We thought it would be nice to hear from a recent bride today, so here is some great advice from Kath about satisfying the legal marriage requirements in your state:
“Avoid surprises and look up the legal requirements for marriages and civil unions in the state you’re marrying a few months before the wedding is scheduled to take place. Because nothing is ever simple, residents and non-residents abide by a different set of rules in some states. But in all cases, marriage licenses are obtained in the office of the county or city clerk. The people who hand out the licenses? They’re either unfailingly cheerful because they love seeing people in love make a commitment or unfailingly grouchy because they’ve had to deal with way too many starry-eyed lovebirds.
After you file your application, your friendly (or not so friendly) clerk may tell you that you’ll have to come back in one day, two days, or if you’re in Wisconsin, five whole days. Whether this applies to locals, people from elsewhere, or both is up to the state. Residents may be able to take a marriage preparation course that eliminates the waiting period, and both groups may be eligible to pay a lower licensing fee after sitting through secular or religious prep courses. Age limits and ID requirements vary by state. That blood test nonsense you hear about in old movies? The practice has been abolished in all but a handful of states. Find out if yours is among them at Marriage.about.com/cs/marriagelicenses/a/bloodtest.htm. Then visit USmarriagelaws.com to find out what you’ll need to bring to the county clerk’s office.
But watch out—legal requirements for marriage can change and may differ slightly by county. When in doubt, give the clerk a call (many of the city and county office numbers are listed in the previous link—a quick Google search for ‘marriage’ and the county you’re marrying in should net you the rest) and find out how they prefer weddings in their locality to be kicked off. In most states, you can get married immediately after receiving the license, and there may even be qualified officiants on site so you don’t have to wait for more than a few quick breaths to be joined in holy matrimony.”
Wow, thanks, Kath! That’s probably more than you wanted to know about legal requirements for marriage, but it’s nice to be sure you’re legally wed!
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