In my many years as a wedding officiant and a professional Santa Claus, I’ve only combined the two jobs once in my career. In December of 2024 I was hired to conduct an elopement ceremony at a private home in Edmonds. It was going to be a surprise for the 20 or so guests invited to a “housewarming/Christmas party”. When my couple discovered my 2nd job, it was a natural to have Santa perform the wedding!

Everyone there was surprised to see Santa make an appearance, and even more so to be witnesses to an impromptu holiday wedding!

Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of performing a number of weddings in costume. My first was as a Franciscan Monk at the WA Rennaisance Faire, back when it was in Gig Harbor. From there, I’ve also done Elvis (not skinny black leather Elvis, but white jumpsuit and cape Vegas Elvis!), as well a a Roman Senator, a Red Robin waiter, a Cardinal (no one expects the Spanish Inquisition!), Santa Claus (of course!) and my latest, Obi Wan Kenobi. Details on some of these will be forthcoming as the mood strikes.

I’ve had a number of calls lately from couples about this. After purchasing certified copies of their marriage certificate, they notice that “religious” is checked off, even though they had a non-religious ceremony. This refers to the person performing the ceremony, not the type of ceremony performed. The only people allowed to check “civil” are a judge, justice of the peace or similar government official. Everyone else, from the Pope to little old me, must check religious.

While I have a long career (since 2003) as a wedding officiant, not everyone knows that I’m also a professional Santa Claus! I’ve been working for Arthur & Associates (www.santaphotos.com) since 2011. I do (schedule permitting) still perform weddings during the Christmas season. However, I’ve only done one ceremony in costume. More on that at another time. In the meantime, Merry Early Christmas!!!