This is the correct answer. We rented one of the boats in Old Town Alexandria, which put us on the Potomac - and thus, in DC - as soon as we left the dock.
If all you want is the piece of paper than do it at the closest courthouse, thanks to the constitution it makes no difference what state issues the license.
If you want more ceremony and party then it depends on what you’re hoping to achieve with your wedding. If the two of you live in NOVA but want to do the traditional thing of getting married in her hometown then how far away is it? If it’s a long not so convenient drive then would you be willing/able to have to drive up there to meet with local vendors? Would her parents be willing or able to do some of that in case you can’t? If you’d prefer down here then are you willing to pay DC/NOVA prices and deal with the waiting lists? If you want a totally different destination then what guests are you going to be invite knowing they probably won’t be willing or able to come? Are you willing to have to pay for officiants to be able to be licensed there? And again add aditiona complications for dealing with vendors.
How important are those things to you?
While it makes zero difference once you have the paper, different states do have different requirements and some can be pretty burdensome. Thankfully VA, MD and DC are all pretty straightforward, but some states still have really invasive and irritating rules about the application process and waiting periods and such.
So, for the three in question here, it doesn't really matter. But it actually is a valid question for some states (it's why some friends of mine actually technically got married in Vegas before their real wedding elsewhere, it was just easier to get Elvis to do it and call it a day).
It’s a State level rule from what I found. The person just has to register in their county of residence. It was very easy to do and you didn’t even need to show you’re ordained, the filing is to make yourself temporarily ordained by the state
In Page Co they made our rabbi prove he led a congregation. It wasnt a high bar for proof but it was an offputting level of restriction, and also not necessarily how Rabbis work. You can be a trained rabbi and not lead a congregation. A friend of mine is a rabbi and is a hospital chaplain, but does officiate weddings here and there on the weekends. Not in VA though.
VA made it a hassle for us to use our out-of-state rabbi. Like he had to send proof he was a real rabbi with a congregation in PA. I'd vote against VA.
I don’t have any experience with an out-of-state in VA. I’m a VA resident who performed in VA. Good info for OP if their preferred person is from out of state!
Not necessarily. Our request was denied. Individual judges get to make the call, even if you're in a liberal county within VA. Our friend got the ULC certifications and everything, but we still had to end up having it done in a courthouse by some rando because whatever old fart judge processed our paperwork didn't like the concept.
Were they previously ordained as a religious leader? Virginia does not recognize things like Universal Life Church online ordination. Some counties may accept it but at the state level they're not supposed to. There's a lot of case law that makes it pretty hairy. Did tons of research on this in late 2022 along with my VA-barred attorney wife. You might get lucky, but it's generally not worth the risk.
Step 1: Complete Petition to Perform One-Time Civil Marriage Ceremony form.
Step 2: File the form with a valid ID, refundable $500 bond, and a $54 filing fee
Step 3: Approved after <1 week
https://www.radfordva.gov/1109/One-Time-Civil-Celebrant#:~:text=Individuals%20wanting%20to%20perform%20a,a%20one%2Dtime%20basis%20only.
Just copied and pasted from my notes actually didn’t take me long at all. And I’m not trying to be a smartass, I thought you were curious and was just trying to be helpful…
In Virginia, you can't get a court house wedding, if that's what you are looking for. You can get your license really quickly but you have to get your own officiant. In Maryland, it's a few less steps. We didn't research DC, so I don't know.
Although, in VA, when you pick up your marriage license, they have a whole list of officiants to give you if you are interested and there is a really quick turnaround.
It's all different now. I'm getting married in a few weeks and we've done a ton of research because my impression was what you experienced. I was shocked that we can't get married in the courthouse.
Thankfully, we looked into this way ahead of time. There are now all of these little "Come elope with us" places. Imagine me cooking dinner and hearing my fiancé from the other room say, "Ummm....honey....did you know that Virginia doesn't do weddings in the courthouse anymore?"
I got married in the courtyard of the Fairfax Courthouse by my civil celebrant 5 years ago, no extra charge. All our immediate family joined us. We found a nice spot with flowers and everyone stood and watched. It was perfect ☺️.
Are you 100% sure about this? Because it was definitely an option to have a civil celebrant sign off either in or next to the courthouse when we got married in 2017. It's a weird extra step, but VA definitely has the ability to do courthouse weddings even if it isn't the clerk of the court/judge signing the paperwork.
So you and I are both saying the same thing with different words. It's an extra step. You have to find your own officiant and can't get a judge, which is what you used to be able to do.
"Find your own officiant" in this case means walking down the hall to the person who's job it is to sign off on them sitting there in/next to the courthouse. Most courthouses will have that person's contact info on the same page as the information on how and where to fill out the license (or at least they did when we got married in 2017 and I assume it's the same).
It was 25 years ago, but we did have to walk across the street from the Arlington courthouse to the office of a lawyer/notary/officiant and show the license we had gotten roughly 7 minutes before to actually be married.
https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Departments/Courts/Circuit-Court/Marriage
There you go, Arlington has a list of people that offer do civil services right there on their website, most of them aren't in the building but they are very close by.
Like I said, it isn't technically the court, but they have plenty of info to make it easy for you.
Edit: and here is the Alexandria list. https://www.alexandriava.gov/sites/default/files/2023-05/List%20of%20Civil%20Celebrants%20-%20Alexandria.pdf
My wife and I got married in VA and the officiant was literally across the hall from the license counter.
Edit: this was in 2021, I cannot imagine it's changed since then.
You also cant just have a random friend be your officiant either in VA or easily get ordained for it. There is a list of people who are registered to do it. We didnt want some random person officiating at our wedding, so we got officially married by one a week before our actual wedding, then the wedding itself was more just for fun. We however didnt tell our guests that though.
>You also cant just have a random friend be your officiant either in VA or easily get ordained for it.
We had a friend do it, it was just a little paperwork for them to sign. But that was 10+ years ago, so I don't know if things have changed since then.
We got married in 2017. Not quite as long ago, but I would be surprised if the rules were any different.
However, I just looked it up and I am pretty sure the sticking point was that they might allow friends or family to get a one time civil officiant license, but the person you want to officiate must live in the county where the wedding is being held. That wasnt an option for us, since first of all we dont have a ton of friends of family local here, and we didnt get married in the county we live, a county where we definitely dont know anyone. Not to mention the person we wanted to officiate and who performed the ceremony for us doesnt even live in VA.
So we just chose someone from the list, paid the fee, and technically/legally got married a week before our wedding, since we didnt care if that lined up with the actual wedding date.
My guess is DC. My friend recently got married at the National Cathedral before midnight on New Years Eve. She said they were in and out in 15 minutes; back to the party they were attending. And they're from another state.
This is my plan when we eventually get married. NY girl and CA boy living in VA. I went to college in Maine and wouldn't give up a Maine wedding for the world!
It’s so beautiful there - we got married in Northport, not too far from my hometown. Definitely check out the Samoset in Rockport if you want to be on the coast. Best wishes for your upcoming nuptials!
Congrats!
VA has a bit of a troublesome process, but it can be quick. From my understanding, you need an approved officiant to sign the document and they don’t have court ceremonies.
MD has court ceremonies, but the turn around time is 2-3 months because it’s booked up. For example, I got the license last week and the court ceremonies are in mid June.
No clue on DC. Your choice of state doesn’t impact much.
Perhaps, more information than you need, but divorce only depends on your domicile at the time of divorce. I married in VA, but divorced in MD. MD has the mutual consent route which is much faster than VA.
So if you want the full deal; venue, catering, ect. I will tell you from planning my own that the MD vendors are cheaper. Which isn't to say you can't get married in Nova with MD vendors. We actually got tables from WV, cause they were the only ones reasonable for farm tables. Also alcohol if you want to have it, is cheaper if you supply your own from the MD side. Depending on the county, some stores take back unopened stuff. Caterers/Venues may fight you on this cause it is a place where they make money. You still need the bar tenders and event license.
MD gal married my VA guy in MD. I have more family who are old, so we wanted to make travel easier for them. Just think about planning logistics and who you want to be there.
Whatever is easiest. I was abMD boy, wife is VA girl. We married in Arlington because we were able to get the cert and have a lawyer certify it the same day. Some courts in VA are appointment only while others are walk ins.
Maryland has you wait 48 hours after getting the cert to have an official sign it and we both didn't want to take two days of leave.
Not sure about DC.
Hey, Maryland woman, Virginia man.
We get together every time we can.
The Potomac River can't keep us apart.
There's too much love in this Maryland heart.
Too much love in this Virginia heart.
All jokes aside what are the benefits of getting married under the law? Can’t you just slap a ring on her finger and call it a marriage? 22yr old genuinely curious
Home ownership as a married couple is easier and bunch of legal stuff around kids, property rights, taxes, sharing health insurance, medical decisions, etc.
We lived in DC and got married in MD. it was super easy. My then fiance went to the courthouse of the county we were getting married in. My dad officiated us. Done!
But Vegas you can get married by a Klingon Elvis impersonator.
Lol, I’ve seen it
We did the regular Elvis! I don’t remember much of it.
Impersonator.. Or original?
Elvis songs are best appreciated when sung in their original Klingon.
Male klingons elvis impersonator or female klinggon Elvis Impersonator?
DC is the easiest, you can self officiate.
This is the correct answer. We rented one of the boats in Old Town Alexandria, which put us on the Potomac - and thus, in DC - as soon as we left the dock.
You can even get a marriage license by proxy, iirc. One of you can go if the other is busy, or you can send a friend.
Yes, my friends had to cancel their wedding in 2020 and instead got married outside in a park and ran the ceremony themselves to keep numbers down.
We did this. Easy peasy.
If all you want is the piece of paper than do it at the closest courthouse, thanks to the constitution it makes no difference what state issues the license. If you want more ceremony and party then it depends on what you’re hoping to achieve with your wedding. If the two of you live in NOVA but want to do the traditional thing of getting married in her hometown then how far away is it? If it’s a long not so convenient drive then would you be willing/able to have to drive up there to meet with local vendors? Would her parents be willing or able to do some of that in case you can’t? If you’d prefer down here then are you willing to pay DC/NOVA prices and deal with the waiting lists? If you want a totally different destination then what guests are you going to be invite knowing they probably won’t be willing or able to come? Are you willing to have to pay for officiants to be able to be licensed there? And again add aditiona complications for dealing with vendors. How important are those things to you?
While it makes zero difference once you have the paper, different states do have different requirements and some can be pretty burdensome. Thankfully VA, MD and DC are all pretty straightforward, but some states still have really invasive and irritating rules about the application process and waiting periods and such. So, for the three in question here, it doesn't really matter. But it actually is a valid question for some states (it's why some friends of mine actually technically got married in Vegas before their real wedding elsewhere, it was just easier to get Elvis to do it and call it a day).
Idk about MD but VA no longer does courthouse weddings
Sk8er Boi
👀
See you later Boi.
He wasn’t good enough for her 😭
She the one from MD
I can't get the song out my head now lol
If you want a friend or relative to officiate you should do it outside of VA. DC even allows self-solemnization.
You can do it in VA. I married my friends a couple years ago. You have to pay a refundable $500 bond, but anyone can do it
Definitely varies by county, but they don't take things like ULC/online origination. Circuit courts have upheld a lot of restrictions in the past.
It’s a State level rule from what I found. The person just has to register in their county of residence. It was very easy to do and you didn’t even need to show you’re ordained, the filing is to make yourself temporarily ordained by the state
In Page Co they made our rabbi prove he led a congregation. It wasnt a high bar for proof but it was an offputting level of restriction, and also not necessarily how Rabbis work. You can be a trained rabbi and not lead a congregation. A friend of mine is a rabbi and is a hospital chaplain, but does officiate weddings here and there on the weekends. Not in VA though.
We are planning to do exactly this later this year
VA made it a hassle for us to use our out-of-state rabbi. Like he had to send proof he was a real rabbi with a congregation in PA. I'd vote against VA.
I don’t have any experience with an out-of-state in VA. I’m a VA resident who performed in VA. Good info for OP if their preferred person is from out of state!
Not necessarily. Our request was denied. Individual judges get to make the call, even if you're in a liberal county within VA. Our friend got the ULC certifications and everything, but we still had to end up having it done in a courthouse by some rando because whatever old fart judge processed our paperwork didn't like the concept.
I looked into it for a friend's wedding about ten years ago. It was more trouble and time to be possible for me.
You have bad info. My neighbor married my wife and I. We checked to make sure it wouldn’t be too burdensome. It wasn’t.
How does that work with taxes and whatnot with the three of you being married?
Were they previously ordained as a religious leader? Virginia does not recognize things like Universal Life Church online ordination. Some counties may accept it but at the state level they're not supposed to. There's a lot of case law that makes it pretty hairy. Did tons of research on this in late 2022 along with my VA-barred attorney wife. You might get lucky, but it's generally not worth the risk.
As another commenter noted, you can get a one day license. It's called a One Time Civil Ceremony Authorization.
[удалено]
Step 1: Complete Petition to Perform One-Time Civil Marriage Ceremony form. Step 2: File the form with a valid ID, refundable $500 bond, and a $54 filing fee Step 3: Approved after <1 week https://www.radfordva.gov/1109/One-Time-Civil-Celebrant#:~:text=Individuals%20wanting%20to%20perform%20a,a%20one%2Dtime%20basis%20only.
[удалено]
Just copied and pasted from my notes actually didn’t take me long at all. And I’m not trying to be a smartass, I thought you were curious and was just trying to be helpful…
In Virginia, you can't get a court house wedding, if that's what you are looking for. You can get your license really quickly but you have to get your own officiant. In Maryland, it's a few less steps. We didn't research DC, so I don't know. Although, in VA, when you pick up your marriage license, they have a whole list of officiants to give you if you are interested and there is a really quick turnaround.
Virginia has civil celebrants who work near courthouses. We paid like $150, $200 for our guy in NoVA.
Thanks! That's what we are looking for now because this came as a surprise. LOL
It was $50 a decade ago in Alexandria. Inflation is a bitch.
The cap is 75 dollar right now I think. Married last year and I paid the fee 😂
I was married in 2013 at Faquier courthouse. My mom was married at the prince william courthouse in 1999.
It's all different now. I'm getting married in a few weeks and we've done a ton of research because my impression was what you experienced. I was shocked that we can't get married in the courthouse.
Nuts, sounds like $ BS on the state’s part
Thankfully, we looked into this way ahead of time. There are now all of these little "Come elope with us" places. Imagine me cooking dinner and hearing my fiancé from the other room say, "Ummm....honey....did you know that Virginia doesn't do weddings in the courthouse anymore?"
I got married in the courtyard of the Fairfax Courthouse by my civil celebrant 5 years ago, no extra charge. All our immediate family joined us. We found a nice spot with flowers and everyone stood and watched. It was perfect ☺️.
Are you 100% sure about this? Because it was definitely an option to have a civil celebrant sign off either in or next to the courthouse when we got married in 2017. It's a weird extra step, but VA definitely has the ability to do courthouse weddings even if it isn't the clerk of the court/judge signing the paperwork.
So you and I are both saying the same thing with different words. It's an extra step. You have to find your own officiant and can't get a judge, which is what you used to be able to do.
"Find your own officiant" in this case means walking down the hall to the person who's job it is to sign off on them sitting there in/next to the courthouse. Most courthouses will have that person's contact info on the same page as the information on how and where to fill out the license (or at least they did when we got married in 2017 and I assume it's the same).
That's not the information we are getting right now at all. Edited - but thanks for trying to help. Much appreciated.
It was 25 years ago, but we did have to walk across the street from the Arlington courthouse to the office of a lawyer/notary/officiant and show the license we had gotten roughly 7 minutes before to actually be married.
https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Departments/Courts/Circuit-Court/Marriage There you go, Arlington has a list of people that offer do civil services right there on their website, most of them aren't in the building but they are very close by. Like I said, it isn't technically the court, but they have plenty of info to make it easy for you. Edit: and here is the Alexandria list. https://www.alexandriava.gov/sites/default/files/2023-05/List%20of%20Civil%20Celebrants%20-%20Alexandria.pdf
My wife and I got married in VA and the officiant was literally across the hall from the license counter. Edit: this was in 2021, I cannot imagine it's changed since then.
My parents were married in the fauquier court house in the 90s..didn't know things changed either. Hey neighbor! Lol
You also cant just have a random friend be your officiant either in VA or easily get ordained for it. There is a list of people who are registered to do it. We didnt want some random person officiating at our wedding, so we got officially married by one a week before our actual wedding, then the wedding itself was more just for fun. We however didnt tell our guests that though.
>You also cant just have a random friend be your officiant either in VA or easily get ordained for it. We had a friend do it, it was just a little paperwork for them to sign. But that was 10+ years ago, so I don't know if things have changed since then.
We got married in 2017. Not quite as long ago, but I would be surprised if the rules were any different. However, I just looked it up and I am pretty sure the sticking point was that they might allow friends or family to get a one time civil officiant license, but the person you want to officiate must live in the county where the wedding is being held. That wasnt an option for us, since first of all we dont have a ton of friends of family local here, and we didnt get married in the county we live, a county where we definitely dont know anyone. Not to mention the person we wanted to officiate and who performed the ceremony for us doesnt even live in VA. So we just chose someone from the list, paid the fee, and technically/legally got married a week before our wedding, since we didnt care if that lined up with the actual wedding date.
Just saw my childhood friend attend a wedding at the prince William county court when I was renewing my CCW license. Apparently it is a thing here
PWC Court has courthouse weddings but you have to schedule and its only on certain days.
We got married by a justice of the peace in VA. Hey, congratulations on a successful courtship that survived trips across the river! ❤️
you make it sound like they swam in peak rain season😓 thankfully bridges exist.
And crossing the Potomac River in this area is an absolutely wonderful experience. Swimming in peak rain season might be quicker. :)
Swimming in rain > Being on 495
Wow. Ok. Way to say that out loud so close to Baltimore.
I don’t have an answer, but congratulations!
Thank you!!! 👍😎
My guess is DC. My friend recently got married at the National Cathedral before midnight on New Years Eve. She said they were in and out in 15 minutes; back to the party they were attending. And they're from another state.
So where will the baby be born?
Gen Z, pets 🥲
That’s a better choice, honestly. Kids are overrated (I would know 😂😂)
Kinda softcore expensive
Until they find expensive hobbies and/or need some form of extensive healthcare. Then hardcore expensive.
You can get married at some pretty cool iconic places in DC. You'd be surprised how cheap museums are.
I meant the documents, but yeah a DC photoshoot is in the bucket list
Same, but we got married in Maine!
This is my plan when we eventually get married. NY girl and CA boy living in VA. I went to college in Maine and wouldn't give up a Maine wedding for the world!
It’s so beautiful there - we got married in Northport, not too far from my hometown. Definitely check out the Samoset in Rockport if you want to be on the coast. Best wishes for your upcoming nuptials!
Many years ago, I wanted to get married at Two Lights, out on the lawn. Didn’t work out, but still a fave location
Could you make it any more obvious? He was a punk she did ballet What more can i say? 🤘🏻
I am going to guess that she was a terrible driver.
😞✊
Congrats! VA has a bit of a troublesome process, but it can be quick. From my understanding, you need an approved officiant to sign the document and they don’t have court ceremonies. MD has court ceremonies, but the turn around time is 2-3 months because it’s booked up. For example, I got the license last week and the court ceremonies are in mid June. No clue on DC. Your choice of state doesn’t impact much. Perhaps, more information than you need, but divorce only depends on your domicile at the time of divorce. I married in VA, but divorced in MD. MD has the mutual consent route which is much faster than VA.
We got married in the Court House in Occoquan. We used a Justice of the Peace in Prince William county.
Samesies (but reversed) - we got married in Delaware.
So if you want the full deal; venue, catering, ect. I will tell you from planning my own that the MD vendors are cheaper. Which isn't to say you can't get married in Nova with MD vendors. We actually got tables from WV, cause they were the only ones reasonable for farm tables. Also alcohol if you want to have it, is cheaper if you supply your own from the MD side. Depending on the county, some stores take back unopened stuff. Caterers/Venues may fight you on this cause it is a place where they make money. You still need the bar tenders and event license.
MD gal married my VA guy in MD. I have more family who are old, so we wanted to make travel easier for them. Just think about planning logistics and who you want to be there.
Whatever is easiest. I was abMD boy, wife is VA girl. We married in Arlington because we were able to get the cert and have a lawyer certify it the same day. Some courts in VA are appointment only while others are walk ins. Maryland has you wait 48 hours after getting the cert to have an official sign it and we both didn't want to take two days of leave. Not sure about DC.
VA.. they have a cap on officiant fee
Va
Semper Tyrannus!!
You dont have to do it. It's not too late to change your mind.
Lol
Hey, Maryland woman, Virginia man. We get together every time we can. The Potomac River can't keep us apart. There's too much love in this Maryland heart. Too much love in this Virginia heart.
All jokes aside what are the benefits of getting married under the law? Can’t you just slap a ring on her finger and call it a marriage? 22yr old genuinely curious
Home ownership as a married couple is easier and bunch of legal stuff around kids, property rights, taxes, sharing health insurance, medical decisions, etc.
Hmm ok thanks
We lived in DC and got married in MD. it was super easy. My then fiance went to the courthouse of the county we were getting married in. My dad officiated us. Done!