How Do I Choose a Wedding Officiant?

You’re getting married, congratulations! There are so many things to figure out, like your venue, florist, caterer, and more, but don’t forget the most important part—your actual Utah wedding ceremony. It’s the thing your whole wedding day centers around, the moment you say your I dos and make it official.

So how do you know who to choose to be the one to pronounce you married? Maybe you want a religious leader, or even your Uncle Bob—but wait, is Uncle Bob even allowed to do that? And what makes a religious leader technically qualified through the state of Utah to declare you and your fiance married?

The short answer is that anyone over 18 years of age can become authorized to officiate a Utah wedding ceremony. That’s great news!

There are a few different ways to become authorized, and don’t worry, all of them are very easy. Whether it’s by a close friend or a state legislator, or even someone on the handy list of local officiants you can find through the Utah County Marriage License and Passport Office, you won’t have a hard time finding your perfect officiant.

Civil Authority

There are two ways officiants can be authorized to perform a Utah wedding ceremony: through civil authority or religious authority.

Civil authorities are either appointed for a certain time, or as a one-off occasion. Public office holders, like your mayor or the governor for example, already have the civil authority to officiate a marriage. Russ Rampton, the Supervisor of Digital Services from the Utah County Marriage License and Passport Office, is one of those people.

He says, “There are a bunch of different public office holders who are authorized, so like the governor, or if you really want the state auditor or someone like that to do your wedding, she could; the mayor of a municipality, or a county executive, a justice judge, a judge of the court, all of these things.”

If you have a friend in office, maybe they could officiate your Utah wedding ceremony!

Become a Designee For a Utah Wedding Ceremony

Here’s where it gets more interesting for your wedding, though. “The county clerk of any county in the state, and this also means their deputy clerks (county clerks don’t often perform marriages), but everybody that works in our marriage license office has been deputized as the deputy county clerk.”

“That’s what gives all of our employees the authority to perform marriages, which also allows the county clerk to designate any person they would like with the authority to perform marriages.”

That means, in order to become authorized to officiate a Utah wedding ceremony, you must be designated by the county clerk or deputy county clerk.

And lucky for you (or your officiant), it’s very easy to do!

All you have to do is apply through the county clerk’s office to become a Designee. You can either fill out the form to become a designee for a limited duration or an indefinite duration.

“The limited duration is for people that are like, ‘I’m probably going to do this once and never again, I’m doing this as a favor to my niece.’ So for that form, their designation expires after they’ve completed whatever marriage is associated with their application.”

“An indefinite duration is where it just stays in force for life. Once you have that authority, you get that authority for as long as you want it.”

There are a few caveats to the indefinite one of course, like needing to be in the state of Utah in order to officiate a marriage. If you are an indefinite designee but no longer live in Utah, for example, your designation is suspended unless you’re performing a marriage while you’re physically in Utah.

And the best part is—when you fill out the form online to become a designee, you’ll usually be authorized within two to three business days! It really is that easy.

Choose Someone Who Is Already Authorized Through the State of Utah

The Utah County Marriage License Office offers its own online remote wedding officiant service as well, so that even if you’re not in Utah, your wedding can be officiated by one of their designees. All you have to do is make an appointment.

They also have a list on their website of people who have already been designated to officiate weddings in the state of Utah, so if you’re looking for someone who can speak fluent Russian or Spanish—or even ASL—who is already authorized, you can check there! Here is where you can find a list of officiants in Utah.

Here is a reference to the official Utah laws on who can solemnize a marriage, as well as the Utah marriage ceremony solemnization requirements.

Religious Authority

The other kind of authority that can allow someone to perform a Utah wedding ceremony comes from religious authority. Reverends, pastors, priests, rabbis, imams, bishops, elders or sealers, and Native American spiritual advisors are all examples of religious authority.

You could also have someone close to you become an officiant for your wedding through religious authority, similar to becoming a designee through the county clerk’s office. They just have to become an online minister!

“Another thing that a lot of people do is they become ministers through a number of online churches. And Utah law recognizes those organizations.”

Here’s something to remember—if you’re having a religious leader officiate your marriage, or using someone who was solemnized through religious authority, you need to make sure they’re using their religious title on the marriage certificate.

“Utah is one of the many states where religious officiants are not required to register with the state. We just ask them to put their title when they fill out the marriage certificate, and it needs to be the title that gives them the authority. That’s why they need to put things like ‘minister’ or ‘bishop’ rather than ‘uncle’ or ‘best friend.’”

If you’re wondering how to acquire a marriage certificate, read about it here! Whoever your officiant is will be the one to fill this out and make it official on your wedding day.

So, Who Should You Pick As Your Wedding Officiant?

The most important part of choosing a Utah wedding ceremony officiant, according to Russ, is that “the best person to conduct the ceremony is whoever the couple wants.”

“The main message I have for brides is that you have lots of decisions to make your day special for you. Your officiant is just one more decision that you get to make. You want this kind of cake, or these to be your wedding colors, or this kind of dress. But you also get to say, I want this person to do my ceremony.”

Russ is right—it’s your wedding day, so you’re the one who gets to choose. Whether it’s a ceremony conducted by your religious leader, or you want your favorite cousin to be the one to pronounce you married, choose someone who will make your day as special as it can be.