Q: I’m planning a tiny wedding with my person and we need an officiant. My great-uncle, who is my last surviving grandparent-equivalent on my mom’s side, is a Baptist minister. Solution found, right? Well.
I’m not the slightest bit religious and my fiancx leans unofficially Buddhist. This is not something that will make my very traditional, very Christian, and VERY Southern great-uncle happy to know about nor something that I really think he’ll support. The easy answer is to remember that we decided to only invite our immediate families and keep the guest list where it is, get a friend ordained or whatever, and have a ceremony that aligns with our spiritual beliefs (or at least, in my absence thereof).
My mother has, in a non-pressuring way, shared that he and my great-aunt will feel terrible and sad if I don’t invite them or ask him to officiate. Both of her parents are dead, and he’s the closest she has now. I want to honor him, my deceased family, and the support he’s offered my family over the years, and inviting him makes sense to how I value family.
What do I choose? Is there a compromise?
This is a situation where there is no right or wrong answer (maybe it’s best to think of it as both answers being right in different ways). So with that in mind, give us what you’ve got APW!
