Asked to officiate a wedding in California? Check out these 5 must-know officiant registration facts before officiating a wedding in California. We cover all the important things you need to know to officiate a legal wedding. 174,380 California AMM Ministers and counting!
En EspañolLast Updated: October 5th, 2023
The facts below cover all the important aspects of what requirements you need to meet to be able to legally officiate a wedding ceremony in California.
This is the relevant exerpt from the California Law § 400.
" (a) Although marriage is a personal relation arising out of a civil, and not a religious, contract, a marriage may be solemnized by a priest, minister, rabbi, or authorized person of any religious denomination who is 18 years of age or older. A person authorized by this subdivision shall not be required to solemnize a marriage that is contrary to the tenets of his or her faith. Any refusal to solemnize a marriage under this subdivision, either by an individual or by a religious denomination, shall not affect the tax-exempt status of any entity. "
Basically, this means that as long as you are ordained through any church, you can officiate weddings.
Yes. All online ordained ministers, including those ordained through AMM are recognized in California.
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The California Government does not license, register, or certify ministers or wedding officiants. Officiant registration is not required in California to officiate a wedding.
The California Government does not have any office that licenses, registers, or certifies wedding officiants.
All Wedding Officiants in California must be at least 18 years old.
As there is no officiant registration required in California, once ordained your next step is to start preparing to officiate the wedding. If you have not officiated a wedding before, or it has been a while, check out our California Officiant Ceremony Preparation page.
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