Brother as Officiant

My uncle officiated my cousins wedding in PA and it was all fine and legal. Just know that some, more old-timey counties (and even modern-ish ones like Montgomery county) can be jerks about “not real” officiants. I went with an experienced officiant because of this. PA has this weird rule where an officiant isn’t official unless they have a dedicated following. Some counties still manipulate that rule when it suits them (hence the ULC/ACLU vs Bucks County back in 08).

Somethings to consider. Get your officiant ordained online as soon as possible. I’d recommend using the ULC because they’ve fought with PA’s crazy laws on marriage in the past. It takes awhile for the actual materials to come hence why I said ASAP (a month should be safe though).

View Quoted Comment Oh my goodness! I’m on a tight time line then since my wedding is next month! We are getting married in Westmoreland county, do you know anything about that area?

View Quoted Comment Ahhh you’re on the other side of PA. All of my experience is from SE PA (I got married and was a paralegal there for 2 years). Sorry, but good luck!!

View Quoted Comment Yeah we live in Bucks County and I work in Montgomery County hut wedding is out there. Long story but trying to figure everything out now. I’d assume I need to figure it out for the county I’m getting married in right? Or is it the one I live in?

View Quoted Comment

You apply in the one you are getting married in. Check with the county clerk of the county you are getting married in, like Mrs BdeG said, and I seen others in PA: some clerks are rude and kinda weird about who can officiate! Best wishes!

Maybe an option would be to have a legit officiant co-officiate the ceremony with your brother. I'm from Montgomery county but got married in NEPA. As far as I know, you can use a marriage license from any county to be married in any county. For instance, I got my I live in Luzerne County, got my marriage license in Wyoming County but got married in Wayne County.

Having your brother ordained properly in a short amount of time seems like too much of a gamble for me. Maybe you could also look into self uniting. I know a girl at my work recently did that with her husband but I am not sure of the process, although, it is legal.

View Quoted Comment I just went onto the website for the county I’m getting married in and it says if I get it here it’s good anywhere in PA and that if I get the ML in any other county is also good anywhere in PA. I guess I’ll just go to the one close to me and see what they say. I cannot go where we are getting married before the wedding (it’s 5 hours away) and it says you mush appear in person.

View Quoted Comment What is self uniting?!

View Quoted Comment Hey I live in the same county as you and work in the same county!! Weird! My friends brother officiated her wedding and he got certified online. I'm not sure how long the process takes but I know it can be done online and I think they send a certificate

View Quoted Comment Https://www.phillymag.com/philadelphia-wedding/2018/08/01/quaker-wedding-ceremonies-pennsylvania/

It's a Quaker wedding.

View Quoted Comment That is kinda weird lol. But great to hear about your friends wedding! Thank you