What Happens at a Courthouse Wedding: Step by Step, What to Bring, How Long It Takes

A courthouse wedding is the simplest legal wedding there is, and it still confuses people because nobody explains the mechanics. There is no aisle, no rehearsal, and usually no music. You show up with ID, sign some forms, stand in front of a judge or a clerk for about five minutes, and walk out married. This guide walks through the whole thing in order, from the day you apply to the day the certificate shows up, using what the courts in our directory actually publish about their own process.

The short version

1. Both of you go to the county clerk (or recorder, or probate court, depending on the state) and apply for a marriage license. Bring photo ID and the fee.
2. Wait out your state's waiting period, if it has one. Many states have none.
3. Book or walk into a civil ceremony at the courthouse. A judge, magistrate, justice of the peace, or deputy clerk performs it.
4. You, the officiant, and any required witnesses sign the license.
5. The court files the signed license, and you order a certified copy of the marriage certificate for name changes, insurance, and immigration.

Steps 1 and 3 can happen the same day in states with no waiting period. They can also be weeks apart. The license is usually good for 30 to 90 days, so there is no rush once you have it.

Step 1: the marriage license

The license is the legal permission to marry. It is issued by a county office, and the name of that office changes by state: county clerk in most places, recorder in parts of California and Missouri, probate court in Georgia and Ohio, register of deeds in some of the Carolinas, city clerk in New York City. The office that issues licenses is not always the office that performs ceremonies, which matters for step 3.

What you bring. Nearly every county wants both partners in person with a current government photo ID (driver's license, passport, state ID, military ID). Many also ask for your Social Security number, which you can usually just state rather than prove. If either of you has been married before, some counties want the date the last marriage ended and a few want a certified copy of the divorce decree or death certificate. Check the county's page before you go, because the counties that require the decree will send you home without it.

What it costs. License fees in the counties behind our 40 metros run from about $20 to $120. Illinois counties are typically $60 to $75. Texas is $82 unless you complete the state's premarital course, which knocks $60 off. Florida is $86 for residents without the course, $61 with it. New York City is $35. Some counties discount for residents or for couples who completed premarital counseling, and a growing number take cards, but a few counters are still cash or money order only.

How long it takes. Fifteen to forty-five minutes at the counter, longer if the office is busy or you did not pre-fill the online application. Most large counties now let you start the application online and finish in person, which is worth doing.

Step 2: the waiting period

Some states make you wait between getting the license and using it. The waiting period is set by state law, not by the county, and it ranges from nothing to three days. Indiana, Missouri, Colorado, Arizona, Georgia, Tennessee, Nevada, Ohio, California, Utah, and North Carolina have no wait. Illinois makes the license effective the next day. New York and Louisiana wait 24 hours. Texas is 72 hours. Wisconsin, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Washington, Michigan, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Florida (for residents) are three days. Most waiting-period states let a judge waive it, and a few let the clerk do it for a small fee. Our same-day courthouse wedding guide has the state-by-state detail and what a waiver costs.

Step 3: the ceremony

This is the part people picture, and it is shorter than they expect. A civil ceremony at a courthouse runs three to ten minutes. The officiant confirms who you are, asks each of you whether you take the other as your spouse, may invite you to exchange rings or short vows if you brought them, and pronounces you married. There is no religious content. Some judges add a few warm sentences of their own; some read the statutory minimum and hand you the pen.

Who performs it. It depends on the county. In Texas it is usually a justice of the peace, and each JP precinct sets its own fee and schedule. In Georgia it is a probate judge. In much of the Midwest a deputy clerk is deputized to perform ceremonies right at the license counter. In Nevada the Clark County Marriage License Bureau issues the license and a separate Commissioner of Civil Marriages performs the ceremony a few blocks away. Some courts have stopped performing ceremonies entirely: Milwaukee County suspended courthouse ceremonies, and the clerks around Nashville no longer perform them, so in those places you get the license at the courthouse and marry somewhere else.

Walk-in or appointment. Both exist, and you must find out which your court does. Larger courts (Cook County, Harris County, Maricopa County, New York City) run on appointments booked online, sometimes weeks out. Smaller courts and many Texas JPs take walk-ins during set hours, often two or three mornings a week. The court's own page or a phone call settles it in two minutes, and it is the single most important thing to check.

What it costs. The ceremony fee is separate from the license fee, and it is the number that varies most. Across the 105 courthouse and civil-ceremony listings in this directory, published ceremony fees run from free to the low hundreds, with a median of about $40. Several probate courts around Atlanta and the St. Louis city court perform ceremonies at no charge. New York City charges $25. Most clerk offices sit between $10 and $75. Texas justices of the peace and some big-city courts run $100 to $300. The table at the bottom of this page lists every court we cover with its published fee and a link to the source.

Where it happens. Usually a small ceremony room, a judge's chambers, or a designated spot in the clerk's office. A handful of courts have a proper little chapel. Do not expect decoration; some rooms are pleasant, some are a conference table under fluorescent light. If the room matters to you, search the court's name plus "wedding" for photos other couples have posted, or ask when you book.

Witnesses

Witness rules are set by state. Several states require none at all (Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Colorado, Texas, Tennessee, Florida among them). New York requires one. Most of the rest require two adults who watch the ceremony and sign the license. Where witnesses are required, not every court will supply one. Some clerks will grab a coworker; some explicitly say bring your own. If you are eloping without guests, call ahead and ask, because being turned away for lack of a witness is the most common way a courthouse wedding fails on the day.

Who else can come

Almost every court allows a few guests, and the number is usually the size of the room. Published caps in our listings run from two guests up to about thirty, with ten to fifteen being typical. Children are welcome nearly everywhere. Photography is generally allowed but flash and video may not be, and some judges ask that phones stay away during the vows. If you want a photographer, a short courthouse elopement session is a standard product most local photographers sell for an hour or two.

What to wear and what to bring on ceremony day

• Your marriage license. If the clerk gave you the physical license to bring back, forgetting it ends the day. Some counties keep it and have it waiting.
• Photo ID for both of you, again.
• Your witnesses, if your state requires them, with their own photo ID.
• The ceremony fee in a form the court accepts. Check whether it is cash only.
• Rings if you want to exchange them. Optional everywhere.
• Anything you want to say. Most officiants will let you read short vows if you ask beforehand.

Dress is whatever you like. Couples show up in full wedding attire, in jeans, and in everything between, and courts do not care. Security screening at the courthouse door is the one practical constraint: leave the pocket knife at home and allow ten extra minutes for the metal detector.

Step 4: after the ceremony

The officiant signs the license and either files it with the county or hands it back for you to return. Once it is filed, the marriage is legally recorded. What you leave the courthouse with on the day is often just a decorative certificate or a receipt, not the legal document.

The document you will actually need is a certified copy of the marriage certificate, issued by the county after the license is recorded. It costs $10 to $30 per copy and can take a few days to a few weeks. Order two or three: the Social Security Administration, the DMV, your employer's benefits office, and any immigration filing will each want one, and some keep it.

A realistic timeline

In a no-wait state with a walk-in court, a courthouse wedding is one visit of about an hour. In a state with a three-day wait and an appointment-only court, it is two visits about a week apart, plus a few weeks for the certified copy to arrive. Either way the legal total is usually under $200, and often under $100, which is why it is the foundation of nearly every wedding under $5,000: get married at the courthouse for the price of a nice dinner, then spend the real money on the party. Our courthouse ceremonies directory lists every court we have verified, by metro, and our courthouse wedding cost guide covers the money side in detail.