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Rabbi officiating wedding fees? — Brooklynian

Rabbi officiating wedding fees?

chaplin'smom
chaplin'smom
edited November -1 in Park Slope
Hi all,

Just trying to get an overall sense of what the 'going rate' is...

we were quoted $550 to officiate an april wedding... before sundown... on a saturday...

is that about right?

Comments

  • metalnyc
    metalnyc
    that sounds like a deal for a before sundown wedding on a saturday. i say on average it's $400 - $500, so you would expect a premium for saturday before sundown.
  • bricktop
    bricktop
    what legit rabbi is going to officiate on Shabbat?
    I'll never understand why someone who doesn't care enough about being Jewish to be involved with a Jewish community and/or synagogue where she or he would know legit rabbis finds it sooo important to have one officiate at their wedding. I mean, it's your call if you're not at all involved in Jewish life, it's a free country and all that, but why be so hypocritical as to require a rabbi who will marry you then, and on Shabbat no less......and then be so crass as to shop around for rates and post it on Brooklynian?!? tacky tacky tacky.

    Why not go the justice of the peace route and at least have some integrity about it?
  • thomas_kelly
    thomas_kelly
    Bricktop wrote: what legit rabbi is going to officiate on Shabbat?
    I'll never understand why someone who doesn't care enough about being Jewish to be involved with a Jewish community and/or synagogue where she or he would know legit rabbis finds it sooo important to have one officiate at their wedding. I mean, it's your call if you're not at all involved in Jewish life, it's a free country and all that, but why be so hypocritical as to require a rabbi who will marry you then, and on Shabbat no less......and then be so crass as to shop around for rates and post it on Brooklynian?!? tacky tacky tacky.

    Why not go the justice of the peace route and at least have some integrity about it?
    whoa. Since when are religious observances and bargain shopping (or at least understanding if this is a fair rate) mutually exclusive concepts?
  • anastasia beaverhausen
    anastasia beaverhausen
    I would totally tear up Bricktop's invitation if I were you.
  • tajmb
    tajmb
    Bricktop wrote: what legit rabbi is going to officiate on Shabbat?
    I'll never understand why someone who doesn't care enough about being Jewish to be involved with a Jewish community and/or synagogue where she or he would know legit rabbis finds it sooo important to have one officiate at their wedding. I mean, it's your call if you're not at all involved in Jewish life, it's a free country and all that, but why be so hypocritical as to require a rabbi who will marry you then, and on Shabbat no less......and then be so crass as to shop around for rates and post it on Brooklynian?!? tacky tacky tacky.

    Why not go the justice of the peace route and at least have some integrity about it?
    The Rabbi is probably there as a nod to the parents and grandparents who do care rather than the kids who know there's no such thing as god. At least that's how all my friends explain having any form of religious representative at their weddings.
  • sjknoll
    sjknoll
    back to the original question. Sounds correct. I just got married, albeit on a Sunday evening and our Rabbi charged $450. Compared to the rent-a-rabbi's you can hire for weddings this is a very fair price.
  • chaplin'smom
    chaplin'smom
    Thank you tajmb. Bingo.

    I'm not even giving Bricktop the benefit of the doubt by replying directly... That might just come off as 'not Jewish enough'.

    Not that I need to explain but long story short- I'm Jewish by tradition, not religion and my fiance and his family are agnostic. As a respectful nod to my ancestors, my fiance thought it would be a nice gesture to have a rabbi officiate. Especially as neither of us believe in god but i still identify as Jewish (and don't think i need to go to a synagogue to 'be involved in Jewish life') and we found Saturday night to be the ultimate time to have a wedding... no one has planes to catch or worry about getting up for work the next morning (including ourselves,) ... and we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful natural daylight for our ceremony, lighting and photographs... so we decided to have it before sundown. Why, in these modern times, should we be denied the very best time of the week to have a wedding just because, thousands of years ago, when the world was a very different place (no ipods! still Jewish?) someone deemed it 'sacred?'

    And, incidentally, it was the Rabbi who, not being tacky, very astutely and openly said "well, Saturday night in Park Slope is Sunday someplace in the world," and gave us his blessings.

    Finally, as i've never been married before and have absolutely no parameters to judge the financing of a wedding on, I did bring it to my 'community' (the great people of brooklynian!) to assist me in my quest.

    Who knew such would be considered crass, hypocritical and tacky?
  • brooklynjack
    brooklynjack
    IIRC when we got married on a Sunday morning the Rabbi charged $600 and we did 3 counseling sessions with her
  • brooklynpotter
    brooklynpotter
    Bricktop wrote: what legit rabbi is going to officiate on Shabbat?
    I'll never understand why someone who doesn't care enough about being Jewish to be involved with a Jewish community and/or synagogue where she or he would know legit rabbis finds it sooo important to have one officiate at their wedding. I mean, it's your call if you're not at all involved in Jewish life, it's a free country and all that, but why be so hypocritical as to require a rabbi who will marry you then, and on Shabbat no less......and then be so crass as to shop around for rates and post it on Brooklynian?!? tacky tacky tacky.

    Why not go the justice of the peace route and at least have some integrity about it?
    from my understanding, most rabbis feel that doing something is better than doing nothing. start small, go from there.
  • peanuts
    peanuts
    Chaplain's Mom,
    You didn't have to explain anything to anybody about who you want to officiate at your wedding. And have a great time!
  • chaplin'smom
    chaplin'smom
    Thanks all! Greatly appreciated!!!!
  • mookie wilson
    mookie wilson
    Our rabbi charged us exactly $500. We gave him more because we like him so much.
  • calm head
    calm head
    If this was the rabbi I recommended to you back in August, the price sounds right. SInce then I recommended him to a coworker and she told me he charged $500 or $550 (i forgot). Mazel Tov again!
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