What is a Wedding Officiant?
When thinking about getting married, there’s many choices on who or where to get married. Personal beliefs also play an important role.
Whether you are looking to get married in a church or at the comfort of your own home, you need to make sure whoever is performing the ceremony is qualified and authorized by the state you live in.
If you are considering a quick and easy ceremony (or just looking for someone to sign your marriage license) a wedding officiant may be the perfect fit. Wedding officiants are qualified personnel to marry you and make your marriage license official by witnessing your ceremony and sign your license.
How To Get Married In Chicago?
In Illinois, a wedding officiant can marry you at your convenience and almost anywhere. Many couples we have officiated for got married at their home, in a park, North Shore Chicago, and other popular landmarks throughout Cook County.
The first step is to attain your marriage license from the state. You and your partner will need to go to the county office and ask the clerk for one where they will ask for identification and print your marriage license. The both of you need to be at least 18 years of age.
Usually the Clerk office issues marriage licenses immediately, however, their may be wait times depending on the time and day you choose to go.
The next step is to coordinate with an officiant, pastor or whomever you choose (that is qualified by the state) to officiate and sign your marriage license. An officiant has to officiate your wedding in order to make it valid. Done incorrectly will invalidate your marriage license!
Lastly, comes the fun part. Now you and your wedding officiant of choice plans for a date, time and location for your “I Do’s”. If you are simply wanting to get married quickly without a huge audience, a quick wedding at a park is a popular option.
Making Weddings/ Elopements Fun
We understand many couples just want a nice, simple ceremony and be on their way, so we provide this service as mobile wedding officiants in Chicago. But we also marry couples in surrounding counties such as McHenry, Dupage, Lake and Kane.
Fun ideas we have seen previous couples do who have hired us:
- Get married at a nearby park, Planetarium, or DuSable Bridge
- Married using the Chicago skyline as the background
- Decorated their living room with flowers and hand-made decorations
- Have friends or family videotape the event and take pictures
There are many more ways to make your elopement/ wedding fun and memorable. It just comes down to personal preference. Some love having a small audience to celebrate with while others just want to be alone and surprise everyone after. Which ever your wishes are please let your wedding officiant know.
Chicago Elopement Checklist
Below is a quick checklist of what you need in order for your elopement/ quick wedding to be a successful one:
- Marriage license ready on hand
- Book a day, time and location with your wedding officiant
- Pay your deposit to reserve your day (if required)
- List of any special requests (such as location, specific day, attire officiant should wear, etc.)
- Return the completed Marriage License to Cook County Clerk’s office
That is pretty much it! As you can see, getting married in Chicago is pretty simple as long as you are using an experienced officiant that can answer any questions you may have.
Who Can Marry You in Illinois?
At Illinois Notary Pros, we are non-denominational ordained ministers from The Universal Life Church (ULC) and are able to legally perform marriages and very flexible with couples wishes.
You can also find wedding officiants using directories such as The Knot and Officiant Directory.
So if you are looking for a wedding officiant near Chicago, just let us know when and where!
We can officiate your wedding and sign your marriage license affordably and conveniently. You can learn more about our wedding officiating services here
