Your wedding officiant is your guide to the spiritual and symbolic aspects of your ceremony. Learn how to find a wedding officiant that can serve all of your guests.
On its face, a wedding is just a legal procedure. But weddings, in practice, feel so much more than that.
A wedding is somewhat of a paradox: no matter how much of an outlier you might be in your day-to-day life, you want to keep as close to your traditions as possible, while at the same time, ensuring that your special day is exactly that: special.
Traditional Weddings Aren’t for Everyone
The stakes are even higher with multicultural couples. There are two sets of traditions to consider, at least. You not only have to honor both but combine them into a cohesive, meaningful whole.
For such couples, the traditional ways of being married by a member of the clergy or a judge might not feel right. Some people aren’t religious. Some can’t stomach the thought of getting married in a courtroom.
Enter professional wedding officiants.
Also called professional celebrants, a professional wedding officiant is not beholden to any set of traditions or rituals that can be sources of friction in multicultural weddings.
Weddings are not a secondary duty for them. You won’t find any judges that specialize in weddings, for instance.
Hiring a professional celebrant means having someone to collaborate with from the beginning, someone who can help you have a wedding that reflects your unique personalities and traditions.
Traditional weddings generally also limit what you can do. You can try to make tweaks here and there, sure, but the general beats and cadences of the ceremony will remain the same for everyone.
Some couples find this dependable structure comforting, while others chafe at it.
There’s no right or wrong way about it, but if you are the latter kind of person, a professional celebrant might just be the choice for you. They give you the freedom to construct a ceremony that truly reflects you and your partner’s values, personalities, and joys—a day that you will happily remember for the rest of your lives together.
The Challenges of Multicultural Weddings
For multicultural couples, there are even more questions you have to answer.
Should your wedding be religious? Which aspects of whose culture will be used where? Will it still look good in your wedding photos?
It can get very complex much faster than you think.
The anxiety of having to deal with combining different cultures and traditions into something cohesive as well as beautiful can be too much to bear, especially for someone who hasn’t planned a wedding before.
A wedding is supposed to be a joyous occasion for everyone involved, with no one feeling slighted or left out. It’s a tall order, and there’s no one better suited than professional celebrants to help you achieve it.
Multicultural weddings are complex. Professional celebrants help you simplify them.
Many people have had to deal with traditional wedding officiants who don’t understand their cultures and traditions, especially if those cultures are not widely practiced in North America.
Avoid that awkwardness by hiring a professional celebrant.
You and your officiant can work together to craft the exact experience that best reflects your identity as a couple. allowing you more space to focus on what’s really important: the love that brought everyone together in the first place.
What to Expect?
Does hiring a professional wedding officiant intrigue you? You’re not alone.
Many couples, especially those that don’t fit traditional North American standards, would love to hire a professional wedding officiant but don’t know what to expect.
Because the work of professional celebrants is inherently collaborative, the exact things they will do for you varies, depending on what you are looking for.
Whatever your needs might be, a professional celebrant will always do the following things with you:
- Meet with you to discuss what you want from your wedding ceremony.
- Listen to your personal stories to understand your backgrounds and histories.
- Help you craft a ceremony that reflects both of your personal styles, as well as the cultures and traditions from each of your heritages.
- Guide you through any necessary paperwork to ensure the legality of your marriage license and certification after the wedding is over.
- Give you options for rehearsal time if needed before your big day.
- Help you craft a wedding ceremony that works for your families and friends, ensuring they are all included in whatever way is appropriate.
While there are many things to consider when planning a wedding, the most important thing is that it reflects your personality and style. This can be harder for multicultural couples, especially with traditional wedding options where they have much less leeway to express themselves.
That is why hiring a professional wedding officiant is so useful for multicultural weddings. They have the knowledge and understanding to help you find your unique voice as a couple and carry out your vision flawlessly.
Professional celebrants are an invaluable resource for multicultural couples who want to pay homage to their roots while celebrating their individuality. Most importantly, the time you save not fretting over the little things helps you enjoy your special day that much more.