Friends marrying friends

Friend, Will You Marry Us? Online Ordinations Rise

By MONICA RHOR For The Associated Press

Jessica Alexander’s wedding was everything she had envisioned: a private gathering by her summer house on an Iowa lake. There was a pink and purple color scheme, a butterfly motif, and a dessert bar rather than a full meal.

And, wearing a short periwinkle dress designed “to show off her legs,” was Alexander’s minister and bridesmaid, Anna-Megan Raley, a close friend who was ordained online specifically to perform the ceremony.

Raley, a blogger for the Houston Chronicle, didn’t even know she had been ordained until Alexander and her mother sprang the news at the bridal shower. They had already paid a $25 fee and filled out a form with her name and address, making her the Rev. Raley.

“I thought it was a joke. I’m sure that I put it on Facebook and Twitter,” said Raley. “But I had heard about people getting ordained to perform weddings. So, I said: ‘Sure, I’d love to.'”

Nontraditional? Perhaps.

A growing trend? Definitely.

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