By the time you've picked a spot and figured out who's coming, it's easy to treat the officiant as the one detail you'll sort out last. It shouldn't be. The officiant is the person actually running your ceremony, start to finish, and that's worth getting right.
Think about everything else on an elopement you're likely paying a professional for: a photographer to capture it, maybe a florist for a small bouquet, possibly a hair and makeup artist for the morning of. You're hiring expertise for almost every piece of the day except, often, the crucial minutes that's actually the point of it. A good officiant fixes that.
A professional officiant does more than read words on an iPad. They coordinate with your photographer so you're standing where the light and the shot actually work. They cue you when it's time for you to do something so you can focus on being present in the moment. They speak warmly and confidently without a script full of "ums," because they've done this many times, not once. And they know exactly when to step back out of frame so it's your faces in the photos, not theirs.
For an elopement especially, the officiant is often the only vendor actually on-site with you. There's no coordinator running the day, so a lot rides on that one person also knowing how to quietly direct your small group: where to stand, when to start, what happens right after you kiss.
Then there's the paperwork. Handling a Tennessee marriage license correctly is exactly the kind of thing nobody wants to figure out on their wedding day. I take your envelope, fill it out, sign it, and get it filed, so it's one less thing on your mind. (The marriage license guide walks through exactly how that process works.)
You're already hiring the people who make the day beautiful. Hire the person running it, too.
Every ceremony I perform gets treated like it's the only one that day. Let's talk about what you're picturing for yours.
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