ok, so me and my fiancee are getting married. we asked a friend (who is qualified to preform marriages) if he would marry us. hes not sure that he wants to, but if he decides yes, how much should we pay him? also, we're going to pay to get his licence to marry us back (he let it expire) and we don't want him to do it for free
2006-09-28 08:02:14 · 20 answers · asked by the_girl 2 in Family & Relationships ➔ Weddings
When we got married our pastor did it for free but asked that if we felt we had to pay her to make a check out for what ever amount to a charity of her choice. And that's what we did. She helped us write our vows and the ceremony was about 15 mins long. We sent a check in her name to the charity of her choice in the amount of $150.00
Since you guys are paying for his license I wouldn't do more than $100.00, esp with him being a friend (I kinda surprised he isn't doing it as a wedding gift for you two). Maybe just taking him out for a nice dinner, bringing him back something from your honeymoon location, or something like that would be just as nice if not better than giving him $$.
2006-09-28 08:27:42 · answer #1 · answered by Anne Marie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have a separate issue than how much to pay him. If he is having doubts about whether or not he wants to do it you ought to find someone else. You don't want to make him feel pressured into doing it. Also, you want whoever performs your ceremony to be 100% into it.
I had a friend do mine. All I gave her for doing it was a nice necklace. She got ordained online. ANYONE can become a minister in all of five minutes for FREE, so unless your state specifically requires a license that you must pay for, there's no reason to pay anything for it at all for that particular part. If you need one, here's a link:http://www.universalministries.com/doctrine.html
Give your friend as much as you want to. Keep in mind that you would be paying an outsider around $150-$300 to do it. $50-100 is probably more than enough.
Good luck, and congrats!
2006-09-28 08:40:44 · answer #2 · answered by Alli 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You don't pay, you tip. If you're doing it in a Church, you pay the church for the service and then tip the minister---usually between $50-$100, as I understand it.
Hint: It is cheaper to offer to make a "donation" to the Church instead of paying. That way, it won't be tax eligible (you have to pay tax on renting out the space for the ceremony) and will cost less because of it.
2006-09-28 11:36:39 · answer #3 · answered by Esma 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We paid our minister $100 5 years ago. Pay him what ever you feel is fair. If you are paying for his license then I would say give him $75 to $100 on top of that.
2006-09-28 08:21:38 · answer #4 · answered by LJ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Paying for him to get his license back should be enough, but if you feel obligated still, slip him an envelope with $40-60. That is the norm in Vegas.
2006-09-28 08:05:31 · answer #5 · answered by madamjenn40 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We paid an actual Rabbi $500 to perform the ceremony and then a hefty donation to his shul.
Of course, he went to Yeshiva for years, interned, was an Assistant Rabbi at several temples, and he was the Head Rabbi at that point.
It's not like he got his license from the inside of a matchbook.
2006-09-28 09:23:59 · answer #6 · answered by ACK & DJ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I paid a justice of the peace $100 for a really quick service. I think the pastor of my mom's church is usually paid around $200.
2006-09-28 08:04:37 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe it is "donation" my first wedding was in a church and we had about 400 people we paid $500 my second wedding was at a gazboo with 10 people we paid 150
2006-09-28 08:08:50 · answer #8 · answered by Jennifer Dalpe 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The cost for my church was $150 for active members & $350 for lazy bums. That also included the location.
2006-09-28 11:03:26 · answer #9 · answered by ee 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
IF its a poor church 50 bucks. RICH church 100+. THE norm is $200- 300
2006-09-28 08:21:42 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋