Photo by Irene Davis
Neat Facts for Obtaining Your Marriage License and Certificate
-I am ordained and licensed to officiate ceremonies in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
-You have a 60 day window before your ceremony to get your marriage license and certificate.
-You can obtain your marriage license and certificate from any courthouse in the Commonwealth of Virginia. If you live out of state but plan on getting married in Virginia, you’ll need to get a marriage license in Virginia.
-The minimum age for getting married in Virginia is 18 unless you’ve been emancipated by court order. Both parties must be present in order to obtain a marriage license. You’ll need a photo ID as proof of identity along with your social security number or Virginia DMV number. No blood tests or witnesses are required and you do not need to sign anything at the ceremony. If you want to marry your cousin, you can do that in Virginia, but you can’t marry your sister.
-The fee for the license is $30.00 paid to the courthouse. Cash, Checks, Money Order and MasterCard or Visa are acceptable in most cases.
-The fee for certified copies of the marriage certificate is $2.50 each paid to the courthouse. You’ll need copies of the marriage license to take to the Social Security Office and DMV if you are changing your last name.
-Once you get your marriage license, bring it with you to the ceremony. I’ll collect it from you or your coordinator before the ceremony and sign the bottom of both copies, then mail those in to the courthouse. If you have a certificate, I’ll sign the bottom of that and let you have someone with nice handwriting fill out the rest. The certificate is a keep-sake, having no legal authority.
Changing Your Name and Getting a New License
social security administration
Check out this page from the Social Security Administration to see the process for changing your name.
Here’s the form to fill out for a name change.
dmv
Information on changing your name with DMV.