Anyone who wants a pagan ceremony…
Why not just go get the marriage performed civilly at the courthouse to take care of the legal crap. Then go ahead and have your handfasting or whatever by anyone who is good at such a thing, and worry not about the legality of it.
My friends did this when they were having immigration/visa expiration problems. They were freaking because they couldn’t get the wedding scheduled in a way that accomodated family travel plans, etc. Finally they just said to hell with it and got married by a judge. They went ahead with the wedding without telling anyone that they were, in the eyes of the state, already “married” because they considered that a piece of paper. Their ceremony, in front of friends and family, was when they felt their true wedding was.
In Texas, the state considers you a minister if your church considers you a minister, no questions axed. So when I got my 3rd Degree (clergy status for most Wiccan traditions) that was all that was needed. However, it was fun to go to the ULC site and get all the little dinguses such as a book of ceremonies, marriage and baptism certificates, cards to put in your windshield so you get the good parking at the hospital, and all that.
I went ahead and spent the extra money and got a doctorate of divinity. Mainly I did this because you get a ‘biggie sized’ minister in a box, but it was also fun because my dad’s one of those people that thinks any problem in life can be solved by getting another degree, and he’d been pestering me to get a Master’s. Now I can insist that he refers to me as Dr.Mielikki.
When Mr.Mielikki and I got hitched, we had a mutual wise friend who had studied in a lot of spiritual paths but was clergy in none, so we asked her to get ordaned through ULC so she could hitch us up. She was amused and went ahead to do it; and sometimes I still refer to her by the title she picked- Magus Cathy. 