Most wedding officiants/celebrants will offer potential clients a free no-obligation meeting to talk abour your ceremony. You should plan on about an hour, and you should come prepared with questions. You can expect the celebrant will ask you what kind of ceremony you would like.
Here are some questions to ask your civil wedding officiant:
1. Are you legally qualified to perform a marriage in the location of the ceremony?
2. How do you create my personalized ceremony? What is the process?
3. What is your fee? What does it include...or not include? What is in your contract?
4. How much freedom does a couple have to do what they want in the ceremony?
5. What interested you in doing this work? What do you like about being a wedding celebrant? How long have you been doing this work?
6. How many weddings to you do in a year? Do you do more than one a day?
7. Can I see a sample of your work...video or written document?
8. Can I check out your work with one or more of your past clients?
9. Do you have back-up if you are sick or otherwise unable to be at the wedding?
And ask yourself: Am I comfortable with this person? Is this the person I want to perform my wedding ceremony in front of all my family and friends? Does this celebrant seem to understand what we want? Can this celebrant be flexible, helpful, and creative when unexpected situations arise?
When the celebrant you are interviewing asks you about your ceremony, here are some things you can be prepared to talk about that will be helpful:
- Where the ceremony will take place, the set-up in the ceremony location
- A description of the wedding party (how many people, any children)
- How many guests you will be having
- Your plans for music for the procession and recession
- Some ceremony traditions that you like, traditions you don't like
- Your thoughts on wedding vows - write your own or do something traditional
- How much time you want the ceremony to take
- Any considerations you want to make regarding parents' expectations
- Will the bride and groom see each other before the ceremony
- Any ethnic or religious traditions from your families you want to include
- Ideas from other weddings that you liked
You may only have this one opportunity for "face time" with your celebrant before your wedding day. Make the most of it...stick to the agenda - which is:
1) getting acquainted and
2) assessing if this celebrant can create the wedding ceremony you want.
If you liked how the interview went and you want to hire the celebrant, ask what are the next steps. It will probably be signing a contract and making a deposit to reserve your date on your celebrant's calendar. Ask for a timeline of wedding ceremony preparation activities.
If you decide to hire another celebrant, do take the time to let any other celebrants that you interviewed know that you selected someone else. It's helpful for a celebrant to know you made a decision. A brief email is fine! You'd be amazed how many people don't follow through with that courtesy.
Julie Laudicina, Celebrant!
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