You don't need a priest for a wedding. In the Latin rite, a couple marries themselves. In the medieval times, the church allowed couples to marry in secret with

You don't need a priest for a wedding. In the Latin rite, a couple marries themselves. In the medieval times, the church allowed couples to marry in secret without a priest (and without any witnesses). The only sacramental requirement for a marriage is a man and woman make a solemn commitment to live together as husband and wife with full understanding and full freedom to enter into the agreement. However as you can imagine this became an administrative nightmare as couples sought to divorce after such a secret marriage and no one could say whether the marriage was valid. So the church required marriage vows to be made public and in front of witnesses in order to be legal. However, the couple is the minister not the priest. During a Catholic marriage, the couple is seated on the sanctuary along with the priest . One of the few times laypeople can do that.