Determine Local Marriage License Requirements
Check Local Requirements
5 Months Before the Wedding
To make it official, you need to find out the rules for having a legal marriage in your state. This is most certainly a formality, but a rather important one at that. You will be glad later when you take the time to find out what the marriage license requirements are well in advance at this stage of the wedding planning process. Some states have more stringent requirements than others, and some require more time that you might think. So being the organized bride that you are, this is a great time to look into what requirements you have to fulfill.
Some states require that you go as a couple to the city in which you are getting married to apply for it. This will require signatures from both of you and can usually only happen within a week of the wedding itself. As most city offices are only open during regular business hours, this may require both of you to take a bit of time off of work so be sure that you know this and plan accordingly. It’s also important to understand the time constraints which you are working under, because if you need to apply for the license within a month or week of the wedding, this can be a detail that gets lost in the shuffle. Be sure to mark the date on your calendar as to when you will go take care of any necessary paperwork so that it gets incorporated into your busy schedule.
Some states require that you take a HIV test, and this new requirement can require some timing built in. It’s especially important to understand what timing you are dealing with so that you can work within the parameters and ensure that nothing gets delayed. You can visit the city offices in which you are getting married to talk to a clerk first hand, place a call, or visit their website if they have one to be sure you understand each and every requirement. Your marriage license will then need to be picked up and delivered to the Church or synagogue the day of. Be sure not only to build time in to go pick up the marriage license, but also to assign somebody to bring this with them on the big day. You surely won’t want to concern yourself with this detail the day of, so entrust somebody that you can rely on such as the best man.
