# Tell me about finding a wedding officiant (Washington DC)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-finding-a-wedding-officiant-washington-dc/730008
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 5, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-finding-a-wedding-officiant-washington-dc/730008 "2015-09-05T13:21:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-finding-a-wedding-officiant-washington-dc/730008/1 "2015-09-05T13:21:05Z")
My fiancee and I are planning our wedding (T-minus 7 weeks, yikes), and we are now in the “find an officiant, get the license” stage. We are living in the Boston area, but we are getting married in Washington DC. It will be a very small ceremony (\<15 people), and we aren’t picky about who we get to marry us. Basically, they just need to be a licensed officiant who will behave professionally and not screw up the marriage certificate or anything.
A quick Google search shows that there are a bunch of people who are basically professional licensed officiants. We would love some advice on selecting an officiant, as we’ve never done this before and meeting a bunch of candidates in person is impractical.
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2015, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-finding-a-wedding-officiant-washington-dc/730008/2 "2015-09-05T13:40:26Z")
Not sure what the turn time is but some hipster couples I know just got a buddy or relative to apply for the license.
> **[Here's What You Need to Know About How to Officiate a Wedding](https://www.theknot.com/content/how-to-officiate-wedding)**
>
> Wondering how to become a wedding officiant? We've got you covered.
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### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-finding-a-wedding-officiant-washington-dc/730008/3 "2015-09-05T13:52:04Z")
Got married in July, and I never met my officiant before our wedding. It went smashingly well. Our county had a list of civil officiants online, from which we picked a name to call. She was an older judge and had done marriages many times before. We discussed the date/time/venue location, she took down our names, emailed us a PDF of the ceremony, and reminded us to bring the license & 2 witnesses with us. We read the PDF to make sure it didn’t contain any “honor or obey” clauses. And that was it… took less than an hour to arrange, after all was said and done.
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### Author:  [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-finding-a-wedding-officiant-washington-dc/730008/4 "2015-09-08T14:43:17Z")
Any local Dopers have a mail-order church ministry? (Semi-joking). If so, we could turn it into a local Dopefest 😉
More seriously: I have no clue, but congrats!! Please tell us you’ll be wearing a spiffy lid to go along with **F.Pu-du-he-pa-as** ’s dress 🙂
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-finding-a-wedding-officiant-washington-dc/730008/5 "2015-09-08T15:28:47Z")
In DC, literally anyone can do it. All they have to do is fill out [this application](http://www.dccourts.gov/internet/documents/Temporary-Officiant-Application.pdf) and submit it along with $25.
It can be fun to have a friend who’s not in the wedding party, or a relative do it.
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### Author:  [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-finding-a-wedding-officiant-washington-dc/730008/6 "2015-09-08T16:40:55Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> In DC, literally anyone can do it. All they have to do is fill out [this application](http://www.dccourts.gov/internet/documents/Temporary-Officiant-Application.pdf) and submit it along with $25.
>
> It can be fun to have a friend who’s not in the wedding party, or a relative do it.
Ditto this. My daughter just got married this past weekend, and they had her fiance’s grandmother do it. Having her do it made it all the more meaningful. Getting an online ordination is easy, and that usually satisfies the requirements.
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### Author:  [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-finding-a-wedding-officiant-washington-dc/730008/7 "2015-09-08T16:50:21Z")
In the DC, I think that the judge will marry you. I had to pick up some records in the marriage bureau, and there was a couple getting married there.
ETA- Yes, they will. [Here](http://www.dccourts.gov/internet/public/aud_marriage/marriage.jsf) is the link to the Court’s website where they mention it. One of the clerks is authorized to do it.