The person who marries you is called an officiant. That is the general legal term for anyone authorized to perform a wedding ceremony, and it covers a wide range of specific titles: minister, priest, rabbi, imam, judge, magistrate, justice of the peace, county clerk, mayor, celebrant, and in a few states even a notary public. Which title applies depends on how that person got their authority. Because marriage is governed at the state level, exactly who qualifies as an officiant varies by jurisdiction.
Common Titles and What They Mean
“Officiant” is the job. The other words describe the credential behind it.
- Minister, priest, rabbi, imam, or clergy are religious leaders authorized through their faith community, usually by ordination or appointment from a recognized religious organization.
- Judge or magistrate covers judicial officers who can marry people as part of their governmental authority. This includes federal judges, state court judges, and in many places retired judges.
- Justice of the peace is a local judicial or administrative officer found in some states. Not every state still uses the title, but where the role exists it typically includes the power to officiate weddings.
- County clerk or mayor can perform marriages in many jurisdictions. County clerks often handle marriage licenses and can also solemnize the ceremony itself.
- Celebrant usually means a professional officiant, often trained by a secular organization, who specializes in personalized ceremonies. Celebrants may or may not have religious affiliations.
- Notary public can officiate weddings in a handful of states, including Florida, South Carolina, and Maine, without any separate ordination.
So every ordained minister can be a wedding officiant, but not every wedding officiant is an ordained minister. The umbrella word is “officiant”; the rest tell you where that person’s authority comes from.
The Three Kinds of People Who Perform Weddings
Religious Officiants
Clergy are the traditional choice. Ministers, priests, rabbis, and imams perform marriages according to the customs of their faith, and every state recognizes their authority to do so. The ceremony typically follows the religious tradition’s structure, though many clergy will work with couples to personalize elements. A wedding in a house of worship almost always means working with that congregation’s clergy.
Civil Officiants
Judges, magistrates, justices of the peace, county clerks, and mayors can perform marriages in most states. Civil ceremonies tend to be shorter and non-religious, though the officiant usually lets couples add readings or personal vows. For a quick, no-frills ceremony at a courthouse, this is the standard route. Civil officiants don’t need separate ordination; their power to marry people is built into the office they hold.
Friends and Family Who Get Authorized
Many couples want someone close to them to officiate. Most states accommodate this through online ordination, where the person registers with an organization like the Universal Life Church or American Marriage Ministries and receives credentials to perform marriages. Some states skip ordination entirely and offer temporary officiant permits through the secretary of state or county clerk’s office, authorizing someone to perform a single ceremony.
Online ordination is the most common path here, but its legal standing is not uniform. Most states accept it without issue. A small number have restricted or challenged it; Virginia, for instance, has been a persistent holdout where online-ordained ministers sometimes face difficulties registering. Professional celebrants fall into roughly the same bucket from a legal standpoint, but they do it for a living and bring experience to writing and running the ceremony.
When No Officiant Is Required
Not every marriage needs an officiant at all. A handful of states allow self-uniting or self-solemnizing marriages, where the couple legally marries each other by signing the marriage license themselves. Colorado is the most well-known and permissive, placing essentially no restrictions on the practice. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C. also allow self-uniting marriages, though some impose conditions such as belonging to a religious group that traditionally practices self-uniting ceremonies, like Quakers. Nevada, California, and Illinois permit self-solemnization under specific circumstances.
Where it’s available, the process is simple: get a marriage license from the county clerk, exchange vows, sign the license, and return it by the filing deadline. No officiant, no ordained friend, no courthouse visit.
The Ship Captain Myth
One correction worth making, because the question comes up constantly. Under U.S. law, ship captains have no special authority to perform marriages just because they’re commanding a vessel. The idea comes from old maritime traditions and a lot of romantic movies, but it has no legal basis for ships flagged in the United States. A captain who happens to also be an ordained minister or a judge can marry you, but that’s because of the ordination or judicial commission, not the hat. For a wedding at sea, make sure the person officiating has the same credentials they’d need on dry land.
What the Officiant Actually Does
Whatever title your officiant holds, their job during the ceremony is the same. They guide the couple through the vows, administer the exchange, and pronounce the couple married. They also confirm both parties are entering the marriage willingly and meet basic legal requirements like being of legal age and not already married to someone else. In states that require witnesses, the officiant makes sure those witnesses are present and sign the marriage license.
Witness rules vary. Roughly half of states require none. Others require one or two adult witnesses to sign the license. The maid of honor and best man traditionally fill the role, but any adult who meets the state’s requirements can serve.
After the ceremony, the officiant completes the marriage license by recording the date and location, signs it, and returns it to the county clerk’s office that issued it, typically within 10 to 30 days depending on the state. That filing is what puts the marriage into the public record.
Making Sure Your Officiant Can Legally Marry You
Because the rules shift from state to state and sometimes county to county, the one step worth taking before you book anyone is a call to the county clerk’s office where the ceremony will happen. Three questions cover it: what credentials does an officiant need in this jurisdiction, does the office recognize online ordinations, and does the officiant need to register locally before the ceremony? Ask months in advance, not the week of the wedding.
If a friend is getting ordained for the occasion, ask to see the credentials once they come through, and confirm any required local registration is done. If the state issues a registration number, keep a copy. Ten minutes of checking in advance removes the risk of finding out after the ceremony that the person who married you wasn’t actually authorized to do it.