PART 5- Google Search Answers
This is an interesting and fun question and the answer is yes, you can you have a friend or family member perform your wedding ceremony. Below I’ve described three options that are available to you. Keep in mind that Options #1 and #2 are going to be the easiest and least time consuming because Option #3 has legal requirements that will take time before and after your ceremony and will most likely have fees associated with it.
(Please remember that the question applies to the state of Nevada. Each state has their own rules regarding friends or family members performing a wedding. You’ll need to do some research if you are planning a wedding elsewhere.)
Option #1 For a minimal amount of time, money and effort you can hire an officiant (who has already satisfied all of the legal requirements) to attend your wedding and sit in the audience while your loved one performs the ceremony. The officiant will come up at the end and pronounce you husband and wife to make it a legal marriage. Then after the ceremony, the officiant will fill out all the paperwork using the loved one who performed the ceremony as a witness and take and file the paperwork for you.
Option #2 Again, for a minimal amount time, mone and effort, you can hire an officiant (who has satisfied all of the legal requirements) to arrive the day of your wedding - sometime before your loved one performs the ceremony. They will stay only long enough (about 5 minutes) to ask you the “I do” questions in front of a witness. Then the officiant will fill out the paperwork using the loved one who will be performing the ceremony as a witness. They then will leave, taking the paperwork with them and filing it for you. Once they are gone, you move forward with your loved one performing the ceremony.
Option#3 Several months prior to your wedding, your loved one will need to take the time to satisfy all of the fees and requirements needed to legally marry you. Then after they have performed your ceremony they will be required to fill out all of the paperwork and file it within 10 days to make the marriage legal. After 10 days, it is still legal (for a short time) for them to file the paperwork, but there will be significant fines.