How to Get Legally Married in the United States (It's Pretty Easy!)

How to Get Legally Married in the United States (It's Pretty Easy!). I discuss the process of becoming legally married for California. It should be similar for other states, but check with your local state and county for specific guidelines.
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I'm a wedding film photographer based in San Diego, serving worldwide. My passion is educating couples on all things related to wedding photography, including plans you might not think impact photos but do! My work has been published on Style Me Pretty, Magnolia Rouge, Wedding Sparrow, Martha Stewart Weddings, Ruffled, and more!
Music: Joakim Karud, Bensound

[@astrea79]

It amazes me how many people overlook this very important detail! My spouse and I got legally married at our local courthouse last October because of COVID and will have a larger celebration hopefully later this fall (2021). It just made sense to get the legal part done while the courts were open and able to accommodate us. We didn't get dressed up and none of our family was there but it wasn't sad at all. We were just happy to be able to get it legal and done.

[@cavinelizabeth]

I think a lot of couples ended up doing this! I photographed one of my couples who did this and will have a larger wedding this July ;)

[@mirandahughes]

Thank you for taking the time to do this video!!! I have never been married before and I love how you broke this down to make it easier to understand.

[@cavinelizabeth]

You are so welcome!

[@madisenkahlee]

I think it's worth noting that some states have a waiting period between the marriage license and certificate. California doesn't have one, and where I was married in New Hampshire there isn't one. But certain states may have varying times that you must wait between obtaining the license and certificate, meaning you can't do it all in one day.

[@cavinelizabeth]

Good to know!

[@pewpewbang9009]

In Philadelphia they have a 3-day period after getting the license and 60 days for the ceremony.

[@Marie_Garwood]

Such useful information! Cavin, you’re the best!

[@cavinelizabeth]

Thank you!!

[@amystronstad8273]

I always find stuff like this so interesting! Its slightly different in England. There are 3/4 types of ceremonies. You can have a religious ceremony, a civil ceremony, or a celebrant ceremony. Only a civil and religious ceremony are legally binding and the celebrant ceremony would require the couple to be married with two witnesses in the registry office. For legally binding civil marriages outside of the registry office there are set rules of where you're allowed to get married (one rule being that the location has to have a roof!) And you can only be married by a registrar (it cant be done by your friend, nor do you select the registrar - its just whoever shows up on the day). Similar to a licence, we have to give notice but this must be done at least 30 days before the ceremony regardless of where (this is all for non-religious) but can be done up to a year before

[@cavinelizabeth]

Woah, so many options and rules!

[@amystronstad8273]

@@cavinelizabeth I wish they didn't have the approved venue rule though! Being able to marry anywhere would be helpful, especially in todays climate

[@jadedixon3641]

A couple of other things about the confidential marriage license in California, you already have to be living together to get one, and there are no witnesses required. Since I find marriage vows to be an absolutely personal thing for me to be saying to the person I'm marrying, the fewer witnesses, the better. That's why we're going with the confidential marriage license. The officiant is one person too many, but I can't get around that. Although I have heard that Colorado allows you to self-solomize your marriage, but I think you have to be a Colorado resident to do that. It would be so nice to just go get a marriage license, walk outside, both parties sign it, walk back in and hand to them and get your certificate in the mail. If I had that option, that's exactly what I'd do. Almost makes me wish I lived in Colorado, lol!

[@victoriae6311]

Thank you for making this video! I appreciate how clear and succinct you were! Would you advise getting multiple copies of your marriage certificate? Or is a scanned copy sufficient for the purposes your mentioned (insurance, name change)?

[@astrea79]

Its a good idea to get a couple of certified copies just to have on hand. You never know when you may need it and its less of bother if you already have copies. I got two copies but my officiant recommended five.

[@victoriae6311]

@@astrea79 Great, thank you for the tip!!

[@TheEarthRealm]

I want to get married exactly like you did. 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

[@delenngerald4430]

Thanks so much for this infos. In France you have to get married by an official (the mayor or one of his coworkers) at the townhall, it's a process because the union is announced for a few weeks in order to make sure it is valid. If you want to have a religious ceremony you also need to be legally married beforehand.

[@cavinelizabeth]

Very interesting!

[@aaronolsen3985]

This was super helpful! Thank you!

[@cavinelizabeth]

You're so welcome!

[@lindacarrasco7679]

Where do you get your marriage certificate? Or you get it by the court/ place of worship ??

[@cavinelizabeth]

Courthouse!

[@andreafoxx925]

can i get marry at courthouse n have wedding too?along my marriage licnse

[@loarmesl69]

👌🏼 Thank you so much! God bless you and your family! 🙏🏼 😊

[@breezeryan2709]

hello, thanks for sharing this tips 😁

[@cavinelizabeth]

You're welcome!

[@allisonlee4080]

Very helpful thank you so much!!

[@cavinelizabeth]

You're welcome!

[@ekalbach999]

Great information! Question: if we’re getting married in a different state than where we live, does the license and certificate and everything have to be from the state we’re getting married in or the one where we live?

[@cavinelizabeth]

The license does need to be obtained in the state where you're getting married. You'll need to check with that state to see if there are any waiting periods after getting the license to the time you have the ceremony.

[@ekalbach999]

@@cavinelizabeth Awesome, thanks for your help!!!

[@dorisliu8150]

Question about informing your guests about you being legally married. Do we have to tell our guests that we are legally married on our invitation or website? I heard some people will get upset or not attend the wedding if they know the couple is married before the big wedding...

[@cavinelizabeth]

absolutely not - it's your business!

[@andreafoxx925]

never been marry yet but will be tho. can u have two wedding one in califorina and other oklahoma out states??

[@cavinelizabeth]

You can have as many weddings (as in parties with ceremonies) as you want. You just need to be legally married with a marriage license in ONE state and have a ceremony within a certain amount of days (I think within that same state where the license comes from - which could just be a courthouse quick logistical thing, but that was not clear). The 2nd wedding would not need a license or an official ordained officiant!

[@VioletEmerald]

I'm working on starting my own business as a sexual celebrant, a nonreligious officiant who isn't a judge, and realized it's not legal in Maryland to marry people without being a religious official but there are ways to cheat the system and legally marry people while an atheist who's nonreligious by being ordained by the Universal Life Church or The Humanist Society. Those both count as religions enough even though it's basically cheating the frustrating system that privileges religious people over those who are nonreligious people.

[@mohamed197571]

hello and how are you my dear ? did you found what you looking for ? and is this your photo ?

[@SJ-qq6xu]

Do you also make an appointment with the court house to get informally married ?

[@cavinelizabeth]

Usually yes, or sometimes you can show up and "take a number" but if appointments can be made I highly recommend them - especially in larger cities.

[@SJ-qq6xu]

@@cavinelizabeth thank you for the info !

[@steveflatbush]

It sounds like just a normal marriage process. What about a Visa for the person from out of country that I would be getting married to? And is your husband from out of country? I'm curious how that works. Great video. Thanks for posting.

[@cavinelizabeth]

That's definitely a more complicated legal process! Here's a quick resource: www.boundless.com/immigration-resources/marry-non-u-s-citizen/#:~:text=You%20will%20need%20to%20file,arrive%20in%20the%20United%20States.

[@dannyd9324]

i’m from the US (CA) and my boyfriend from sweden is visiting. we just want to get legally married not worried about green card yet. is it any different that you know of? i’ve tried googling but i’m so confused if it’s different or not

[@cavinelizabeth]

I'm not sure - I would ask your local courthouse's marriage license department or immigration office.

[@AbbAsi1773]

Hi, did you find any answer to your question

[@itzelavalos4720]

Can you get married in the court house first then have your weeding 1 yr later and still have a ceremony ?

[@cavinelizabeth]

Yes, but you'd have to have a quick ceremony at the courthouse when you get your license to make you officially legally married as your ceremony a year later would very likely be too far after the marriage license at the court house to count as the official ceremony. But absolutely, yes! So just do a quick, casual, legal marriage at court house, then a ceremony/reception a year later at which you would not need to deal with a license at all!

[@andreafoxx6021]

​@@cavinelizabeththat what I plan do with my future husband n boyfriend who be my fiance be wed at court house n then real wedding

[@JB-cm2vp]

Lol yeah it seems alot easier just to go down and do it and then have an actual wedding fun day later on. I think it would be cool to do it and then have an "wedding" on the 1 yr anniversary

[@cavinelizabeth]

Definitely a relaxed plan!

[@franklinwill22]

Weddings/marriage is easy but relationships are hard. And for men divorce is completely destroying.

[@cavinelizabeth]

Divorce is awful for anyone.

[@franklinwill22]

@@cavinelizabeth sure let you tell it.....at this point the cat is out the bag with who files for divorce the most and how family court leans towards one side. Refute the numbers.

[@David-ul4l]

Divorce for men with a license is cruel: cf. Marriage Licenses, Divorce Courts: Let My People Go: Forbidding to Marry & Buy/Sell Parts 1-5