What is the average cost of a Wedding Officiant ?

Wednesday, May 27, 2015 at 4:52PM

What is the Average Cost of an Officiant? 

(From article on wedding officiant directory)

It’s difficult to get a true average price of wedding officiants because there is no reliable data on the subject. While amateur officiants and individuals simply looking to make a few dollars may charge a couple as little as $100-$250, the average fees for professional officiants typically range from $400 to $800 depending on experience and the level of service and customization they provide. Many clergy such as priests and rabbis can cost well over $1000, often asking couples to make a donation to their church or synagogue in lieu of being paid directly. Factoring out the low rates from amateur officiants as well as the impact of individuals performing ceremonies at no charge to the couple, our determination is that the average cost for a professional wedding officiant is roughly $600 per ceremony. 

...plan to spend $800 total on any ceremony fees and officiant donations... - Brides.com

Update on Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at 7:37PM by Soulful Wedding Ceremonies

My pricing is now $400 for wedding ceremony in the Brewster area

$100 for attendance at rehearsal

$500- $800 and for weddings outside of the area.

This Cape Cod Wedding Officiant is feeling the March Madness

 With all this talk of bracketology and the madness of this March, with its wintery chill I am so ready for wedding season. I'm so ready for warmth and rings and flowery things!

 wedding at Wequassett Resort Harwich on Cape Cod

Promises and vows the wordless wows........Wychmere Harbor Beach Club Wedding

On bridges, sandy ridges beneath skies so blue we are all so ready to hear some

                                           "  I do. I do."

and bring on the utterly romantic kisses as you become Mr. and Mrs.

Chequesset Yacht Club 

What do you love most about being a wedding officiant on Cape Cod?

" I love being around people in love." This was my immediate answer when a bride-to-be recently interviewed me. Such a good question. I have to admit I'm a hopeless romantic.

Yev and Elina at Brookside Club 

I just love everything about love and weddings.To be a part of the moment, to share in that leap of faith as two people step over the sacred threshold into the state of matrimony. It is just about the greatest thing ever. What's not to love? White roses on a birch bark archway, Nantucket Sound in the background, the spontaneity of the moment, being with two people giving their word in marriage, authentic joy and consecrated commitment. Wow! and it is really fun too!

JP,Cape Cod wedding officiant,celebrant,minister-questions to ask when choosing

Question #1: What is the difference between a JP, celebrant, officiant and a wedding minister? In the past, for the religiously affilated, the wedding date, place and person to preside was dictated by your faith community's schedule. Now those of us who consider ourselves non-affiliated have so many more choices.

I am an ordained interfaith minister authorized by the State of Massachuesetts to preside over marriages. I studied for two years at The New Seminary of NYC. In June 2000 I was ordained as an Interfaith Minister at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC.

Qustion #2- What is your faith or religion? As an interfaith minister I try and find the essence of love in all religions and faiths. Being raised Irish Catholic I have a somewhat irreverent, Celtic, nature-based resistence to overly organized religion, although I will tell you, I'm kinda in love Pope Francis. He must be St. Francis of Asissi reincarnated. I am fine with disorganized religions, and on and off-beat spiritual paths. I am comfortable with anyone who is still figuring it all out. It is not so much what a person knows or believes, it is the quality of their love that matters.

Now back to business JP- stands for Justice of the Peace. They are authorized by the town to preside over weddings and have a fixed rate for their fees depending on the town. Town clerks are JP's and can preside over weddings at the town hall or out and about. 

There are also Life Cycle Celebrants that are wedding officiants as well. The word 'celebrant' is not theirs alone and I believe anyone authorized to preside over weddings could use this term to describe themselves (especially if they feel more celebratory than officious.)

So I am a ordained wedding minister, wedding officiant and wedding celebrant.

I am not a JP, not that there is anything wrong with that- seriously JP's are great and I refer to them all the time. So I hope this helps clarify. enough for now.

Keep Happy -Kathleen

PS Happy Birthday Beloved Avatar Meher Baba and thank You from the bottom of my heart!

A Lovely Little Wedding

 I have presided over big and small weddings at homes, at venues and on beaches. Even an extravagant affair can feel intimate and cozy if the couple is there. If they show -up in the moment. It is easy to get distracted because this is a momentous moment; a sacred threshold. But it is really lovely when you witness the couple as they realize what is about to happen. And see them genuinely moved when they give their word in marriage.

From the  October Garden at The Belfry Inn

 

 to the red room at the Barley Neck Inn,

on the beaches of Cape Cod,at the Lighthouse Inn

  to the wine cellar at Borsari Gallery

No matter how big or small, lavish or simple, when the couple themselves are in the moment, the wedding is always lovely.