Planning your wedding can be a full-time undertaking.  What with choosing your wedding flowers, coordinating your bridesmaids dresses and shopping for wedding bands, most couples can easily become overwhelmed with the entire process.  It's no wonder that the chore of finding a wedding officiant tends to get lost in the process.  However, you must remember that choosing just the right person to officiate your wedding ceremony is an extremely important decision.  Don't forget, this person will have a huge influence on the entire feel of your wedding ceremony.  

If you are planning a very traditional religious ceremony in your home church, this might be a very easy process.  The obvious choice would be the clergy at that church. However, since many couples are choosing to have less traditional ceremonies and are seeking independent wedding officiants, the process can be a bit more challenging.  Not only do you want someone that is qualified to perform marriages in your state, you will also want to choose an officiant that will blend well with you as a couple as well as your family and friends that will be involved in your wedding as well.  A general rule of thumb when it comes to choosing your wedding officiant is to spend at least as much time on choosing your officiant as you would on choosing your wedding dress or looking at wedding cake designs.  

The first step in finding the right wedding officiant is to determine if you want a traditional religious ceremony of a civil ceremony.  If you are looking for a traditional religious ceremony, this may make your search a bit easier.  This is especially true if you are a member of a a particular church and you wish to be married there.  The choice is then obvious and you should proceed from there.  If you are not a member of a church but wish to be married in a house of worship of a particular denomination, you should contact a house of worship of that particular denomination and find out what their rules and guidelines are for performing marriages of non-members.  Some require pre-marriage counseling and others won't even consider marrying non-members.  

If you are looking for a civil wedding officiant, the process can be easy or a bit more difficult depending on exactly the type of ceremony you are trying to achieve.  If you are just wanting a simply ceremony at the local courthouse or city hall, all you need to do is make an appointment to get married and an officiant will be provided and a simple, no frills ceremony will be conducted.  However, if you are wanting a more elaborate ceremony or something very customized, you may want to find a justice of the peace of notary that can perform the type of ceremony you have envisioned.  This sounds easy enough, but can be rather tedious.  You will definitely want to attempt to find an officiant that comes recommended by someone you know or, at the very least, try to find a good resource with a list of numerous officiants that have been pre-screened.  

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Below you will find a few tips to help you along the way when it comes to choosing the right wedding officiant for you.  

1.  Be sure to schedule a face to face meeting to get to know your officiant (if you don't already).  

2.  Make sure to look over any testimonials or reviews to assist you to establish their credibility.

3.  Consider asking if they can offer any samples such as videos of previous weddings they have officiated.  

4.  While most officiants fee structures will be much simpler than other wedding vendors, you will still want to ask about their fees up front.  

5.  Make sure you are comfortable with the officiant you choose.  Remember, this is your wedding ceremony and you want it to be perfect.