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How do you have an atheist wedding?

Yes, I know im too young to ask this question, I just want to be ready.

I tried Google but nothing popped up.

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Permalink Reply by Steph S. on July 27, 2011 at 5:16pm

You could try a Unitarian Universalist Atheist wedding -- try to Google that -- you will find something. Or you could just go to the Justice of the Peace and write your own vows.

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Permalink Reply by Pirate Bard on July 27, 2011 at 5:55pm

Or you can try to find a secular "minister" in your area if the local UU is too religious for you (the amount of "religion" in UU churches varies greatly depending on the community it is in, I have found). You can simply go with Justice of the Peace if you want it done for the legal purposes and then just have a nice secular bash afterward if you want the party aspect still.

My wife and I were married by our old high school English teacher who was also an ordained minister (of the ULC, which is an online ordination set up to get around having to belong to a church with dogma and all of the rest of the crap that goes with it just to be ordained. He got ordained specifically to be able to perform weddings for former students. We not only wrote our own vows, but most of our own ceremony. We stole from Scottish tradition, omitted any reference to god or anything supernatural, had some poetry readings about love and commitment, and ended it off with a very good friend of mine jumping up to yell "Now let's get pissed!" and proceeded to do so with copious amounts of fun, laughter, music and alcohol. We had our first dance, threw garters (I was wearing one too, since I was in a kilt, and it was hilarious!), threw the bouquet, etc.

Basically we kept what we wanted and tossed the rest. If you can find a minister who's willing to do that I certainly think it's a great way to go.

If you don't want all the pomp and circumstance (and expense) of the ceremony and reception, then simple Justice of the Peace is a cheap, fast, legal way to go.

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Permalink Reply by Wanda T on July 27, 2011 at 6:03pm

Try looking for a Humanist Celebrant in your area. There's a search feature by state at the Humanist Society web here.

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Permalink Reply by Atheist Andrea on July 27, 2011 at 7:12pm

I had an ordained minister just to make my family happy but he read exactly what I wanted and there was no mention of prayer or god. He also played guitar and bagpipes. You could easily have a justice of the peace and get married outside somewhere pretty. Religious weddings are boring as hell! We got married at an old memorial place that looked like a church but wasn't. For the heck of it, here is the link.
http://nh-jp.com/AlvrinePhotos/alvirne1.jpg

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Permalink Reply by David Anam on July 27, 2011 at 7:17pm

My wife and I got married in the courthouse officially, but plan to have a ceremony in about a month. Since the ceremony has no legal authority (technically we're already married), we can handle the ceremony however we want!

The downside to this plan is we still don't know exactly what we want. But I'll tell you how it goes in about a month.

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Permalink Reply by Sassan K. on July 28, 2011 at 12:07am

How about a noodly wedding.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy on July 28, 2011 at 1:07am

It’s easy, get a justice of the peace and a whole group of people together, and get marrieds. Marriage is whatever you want to make of it. Hell, I know people who have thrown themed weddings; I’ve gone to one medieval wedding and 2 Halloween weddings. When i worked for Disney, I even contributed to some Disney weddings.

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Permalink Reply by Pat on July 28, 2011 at 8:48am

Go to a judge and tell him to leave god out of the vows. You're married in the eyes of the State, which brings all the exact same legal protections to that social contract as a minister, priest, rabbi, witch doctor, or shaman can do in a magic temple.

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Permalink Reply by KillerDiller on July 28, 2011 at 6:57pm

Many states allow someone to get a license to marry a couple for a single day. My husband and I were married by his father, who is by no means a minister. I have friends who were married by their friend, etc.