Wedding professionals
Roughly half the weddings here in Scottsdale are officiated by friends or family and their rookie mistakes can be annoying for full-time wedding professionals. Full-time wedding pros include, wedding videographers, wedding coordinators, wedding venue staff, marriage photographers, wedding DJs, makeup artists, and more.
Here are a few easy things you can do so that your experience officiating a wedding is great!
1) Write all other wedding pro’s names in your ceremony book before arriving. That way you can say, “Hi Jane! I’m Joe, their officiant.” People love hearing their own names and it makes a great first impression. Venue coordinators often email out a timeline prior to the ceremony, and other vendors contact info can be found on this timeline.
2) Ask each wedding pro the couple has hired, if they have any special requests of you or if you can make their job easier in any way.
3) Ask any wedding coordinators or planners at the venue, if you can lend a hand. Go out of your way to help them!
4) I often smile and tell photographers that I won’t be creepy and will step out of the scene as the couple kisses. It usually gets a smile and I’ve often made a new friend because ministers are generally expected to be conservative people, who might not say something like that.
5) Ask their DJ if he/she wants to make the announcement, instructing their guests to cocktail hour or if he thinks you should say it during the recessional. It will show their DJ that you respect what he does and he’ll then likely be easier to work with in turn.
How to officiate a wedding: Help others and they’ll likely help you.
These are just a few ideas to get you thinking. In my next article, I’ll discuss how guests will judge you and give you a few tips to help. You can read that here. Stay well!
