5.0
Verified reviews from real couples
Congratulations!
Greater Columbus area
Service area
John did a fantastic job officiating our wedding. It was easy working with him to put together our ceremony and he had many resources available to help us. John did a great job at guiding us at our rehearsal, which put us at ease for the big day. Our family and friends talked about how great our ceremony was and that John did a great job!
Ronisha B.
5.0
Chase officiated our wedding on 5/8/26 at Jorgensen Farms and did an outstanding job. Our ceremony was fabulous and we owe a lot of thanks to Chase for all that he did for us from start to finish. This included meeting with us whenever we requested it, providing us with numerous scripts as examples to consider for our ceremony, working with us as we put together the script that was right for us, and delivering flawlessly on our wedding day. We appreciate your guidance and professionalism as you made the ceremony very special for us and our guests. Thank you Chase!
Nikki S.
5.0
Chase Waits
OWNER
Typically responds within 24h
AWARD WINNER (14X)
Thanks to recommendations from couples on The Knot
Columbus Wedding Officiants is a Westerville, OH-based business providing wedding officiating services. Owner, Chase Waits, is a down-to-earth individual that loves working with couples from diverse backgrounds. This expert will do whatever it takes to make the ceremony experience as unique as the individuals tying the knot.
Having overseen more than 300 weddings, Chase has accommodated all kinds of nuptial celebrations. Columbus Wedding Officiants is focused on personalizing its services to match the needs and expectations of you and your partner. Whether you’re planning an intimate elopement or an extravagant blow-out celebration, Chase wants your ceremony to be unforgettable.
Columbus Wedding Officiants specializes in secular, civil wedding ceremonies, performed at the location of your choice in Columbus and central Ohio. Chase can also officiate commitment ceremonies and vow renewals. Regardless of the kind of wedding you envision, you can look forward to working with a personable professional dedicated to delivering a significant ceremony that will live long in your memory.
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Details
Ceremony Types
Civil Union
Commitment Ceremony
Elopement
Interfaith Ceremony
Non-Religious Ceremony
Religious Ceremony
Second Wedding
Vow Renewal Ceremony
Religious Affiliations
Secular
Wedding Activities
Wedding
Ceremony
Awards and Affiliations
14-Time 'Best of Weddings'
2026.2025.2024.+11 more.
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
Hall of Fame
Earned by winning 'Best of Weddings' four or more times.
Join couples who chose award-winning vendors for their wedding
Meet the team
Chase Waits
Owner
My primary job is working with adults with disabilities, and I officiate weddings because I thoroughly enjoy being a part of couples' special days, not because I have to. I am extremely flexible and respectful of any wishes of a couple that I am working with, because after all, I am participating in their ceremony and not my own. I work tirelessly to ensure that the ceremony I am performing is reflective of the couple in front of me. I have performed over 300 ceremonies to date and love what I do!
Reviews
5.0
out of 5.0394 reviews
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Review Summary
This AI-generated summary is a snapshot of this vendor's ratings and feedback.
Columbus Wedding Officiants are highly praised for professional, calming, and personalized service. They provide scripts, rehearsal guidance, and help with paperwork/license filing to ensure a seamless ceremony. Couples valued their responsiveness, attention to detail, and ability to make the ceremony feel meaningful and stress-free.Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 9
Ronisha B
5.0
8/04/2026
John did a fantastic job officiating our wedding. It was easy working with him to put together our ceremony and he had many resources available to help us. John did a great job at ...
guiding us at our rehearsal, which put us at ease for the big day. Our family and friends talked about how great our ceremony was and that John did a great job!
Nikki S
5.0
7/06/2026
Chase officiated our wedding on 5/8/26 at Jorgensen Farms and did an outstanding job. Our ceremony was fabulous and we owe a lot of thanks to Chase for all that he did for us from...
start to finish. This included meeting with us whenever we requested it, providing us with numerous scripts as examples to consider for our ceremony, working with us as we put together the script that was right for us, and delivering flawlessly on our wedding day. We appreciate your guidance and professionalism as you made the ceremony very special for us and our guests. Thank you Chase!
Any questions?
Daniel L
5.0
5/23/2026
Our officiant, Chase, was fantastic. His delivery was excellent, and he handled everything seamlessly from start to finish. He stayed on time, advised us on how to manage the licen...
sing process with ease, and answered all of our questions promptly. He also submitted our license after the wedding and handled all the heavy lifting, alleviating stress throughout the process. When putting our ceremony together, he shared a package of different ceremonies and it was a great option because it allowed us to fully customize and write our own vows, which was exactly what we wanted. He was easy to work with, responsive, and very clear in his speaking. There were no hiccups or surprises, everything went perfectly.
Jadelyn B
5.0
5/21/2026
Chase Waits was our officiant for our wedding and truly made the ceremony go so smoothly. He knew how to answer all of our questions, and was very knowledgeable. He helped us creat...
e a custom ceremony to what we loved. My previous officiant was unable to officiate. I inquired with Chase and am so thankful he was available. He had great response times and is very trustworthy. I highly recommend him if you want someone with expertise on your wedding day!
Kelsie B
5.0
5/10/2026
Chase was wonderful to work with! He listened to what we wanted and crafted a beautiful ceremony. He walked us through exactly what we needed to bring with us on the big day, and h...
as continued to make sure we have everything we need after the wedding. Everyone said he was so kind and professional and we loved his officiating! 10/10 and we wouldn't change a thing :)
Peter S
5.0
1/22/2026
Chase did a wonderful job officiating our surprise wedding in front of a small gathering of family and friends. He met with us in advance to ensure that all would go as planned, pr...
eserving the element of surprise for our guests.
Chase also assisted us in crafting our wedding vows. His poise, well-spoken manner, and pleasant nature enhanced the ceremony and elevated the experience for everyone in attendance.
Sophia D
5.0
1/06/2026
We just had Chase officiate our NYE wedding and he was the best! He definitely is seasoned in being an officiant so if you want things to go seamlessly and not have to worry about ...
anything he has got you covered! He’s so kind and wonderful we are so thankful we chose him. He also sends you all the info on what ceremonies you can choose from and what you have to do to get your marriage license and change your last name! He really goes above and beyond.
Angela S
5.0
12/20/2025
Working with Chase was an absolute joy from start to finish. From our very first conversation, he was incredibly personable and thoughtful, asking meaningful questions to truly und...
erstand us as a couple—not just our timeline or logistics, but who we are and what mattered most to us.
He followed every instruction and direction we gave to a T, which gave us complete confidence and peace of mind going into our wedding day. There was never a moment of stress or concern—we knew we were in the best hands.
He wasn’t just someone who showed up to officiate; he was an integral part of our wedding and helped make the ceremony feel personal, seamless, and genuinely us. We are so grateful for his care, professionalism, and warmth, and cannot recommend him highly enough to any couple looking for an officiant who truly goes above and beyond.
Lainey A
5.0
11/04/2025
Chase was the BEST officiant! We thought very hard about who we wanted to marry us and play this such important role on our wedding day, and we chose right. Our guests all complime...
nted his work and he just knew exactly what to do. He made us feel so taken care of and added the special touches we needed. Highly recommend!!
Rachel U
5.0
9/05/2025
We are so grateful we chose Columbus Officiants! We had John as our wedding officiant. He was very accomodating throughout the whole process. He met with us in person prior to our ...
wedding day to give us his tips and tricks to ensure our rehearsal ran smoothly. Because of his guidance, everything on the big day was seamless. He also provided us with sooo many ideas and sample scripts that made the process of creating our ceremony so much easier. With his help, we were able to create a ceremony that was personal and made just for us.
On the day of our wedding, he was professional, calm, and gave us the wedding ceremony of our dreams. We couldn’t have asked for a better officiant and would highly recommend John to anyone!
Jarrod B
5.0
7/30/2025
Chase did a wonderful job as the officiant for our wedding. Originally we met with Chase over a Zoom call to get to know him and learn more about his services. We were impressed wi...
th his many high reviews and examples of his previous ceremonies he had done. Leading up to the ceremony we shared with him a few Bible passages and readings we wanted to include, and he shared his first draft with us a week before the wedding and we loved it! When we met him for the first time in person it was during the rehearsal and he was a pro. He helped walk us through the process, where to stand, what his cues would be, when and what was needed for a smooth ceremony. The next day during the ceremony it went perfectly smooth all of the tips he gave during the rehearsal were wonderful and the ceremony was perfect. We would definitely recommend Chase to anyone looking for an officiant in the Columbus area
Caleb J
5.0
7/28/2025
Chase Waits was absolutely phenomenal. 10/10. From the first call we had with him, he put our minds at ease and guided us every step of the way. He made the process much easier wit...
h clear direction and was always so kind and reassuring. He understood our vision for the ceremony perfectly and executed accordingly. I cannot stress enough how wonderful he was. If you are looking for an officiant in the Columbus area, look no further! I would recommend him ten times over.
Danielle V
5.0
7/16/2025
I highly recommend Chase as a wedding officiant!! He was extremely professional and always prepared. He allowed us to fully customize our ceremony and offers a very fair price for ...
his services. We really appreciated his calm demeanor, especially as wedding planning and wedding day are very chaotic. He is also very responsive to email, even last minute changes to the ceremony. Thank you, Chase!!
Auburn B
5.0
7/07/2025
I would highly recommend Chase to anyone looking for a wedding officiant. He was great with giving pointers before and during the cerimony to ensure everything went perfectly. He i...
s very laid back, easy to get along with, and professional. You will see not only in my review, but other reviews that he has a calming effect which is very nice and refreshing as stuff can get a bit crazy right before the cerimony. I would give him more than 5 starts if possible!
Courtney F
5.0
6/29/2025
I highly recommend hiring Columbus Wedding Officiants to officiate your wedding! Chase was amazing to work with. He made everything so easy and was so professional. He helped us re...
hearse the ceremony the night before, guiding everyone with what they need to do. This was very important to us. The price was great and he did an amazing job with the ceremony. Hire Columbus Wedding Officiants!
Emma C
5.0
6/13/2025
Chase was absolutely amazing to work with! He was so easy and helpful. We were able to fully customize our ceremony to whatever we wanted it to be, and we got so many compliments o...
n it after the wedding. He helped with our rehearsal in addition to our ceremony and made me feel so much better going into the big day after the practice run. He also provided many helpful resources for how to change my name. 10/10 recommend Chase for any of your wedding officiant needs!
Amy Fu-Guo B
5.0
6/06/2025
My husband and I couldn't be happier with our choice to go with Chase as our officiant. Chase made everything surrounding our ceremony easy. He was professional, prepared, and alwa...
ys super responsive to emails. Couldn't recommend Chase and his company enough!
Sarah H
5.0
5/15/2025
Our officiant was James. We loved working with him! He was so welcoming for our first meeting and listened to our unique ideas. He had wonderful suggestions and advice. James was q...
uick to respond to questions along the way. We had some unique aspects to our ceremony like, plant unity ceremony and jumping the broom. James did not hesitate to incorporate these aspects. During the ceremony, he was clear, direct, humorous, and kind. 10/10 would recommend!
Mackenzie H
5.0
2/19/2025
When finding the right officiant for our wedding, it became clear from the first meeting that Chase was the perfect fit. He is very caring, confident, reliable, professional, and t...
horough with his one goal in mind being that the ceremony is centered around the couple. He is very calm and easy-going as well, which drew my husband and I in. We liked how we were given a packet of examples of different types of wedding ceremonies and vows. Even after your wedding day, he is very helpful in processing all the necessary paperwork and providing the bride with information on where to begin on changing her last name if she plans to do so.
We cannot thank him enough for being a part of our special day! We highly recommend Chase!
Nicole G
5.0
11/20/2024
A Truly Exceptional Officiant – Highly Recommend!
We were so lucky to have John as our officiant for our wedding ceremony! From the moment we met him, he was thorough, professiona...
l, and a pleasure to work with. Despite all the last-minute changes we threw his way (and there were quite a few!), John handled everything with ease and grace. He took the time to understand our vision and made sure that our ceremony was personal, meaningful, and flowed perfectly.
John’s ability to adapt to any changes and ensure everything went smoothly was impressive, and he made our ceremony unforgettable. We couldn't have asked for a better officiant. Thank you, John, for being such an important part of our special day!
We highly recommend John to anyone looking for a wonderful officiant for their wedding!
Caitlyn C
5.0
11/06/2024
Chase was great to work with! We wanted a short non religious ceremony and he provided exactly that. I would recommend him to any of our friends in the future who need an officiant...
.
L S
5.0
10/15/2024
We are a introverted couple who has been together a long time before getting married (over a decade) and we had a fairly small wedding (35-40 guests). Chase did an amazing job mak...
ing us feel comfortable--he is professional, timely, and does a great job "holding your hand" through the process, no pun intended. His vows are lovely, not too long or too short, and easily adapt to secular couples. He is kind and easy to talk to. He also easily worked in the adaptations I asked him to make to our vows. Chase is an excellent choice for an officiant!
Karenna M
5.0
10/14/2024
We had an amazing experience with Chase, and I can't recommend him enough! From start to finish, he was extremely professional and made the entire process smooth and stress-free. H...
is communication was excellent— kept in touch regularly and were always available to answer our questions.
One of the things we appreciated most was how he guided us through all the paperwork we needed to complete. He made sure everything was in order well in advance and even provided us with sample scripts and ceremony outlines, which helped us feel fully prepared on our big day.
If you're looking for a reliable and professional officiant who truly cares about making your ceremony special, this is the person to go with! We couldn’t have been happier with our experience.
Raimey D
5.0
10/12/2024
Chase did a wonderful job officiating our wedding, orchestrating our rehearsal, and helping us file all of the correct paperwork! He was communicative, flexible, and even provided ...
a few samples ceremonies that really helped us in creating our own. We would highly recommend him to anyone!
Luke A
5.0
10/12/2024
Chase was such a detailed and amazing officiant. I would recommend him to anyone still searching for someone!
Katie S
5.0
9/28/2024
We couldn't be happier with our decision to work with John from Columbus Wedding Officiants. They made the ceremony so beautiful and meaningful and helped us navigate the process f...
or getting our marriage license and certificate with ease. I cannot recommend them more! Thank you so much John.
Madison L
5.0
9/21/2024
We worked with John and could not have been happier with him! He was prompt, kind, professional, and knowledgeable. He guided us through applying for a marriage license, helped us ...
build the perfect ceremony for us, gave us information regarding changing my name, and much more. There was not a moment when we felt unsure of our next steps with the actual process of getting married. We feel so grateful to have worked with him!
Chelsea S
5.0
9/15/2024
John Stuber did a wonderful job with our wedding ceremony! He met with us online to get to know us, and helped us write the perfect ceremony outline, prayer, and vows. He gave us i...
mportant reminders about our wedding license months and then again weeks in advance. He helped me organize my rehearsal. He spoke beautifully during our ceremony, and he was quick enough to get it done before it rained! He also sent us an e-mail after the wedding to remind us about next steps about changing last names. He is professional, kind, reliable, and I could not recommend his services more!
Janna W
5.0
8/31/2024
John Stuber was amazing! Very professional and helpful with everything from completing the script to finalizing the timeline.
Brittany B
5.0
6/29/2024
We went into our final months of wedding planning with a lot of stress, securing an officiant fairly late in the process. Despite this, Chase Waits made the entire thing absolutely...
painless for us. It is no exaggeration to say that Chase has the perfect personality and demeanor to be a wedding officiant. He is experienced, having officiated hundreds of weddings, and calmly commands the space around him with the energy of an old friend. He worked closely with us to understand what kind of words should be spoken over our ceremony, accommodated our custom written vows, and ensured we would have absolutely nothing to worry about when it came to understanding our marriage license. He demonstrated his unique ability to preside over weddings between people and families of differing backgrounds in a way that bathes the room in unity and happiness. Would recommend his services to literally anyone - 10/10!
Mark S
5.0
6/19/2024
Chase did a wonderful job guiding us through our ceremony. He is very friendly and provides a calming presence in the minutes leading up to the ceremony ("...let's get you married!...
"). The availability of several ceremony scripts helped us customize what felt right for us. Thanks Chase!
Christina F
5.0
6/12/2024
Chase was an AMAZING officiant! We are from out of state and he was beyond accommodating for our special day! He met with us for a consultation and really worked with us to create ...
the perfect wording for our wedding ceremony. He even stepped aside for our first kiss!! Our photographer commented how only great officiants do that. He is beyond friendly, fairly priced and so wonderful to work with!! I would recommend Columbus Wedding Officiants to anyone looking to get married in the Columbus/Hocking Hills area. Thank you, Chase!!!
Lauren D
5.0
6/11/2024
Chase did amazing! He was helpful throughout the process. The ceremony he came up with was perfect. We got so many compliments from guests on how great our ceremony was because of ...
him. Extremely pleasant and all around great experience. Would definitely recommend him to anyone!
Paige B
5.0
5/04/2024
John was so helpful and thorough with the entire process. We feel so fortunate to have him do our ceremony for us and be apart of our special day! Thank you so much!
Ashley M
5.0
4/29/2024
Chase was a wonderful officiant and very easy to work with. He was very clear in what we needed to do from wedding license to name change and was helpful in every step along the wa...
y. He went above and beyond to make this process easier for us and the ceremony was highly complimented.
Andrew H
5.0
3/25/2024
Chase is a professional, and exactly what we wanted for an officiant. He had a lot of helpful information/templates for us to use to prepare our ceremony. Everything went well on t...
he day of.
Tony K
5.0
2/22/2024
Chase is a great officiant. He tailors the ceremony to be exactly what you want, allowing you to be as involved in deciding every detail or making it easy for you by providing some...
templates for inspiration. During the rehearsal and ceremony, his calming presence and guidance melted away any anxiety we had on what to do.
Amanda K
5.0
1/25/2024
John was so great to work with! From the minute we started speaking with him we knew we were in the best hands. He was so knowledgeable in helping us write the best ceremony for ou...
r big day. He was so helpful during the rehearsal and the day- of as well. John is a true professional, we are so grateful to have had him be a part of our wedding day. Our guests all complimented how perfect our ceremony was.
Hayley G
5.0
1/03/2024
Chase was so wonderful to work with! My husband and I are not super religious, and we were concerned about how genuine the ceremony could feel without those common religious aspect...
s. Chase was super reassuring and made the ceremony feel intimate and full of love. He was so personable from the moment he came to our rehearsal and made us instantly feel like we had known him for years. I would HIGHLY recommend his services. He also sent out a ton of helpful information regarding actually obtaining our marriage license and the name change process. Most importantly, he knew to step out of the way for our big kiss lol :)
Michelle H
5.0
12/18/2023
Chase officiated our wedding in October and we couldn’t be happier that we went with him! He was incredibly professional and communicative throughout the whole planning process. He...
made planning our ceremony super easy by sending us some templates to use as a starting point and was flexible with any changes we wanted to make.
He made sure our rehearsal and ceremony ran smoothly and was so helpful in making sure everyone knew their cues and where to stand so we’d have the best photos. We got so many compliments on how well-spoken he was after our wedding and how touching the ceremony was. I would 100% recommend Chase to anyone planning their wedding!
Kelly G
5.0
11/03/2023
Chase is amazing! We had such a wonderful experience. He was so easy to work with, professional and honestly felt like we were working with one of our friends. We were able to cust...
omize our ceremony and he made the day of our wedding absolutely perfect! We highly recommend Chase!
Jessica W
5.0
10/31/2023
Chase was so professional, kind, and truly an asset to our special day. We couldn’t have done it without him. We are so thankful! He is great with his words, knows exactly what he’...
s doing, and is able to help walk you throughout the entire process. You will not regret booking chase. He was fantastic! 5 stars!
Teal R
5.0
10/31/2023
Chase was the preferred officiant to use at our wedding venue, so we booked him and I am so happy we did! He absolutely exceeded our expectations. My husband and I were so nervous ...
for the actual ceremony and he walked us through the little details at our rehearsal which made such a difference the day of. He was also very accommodating of our wishes as my husband and I did not want to speak a bunch outside of saying “I do.” He tailored the ceremony to fit our needs and made it so beautiful and seamless. I would recommend him to anyone looking for an officiant! Could not have been happier!
Audrey A
5.0
10/28/2023
Brittany McClaskey from Columbus Wedding Officiants was absolutely fantastic! My Wife and I specifically wanted a non-religious officiant and we couldn't have chosen better. Britta...
ny helped guide us through what our ceremony could look like and gave us lots of options on how to structure it. She took our suggestions and weaved them together as well as adding custom language to include a special part of the ceremony that included bourbon. Brittany even helped my wife and I review the vows we wrote ourselves. She went above and beyond.
Amanda B
5.0
10/15/2023
He knows his stuff!
Ashley L
5.0
8/31/2023
Chase was so kind and easy to work with. His ceremony suggestions were spot on. He ran our rehearsal smoothly, the ceremony went perfectly, and he was very helpful in dealing with ...
submitting our paperwork to the probate court after the ceremony. I would highly recommend Chase as an officient.
Hannah A
5.0
8/28/2023
I’m so glad we had Chase as our wedding officiant. He made the entire process a breeze! He was very responsive, provided tips and reminders for getting our marriage certificate alo...
ng with tips for my name change after the ceremony and kept our rehearsal organized! He also provided so many options for the ceremony and was very flexible with any requests we had. I would definitely recommend!!
Nichole Y
5.0
8/15/2023
Chase did an AMAZING job officiating our wedding at Four Seasons Barn. He was so accommodating and flexible! We were able to choose exactly what we wanted. He was quick to respond ...
to any questions we had throughout the whole process. He was so kind and gave us several tips for our big day so our pictures would look nice!! We highly recommend him!
Brie L
5.0
7/13/2023
Chase was an awesome officiant for our June wedding! He was super easy to work with, communicative, and professional. He gave us a ton of information on when to get our marriage li...
cense that made it so easy, and information and tips on how to change my name afterwards! It was super easy to work with him to develop our ceremony script and he did an amazing job with the ceremony. Price was super reasonable as well. I would highly recommend working with Chase for your wedding!
Kassidy L
5.0
7/10/2023
John was an amazing officiant for our recent wedding! He was so knowledgeable and answered all of our questions and concerns that we had. He made sure that we felt comfortable with...
the script he was going to read for our ceremony and let me adjust things as needed. He even gave me a lot of helpful resources about how to go about changing my name. He spoke very clearly when reading during our ceremony and our guests loved how sharp he dressed! He even sent email reminders before and after the wedding on things we needed to. Overall I highly recommend having John officiate your wedding ceremony/rehearsal he was very professional, kind, and knowledgeable throughout the entire process.
Service area & Contact info
Greater Columbus area
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Columbus Wedding Officiants
Chase Waits
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