Questions To Expect From A Wedding Officiant

Wondering what questions to expect from a wedding officiant? As you go around shopping for your wedding dress, you will also need to get an officiant for that particular day. You will have a lot of questions to ask them, and they too will have questions to ask you. Ensure that you are ready and have answers for them.

Whether your wedding will take place in a secular or religious setting, the officiant will need to know what type of ceremony you will embrace. Moreover, they will need your story as a couple. It is those personal details which will bring tears to the eyes of the loved ones as you exchange your vows. Are you getting ready to settle for a particular officiant?

Here are the questions to expect from a wedding officiant!

• Who, where and when?

That is one of the common questions that as a couple, you should expect from the officiant. The reason for asking the when is for the officiant to determine if they will be available on the time and date of your wedding and to find out how advanced in wedding plans you are.

The reason for the why is so that the officiant can get the general idea concerning wedding formality, determine the travel that will be involved for them to get to your wedding venue, and to know if they have ever worked at the same venue before. The answers will help them if the wedding is what they want and if they will be able to pursue it.

The purpose of the question is especially if one partner goes to the officiant and thus, the officiant is interested to know who the other party is. Before deciding on anything, the officiant wants to know how to address the couple.

• What is the role that your families play in your life?

It is a question which the officiant asks to know how estranged or connected you are with your families. It will also give the officiant a sense concerning how many family members will be involved in your wedding ceremony.  There are times when couples are introduced by family members, which is a fun story to share during the wedding ceremony. And the officiant will be happy to acknowledge your parents by name during the ceremony and thus, this particular question helps the officiant to express your appreciation for family members adequately.

• How do you plan to remember your ceremony? What do you want your family and friends to remember?

The Objective of the officiant is to develop a wedding ceremony that is ideal for a specific couple. Thus, they can ask different questions to find out will work for the couple. The word perfect is subjective, and it means different things to different couples. Asking a couple to describe what a perfect ceremony is to them might not be valid. Thus, it is best to work on the wedding ceremony backwards.

• What is it that you have seen in other ceremonies that you disliked or liked?

The highest form of flattery is imitation. Some things tend to be casually tossed by couples, while others bring emotions and light up their eyes. Was it traditional? Fun? Elegant? Participative? These answers enable the officiant to learn a lot, and the more elements you can identify which you love, the better the officiant will be able to note down details so that they meet your goals.

• How was your first meeting? When did you know that you have fallen in love?

It is an essential question from the officiant, which, as the couple, you might have answered several times. How did you meet? How you met and fell in love and how you narrate this story give the officiant a way to begin narrating their story and leads to the wedding ceremony theme.

Who between the two planned the first date? Is the location of your first date important to you?  Is your relationship built on adventure and surprise or one more focused on feeling at home with one another?

• They will ask about engagement?

Different couples have different recollection when it comes to their engagement story. Some will insist it was a Wednesday while others believe it was on a Tuesday. Don’t worry, the officiant will enjoy hearing different version from both of you.

Officiant also likes to know if your proposal was simple or grant. And what was the reaction? Did they expect the proposal? Were they surprised? Who is the one who chose the ring?

All those above are important in defining who the couples are both together and as individuals. When you tell your engagement story, you have a possibility of adding some humor to the wedding ceremony. Or it could be that your story will touch your guests and they start to cry. Both reactions are suitable for the wedding ceremony.

• How do you describe your partner?

The officiant might ask each of you to email them a description of your partner and what you like best about them by example. What the officiant wants to achieve is to know how similar or different, and at the end, they utilize the list of 24 character traits such as curiosity, humility, humor, generosity. They then combine it with the other partner’s character to find their signature of strength.

• Who are the best man and maid of honor?

The officiant wants to know if the maid of honor and best man are your family members, friends or your coworkers. The relationship you have with them will impact on how they relate to the wedding ceremony’s content.

• Will any religious prayers be a part of your ceremony?

Nowadays contemporary ceremonies are common amongst spouses who don’t belong to any religion. The officiant wants to know, if at the end of your ceremony you want to honor any religions.

We hope these answers to the questions you can expect from a wedding officiant will help you feel at ease. As you start planning your wedding, there are many questions you’ll need to ask and answer! To be more prepared when picking an officiant, check other related information at The Ultimate Bride’s Survival Guide.

 

Header Image Credit: Cherry Red Shoe Photography