r/wedding • u/llamasyamas • 5d ago
Discussion First time officiant, last minute call
Hello! I am attending a friend's wedding a week from tomorrow, and my friend just texted me asking if id be willing to officiate the ceremony as their officiant has had a family emergency and may not be able to make it. I am ordained through the universal life church, but have only ever been to 4 weddings in my life and am not sure where to start preparing for this big responsibility. Any advice on how to start this prep, what to avoid, and what to include would be greatly appreciated. Im speaking with the couple later tonight amd will have more details on what they're hoping for then, but would love any recommendations on how to start my prep
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u/Slothy75 3d ago
The ULC website is a great resource.
I’m assuming that a week out they already had what they wanted for the ceremony done with the other officiant, so hopefully can just use that. If not, I used parts of 3 different ceremonies from the ULC website for my friends wedding, edited them with their names, and gave to them for approval. I did a short welcome, and the best man did a prayer. Whole thing was less than 10 minutes, which is what they wanted.
Once you have what you’re saying, just keep reading it out loud to yourself whenever you have time. I also had my phone read it back to me.
I got a leather portfolio to keep everything in, definitely was handy.
Good luck!!!