New York Wedding Laws - How to Become an Ordained Minister in New York

Become an ordained minister through the Universal Life Church and you can become a legally recognized wedding officiant in New York. Simply follow the instructions listed below.

How To Perform A Wedding In New York

1. The Universal Life Church Monastery's ordination is legally recognized by the State of New York. This means that our ministers are able to perform marriage ceremonies there without any difficulties. If you want to become a legally-recognized wedding officiant in New York, simply become ordained online through the ULC. Doing so only takes a couple of minutes and is done entirely online.

2.Before attempting to perform a ceremony, all New York ministers must contact the town clerk of the town they are planning on performing a wedding ceremony in to make sure that our ordination is accepted there. If the town clerk refuses to acknowledge the validity of our ordination, please let us know. If they do accept our ordination, ask the town clerk what forms of credentials and documentation you must have in your possession to file for a marriage license. Buy these ministry products from us from our church store. Make sure to leave three or more weeks between the wedding day and the day on which you make your order; failure to do so might cause your ministry products to arrive late.

3. We advise you keep your information in our ordination database as up to date as possible. This means that you need to let us know when your name, address, and e-mail changes. Failing to do so could jeopardize your ability to file for a marriage license with a New York town clerk if they decide to look into your ordination.

NYC Weddings: ULC ministers who are looking to officiate weddings in New York City need to buy a special package in order to do so; the standard ordination credential will not be enough to satisfy the NYC clerks' requirements! This package contains literally everything a person needs to register as a wedding officiant with New York City. Also, please note that all of the above applies to both native New Yorkers and those who are traveling to the Empire State from elsewhere.

Erie County Weddings: those who are looking to perform wedding ceremonies in Erie County should know that no registration whatsoever is required by ULC ministers in order to do so there. This new policy of the Erie County clerk's office is fundamentally different than the policies of other New York clerk's offices; the latter offices require that our ministers register with them before they perform weddings and will not let them file for a marriage license unless they do otherwise.

Need more information about how to perform a wedding ceremony or become a minister in New York? Have no fear, the ULC has several resources you can use to prepare for your first ceremony. The first is themonastery.org's Training section, which has wedding training, instructions on how to get your minister's license, marriage laws, and even information on how to start your own place of worship. Those looking for tips on how to officiate a wedding ceremony can visit the Ministers Network, a custom social network built by the ULC for the explicit purpose of giving our ministers a way share tips and advice on how to perform weddings (as well as to promote religious discourse amongst our ministers).

Definition: "The term "clergyman" and the term "minister" include a duly authorized pastor, rector, priest, rabbi, and a person having authority from, or in accordance with, the rules and regulations of the governing ecclesiastical body of the denomination or order, if any, to which the church belongs, or otherwise from the church or synagogue to preside over and direct the spiritual affairs of the church or synagogue." Excerpted from Article 3, Section 11, of the Domestic Relations code

For the City of New York: We include two letters with ordination packages shipped to New York that meet the City requirements. For more information see the following:

• The New city Clerk site

  Marriage Officiant Registration Form (PDF)

• Getting Married in New York State

Who can perform a marriage ceremony? To be valid, a marriage ceremony must be performed by any of the individuals specified in Section 11 of the New York State Domestic Relations Law which includes:

• a member of the clergy or minister who is not authorized by a governing church body
  but who has been chosen by a spiritual group to preside over their spiritual affairs

• other officiants as specified by Section 11 of the Domestic Relations Law

Officiant Registration: Registration is conducted on Monday thru Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Section 11-b of the Domestic Relations Law requires that all persons authorized by law to perform marriages register with the City Clerk's office before performing wedding ceremonies within New York City. Therefore, if you intend to perform a marriage ceremony within New York City you must register. If your activities are outside of New York City the registration requirement does not apply to you. There is a $15 charge, payable in money order only, for registration.

A clergyman or minister of any religion, or by the senior leader, or any of the other leaders, of The Society for Ethical Culture in the city of New York, having its principal office in the borough of Manhattan, or by the leader of The Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, having its principal office in the borough of Brooklyn of the city of New York, or of the Westchester Ethical Society, having its principal office in Westchester county, or of the Ethical Culture Society of Long Island, having its principal office in Nassau county, or of the Riverdale-Yonkers Ethical Society having its principal office in Bronx county, or by the leader of any other Ethical Culture Society affiliated with the American Ethical Union. The term "clergyman" or "minister" when used in this article, shall include those defined in section two of the religious corporations law. The word "magistrate, " when so used, includes any person referred to in the second or third subdivision.

Same Sex Wedding Law: Same-sex marriage is legal in New York State. If you are interested in performing a same-sex marriage in New York, consider purchasing our New York Same-Sex Marriage Officiant Package.

To perform a marriage in New York you need to be ordained and may be required to provide proof of ordination such as an ordination credential, wallet credential, or a letter of good standing from the church.

ULC The Monastery's foreign corporation state filings

Read the full Law on the official site »