Finding an officiant for gay marriage in Washington D.C.
March 28, 2010 8:39 AM Subscribe
One of the steps for marrying in D.C. is to, at the time of registration, identify the name of the officiant who will perform the marriage ceremony. When and how does one find such an officiant?
The instructions explain that an officiant is "any District of Columbia Judge or anyone who is authorized by a religious organization to officiate marriages, such as a minister, priest, rabbi or imam, so long as he or she is registered with the Marriage Bureau to officiate marriages." Is this someone you have to find and make arrangements with prior to filling out the registration? Or is this someone whose name is simply chosen from a list of eligible officiants at the time of registration?
The instructions explain that an officiant is "any District of Columbia Judge or anyone who is authorized by a religious organization to officiate marriages, such as a minister, priest, rabbi or imam, so long as he or she is registered with the Marriage Bureau to officiate marriages." Is this someone you have to find and make arrangements with prior to filling out the registration? Or is this someone whose name is simply chosen from a list of eligible officiants at the time of registration?
Yes, it seems MrMoonPie has been doing this for lots of people. (Which is so, so awesome!)
posted by needs more cowbell at 9:05 AM on March 28, 2010
posted by needs more cowbell at 9:05 AM on March 28, 2010
Generally you arrange things with an officiant before registration. You'll want to check fees and approaches and scheduling before you commit yourself to someone. I guess the first step would be to decide if you want a traditional representative of a religion to do the ceremony or if you want a judge or if you want a more alternative (for lack of a better word) officiant (such as MrMoonPie). If traditional religious, then calls to local houses of worship. If a judge, then calls to maybe a local legal organizaton. And if an alternative officiant, check with progressive, libertarian and GLBT orgs. And happy getting married!
posted by Pineapplicious at 9:44 AM on March 28, 2010
posted by Pineapplicious at 9:44 AM on March 28, 2010
In Northern Virginia, I was able to get a list of officiants through the Marriage Bureau (or their equivalent). Called one of them and made an appointment. Easy-peasy.
posted by qwip at 10:32 AM on March 28, 2010
posted by qwip at 10:32 AM on March 28, 2010
There's a list of registered officiants -- in DC the officiant has to be registered as a person who performs ceremonies, so you can't just ask any clergyperson because the process to be registered, I understand, is lengthy. You should call the office and ask where you can find their list of registered officiants.
posted by anniecat at 11:46 AM on March 28, 2010
posted by anniecat at 11:46 AM on March 28, 2010
Response by poster: Thank you, everyone, for the wonderful answers. You've all been very helpful.
posted by Piscean at 9:06 AM on March 29, 2010
posted by Piscean at 9:06 AM on March 29, 2010
Thanks for the referral! Piscean and I are talking off-line.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:53 AM on March 31, 2010
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:53 AM on March 31, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Doohickie at 8:44 AM on March 28, 2010 [3 favorites]