My “Joey” Moment

My “Joey” Moment

September 6th, 2011 @ 11:20 am by Miss Warbler
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Ever since I saw this episode of Friends, I was certain of two things for my own wedding: I would walk down the aisle to a string-quartet version of “Everlong” by Foo Fighters, and I would have one of my close friends officiate. Ten years later, “Everlong” may not make the cut, but I’m still determined to have a friend officiant!

Joey marrying Monica and Chandler on Friends (Image via IMDB)

He married Phoebe and Mike, too! (Image via Fanpop!)

Mr. Warbs and I aren’t very religious. We don’t attend a church and wouldn’t feel comfortable having a priest or pastor of any faith marry us. When I told Mr. Warbs of my wish to have a friend officiate, he completely supported the idea of having somebody that we know marry us instead of a stranger. Apparently a lot of couples feel that way. Around the blogverse, more than half of my network detailed that they were going the friend route as well. Everyone is embracing the idea of having only those people you love stand up at the altar with you, in real life and on TV!

Barney married Lily and Marshall on How I Met Your Mother. (Image via TV Rage)

So we asked our good friend Laura to be our officiant. Laura is of the political persuasion, so she’s naturally a good speaker, has an awesome personality, and most importantly loves Korean BBQ. When one of my BMs suggested her, I had a classic “Duh!” moment. Of course! After we asked her the first thing she said was, “Like Joey?!” Right then, I knew we had made the right choice. Smart, bubbly personality, and she’s up on her Friends references? Yes, please!

Is anyone else having a friend officiate?

Tags: malibu, officiant |

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18 Responses to “My “Joey” Moment”

Bee

Mrs. Hyena (message) 1,881 posts, Buzzing bee

I love that you referenced two of my favorite shows in the same post! I just saw that HIMYM episode yesterday during an FX marathon.

9/6/11 @ 11:28 am (reply)

Member

CurlyRN (message) 331 posts, Helper bee

I wanted a Joey moment also. We also do not attend a church and I thought it would be neat to have a dear friend officiant the wedding. That is when we sterted to have the conversation that showed me how much FI beleives in making this a committment to God. We are now looking for a church/pastor. It was a needed conversation.

9/6/11 @ 11:43 am (reply)

Member

soontobemrsjohnnyb (message) 229 posts, Helper bee

YES! Excellent decision! We are having my best friend marry us. She is down to earth and honest and will tell us just like it is and I couldn’t think of anyone more perfect to join us.
She has kept me grounded for years and I respect her opinion to the utmost capacity. I also know that she wouldn’t do it if she didn’t feel comfortable with our marriage, so I know we have her blessing!
What a wonderful experience!
I wrote our ceremony from a conglomeration of different ceremonies, so we borrowed from here and there.
She understands our diversity, as we are not religious, as well, and she will be able to convey the meaning behind it all because she knows what it means to us!
Three cheers to having a friend marry you!!

9/6/11 @ 12:25 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Ladyfingers (message) 1,119 posts, Bumble bee

Awesome decision! We didn’t ever contemplate having a friend or relative marry us - we wouldn’t really have been able to figure out who! - but I really love it when others do it. Great references, too!

9/6/11 @ 12:36 pm (reply)

Guest

beachykeenbride

My brother is getting ordained so that he can marry my fiance and I. My dad is also ordained - he was ordained to perform my brother’s wedding, but he has a role at my wedding — walking me down the aisle!

9/6/11 @ 12:45 pm (reply)

Guest

aimlesstraveler

I was the officiant for two of my friends a few years ago! It was pretty neat. I really wanted to say “by the power vested in me by the internet” but the bride wouldn’t let me! I went to a wedding a few weeks ago where the bride’s uncle officiated and he said it, though, which I thought was awesome!

9/6/11 @ 12:48 pm (reply)

Member

mrstobeeisme (message) 649 posts, Busy bee

We’re having my cousin, who happens to be a pastor marry us! We aren’t religious but I do want a religious blessing, but not a typical religious wedding. He is traveling from Virginia to NY and FI was very happy he agreed to do so after meeting him!! We were very close as kids but he moved away years ago and we lost touch until about 6 yrs ago. He has told us he will do a totally non-religious ceremony if we wish and is just honored we asked him. Ive chosen the 2 verses to be read, the main one being the verse” Love is patient, love is kind, it holds no record of wrong…” Although in the bible, I think this is a great foundation for a ceremony and marriage. I totally agree it is so much nicer havinga loved one marry you, Im an encore bride and last time it was a minister we didnt know and I SOOOO regreted it!!

9/6/11 @ 12:52 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Honey (message) 1,069 posts, Bumble bee

Me, me!! Glad to see another Bee going this route

9/6/11 @ 2:12 pm (reply)

Member

SaraP2012 (message) 253 posts, Helper bee

That’s awesome!! We too are not super religious and decided against a church wedding. Our officiant is my FFIL and we are so excited!

9/6/11 @ 2:22 pm (reply)

10.

Member

Coffee cup (message) 1,839 posts, Buzzing bee

Wish I could do that, I need a real judge and since we decided against a religious ceremony there’s no way we can pick the person marrying us

9/6/11 @ 2:38 pm (reply)

11.

Bee

Miss Warbler (message) 154 posts, Blushing bee

@Mrs. Hyena: Woot! Are you as excited for the new season as I am?
@soontobemrsjohnnyb: Yay! I contemplated asking my best friend also (he’s actually pretty religious) but I ultimately decided to have him be my Man of Honor

9/6/11 @ 2:56 pm (reply)

12.

Member

stephbonthego (message) 687 posts, Busy bee

Why yes we are! Mr. D’s bestie from 5th grade is now a Messianic Rabbi and quickly offered to officiate over lunch the same day I was introduced to him =)

9/6/11 @ 3:09 pm (reply)

13.

Member

beignet (message) 150 posts, Blushing bee

we really wanted a friend to officiate… but my mom FREAKED out about it being a terrible thing if it wasn’t an ordained person bc of g-d’s blessing, blah blah blah. but one of my bridesmaid’s dad is a preacher and will be officiating, which we are thrilled with- we love him! it means a little more work for us though- we’re jewish, so willbe needing to do a lot of the ceremony writing.

9/6/11 @ 4:24 pm (reply)

14.

Bee

Miss Pony (message) 4,171 posts, Honey bee

We are too! Our friend is an amazing speaker (she spoke at our law school graduation) so we know we’re in good hands

9/6/11 @ 9:43 pm (reply)

15.

Bee

Miss Kettle (message) 909 posts, Busy bee

Mr. Kettle and I are lucky enough that we’re having two close family friends officiate our wedding. They just happen to also be his pastor and mine. Growing up with these people as practically family made them no-brainer choices for us, which is how we ended up with two officiants.

9/7/11 @ 8:05 am (reply)

16.

Member

tialiah (message) 8 posts, Newbee

I think having a friend officiate is a wonderful idea, in fact that’s what we did (got married September 3rd, 2011) but I would strongly advise rehearsals and tons of practice. I was very disappointed with our officiant. Her pacing was off, she flubbed our vows and what’s worse is that we wrote a script for her and she still did it wrong. Good luck and choose well.

9/8/11 @ 11:21 am (reply)

17.

Bee

Miss Cucumber Sandwich (message) 569 posts, Busy bee

I know really want to spend the night in front of the tv watching friends. Love the HIMYM episode too! We are having a friend marry us and I am so excited.

9/8/11 @ 8:53 pm (reply)

18.

Bee

Mrs. Teaspoon (message) 731 posts, Busy bee

What a wonderful idea! My friend asked me to officiate until we realized it was a 6 month course in Australia - her wedding was less than 6 months away

9/8/11 @ 11:05 pm (reply)