3.5 Co-officiants and Contingency Plans

There are some of the additional topics you may need to discuss with your couple during your Follow Up:

Co-officiating

Co-officiating is when another person shares the officiating role with you during the ceremony — usually a friend or relative that the couple would like to include in their wedding day celebration.

If the other officiant is taking an active role, or sharing the responsibilities with you, you’ll need to clarify who will be in charge of what. 

For example, will you write the ceremony alone, or will it be a joint effort? And, if both of you are qualified officiants, who will sign and file the marriage license, and who will pronounce the couple married? 

Couples will rely on your knowledge to help incorporate their desired co-officiant(s) in the script, so it’s good to know what to expect ahead of time!

Contingency Plans

Although rare, accidents do happen, and you should always have a contingency plan in case you can’t make it to the ceremony due to an illness, family emergency, traffic jam, or even a flat tire. 

To create a contingency or backup plan, briefly talk about whether the couple has an alternate in mind, and who could step in as the officiant if needed. If you can, designate a backup officiant, which is exactly what it sounds like: someone who will be able to cover your officiating responsibilities for the ceremony if you aren’t there. 

Keep your ceremony scripts readily available to send to the backup officiant, the couple, or their wedding coordinator if you’re unable to make it to the ceremony on time. (Just remember that you’ll have to consider the signing and completing of the marriage license, too.)

Having these plans in place will ensure that any last-minute conflicts are handled quickly and efficiently.