Virginia Wedding Officiant

Ha! No, we didn't but we got married in Alexandria too. Anyway, when we looked into it, it didn't seem too complicated. Why are you worried about it, do you think it won't be legal?

Um.. not sure if this helps or applies cuz the whole officiant thing is weird to me.

My Pastor was our officiant.. but he was "ordained" in Chandler, AZ where he is from. We were kind of worried - actually.. I was kind of worried.. that he wasn't legally allowed to marry us because my friend had our Senior Pastor from Chandler, AZ flown in to marry her and her husband... and when they went to turn in their completed license, she was told that their marriage wasn't legal because he wasn't ordained in VA. (Granted that was almost 15 years ago..)

Well...neither is my pastor.. he went to turn things into the courthouse after our wedding and when we were at church the following Wednesday, he handed us two certified copies of our marriage license so I guess we were fine...

weird how things work legally.. best thing you can do is go there yourself and ask... or e-mail them your questions and get it in writing [:

HTH!!!

Forgot to mention that we're in Virginia Beach, VA. [:

Mrs. S: I just searched through other posts on this forum and a lot of people said it wasn't legal in VA to have someone ordained perform the ceremony. So it scared me!

We looked into it, and got the exact same response you did at the courthouse.

Our only problem was that the friend we wanted to marry us is ordained in CA, and he needed to be here at least one day before the wedding to get all the paperwork done. Because of his work schedule, he could only fly in late Friday so it wasn't an option. Otherwise we totally would have done it. I've been to a couple of other weddings around NOVA where people have done it, and nobody complained :-) So I really think as long as folks down on King St. or wherever you decide to go say it's OK, there's nothing to worry about.

Thanks for the reassurances! We'll see on Friday if everything works out!

It is not legal in Virginia to get ordained online to perform a wedding. There is a procedure whereby someone can get permission to be an officiant for a day, but that person must be a Virginia resident, must go to the courthouse where s/he resides (not the one where the marriage is to be performed) to get the proper paperwork, and must post a $500 bond (which will be returned once all the marriage paperwork has been filed).

This is not something to fool around with. Your entire marriage may be invalidated if you use an officiant ordained online. And you won't know about this when the paperwork is filed--it is likely to come up only if the status of your marriage is in question in a litigated case (e.g., on death, divorce, or bankruptcy), at which point it will be too late to fix the problem.

Note: It would be different if your officiant were a minister with a congregation in another state. In that instance, he could indeed come to the courthouse, papers in tow, and they would sign off on it. But this does not apply to someone who is just ordained online, and does not have a congregation.

@2nd, I did not see where the OP was talking about a minister ordained online? Or am I misunderstanding something?

2d: Do you know where I can find that information? I'm trying to find something in writing. I've looked on the county clerk's website, I've checked the VA codes, but I can't find this info. I originally started looking around because I read your first post from last year.

So is your uncle ordained online?

Mrs. S: I was talking about a minister ordained online. My uncle is NOT a pastor and got ordained from the American Fellowship Church. When I spoke to the clerk of the court in Alexandria, he said that they don't deny officiants that have been ordained online. However, in Prince William County, they do not allow online ordinations. So, I think this may be a COUNTY law, not a STATE law. I'm going to the clerk of court on Friday, so I will know for sure then. I will be sure to post my results here!

Here is the legal basis for the appointment of a one-day officiant. Here is a sample form (from Fairfax County) that is used for that purpose. (As stated above, and shown in the legal citation, the person must get qualified by the Virginia jurisdiction in which s/he is resident.)

The case that said an online ordination does not work in Virginia: Cramer v Commonwealth of Virginia PDF (3.67 MB) The Supreme Court of Virginia held that a trial court did not err by rescinding the authority of ULC "ministers" to perform marriages based on Virginia Code section 20-23.

(cont.)

The Court stated: "[w]e do not believe that the General Assembly ever intended to qualify, for licensing to marry, a minister whose title and status could be so casually and cavalierly acquired." 214 Va. 561, 567 (1974).

Yes, but your information was from Fairfax County. I am working with the Alexandria City Court. Perhaps these rules vary by county?

FH and I decided that if our big wedding isn't "legal" we will go to the court and be married by a judge. Better safe than sorry. Thank you to both Mrs. S and 2d Bride! I really appreciate your advice!!!

Sure, I'm just sorry for misunderstanding! I was referring to a non-online ordained minister, that's the information we got.

@Leanna F.: The specific procedure for getting a one-day officiant appointed is from Fairfax County. However, both the law I linked to and the case holding that online ordinations don't work are statewide, not county.

Of course, if you get married by a judge, you can have your uncle or anyone else conduct whatever kind of ceremony you want after that.

What is being said so far is not entirely correct!

As far as the one day appointment, in addition to the residency requirement, the applicant must pass a background check, and many times it takes 30 days to complete the process. Unfortunately, most applicants are rejected.

Under Current Virginia Law, only ordained pastoral staff members qualify to be authorized to perform marriage ceremonies. This would eliminate online ordination, and ordained ministers who are not part of a traditional church staff.

Judges seldom perform marriage ceremonies anymore in Virginia.

Civil Marriage Celebrants are not authorized to perform religious marriage Ceremonies.

The best solution is HLAM MINISTRIES who utilizes real churches to issue ordinations that are accepted by Virginia, the District of Columbia, and all states and courts. It is well worth the $100 fee, since hiring another minister averages $350-$500, and free ordinations are not accepted everywhere.

I agree with Rev. Jim A.:

The only online ordination accepted by Virginia and the District of Columbia is HLAM MINISTRIES, since ordinations are administered by real cooperating churches, not online ordination scams. Even traditionally ordained ministers not part of a church staff are rejected by Virginia and the District of Columbia, and had to go thru HLAM MINISTRIES. HLAM MINISTRIES now does the most ordinations because of their reputation, and bailing out those who were rejected with other ordinations. I urge you to pay the $100.

Don't make the mistake of trying free or a few dollars online ordination, and having to pay $350-$500 at the last minute for a real minister.