Wedding officiant: how to choose? On what criteria?

Finding the right wedding officiant can be almost as difficult a task as finding a soul mate to marry. He is the person on whom the celebration of your wedding rests, and you rightly want the best for the big day! Of the celebrant of a secular ceremony to the master of ceremonies of a religious wedding, passing by the wedding planner, how to choose it well? Bride and groom, we have prepared the ground for you: follow our advice so that this step is not a headache!

Choose your civil wedding officiant

The civil union is the only one that has legal value. It can of course be combined with a religious wedding or a secular ceremony with an officiant, or it can be your only wedding celebration.

In theory, you will not have the choice of the civil wedding officiant. It is the mayor of the municipality, or one of his deputies who will officiate.

The future bride and groom cannot afford grand fantasies, as it is a well-framed legal act. But if you know the elected officials, you can, when registering at the town hall, ask for a specific person to be your wedding officiant. This is particularly the case when you get married in the municipality of your childhood, and a family member or a close friend is at the head of the municipal council, or at least is part of it. This request is not exceptional, and nothing legally allows it to be refused.

Choose your master of ceremonies for a religious wedding

For the celebration of a religious wedding, there is not a huge choice either.

Of course, you must already start by choosing a wedding officiant of your faith. A rabbi will not be able to unite Christians, any more than an imam or a priest for future bride and groom of the Jewish faith. Apart from this principle, the most important is to feel comfortable with your wedding master of ceremonies. As for the town hall, you can contact the parish leaders to have the union celebrated by one celebrant rather than another. It’s your Big Day, and everything should suit you! If you dream of a modern and memorable ceremony, the priest who is known for his endless sermons and a bit of a killjoy may not be the best person to be the officiant of your wedding!

Choose your secular ceremony officiant

The choice of the celebrant of the secular ceremony is much freer. Being a symbolic ceremony without legal value, the only constraints of the wedding celebration are those that you will set yourself. You have carte blanche!

Ceremonial officiant and wedding planner

Today, many wedding planners also offer the service of secular ceremony officiant. He will then be your best adviser before your union. Indeed, it will help you select the texts that will be read during your wedding, choose songs for the different moments of the celebration, or even certain rituals to accompany this very special moment. All so that it only looks like you! Make sure he is trained in the role of wedding officiantfind out about the opinion of his previous clients via social networks: if there is one day when you don’t want a bad surprise, it’s your wedding day!

Wedding celebration: a real service

During a secular ceremony, the chosen officiant is at the same time master of ceremonies of the wedding, conductor and wedding officiant. You must therefore feel comfortable and confident, and the person must be a good speaker and know your story. This is the key to a successful and moving wedding celebration, which you will remember all your life. The assistance must be hanging on their lips (and on their handkerchief for the most emotional), be involved and recognize the bride and groom in the course of the ceremony.

Choose a relative of the bride and groom?

The advantage of a secular wedding celebration is to be able to choose one of his relatives as wedding officiant. Which is not the case in the other configurations, unless your sister is the mayor of your commune, or your best friend as a religious official! Entrusting this role to friends or family members is a wonderful proof of love and trust. But, however, it is necessary remain vigilant on the abilities of the chosen one! Your best friend dreams of accompanying you in this great moment, but cannot speak in public without blushing or stuttering? Your best friend has come forward, arguing that he already has a list of embarrassing anecdotes about your single life? Hmm… They may not be the best placed to play this role… He makes you a person at ease in public and organized, who knows you well enough to conduct a ceremony in your image. But who also knows how to respect your requests for future bride and groom! Being a wedding officiant is not given to everyone.