Midnight wedding

I guess the biggest question would be why are you planning to have the ceremony at midnight?

If I've been at a party since say 3 in the afternoon (since you said Friday afternoon) the last thing I want to do is soberly hang out until midnight, sit through a ceremony outdoors, and then have a (most likely) exhausted and drunk bride attempt to cook breakfast for 20 people 8 hours later.

But like Spazzy said, you know your crowd. I would consider opening the bar earlier and maybe moving the ceremony to dusk or something. That's a lot of hours for people to be hanging out.

New forum rules in play.

Rethink this. No one I know would do this, either as a guest or as an officiant. At midnight? Most of us, by that time, have done at least one other wedding and it's emotional work. By midnight.....drained.

This might be the single time I suggest a family member.

This could be really fun if you know that the 15-20 people you're inviting will be into it. Personally, it sounds like a really, really, really long day. I know that if DH and I were attending we would probably leave right after midnight, especially if we'd been there since 3pm.

You might want to think about tightening the timeline to be evening (6pm) into the next morning instead of afternoon (3pm?) into the next morning. You'll definitely need to shop around for officiants. The first question you'll need to ask them is if they will be willing to do a midnight ceremony.

Are you renting a house for everyone to stay at? And why not do this earlier in the evening? You know your group better than us, but why can't anyone drink until midnight? No offense, but people may be falling asleep from boredom by midnight?

Midnight is very important time for us as a couple. The stroke of 12 am is ancient times is actually when the day starts. We are very firm in the old traditions. And since FH been married twice and I have been married once already. This is what will be different from all the rest. I know its not everybodies cup of tea. We are not everybody. We r the ones that beat to our own drum. Or in this case wood flutes. Not asking for anyone to like it or understand it. I just need to know if there are in fact officiants willing to do this.

Are you going to have a nap area? If I were at a wedding from 3pm until the next morning I'd be looking for a place to sleep.

Ya I don't like the sound of this. Sorry.

Are you druids?

That sounds like A LOT! Even though your guest list is small, there seems to be a lot going on and you are putting a lot of (what seems to be) unnecessary pressure on yourself. It also sounds like a really long day.

But to help with your question, have you looked at wedding wire vendors? Do you have anyone in your family who may be willing/qualified to do it?

I believe Celia answered your question on officiants.

Well actually in modern times the stroke of 12am signals the start of a new day as well (unless I'm misunderstanding something you're saying...). To answer your question, I don't know that any officiant would perform a ceremony in the woods at midnight.

I'll also just throw out there that if your ceremony was say, at 8:00 PM, then 8:00 PM could become a "very important time" for you as a couple. Weddings make a day/time special, it doesn't have to be the other way around.

Ok, that all makes sense. It get it that midnight is important to you. And I know you didn't ask ... but as a guest, I would be much more amicable to an event starting at 8 or 9 pm with a late dinner and then ceremony at midnight. And also provide alcohol starting at the beginning. Just food for thought ...

As for your question ... use Thumbtack and Gigmaster to put your request out there and the officiants that are interested will reply with a quote. (Celia - I know you aren't a fan of these sites, but this seems like a unique enough situation that she is going to have to look outside the box).

You are easily putting your random desires to be speshul and unique above your guests comfort. You really do need to rethink this.

But since new forum rules exists, try using the google machine for out of the box vendors.

Unfortunately I think a family member or friend is your best option. I certainly have never heard of any professional officiants that would do a midnight wedding.

I think doing something like this sounds pretty cool and very unique. I would also suggest shortening your time line a little to more start in the evening instead of afternoon. but good luck hope it turns out well.

I think, having people arrive in the afternoon, by midnight everyone will have wondered what's going on and just left, OR people likely just won't show until midnight, if they come at all. For me, as a guest, I'd just rsvp no, because you're essentially expecting to consume their entire weekend. All day Friday, all night, then all day Saturday recovering from Friday.

All 15-20 guests are excited and looking forward to the Weekend in the Woods Wedding. Think out of the box reception before vows. After vows, a wedding after party with drinking @cecilia I was worried that would be the case. But if that is the only downside to all this DIY planning then I should count my wedding blessings.

Ya I don't like the sound of this. Sorry.

Serious logistics question. Do the campgrounds require you to be out at 10? Because with drinking and partying starting after a midnight ceremony, I am not getting up early the next day.

I mean... I guess as long as your 15-20 guests are cool with it there's nothing to be done, but I DO think it would be difficult to find an officiant willing to do this. Celia could expand more on this, but I imagine they do more than one wedding per weekend during the busy season (which your wedding is) and might have to be up incredibly early the next day for the next event.

I'm kind of getting a feeling the midnight thing is a group-based belief? Do you know anyone within your social circle that might know an officiant?

I will always recommend against having a friend/family do it for a number of reasons including inexperience. It sounds like this is really important to you - you want someone who knows what they're doing.

Use the vendor search tool on WW and start e-mailing. You're 6 months out, it definitely seems like time to start nailing down an officiant.

ETA: I love the woods and stuff, but as a guest, midnight in the woods would creep me the F out. Too many random noises, too many scary movies.