Officiant Requirements

baileyfk · February 26, 2010

Hi Ladies,

We are thinking on having an ordained friend officiate our wedding. Has anyone else done this in Key West or Florida? I am wondering what type of documentation he will need. When I talked to the county clerk, they were not very helpful.

Thanks!

Kristen

inanna · February 27, 2010

My husband's stepmom performed our wedding in Islamorada, FL and also performed another wedding in Key West the week before ours. She got "ordained" online through the Universal Life Church: Universal Life Church Monastery | Become an Ordained Minister

I believe those ordained by the Universal Life Church can officiate weddings in all 50 states because they are recognized as ordained clergy. Before performing our wedding, my husband's stepmom did call the county clerk's office to confirm that she could perform these weddings legally. (She did not need any documentation. After she performed our ceremony, she simply filled in her information on our marriage license in the appropriate boxes, with her title being Minister in the Universal Life Church.) I believe she called the Plantation Key office when getting information, so if it was the Key West office that wasn't very helpful to you, you may want to give another office a call. We also went to the Plantation Key office to obtain our marriage license two days before the wedding, and it was a breeze - it took about 10 minutes.

The next business day after the wedding, your officiant (i.e. your friend) should just mail the completed license to the office that issued it, and within a few weeks you should receive your official marriage certificate.

Here is the Monroe County marriage license webpage with most of the information you should need: http://www.monroe.fl.us.landata.com/...rriagelic.html