Don't forget your Marriage License

When we booked our officiant he gave us a pamphlet with the ceremony choices and really big it said "NO LICENSE, NO WEDDING, NO KIDDING!"

When I talked to him a few days before the wedding he also asked me if we had the license. I am surprised your receptionist is going today and can pick it up tomorrow because in NJ there is a 72 waiting period from when you apply to when you can pick it up.

In SC, it's only a 24 hour waiting period and no SS card or birth certificate needed - just a drivers license. Her FS lost his SSC and his BC so she was then even more worried. She has been so calm about everything lately so I was kind of glad to see her react this way about something (anything). And very glad she caught it before tomorrow.

She is very lucky!!

Got our yesterday!!!!! Yay!

The length of the waiting period--and how easy it is to get around it--vary tremendously from one state to another. Many states have no waiting period at all. South Carolina (where the OP lives) has a 24 hour waiting period. Wisconsin has a six day waiting period. In Delaware, it is 96 hours if both of you are nonresidents, but only 24 if either or both of you is a resident. In Louisiana, by contrast, the waiting period is normally 72 hours, but is waived for out-of-state couples who get married in New Orleans. And then there is Massachusetts, which theoretically has a three-day waiting period, but in which a waiver of the waiting period is very easy to get.

Our officiant is notarized (sp?) so it will be very easy for us :-)

Jennifer, do you have your marriage certificate yet?

Jennifer - you still need a marriage license in order for the notary to notarize it and make it legal.

Jennifer....your officiant cannot get the marriage certificate for you. So it doesn't matter if your officiant is notarized or not because they cannot do anything but sign the certificate at the ceremony. You and your FS have to go and apply in person and bring a valid form of ID. And in most states you have to bring a witness too.

We're getting married in Virginia, which is easy-peasy. Heck, they'd even let us get married if we were first cousins!

Shannon....I found out when getting my marriage license that it is legal for first cousins to marry in NJ. They ask you in the process if you are related and me and DS looked at her like she was crazy. That is when she told us that cousins can legally get married!

Which you are NOT, right Shannon??? LOL

No I don't have it yet. I'll look into that. My sister used the same officiant and I'm pretty sure the officiant did everything for her.

If I remember correctly the officiant is charging us the licensing fee which you would normally pay to the county clerk so I don't know what the point of them being "notarized" is if you're saying they can't do the license for me and can only sign it?

No, I'm not marrying my cousin. He's my parole officer.

The website for the officiant we booked states this about the license:

http://anytimeweddingchapel.com/license.html

I was amazed that they didn't even ask us for our IDs

In California, or at least in my county, we can get the license 90 days before the wedding, so I'm going to make sure I get it out of the way before everything gets too hectic =0P

@Jennifer. Wow, that is a lot of a marriage license. We paid $28! I am surprised that the officiant can get the marriage license for you. I would just double check with the town that you live in. In NJ you have to get your license in the town that the bride resides in and you have to go in person with a witness. Maybe California is different.

Whew! thankfully GA is a no wait state!