Wedding celebrants have a rare opportunity to be forever embedded in one of the most important moments in a couple’s love story. But how exactly does one become one, and what does a wedding celebrant do?
In this guide, we’ll cover all you need to know, from how you can easily become a wedding celebrant in just a few steps, how you can train online, and how you can perform the wedding of a lifetime for friends, family, and or others with whom you have a spiritual connection.
What Is a Celebrant at a Wedding?
Otherwise known as a “marriage officiant” or “wedding officiant”, wedding celebrants are the people who preside over and perform the actual wedding ceremony. It is their personal responsibility to not only perform the ceremony itself, but also to sign the marriage license, ensuring the ceremony’s legality.
While a traditional wedding in a church, mosque, or synagogue may need to conform to specific religious norms, a wedding conducted by a trained celebrant is able to be completely customized around the couple’s particular desires.
That means the ceremony may be as traditional or unorthodox as the couple and the celebrant prefer, providing a wide range of freedom for those involved to customize the ceremony to align with their beliefs.
How to Get Certified as a Wedding Celebrant
You may assume becoming a wedding celebrant requires years of training, but it could be a lot simpler than you may think. While the art of speechcraft is a skill we never fully stop learning, meeting the legal qualifications to become a wedding celebrant is a much more accessible prospect today than it has been in years-past.
One of the most accessible paths to become a celebrant is through the Universal Life Church’s instant online ordination process. The application takes just a few moments, and once completed, grants you the full legal power to serve as a wedding celebrant across the United States. The ULC believes that anyone who feels so-called should have the ability to access ordination, regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status.
As the world’s largest and most well-known nondenominational online church, ordination via the internet is our specialty. We’ve helped millions get ordained and perform ceremonies – and you can join their ranks by clicking the button below:
Who Can Be a Wedding Celebrant?
Anyone! If you’ve been asked to officiate and feel so-called, you can become a wedding celebrant. We ordain all, regardless of faith beliefs or immutable characteristics.
An ever-increasing number of couples are asking friends and family to get ordained online to preside over their wedding as a celebrant. We believe that this not only saves the couple money, but also provides them an opportunity to personalize their ceremony that simply can’t be matched with a traditional officiant.
Is There a Difference between a Celebrant and an Officiant?
Broadly speaking, these are two words for the same thing. “Celebrants” and “officiants” both preside over a wedding ceremony, and whether you use one term or another is likely based on geography. “Officiant” is more common in the United States, for example, and “celebrant” more common in the United Kingdom and Australia.
However, as non-denominational weddings, vow renewals, and commitment ceremonies are becoming more popular in the United States, “celebrant” as a term is growing in usage. Still, “officiant” and “celebrant” are largely interchangeable, and which one you use will likely come down to personal preference.
Do Wedding Celebrants Need to Register Somewhere?
That depends! As a wedding celebrant, it’s important to understand your state (and even your county’s) legal requirements for celebrants. From state to state – and even county to county within a state – the registration laws may change, so it is important that you visit your state wedding laws page to understand what is legally required of you in your area.
After that, feel free to get working on that wedding speech!
What Documents Do Celebrants Need?
Marriage officials often require proof of your ordination before you may officiate a wedding. What you need may change depending on your location, but we tend to recommend the Classic Wedding Package to cover your bases. That includes your official proof of ordination, a guide on how to perform a wedding, and much more.
If you’re looking for more supplies, we recommend visiting our online catalog to see if anything else catches your eye.
How to Perform a Wedding as a Celebrant
Okay, you’ve gotten ordained online, you’ve registered with the local marriage authority… what next?
If it’s your first time as a wedding celebrant, a few nerves are likely. For guidance on how to fill out a marriage license or what to say during the wedding ceremony, we recommend taking a look at our Wedding Training Center. This completely free resource has in-depth guides on how to dot every “i” and cross every “t” on the marriage license, numerous free-to-use and customizable wedding ceremony scripts, and much more!
Why Become a Wedding Celebrant?
If you’ve been asked to be a wedding celebrant for friends or family, consider it an honor. They want to include you as a key part of the happiest day of their lives, and forever write your name into their love story. What better reason could there be? Are you feeling called? As you begin down this beautiful path, don’t forget that crucial first step: becoming ordained!
