Elopement Officiant
Elope Chattanooga
Waterfalls, gorge overlooks, and mountain ridgelines around Chattanooga supply the scenery; Elope Chattanooga supplies everything else. Founded by…
Elopements · Adventure Elopements · Micro Weddings
Elopement Officiants in Tennessee
6 elopement officiants serving Tennessee couples planning an elopement or micro wedding.
Elopement Officiant
Nashville Wedding Officiant Zelda
More than 1,300 ceremonies into her career, Zelda Sheldon remains one of Nashville's busiest independent officiants. She is legally ordained for th…
Elopements · Micro Weddings · Courthouse
Elopement Officiant
Smoky Mountain Notary
Fifty dollars is the published cash-rate starting point at Smoky Mountain Notary, which makes Betty Krachey's officiant service one of the most bud…
Elopements · Courthouse · LGBTQ+ Friendly
Elopement Officiant
Tennessee Tiny Weddings
Husband-and-wife team Julie and James Tucker built Tennessee Tiny Weddings around a simple premise: most couples do not need a two-hundred-guest pr…
Elopements · Micro Weddings
Elopement Officiant
The Groovy Wedding Company
Not every couple wants a conventional ceremony, and The Groovy Wedding Company exists for precisely that audience. Reverend Terry B officiates with…
Elopements · LGBTQ+ Friendly
Elopement Officiant
The Mountain Preacher
Pastor Jody has spent more than forty years in ministry, and his officiant practice, The Mountain Preacher, now channels that experience into small…
Elopements
Tennessee officiant law: stricter than couples expect
Signing your own license is not an option in this state — Tennessee law requires a qualified third party to solemnize every marriage. The statute, T.C.A. 36-3-301, spells out who qualifies: ministers and other spiritual leaders ordained 'by a considered, deliberate, and responsible act,' plus a long civic list including current and former governors, judges, county mayors, and state legislators.
The fine print matters if a friend was planning to marry you. Since July 1, 2019, the statute states that persons receiving online ordinations may not solemnize matrimony in Tennessee. A federal lawsuit by online-ordination organizations left enforcement contested, but the language remains on the books — meaning a click-through ordination certificate carries genuine legal risk here that it wouldn't in most states. Couples who want certainty book someone whose credentials are beyond question.
Fortunately, supply is not a problem. The Gatlinburg chapel industry sustains what may be the densest concentration of professional wedding officiants in the eastern U.S., many of whom perform several ceremonies a day, hold GSMNP permits routinely, and will meet you at a trailhead, cabin deck, or overlook on short notice.
Planning budgets too? See elopement packages in Tennessee.