In an ideal world I’d have the ceremony I want, I would walk down the aisle with my dad in a beautiful garden, the judge would officiate a true ceremony instead of just babbling legal things and making us sign the license, we’d have readings and a small ceremony inside the ceremony, we’d write our own vows and have an emotional “now we’re married” moment. It’d be memorable.
Photo by Danya Jimenez Photography on Bow ties & Bliss via Lover.ly
Back to reality. Chances are we’re not having a ceremony remotely close to what I want. For starters there’s the judge thing. We need a real judge that’ll go to our venue and marry us there. I’m hopeful that I’ll find someone who’ll be willing to play along and will give a chance for readings and a small ceremony—someone who’ll allow me to walk down the aisle and will not want to just get there, sign the papers, and be done with it.
Image via Hacienda los Agaves’ Facebook page
I’d like to have a small ceremony, since there’ll be no ring exchange ceremony. I liked the idea of the lasso ceremony, but since it is strongly related to the Catholic wedding and that’s an open wound, I don’t want to risk anyone feeling offended by it. I like the idea of a handfasting ceremony, but I’ll have to ask Mr. Toadstool about it since I think he’ll find it odd.
Photo by Larissa Cleveland on Snippet & Ink via Lover.ly
I still need to go find a judge that’ll fit our needs. Unfortunately, my job’s schedule doesn’t help and they’re not online, so phone it is.
Did you struggle finding someone who’ll officiate the wedding you want? Do you have any suggestions for ceremonies inside the ceremony?
One of my ‘maids lives in Mexico City – they had the same problem for their wedding! I went, though, and it ended up being perfect. They had the judge do the legal portion, and then they added in their own ceremony that they’d written (half of the guests were American and half were Mexican, so they did both portions in English and Spanish). Her husband wrote a little story about the earth and the circle of life, and he said his vows in Spanish for her relatives and friends to hear, and she said hers in English for his relatives and friends. It was very sweet…but they struggled to find something since they were straying from the traditional Catholic mass as well. Good luck!
YES. we had a hard time with this and really wanted to create something on our own. we finally found a great officiant who sent me a ton of suggestions – let me know if you might want to see them!
We also had a hard time finding someone to be our officiant. One: because we weren’t local; and two: because we weren’t members of a church. Lucky for us an ordained family friend came through in the end!
Finding a officiant was really hard for us, but your situation sounds way worse! Hoping you found someone very soon!
My godfather is a judge so he will be officiating our wedding, but for those of you who are having a tough time finding an officiant, Look into court commissioners! In the US at least, most (if not all?) state allow court commissioners (aka, lawyers with an extra little title) to marry people as well. My mom practices law and has the court commissioner title and performs weddings all the time. Sometimes just in her office, but she does full ceremonies on location too for about $300. Most times they will even help the couple write the ceremony if they request it. (only reason she isnt marrying us is she would be crying too hard to get through it!) Just google your state and court commissioners and it should point you to some more possibilities!
I wrote my own vows and my own ceremony, chose my own readings and the bible version to read from, the ending… and I wanted someone who will just stand there and read what I wrote… and I found one! Hope everything goes according to plan.
Luckily where I live it is fairly easy to get someone ordained online, and the proper documentation can be ordered for a minimal fee. We’re having a close friend officiate, so they’ll be willing to do whatever we wish.
Wow, I’m sorry you are having such a difficult time with this. I hope you find someone soon!
Mrs. Toadstool, Obregon, Mexico Age and Occupation: 23, Research Assistant Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Sales Manager Engagement Date: October 1, 2011 Wedding Date: December 2012 Venue: Hacienda los Agaves About Me: I’m a born and bred Mexican girl with a severe coffee addiction, an obsession for books and an aversion for exercise. I like to plan things, so this wedding’s my dream project---I just need to remind myself from time to time that I’m the bride and not just the planner. I recently realized brown’s my favorite color as I was trying to incorporate it in every aspect of our wedding and I'm dreaming of an autumn vibe since we don’t have that around here. I’m marrying my best friend and partner in crime on the day of our nine-year anniversary! He’s an awesome, smart, fun guy who is patient, and crazy enough to spend the rest of his life with me. We’re planning our not-so-dreamy dream wedding in December in a non-traditional way and making it our own.
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