Nowadays, as more couples opt for a secular or low-profile wedding, having a friend or family member conduct the ceremony is becoming increasingly popular throughout the states as well as in Oklahoma City.
Couples might want to save the stress of having to find a licensed wedding officiant in OKC who is compatible with them and who they can feel comfortable with. The major disadvantage is that, unless you ask someone who is trustworthy for such matters, they are unlikely to have prior experience officiating at a wedding ceremony.
However, since a wedding is a very special occasion and you mostly only get married once, couples should put some thought into it. A great wedding ceremony may set the tone for a fantastic celebration, and only an experienced wedding officiant can manage to do that.
Quick Tips for OKC Wedding Officiants
- The tone of your voice is just as essential as what you say. Maintain pleasant body language, make good eye contact, and try to smile.
- Get ordained as quickly as possible — in case something goes wrong. The Universal Life Church is the most popular option, but ask the couple if they have a preference — there are a lot of them!
- Double-check all of the state and municipality requirements for the wedding to ensure that it is legal.
- Make sure the pair’s expectations are clear. Are they writing their own script? Are you in charge of it? Or will you collaborate on it?
- Keep your attention on the couple. Regardless of how well you know them, you might find it useful to ask them a few questions about their relationship to fill in the blanks.
- Incorporate personal details — after all, that’s why you’re having a buddy officiate!
- Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Say it to yourself in the mirror, on camera, and to a handful of friends. You want to feel completely at ease when giving your speech.
- Request a copy of their vows in case one of them loses his or her copy. You can also utilize them as a source of inspiration to ensure that the service you’re planning isn’t redundant.
- Keep a printed copy on hand in case your computer breaks.
- As soon as the service begins, remind everyone to take a seat.
- After the wedding, mail the marriage certificate to make things official!
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Best Practices to follow for Wedding Officiants in OKC
Experience and the habit of utilizing the best practices are important for wedding ministers in OKC when conducting a wedding ceremony to ensure the trust, comfort, and satisfaction of the couples. In this blog post, we attempt to list the best practices and methods used by wedding officiants in Oklahoma City to bring about a great wedding experience.
Honor and Respect the Beliefs and Wishes of the Couple
Couples about to get married bring many family traditions, cultural expectations, emotional baggage, and individual preferences to wedding planning. The best wedding officiants of Oklahoma will accommodate all special or sensitive requests. Couples should also look for someone who honors and respects the couple’s views regarding spiritual matters.
Provide Guidance to the Couple
While most wedding ceremonies tend to follow typical formats, opportunities and techniques can be adapted to customize the occasion to fit the couple’s personality, style, and aspirations. Officiants would need to channel their creativity into making this possible. Often wedding officiants will hand out booklets to the couple and ask them to fill them out. These carefully designed booklets help to guide and inform the bride and groom about the typical elements of a ceremony. Moreover, it gives options to rearrange and customize their wedding with poems, prayers, or new traditions.
Advice and Plan for Punctuality
As an officiant, you would need to be very punctual and also remind a couple of the same. Make plans to be at their rehearsal dinner the day before with the couple and get familiar with the layout and take notes about the arrangements of the wedding party so that everyone feels prepared and less nervous for the real thing. On the day of the wedding, arrive with sufficient time to set yourself up (at least 30 minutes before the start, particularly if there is any sound equipment like a microphone). You must also plan out well in advance and have a plan in place if, for some reason, you cannot show up and attend at the special moment.
Make the Couples Feel Calm
On the wedding day, everyone is excited, and anxiety can run high. The officiant should exude a calming effect. And the more the officiant is familiar with the couple, the more support the officiant can provide them. Some wedding officiants from Oklahoma who mostly serve same-sex weddings are extra accommodating and will invite prospective couples to their homes for a meal so they can get to know one another much better.
Offer Optional Services Whenever Possible
Whether as a fee or a suggested donation, most officiants charge between $100 and $500. However, many additionally provide extra services like premarital counseling and wedding rehearsal coordination. Some wedding ministers or priests will perform an assessment with couples to talk about issues like interaction, conflict management, and financial planning.
Arrange for Proper Paperwork
Another advantage and useful service that you may provide to a couple are to take care of their paperwork utilizing your experience and familiarity with matters. You should take charge of obtaining the couple’s marriage license prior to the ceremony, keeping it safe in your possession during the ceremony, and having two witnesses sign the license. After filling out the required sections, you should then send it over to the Register of Deeds office in Oklahoma City, where the license was issued within the appropriate time period.
Why Hire a Professional Officiant?
Hiring a professional officiant has a lot of advantages. They have the expertise, experience, and skill to assist you in creating a high-quality ceremony and delivering it gracefully. If you ask any wedding coordinator, photographer, or videographer whether they prefer to work with an amateur or a professional officiant, they will tell you that they prefer the latter.
Experience
Experience is the most important reason to pick a competent officiant. The more wedding ceremonies a person has performed, the better ready they are to give. In addition, a professional officiant has a level of confidence that only comes from experience and can remain cool and focused in the face of shifting or unforeseen situations. This lets you and your guests relax and enjoy the ceremony.
Knowledge
Because a professional officiant has more expertise, they can provide knowledge and assistance that an untrained amateur just cannot. A professional officiant can give you good advice on all aspects of your ceremony, including alternative choices for incorporating wedding traditions into the ceremony based on your individual circumstances.
Control
The most crucial reason for most couples to engage a professional officiant, aside from experience, is control. One of the great advantages that professional officiants have over church-based clergy is the flexibility to craft a ceremony that is fully personalized for each couple, free of orthodox beliefs or tradition.
Conclusion
Choosing to employ a professional officiant will make a couple’s wedding planning easier and less stressful, as well as assure that the wedding ceremony is of excellent quality. While it may seem trivial in comparison to the many other decisions that the bride and groom have to make, it’s wise to remember that the wedding ceremony is the reason they are planning a wedding in the first place. Professional officiants following and making use of the best practices and methods in Oklahoma can prove their worth as a professional and become the star of any wedding.
The position of a wedding officiant in a wedding is usually brief and only lasts for the duration of the ceremony. Even still, they are the most significant person in the relationship – without them, there would be no marriage in the first place.
