After all the food has been eaten, the dancing been danced, and you and your hubby are final able to sit down and take a deep breath, it will be nice to know that you are legally husband and wife. Seems easy, right? Wrong. I have been schooled recently on the art of getting a marriage license and it can be a slippery slope. The reason? Each state differs on the rules of who can legally officiate your ceremony, and pronounce you man and wife.
We had originally wanted a close friend to preside over our ceremony, until the state of Florida put a crimp in our plans. It turns out that the state won't honor a marriage that is officiated by someone who becomes a Reverend via an online church, which is what we were going to do. Our next thought was to have our friend become a notary for the day, but in Florida, you have to be a citizen of the state. What does this mean for us? A change of plans, which we are okay with, but I thought it important information to pass along.
The bottom line is don't assume that anyone can marry you. Make sure and check with the laws of your state, more specifically the county in which you are planning on obtaining your marriage license. For those who are planning an Amelia Island wedding, this is the website for Duval County.
We're totally going to have a friend get 'ordained' online so he can officiate our wedding. I think it will be so much more personal... and hilarious! To make sure it's legal, we're doing the JP thing at City Hall first. We're just not telling the friend about that part... or any of the guests. ;-)
Posted by: miss purple | June 25, 2008 at 12:50 PM