many couples will choose to move forward with their wedding plans – either by delaying the wedding, or simply cutting down the guest list to meet compliance with current crowd restrictions.

Whether you’re facing a postponed wedding, an intimate ceremony, or a bare-minimum elopement: officiants must keep calm, and officiate on!

Now that the masses are getting ready to hunker down in self-quarantine or isolation, we present to you a positive and constructive way to occupy your time: by utilizing the many resources AMM has to offer, making headway on your (eventual) ceremony, and learning how to provide comfort and assistance to couples in this trying time....(continued)

Back when we were still flying on commercial airlines (remember, back before coronavirus?) I found myself sitting next to an older gentleman and as often happens, we started to chat about what we do for work. After decades in the workforce, my fellow passenger was planning his retirement. 

He told me that he was looking forward to watching his grandchildren start their lives, including one granddaughter who had recently gotten engaged. It turned out that she had just asked him to officiate her wedding!

But, he wasn’t sure if he should. “I’m not sure I’m the sort of person that officiates a wedding,” he said. 

It wasn’t that he was afraid of public speaking, and it wasn’t because he didn’t have a special connection with his granddaughter. The problem, he said, was that there was a “spiritual” component to officiating, and he wasn’t a particularly spiritual man....(continued)

"Hi AMM! Who is in charge of getting the marriage license – the officiant (me), or the couple? And what is the difference between the license that is signed in front of witnesses, and the certificates you sell in your store?"

First and foremost: the marriage license is the official document and proof of marriage that is recognized by the government....(continued)

We’ve scoured our most popular guidance articles and compiled a helpful list of officiant pointers that are frequently overlooked in the hustle and bustle of wedding preparations. Without further ado -

Wedding Officiant Do's & Don't's

● Do make sure you’ve satisfied any local registration requirements in the state (and/or county) where the ceremony is taking place, if applicable.

● Do attend the rehearsal!

● Do have the venue address(es) and a prepared route ready to go prior to the rehearsal and ceremony. (If you’re unfamiliar with the area, this is even more important.)...(continued)

When we were asked if we had any tips on “planning a cemetery wedding ceremony,” it raised a few eyebrows. But the more we thought about it, the more it made sense. For many cultures, celebration of the afterlife is a big part of their spiritual practice, and graveyards are places where the living can connect with their history and ancestors. 

Ram Dass taught us that “In our Western culture, although death has come out of the closet, it is still not openly experienced or discussed.”

Michel de Montaigne, another philosopher who challenged us to think more deeply about life wrote that, “we are in death, whilst we are in life.” 

Why not double down on that philosophy and tie the knot surrounded by the symbols of death?...(continued)