A marriage officiant or marriage celebrant is a person who officiates at a wedding ceremony.
Religious weddings, such as Christian ones, are officiated by a pastor, such as a priest or vicar. Similarly, Jewish weddings are presided over by a rabbi, and in Islamic weddings, an imam is the marriage officiant. In Hindu weddings, a pandit is the marriage officiant.
Some non-religious couples get married by a minister of religion, while others get married by a government official, such as a civil celebrant, judge, mayor, or justice of the peace. A wedding without an officiant is called a self-uniting marriage.
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Marriage ceremony in a lutheran church (Reformationskirche Cologne-Marienburg, Germany)
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Evangelische Stadtkirche Ravensburg
USA Celebrant Foundation Civil Celebrants.jpg
These are from the first civil celebrants in the USA originally trained by the International College...