How do you select an Officiant for your Seattle wedding ceremony when there are dozens of Wedding Officiants in Seattle to choose from?

Given how important your Officiant is to your overall wedding day and ceremony experience, here are 4 important tips to consider as you select the best person to create and deliver your wedding ceremony and send you into your married adventure ~ Seattle style!

Make a Short List of Seattle Officiants.

What is unique about the Seattle area when it comes to Officiants? Unlike other regions of the Country, there are hundreds of Officiants of all traditions, faiths and paths.

Remarkably, you have a wide variety of men and women who are dedicated to creating and delivering beautiful ceremonies. The quest is to find a person whose personality resonates with you as a couple and whose approach to creating and delivering a wedding ceremony fits with what you want.

If you fire up the Google, you'll be able to create a list of Officiants who appeal to you. In addition, there are national and regional wedding websites that showcase Officiants most often under "Officiants and Clergy."

One respected website to check out is Wedding Wire which offers engaged couples free access to wedding vendors and reviews of Officiants and other wedding processionals.

Tip: Take the time during your interview process to really understand how your prospective Officiant creates a ceremony as there are so many work styles and delivery methods. This will help insure you make a "best choice" for your Officiant.

Schedule Interviews With 3 Seattle-Based Officiants

As you select an Officiant for your Seattle wedding, your best bet is to hire an Officiant who lives and works in the Seattle/Puget Sound area.

During the busy Summer months, an Officiant may accept more than one wedding engagement on a popular weekend day. For peace of mind, insure that your Officiant is "local" and not coming from far away as Puget Sound traffic can be particularly challenging on a weekend.

You want to select an Officiant who "gets you" as a couple.

To accomplish this, I suggest emailing or calling a half-dozen Officiants for information and scheduling 2-3 in-person interviews.

By meeting in person, you can get a sense of your potential Officiant's personality, sense of humor, delivery style and their approach to creating, writing and delivering a ceremony.

If you are eloping, you can skip this step if you feel comfortable with the Officiant's website, references and phone conversation.

Happily, most Officiants in Seattle offer a complimentary meeting, no matter if your ceremony is formal or casual, big or small.

Get Your Agreement To Work Together in Writing.

It's amazing how many calls I receive every Summer season from a freaked out bride or groom who just lost their Officiant - and their wedding at Seattle's Alki Beach or Shilshole Bay Beach Club is a week away!

Do not select and/or hire an Officiant for your Seattle wedding without signing a formal agreement which outlines the terms of your verbal agreement, specifies rehearsal or no rehearsal and also includes the scope of your ceremony design/writing and fees, etc.

What Do Seattle Officiants Charge For Services?

Fees for Officiants based in the Seattle area range anywhere from $75 - $1200. Of course, particularly with this service, you get what you pay for. So, figure out what you want, what you can afford and make your best choice of Officiant. And don't forget to check references and reviews!