Can my friend get ordained to officiant our same-sex wedding? #Ceremony Advice#ceremony#gay#getting legalled#lesbian weddings#LGBTQ#officiant Posted Jul 25 2018 Catherine Clark bijouxandbits High Five Brides Wedding Cake Topper with hair color choices from Love and Luxe Handmade My girlfriend and I are getting married in November 2018. We want our friend to get ordained so that he may marry us. What are the steps for same-sex couples getting married? – R Related Post So you want to have a friend officiate… This is a notion that is near and dear to my own heart because that's how I got started as a professional officiant. My best... Read more Congrats on your upcoming wedding! The good news is that it's pretty much the same no matter who is getting married. There are two considerations for online ordination when having a friend officiate your same-sex wedding: that the online ordination website allows same-sex ceremonies and that online ordination is considered legal in your state/city/county. In both cases, you're likely not to run into too many issues, but check everything twice, especially when it comes to the legality of it. It has less to do with the fact that it's for a same-sex wedding than it does local municipalities excluding online ministers in general. Let's look at both issues… Make sure it's legal We've talked extensively about how to research your local area to make sure that friend officiants can legally officiate your wedding. Here's a tip from this post… First and foremost, make sure it is legal. Call the registrar in the township where you will be getting married to see what needs to be done by your officiant to ensure that they can legally solemnize your marriage. This not only varies by state, but can also vary by municipality within the state. Just because someone is an internet ordained minister does not automatically let them perform marriage ceremonies everywhere — marriage laws are governed at the state level, not the federal level. If you are doing research online regarding marriage law, only trust sources that are the legitimate website of the government in question — not a blog and not a compilation site. Some states will require your officiant to register or apply for a one-day solemnization. Some states will be fine with a simple internet ordainment. Some states will be different — for example, in New York City, all officiants must register with City Hall. However, New York State has different marriage licenses and no registration. What online ministries allow same-sex ceremonies? Related Post How to become a wedding officiant: online churches to get ordained Are you looking to have a familiar face as your wedding officiant? A friend or family member instead of a stranger? It's an appealing thought... Read more There are lots of online ordination sites that will allow you to officiate same-sex weddings. These were the ones where I was able to confirm it via their FAQs, but I suspect almost all of them do if you check in with one you are considering. This list will get you started… Universal Life Church Monastery American Marriage Ministries Church of Spiritual Humanism Church of the Latter-Day Dude (Dudeism!) Once you've crossed your Ts and dotted your Is on the legality and your chosen online ordination site, you should be good to go! And then it's all about crafting the ceremony with your new officiant and having fun with it… Friend officiant resources Related Post 5 secrets to officiating your friend's wedding I recently officiated a wedding for two of my dearest friends. I had never officiated a wedding before. It was not easy, but I'm proud of the result. I thought… Read More Related Post 5 best quotes from the marriage equality decision to use in your ceremony While we still have so far to go and so many potential obstacles in our path, I wanted to call out some ways to include the recent advances from Obergefell… Read More Related Post The non-religious two officiant wedding ceremony script you've been looking for Almost everything you'll find when you search for a "two officiant wedding ceremony" will be religious. But if you're not inviting any of The Gods to your wedding, you might… Read More Catherine Clark Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com. @enidjcoleslaw @bijouxandbits @bijouxandbits PREVIOUS Go down the rabbit hole of raw diamonds, colored gemstones, and stunning rings from Gardens of the Sun NEXT Board games, dance-offs, and inflatable unicorns: a traditional Jewish wedding with a twist Show/Hide comments [ 0 ] Join the conversation Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Sign me up for your offbeat awesomeness newsletter! No-drama comment policy Part of what makes the Offbeat Empire different is our commitment to civil, constructive commenting. Make sure you're familiar with our no-drama comment policy. Biz owners & wedding bloggers Please just use your real name in your comment, not your business name or blog title. Our comments are not the place to pimp your website. If you want to promote your stuff on Offbeat Bride, join us as an advertiser instead.