Membership Association for Justices of the Peace
The Christian Science Monitor is preparing an article about trends in same-sex marriages since the 2024 election, and they’re seeking the officiant perspective. The Justice of the Peace Association created a brief survey to gather your observations on any changes you’ve noticed in wedding trends over the past several months.
Your responses will help provide valuable insight for this important story. Thank you for sharing your experiences!
That was the question posed by the Justice of the Peace Association in its anonymous survey of marriage officiants.
One of the nice things about being a part of a professional membership association is the connectedness with fellow JPs and notaries. We share stories. We hear about the good – and the not-so-good. We learn and we grow and we benefit. One such story is the officiant who performs a ceremony for their family member. As an example, perhaps you’ve noticed the photo to the right, which is also on this website’s homepage slider. This is our co-founder, Saul Haffner, officiating at his granddaughter Abby’s wedding to Mike. This opportunity gave Saul so much joy, and Abby treasures the memory.
When Saul did Abby’s wedding, he was already a pro. Alternatively, sometimes the officiant is a newbie. They are either so overcome with the love that they get hooked and continue performing weddings for others. Or, was it a once-was-enough, been there, done that?
We’d like to quantify these subjective stories. Whether or not you’ve performed a wedding for a friend or family member, please complete our survey.
How are you protecting the environment? Please answer our survey about the steps you take so your marriage ceremonies are more sustainable. We’ll then share the results in a member support article so all members can help reduce our carbon footprint.
Updated September 27, 2022
During the summer of 2022, JPus surveyed the pros who perform weddings and asked, How long do you think a marriage ceremony should be? With the information gleaned from the survey, we developed two resources. First, we developed a member support article with professional guidance to support professional officiants. Then, we also shared findings in a blog article for couples on findaJP.com. The blog article also has selected officiant comments from the survey.
Each state has a different process to appoint marriage officiants. We frequently hear about problems in Connecticut. There, justice of the peace appointments are political – even though there is nothing political about the role. The resulting problems are multifold, as evidenced by the many complaints reported to JPus from our members. In response, JPus is working with legislators and the Secretary of the State’s office and interviewing stakeholders. The plan is to formulate the research into a white paper to enact legislative change.
A related matter is qualifications – especially when comparing professionals with amateurs officiants. At JPus, we oftentimes hear from members who suggest that training should be required before someone performs a wedding. Survey results are now available.
