I get many calls each month from couples who want to bypass a wedding ceremony and just be married. I also get calls from couples who didn’t know that in order for them to be married legally they need to be issued a marriage license. I also talk to couples who say that they don’t want to have a confidential marriage license because that means they wouldn’t be married legally. I’m posting this wedding information to put an end to erroneous assumptions such as these.
Here it is in a nutshell:
- You must first obtain a marriage license to get married which issued through the County Recorder’s office. I can supply that for you so that you don’t have to spend half your workday navigating through the system.
- You must have your marriage solemnized by an authorized wedding officiant. That’s a fancy way of saying that you have to have a wedding ceremony. I can also perform your wedding ceremony for you. Now some people aren’t the big wedding ceremony types and I can make the wedding ceremony as big or little as you want. I have often married people in restaurant booths, coffee houses and their houses. Your ceremony can be as long or short as you wish as long as I cover a couple of basic wedding laws.
- Your officiant must file the signed and filled out marriage license after your wedding ceremony. And it must be correctly filled out or the county will probably reject it. I’m an attorney, so paperwork is second nature to me and knowing that the mail systems can be unreliable and slow, I hand deliver all of my marriage licenses to the County Clerk’s office.
- The California Confidential Marriage License, the one that I am authorized by Los Angeles County to issue, is completely legal. If I were getting married today (and I won’t because I am happily married) I would get this type of marriage license. Why? Because of identity theft and telemarketers. The other type of marriage license is a Public marriage License, as in THE PUBLIC can see all the information that you list on it including your birthdate, your parent’s names, and your residence address. Take a look at my marriage license page and tell me if you want the world to know this about you.
Hopefully this wedding info will help set many couples straight about California wedding laws. Just give me a call and I can make it all very easy for you.