Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Randalllord on August 10, 2009 at 5:07pm

Cant you hire a justice of the peace to preform the ceremony?

Permalink Reply by Ariel on August 11, 2009 at 7:49am

You can get a friend or family member "ordained" as a JP to marry you. Ask at town hall, where you get your marriage license, what the procedure is.

Permalink Reply by RTH on September 8, 2009 at 9:02pm

Two of my friends are having a godless wedding next month. I'll update you on how it all works out.

Permalink Reply by Katy Alexander on September 9, 2009 at 8:08am

Thanks Randall - I look forward to it!

Permalink Reply by RTH on October 29, 2009 at 7:26pm

My friends' wedding went very well. Everyone appreciated the personal touch of having an officiant who was truly close to the couple.

If you have a friend who would be willing and able to officiate, I would recommend that path.

I'm ordained by the Universal Life Church, but there are other options out there.

The wedding I performed was in Georgia, which makes things very easy for the officiant. I didn't have to register with any government body or anything like that. I just performed the ceremony, filled out the officiant section of the marriage license (listing my title as "Minister"), and returned it to the proper agency.

Louisiana makes it a little harder. The minister has to preregister with the parish clerk of court (or, in New Orleans, the health department). I do not know yet if any documentation substantiating one's status as a minister is required. If so, the Universal Life Church will provide that documentation for free.

I'm going to go through that preregistration process, to see what's involved and just in case I need to perform a wedding in Louisiana someday. I will report back on what is involved.

You can read more about marriage laws at the Universal Life Church's website.

Permalink Reply by Ryan Trundle on October 14, 2009 at 2:03pm

Hi. I became an ordained minister on line. Temple of the Earth. There are a couple more sites like that and it's free. There are even secular wedding vows that you can use. It is my understanding that one just has to register with the clerk at the most. Seem like that would be violating the church/state separation though. I have never done one but would be happy to volunteer if you need someone. First one is free. I am of course an atheist and would conduct myself as such.