Reverend Wendy Wortham Explains What Wedding Officiants in Texas Charge for Fees, and Why!

For most jurisdictions, the word “Officiant” is a catch all phrase industry word for any wedding minister, wedding pastor, officials, reverends, who can legally officiate a wedding, funeral, baptism, christening, etc.

Many professional officiants are independent ministers or civil servants who run their own businesses. They also set their own fee amounts based on experience as well as what is included and what is not included in their fee structure. The only way to know the true value of the officiants fee is to understand what you are getting for the fee. It is important that you effectively interview prospective officiant ministers to understand what is included in the fee. The fact that one fee is higher or lower means nothing if you don’t understand what you’re paying for.

Texas officiant fees range from $75-$400 depending on the area and day of the week. Weekends and holidays, and most importantly , experience and fee inclusions (what is included, and what is not.). A professional officiant minister will gladly go over these details with you, again, on what exactly is included on the “true value” for you. Some fees include travel, rehearsal, and one on one meetings to go over, edit or add to the ceremony to meet your specific needs.

While there are basic tasks which all officiants provide (hopefully including license requirement details; making sure the license is properly filled out and in time recording the instrument, having a basic friendliness to guests, being on time and dressed appropriately, as well as being prepared and easy to understand conducting your ceremony. Be advised that not all officiants handle these responsibilities with the same amount of care and craft as others.

Officiating is no different than any other job, some officiants love to go to work, some don’t. There is no judgment here, if you are a couple needing something short and sweet, simply to satisfy the legal requirements in your state, there are many officiants who will get the job done. But, remember you get what you pay for.

An example would be creative input, aka personalizing options. Some officiants have options and enjoy working with you- I love to personalize events, often adding a poem or Scripture adds an emotional and memorable element to your ceremony.

If cheaper means less quality and more risk, such as an officiant not showing up, or being late and unprepared, is saving money worth it? After all, you are getting married once and you deserve to have what you want, the way you would want it without having to worry about who will show up- or won’t!

These questions are not about what we should be afraid to ask, these questions point out that the amount of money a lower priced officiant saves you initially could be, but not necessarily will be, a savings after all.

Develop your interview questions carefully. Lets look at a scale of costs associated with your wedding:
Venue Budget $5,000
DJ Reception Budget $800
Flowers Budget $650
Cake $200
Officiant $175
(This is from an actual wedding where the officiant FTA Failed to Appear and the wedding party anxiously made phone calls to myself and others seeking a last minute officiant while guests waited!). Yes, I’ve seen it happen-don’t let it happen to you. Last minute details like a wedding officiant not showing up on your big day are the LAST THING YOU SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT.

Professionalism, attention to details, reliability, and caring-truly caring about making your day special will always be my goal. You see, I enjoy making couples happy, I enjoy going beyond your expectations and I view tardiness as stealing time- you can’t get or give time back. I would much rather be too early to an event and over prepared than not. When choosing your wedding officiant I hope you take into consideration the details that revolve around your wedding. After all, without an officiant, having a wedding is effectively a huge waste of time and money.

By the way, I did dash on over and quickly prepare a ceremony for the couple. What if I had been out of town? Or, at another event? There aren’t a lot of wedding officiants that keep their stole and robe in their car for an emergency wedding. The reason I do is for unexpected Last Rite phone calls from local hospitals.

Since the bride and groom had exhausted their budget on flowers, catering and location, you can understand my surprise at their inability to pay my fee. While tips are always appreciated, I don’t believe $20 covered my gasoline for the trip.

For this reason, I’m having my web designer list fees on our website at www.texastwinsevents.com and including a short notice officiant fee to the list. My home is also available for an elopement or, standing only wedding for 10-12 guests. Please remember that being a wedding officiant is like any other business, I have expenses and bills to pay that include advertising, web development, gasoline, and more than require me to recurve compensation for my services.

Military personnel active and retired, always receive a discount. For others on a limited budget, I often work with you to ensure a beautiful wedding on limited income.

Your wedding is a very important event for your friends and family. I do hope explaining why one officiant may be less expensive than another gives you a clearer idea of what exactly your investment involves.