Turns Out, Almost Anyone Can Officiate a Wedding in Michigan

Your wedding day is (I assume) one of the most important days of your life. Finding someone to officiate it can seem overwhelming.

But did you know that pretty much anyone can officiate your wedding in Michigan?

As an unmarried lady of a certain age, this isn't something that I've ever really thought about. But the subject came up recently when a family member asked my partner to officiate their wedding.

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Turns out, it's pretty simple to get everything that you need to officiate a wedding in Michigan.

Who Can Legally Officiate a Wedding in Michigan?

The short answer? A lot of people. The long answer, any of the following:

• Judges.
• Magistrates (within their court area).
• Mayors (within their city limits).
• County Clerks (aka "a courthouse wedding").
• Ministers (literally anyone who is ordained; I'll get to that part later)

The deal with ministers, specifically, is very open to interpretation, with MCL - Section 551.7 stating,

While my partner is most definitely not a judge, magistrate, mayor, or county clerk, he is, technically, a minister.

That's where the "almost anyone" part of this comes into play. Almost anyone can be ordained as a minister these days.

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It's ridiculously easy to do. He was ordained several years ago when he officiated the wedding of two of our close friends. He just went online, filled out some information, and a few weeks later, got a certificate in the mail as well as other documentation that officially declared him as clergy.

Do You Have to Register With the State of Michigan to Officiate a Wedding?

In our specific case, my partner was officiating a wedding in Ohio, and down there (at least back then), you have to register with the state in order to be able to officiate a wedding.

But not in Michigan! As long as someone can prove that they are ordained (even through an online church like the Universal Life Church), they are completely qualified to officiate a wedding.

This is all good to know in case I decide to make an honest man of my partner one of these days, but after nearly two decades of being together without that piece of paper, I think we're good.