Hi! My name is Rev. Robert A. Laird. As the Santa Barbara-Los Angeles wedding minister/officiant for 1st Choice Weddings, I officiate both religious and non-religious wedding ceremonies in a variety of Southern California settings -- Santa Barbara to Malibu, Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village to Hollywood; Ventura / Oxnard to Ojai; beach weddings, backyard weddings, elegant weddings and casual, informal weddings; non-denominational weddings and interfaith weddings. Whether its your first or second marriage, my marriage services are never frivolous but always fun!

What are YOU looking for in a wedding minister? What is most important for you?

Personality and chemistry matter more with the wedding officiant than any other wedding professional (with the exception of a wedding consultant). Do you want a wedding officiant who relates well to you? Do you prefer clergy who are more authoritative and proper? Or a wedding officiant who's more down to earth? A marriage officiant more outgoing who might be more unpredictable or perhaps a wedding minister more reserved and less personal but safe and predictable?

Every wedding minister or officiant has his or her own unique mix of personal, relational, and technical characteristics. Most wedding officiants fall somewhere along a continuum. The 1st Choice Wedding Officiant Inventory™ (if you've seen this on WeddingMinisters.com, now you know where it came from) is a helpful tool for determining your personal preferences for your wedding officiant.

Specialized wedding officiant or Versatile wedding minister

THE most important consideration. There are perhaps 20 ordained wedding officiants for every professional wedding minister. The Specialist wedding officiant focuses primarily on doing wedding ceremonies only. This limited focus requires basic public speaking competence but no special training, which is why there are so many more wedding officiants than wedding ministers. Ordination and title ("Rev.") means absolutely nothing (ENTER SITE to learn more).

The Versatile wedding minister is a human relations professional, trained in ministry as well as officiating. Professional wedding ministers have advanced training (graduate level minimum) from an accredited educational institution and must have demonstrated competency to receive their certification. A wedding minister is trained to effectively handle all variety of people and situations, particularly in high-emotion, highly-charged contexts (like your wedding ceremony or even wedding rehearsal) where feelings are often intensified and vulnerable. The effective wedding minister not only officiates your wedding ceremony. She or he is sensitive and responsive to the emotional climate that can make or break your wedding ceremony.

Experienced wedding clergy or Enthusiastic wedding pastor

No substitute for Experience in a wedding officiant to bring assurance/comfort to brides and grooms that they’re in good hands. Safe. No surprises. Enthusiastic wedding officiant not dry or boring, brings energy and life to ceremony. Engaging.

Introverted wedding officiant or Extroverted wedding minister

An Introverted wedding officiant tends to be more calm and unflappable. The more Extroverted wedding officiant tends to be more personal and engaging.

Warm wedding minister or Polished wedding officiant

The Warm wedding officiant loves people and people love the wedding officiant. Strong relational attachment between couples/family and wedding officiant. Polished wedding officiant makes fewer mistakes, everything done properly and orderly.

Strong wedding clergy or Tender wedding minister

The Strong wedding officiant commands respect, protects the bride and groom’s wishes, takes charge. This wedding officiant is particularly good for weddings where family dynamics are complicated. The Tender wedding officiant is more sensitive to feelings, a true wedding minister who works for solutions that everybody can be happy with. Smoothes rough waters.

Elegant officiating style or more Personal officiate

This perhaps describes the character of the wedding ceremony under the guidance of the wedding officiant more that the wedding officiant him/herself. The Elegant wedding officiant is beautiful, flawless to perfection. The Personal wedding officiant is real, the human touch, vibrant with life, touchable, relational.

Intuitive wedding minister or Objective wedding officiant

The Intuitive wedding officiant has a marvelous sense of knowing what’s right for the situation, sensitive to the meaning of the moment, in touch with the couples’ feelings. The Objective wedding officiant takes the guesswork out of everything. This wedding officiant is clear, usually concise, nothing left to chance, detailed and organized.

Economical wedding officiant or Professional wedding minister

An Economical wedding officiant may save you money but lack experience or the skills of a trained professional minister. The Professional wedding officiant saves you worry but always costs more. As with anything else you get what you pay for.

Specialized minister    1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1    Versatile minister

Experienced minister  1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1    Enthusiastic minister

Introverted minister   1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1    Extroverted minister

Warm minister            1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1    Polished minister

Strong minister           1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1    Tender minister

Elegant minister          1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1    Personal minister

Intuitive minister        1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1    Objective minister

Economical minister    1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1    Professional minister

Seminary minister       1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1    Mail Order minister

Choosing your wedding officiant comes down to knowing what factors in a wedding officiant are most important. For example, if there will be a lot of family input and involvement in your wedding plans, you might prefer a more Versatile wedding officiant with ministry training/experience in human dynamics -- particular in dealing with potentially ticklish personalities. On the other hand, if yours is a simple, private, backyard wedding, economy and availability in a wedding minister may be your primary concerns.

After you've determined what gift mix you're looking for in your wedding minister, research and/or ask questions of potential wedding officiants to see how closely they align with your preferences. Once you've found a wedding officiant you like, BOOK HIM/HER as soon as possible!!

My profile leans:

• More flexible wedding minister.
• 4 years experience as a wedding minister and a decade of working in various capacities at weddings.
• Balanced wedding minister.
• Warm wedding minister who understands the significance of one of the most important days of your life.
• Even keel between Strong and Tender, this is essential for being flexible and for offering support for the couple and their family.
• Leaning towards personal but also an air of confidence and control.
• Professional wedding minister. It is not a hobby that I just do for fun or extra discretionary cash.
• With over a decade of ministry work, I am no mail order officiant. My experience in both youth and music ministries have given me the gift of seeing the importance of having both the life and flexibility of the youth in a wedding along with the importance of this special event that should be taken seriously to create a wedding that is the start of a life together that is as complex and beautiful as a symphony I would direct.

If that's a wedding minister profile you might be interested in, GREAT! Click the ENTER SITE button on the left, come on in and learn more (including published rates and packages).

Rev. Robert A. Laird, Santa Barbara to Los Angeles wedding minister/officiant