# Last wedding you attended: who did the ceremony? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 18, 2015, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967 "2015-10-18T01:32:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/1 "2015-10-18T01:32:25Z")
I went to three weddings this year. What struck me as unusual was that none of the three weddings was a religious ceremony; before this year all the weddings I went to were religious ceremonies. Two were done by people who got an online officiant’s license, with the other done by a judge. What’s your experience at the last wedding you went to? ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/2 "2015-10-18T02:10:22Z")
Last wedding I went to was conducted by a military chaplain. It had only small reference to religion but the officiant was a Christian religious official. It was easy to see it as either religious or secular…which was the point with different family attitudes to religion. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/3 "2015-10-18T02:22:54Z")
My nephew (Jewish) married a Christian girl. I don’t know what denomination. The pastor who officiated wore over her robe a short sort of narrow stole with embroidered crosses that looked like fat plus signs in a circle. The ceremony combined things from both faiths, though I’m unfamiliar with the couple watering a plant or flower with a watering can. I recognized the chupa and stomping on the napkin wrapped light bulb. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/4 "2015-10-18T02:23:13Z")
The last wedding I attended was my own, literally decades ago. The ceremony was performed by my mother-in-law. The wife is Thai but from an ethnic-Chinese background, and that’s how her folks do things. (We did register our marriage with the local authorities, so it is a legal one, recognized by the US government.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/5 "2015-10-18T02:54:29Z")
The last wedding I went to was my cousin’s. The person who officiated was my uncle, who’s a local town justice. But my cousin and my uncle are from the opposite sides of my family and they aren’t related to each other. It was just a coincidence that both of them are related to me. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/6 "2015-10-18T04:14:51Z")
I don’t really know who did the last one I went to, about 4 years ago, maybe? I do know it was an _epic drunk_ reception, however. 😃 And they are still married! With a baby girl! ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/7 "2015-10-18T05:18:47Z")
The last wedding I attended was my brother’s 12 years ago. The officiant was an inter-denominational minister. It was a beautiful ceremony drawing from various religions. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/8 "2015-10-18T05:34:05Z")
The last wedding I attended was my own. I had my best man get ordained online and sign the actual license (legal in Maryland; MD isn’t real picky about who signs marriage licenses), and at the wedding (in Virginia) my wife’s favorite cousin performed the (symbolic) ceremony. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/9 "2015-10-18T09:09:19Z")
Best friend’s wedding, about a month ago, in a church in Sweden. The officiating clergywoman was presumably some kind of Lutheran. ---
**Author:** ![TheSpeculationElucidation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@TheSpeculationElucidation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSpeculationElucidation)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/10 "2015-10-18T09:21:25Z")
The past couple of weddings I attended, the best friend got certified online and led the ceremony. My circle isn’t religious, though. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/11 "2015-10-18T09:51:14Z")
Like some of the others, the last wedding I attended was mine. We were married by a friend who had gotten certified on line to marry another of her friends a few years earlier and had found herself in great demand as a marrying person. Yes, I guess my circle isn’t religious either. Slight sidetrack: The “preacher” and her girlfriend were the only attendees, as my DH and I had already spent many years together. However, the girlfriend asked me if I had a camera and then took several pictures, which after the fact I found I was very happy about. Even though we were already committed to one another and were marrying for economic reasons, surprisingly, the ceremony still touched something in both of us. Committing before witnesses had value, I guess. And several years later I was elated to be able to attend the wedding of the preacher and her girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/12 "2015-10-18T10:01:24Z")
My niece was married a few months ago in a Catholic church. Her husband isn’t Catholic, so they didn’t have a mass, just the wedding ceremony. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/13 "2015-10-18T11:45:24Z")
My niece went very traditional, getting married in the picturesque church\* in the village where she was brought up - but the officiant was the woman Church of England curate in the parish (and very effective she was too, hitting just the right balance of welcoming informality and formal celebration). - You’d quite likely vaguely recognise it from TV programmes, they often use it as a background for period shows. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/14 "2015-10-18T11:58:59Z")
The last one I attended, the ceremony was performed by a female who was a non denominational spiritual person. She has some odd new age beliefs, but she is very kind and will just do whatever you want her to do. She helped to calm the bride when the DJ failed to show on time. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/15 "2015-10-18T12:00:09Z")
It was a quaker wedding, so the couple just stood up and declared that they were marrying each other, then everyone in attendance signed the certificate. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/16 "2015-10-18T12:18:05Z")
The most recent wedding I attended was my son’s in April. They had a civil celebrant at the home of the bride’s parents. I can’t remember the last time I went to a wedding in a church. Must be almost 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/17 "2015-10-18T12:31:05Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > It was a quaker wedding, so the couple just stood up and declared that they were marrying each other, then everyone in attendance signed the certificate. That’s exactly what happened in the last wedding I attended. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/18 "2015-10-18T16:13:40Z")
My brother just got married a few weeks ago. He is Catholic and his bride is Methodist, so they had both a priest and a Methodist minister at the ceremony. It was in a Catholic church. My parents also had an interfaith marriage, although when they married in 1967 the Catholic Church wasn’t allowing clergy from other faiths at the ceremony. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/19 "2015-10-18T16:18:29Z")
The brides father, who was both a pastor and a champion marathon orator. “Why didn’t you get good video of the end of the ceremony and the reception?” “Low battery.” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967/20 "2015-10-18T16:42:09Z")
I voted non-Christian clergy, although the officiant, the father of the groom, had a certificate from something called the Universal Life Christian Church. It is a mail order ordination certificate, and while calling itself Christian, it doesn’t ask for verfication of a person’s beliefs, just the check to pay for registration. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-wedding-you-attended-who-did-the-ceremony/734967.md?page=2)