So you’ve found an officiant and you think you’re ready to book. But how do you know if you’re making the right decision? Here are 15 questions to ask your wedding officiant to make sure they’re the right fit for you before you book!
One of our primary goals at Young Hip & Married is making sure you’re happy and comfortable with the person that is marrying you. We want you to be confident in the officiant you’ve chosen and the words they’re going to say on your special day.
Both our Sweet & Simple and Custom & Creative ceremony packages offer a face-to-face (or virtual!) complimentary consultation with you and your chosen officiant. That’s the perfect time to get to know your officiant, for them to get to know you, and for you to get answers to all of your officiant questions.
Prior to that meeting, our Customer Service Rockstars are available to answer all of your logistical questions and to match you with an officiant who they think will be a great fit for your wedding day. And if it’s not a great fit, they’d be more than happy to introduce you to another officiant on the team!
by Erica Miller Photography
1. Logistics
First things first, you’ll want to get the logistics out of the way. If you book with Young Hip & Married, many of these questions will be answered before you meet with your officiant.
Are you available for my wedding date? Of course, this is the first question you’ll need to confirm with your officiant.
Can you legally officiate our wedding and file our marriage licence? All of our Young Hip & Married officiants are fully licensed to legally marry you and file your marriage licence. Note that in Canada, you can only be married by a licensed officiant or commissioner; friends and family cannot get ordained online like they do in the movies!
What are the costs? All of our packages and prices are listed on our packages page. You can confirm any additional costs, like travel fees, with our Customer Service Rockstars during the booking process.
2. Do you have any reviews?
Reviews are a great way to hear from other couples about their experience with your chosen officiant. At Young Hip & Married, we have over 1200 reviews for you to read through! You can also check out our Google pages and WeddingWire page.
3. Do you offer relationship coaching or counselling services?
We care more about your lifelong marriage than your one day wedding. Young Hip & Married is very pleased to offer both relationship coaching and relationship counselling services. Not sure what you need? Find out the difference between counselling and coaching!
by Here And Vow Studio
4. What time will you arrive on the wedding day?
The last thing you want on your wedding day is to stress out about your officiant arriving on time. At Young Hip & Married, our officiants always arrive a minimum of 15 minutes early (though usually well before then) and leave themselves lots of time to get to and from your wedding.
5. What happens if you get sick?
No one wants to think about a vendor being sick or stuck in an emergency and unable to make a wedding. Luckily, Young Hip & Married has a team of back up officiants who are able to step in should your original officiant not be able to make it. Breathe easy knowing you won’t have to scramble to find a new officiant at the last minute!
6. Can you help us with our vows?
Vows are a big part of your wedding ceremony – whether you write your own vows or choose prewritten vows. And your Young Hip & Married officiant is able to help you choose or write the best vows for you. We have resources, blog posts and an entire vow course for you to get the best wedding vows ever!
by Deanna Rachel Photography
7. Is the ceremony script custom written for us?
Some couples are happy for their officiants to use a pre-written script and others want their ceremony script to be completely personalized and custom written for them. At Young Hip & Married, we offer both options with our Custom & Creative ceremony package (custom written script) and our Sweet & Simple ceremony package (pre-written script).
8. Can we see the ceremony script ahead of the wedding day?
We want you to be confident not only in the officiant you’ve chosen but in the words they’re going to say at your wedding ceremony. That’s why we always send our couples their completed ceremony scripts ahead of their wedding day.
9. Can we make changes to the ceremony script?
It’s one thing to be able to see your ceremony script ahead of time, but what if you see something written that you don’t like? With our Custom & Creative ceremony package, couples can make unlimited revisions to their custom scripts. Your officiant will work with you until you’re happy with every word being spoken at your ceremony.
by Erica Miller Photography
10. Can we incorporate our cultures, traditions and/or religions into the ceremony?
We want your wedding ceremony to feel like you two and include all of your important cultural, religious and personal traditions. Our officiants have experience blending different cultures and religions together, and are so happy to learn new traditions for your ceremony. With the Custom & Creative ceremony, we can work with you to craft a ceremony that represents you and what you value most.
11. What if we want to add something else to the ceremony?
Interested in adding another creative element to your wedding ceremony? We’re all for it! Our officiants love putting more of your love and personality into your Custom & Creative wedding – whether that’s incorporating a beer blending unity ceremony or dressing up alongside you for a Halloween wedding.
For more unique ceremony ideas, check out our blog post on 23 creative additions for your wedding ceremony!
12. Do you facilitate our wedding rehearsal?
Having an officiant facilitate your wedding rehearsal is a great idea – after all, we’re the experts! With hundreds of weddings under our belts, our team can take the lead to ensure everyone in your wedding party feels comfortable and confident on the big day.
A wedding rehearsal is included in our Custom & Creative package and can be added to our Sweet & Simple package.
by Erica Miller Photography
13. What are you going to wear on our wedding day?
While this might seem like a silly question, it’s totally okay to ask your officiant what they’re going to wear on your wedding day. They are going to end up in some of your photos, so you want them to be camera-ready (without pulling focus!).
Especially if you have a specific dress code, or you’re hosting a theme wedding, it’s a great idea to talk about outfits with your officiant ahead of time.
14. Do you have recommendations for other wedding vendors?
Awesome wedding vendors know other awesome wedding vendors – and we love working with them! Absolutely ask your officiant for recommendations if you’re still looking to hire other vendors for your big day.
15. What if we forgot to ask you something?
Not to worry! Your Young Hip & Married officiant is always a quick email away and more than happy to answer any of your questions.
written by Riana Ang-Canning
featured image by Erica Miller Photography
Riana Ang-Canning has been working with Young Hip & Married since 2017. She is a professional content writer with experience in travel, lifestyle and weddings. Riana not only writes Young Hip & Married blog posts but is also involved with the company's internal communications, social media, copywriting and more. She knows YHM, and the wedding world, inside and out!
