This is a great option and really feels more intimate than having someone we don’t know tell us things to say to each other. Flag; Hey everyone, My boyfriend and I are getting married in about 2 weeks. I love the ideology, too. dang! "Wisconsin also allows self-uniting marriages, without asking questions, but a form must be signed which states that the government issuing the marriage license cannot guarantee that the marriage will be recognized in all contexts." Like the Quakers. If it helps at all, to the best of my knowledge they’ve always ruled in line with what the couple wanted. I am not a financial professional in any way shape or form. Love that this was an option for us! … In certain States in the US, it is legal to marry yourselves in a “self-solemnizing” ceremony. A 2007 Federal judge ruling that allows Pennsylvania couples a self-uniting marriage without showing proof of membership with a Quaker or Bahai religion. Oh well. Forced marriage. I’ve also known people to skip the ceremonial part, or to have a friend get licensed and offer a very brief ceremony. With the self-uniting marriage the parties act as their own officiants and the witnesses certify by their signature that the marriage was solemnized. Do you think there’s any worry that other states won’t recognize this as a “real” marriage. I always envisioned those types of weddings in a small but nicely decorated office….in a court room sounds beautiful. If memory serves me, the reader who did it used a group that is also national. But I agree: except for certain, very limited circumstances, you're considered married because you say you are. There may be local businesses and municipalities that do. My husband fixed something at his house (installed a new shower head) in exchange for premarital counseling and officiating at the wedding. ” All marriages, to which there are no legal impediments, solemnized before or in any religious organization or congregation according to the established ritual or form commonly practiced therein, are valid.” http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/106.150. That knowledge is cursory, though, and largely learned by living an increasingly large portion of my life in the Quaker State. That saves a ton of money and to mention time. Will be using this information in the future. Another great option. Some judges in PA have ruled that those ordained online count, while others have nullified the marriage. We’re getting married in philly this Sept and want to have my friend do the ceremony. Hi, Stephanie! Marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. Congrats, Jennifer! Hi! One in which the couple are married without the presence of a third-party officiant. I was married by a nondenominational pastor. We bartered for our officiant’s services since we knew him from our church. The test will be that the signature and identification of the witness must be beyond reproach. I know there’s many protestant religions that feel the same way…there’s no man between you and God, but many of them still have clergy that officiate things like this. Allegheny county screwed up royally. Because you’re self-uniting, you’ll be the one responsible for mailing back the signed license (rather than the officiant using it.) Even after the Allegheny county case, we had a reader fight it in another county further to the east. My husband and I took the self uniting license route. Wishing you and your fiance a very happy life together! You must get married and have your marriage license officially recorded within that time. I’m going to update the post. I enjoyed that. If you live near a county other than the one you live in, try giving them a call to see what their fees (and jerk levels) are. Just applied for our self-uniting license in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) without a single problem!! This is so good to know. An exciting day! Have a wonderful Valentine’s, sweet lady! A million congrats! I’ll be adding it to the list tonight. Also, other states won’t even know that you got married through a self-uniting marriage. A self-uniting marriage is one in which a couple are married without the presence of a third-party officiant. There is a spot on the license where they will ask the city and county where the ceremony was held. That’s because the officiant has to be of an established religion that meets regularly. I’m trying to be more Pinterest friendly, though sometimes I fail miserably. Colorado allows self-solemnization without requiring a special form of application or witnesses. What’s the downside of having someone get ordained ?? I’m currently looking up all your wedding posts….loving it! The ACLU filed lawsuits challenging this view in Allegheny, Philadelphia, Bucks, and Montgomery Counties and prevailed in every instance. A Self-Uniting Marriage. In June of 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to same sex marriage [1] between two-consenting adults. My fiance and I wanted to get a self uniting marriage, we live in Jersey and I’m from Philadelphia so we wanted to have it done in Philly. Marriage licenses valid for a set number of days, and there may be a waiting period between when the couple receives the marriage license in Wisconsin and when the ceremony may be legally performed in Wisconsin. Pingback: Frugal Wedding Planning - Self-Uniting Marriage License, Is this Still a real marraige. … "Clergy" do not have to register in WI, so it's pretty easy to have almost anyone do a marriage for you. Your email address will not be published. . Tons of organizations that will do it pro bono. The Wisconsin marriage license is valid for 30 days. Wisconsin is one of only a handful of states that honors self-uniting marriages – those conducted without the presence of a third-party officiant. Thank you for this post, it is very helpful. Due to lack of responses here, I just wanted to tell you I read your post, and attempted to google with all of my might, and was unable to come up with anything beyond what you already located. Wisconsin allows self-uniting marriages, without asking questions, but a form must be signed that states that the government issuing the marriage license cannot guarantee that the marriage will be recognized in all contexts. Wow, you’ve gotten quite a response to this topic! ), Pingback: Eloping in DC: the East Coast's Vegas | Femme Frugality, Your email address will not be published. License fee. This is not true in all counties. So glad it could potentially help! In our research we found a LOT of confusing and conflicting information. She won. THANK YOU! That means no third party is required for you two lovebirds to tie the knot officially. (This would be similar to what happened when the San Francisco city and county clerk started issuing licenses for same-sex marriage, disregarding as unconstitutional the sate law which at the time restricted marriage.) Applicants must sign the marriage license section before the ceremony, preferably in the County Clerk’s Office. I’ve never been so happy to live in PA! We have an officiant, mainly because our venue is an Anglican venue and wouldn’t let us marry until we had this and that in place. If I apply for the self-uniting license, do I need to have the CEREMONY in PA? First of all, congrats! My fiance and I want to marry ourselves, as we do not belong to any religion and we do not want a third party involved. Thanks! I hope that helps! I’m glad this option worked out for you guys. It’s a pain, but what is generally required of anybody, whether they’ve gotten a self-uniting license or not. No regrets! My fiancé and I just got our marriage license Monday in Colorado and plan on self solemnizing on Christmas Eve. Guess I'll run down to the Courthouse -again- today and ask around! I’m glad there were no problems! Wisconsin allows self-uniting marriages, without asking questions, but a form must be signed that states that the government issuing the marriage license cannot guarantee that the marriage … This was the answer: “Other states that allow some form of self-uniting marriage are Wisconsin, Colorado, The District of Columbia, California, Maine and Nevada. Two maintenance men were our witnesses and photographer. It’s definitely a money saver, and I think there’s a trend towards this type of mindset in couples today. I live in PA (my whole life). Here are some states that offer similar options, or just options that may be better for some more secular couples: If you know of any other pretty cool state marriage laws pertaining to the officiating, let me know and I’ll add it to the list. Wisconsin allows self-uniting marriages in accordance with the customs, rules and regulations of any religious society, denomination or sect to which either of the parties may belong. (At least I’m sure that’s how the 1700s group would view us.) How cool is that! Same-sex marriage in Wisconsin. Those Quakers have got a few things right over the years! Thank you so much for your contribution, and I hope to see you around these parts again soon! In Massachusetts, anyone can become a Justice of the Peace for a day, specifically for the purposes of marrying a friend or family member. If you’re getting married in a suburb of Philly that does not offer the license, just get it in Philly. Thanks for encouraging me to write about more wedding stuff back in June or July or whatever it was…I really had no idea where to go when all of this started. They have the resources to take on only a small fraction of the the worthy, winnable cases that are brought to them. Couples are opting for what is known as a “self-uniting marriage”: a ceremony in which one member of the couple getting married acts as the officiant. I try to only post about things I think will be helpful to my readers and have experience with, but anything that happens as a result of you using the information provided is your responsibility alone. I think it could be kind of beautiful. At least I know my googlefu isn't off! I wish I had! Wisconsin allows self-uniting marriages, without asking questions, but a form must be signed that states that the government issuing the marriage license cannot guarantee that the marriage will be recognized in all contexts. Since the only other people that would know are their witnesses. Just wondering – what is to keep someone from actually getting married in another state, say NJ, and simply filling out that they were married in some PA city? I’m so glad you found yourself here, too, Kalene! Also, do you know how it works? 17. Because they traditionally have no clergy, when Quakers marry they don’t have an officiant, as it’s God marrying them, not any man. Just not in an organized, Sunday-church-going type of way. If someone is seeking a self-uniting license, does that mean you don’t have to write down an “officiant” on the license? It took her about a month to hear back, though, before they took her case on. Congratulations on choosing to get married in the state of Wisconsin. I wish you both many years of happiness! That said, I'm not sure exactly what circumstances would lead one jurisdiction to question the validity of any marriage performed in another. The problem is that some court clerks take the position that self-uniting marriage licenses are valid only if the parties are Quakers or Ba'hai. Hi, Megan! With a Self-Uniting ceremony, you’ll also need a Self-Uniting certificate declaring your intentions to get married. But nope, they don’t have to come to the courthouse with you. Self-uniting was super easy and is legally recognized in all 50 states (thank you, Quakers). The website reads as if it’s an extra $90 on top of the $80 fee, but in reality it’s just an extra $10. Organizations and law firms have to make hard choices about which cases are both winnable and important enough to prioritize. Love how the Quakers really follow through with the idea. For the religious having a clergy member do it makes sense! If you live near a county other than the one you live in, try giving them a call to see what their fees (and jerk levels) are. Be sure you sign the marriage certificate after the couple signs their names. Like can we just sign the papers any day of the week (like having our marriage on a saturday) and send them back or does someone actually have to see besides your witnesses? That’s awesome that PA allows self-uniting marriages! It definitely would make for a different wedding ceremony. what about oregon? No need to stress or fudge the dates…you need to take the signed paperwork in within a certain time frame after your wedding, but they will mail the marriage certificate to you! Even if it were expensive I imagine the ordination fees could be a wedding gift. Everything worked out great until I went to the PA DMV to change my last name on my driver’s license. I’m still ironing out the details but we plan on choosing a secluded beautiful spot in Denver and saying our vows to each other in front of our kids. Did you mention the federal precedent set by the PA case? Which is good, if you’re a member of a religion that does that. Pennsylvania and California only require two witnesses; officiants are not required. First of all, congrats, Scheniqia! That’s an amazing budget wedding! Wishing you a beautiful marriage! Self Uniting marriage license Legal Problems are not always your fault! It doesn’t have to be the same county. Self Uniting Marriages-DC, PA, WI, CO | The DC Marriage Knot DC Self Uniting Marriages DC Self Uniting Marriages A self uniting marriage is a marriage officiated by one of the parties to the marriage. I will! We paid him $100. (Or just anyone.) Awsome! Do you know what happens after you return the signed form to city hall – that is, do you have to pick it up again after it’s been processed (or whatever), or will they mail it to you? The good news is that they do this pretty frequently, so they should be able to answer this for you with relative ease! I like the Quaker idea and actually agree with the ideology behind it. Best of luck! That’s exactly what it means! Residency shouldn’t matter as far as I’m aware. Marriage license fees in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vary from county to county. However, tons of counties in Pennsylvania do. But not quite as much free rein as in PA. As for the emails, that’s really weird. Best of luck….truly hope it all works out! We have decided to do a quaker marriage license and have family sign it. When I switched my blog over to WordPress I subscribed to my own feed via email to make sure it was still going out. Not every county will send back a copy (unless you pay a fee.) He’s been joking lately that our marriage comes with a lifetime warranty, so does the shower head, since it needs a new part? This is why for all of its history Pennsylvania has allowed self-uniting marriages. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. If their policies are anything like Allegheny county, you need two witnesses to sign along with yourselves, and the paperwork must be back in their office within 10 days of the marriage. I’m so glad I found this blog post! Wisconsin similarly allows self solemnization without question – but, does require a form to be signed acknowledging the government cannot guarantee a self-uniting marriage will be acknowledged in all contexts. I don’t think it was really that expensive. I’d recommend calling the specific county office to make sure of all the details. A local subreddit for the State of Wisconsin. From my cursory knowledge of them, they’ve gotten QUITE a few things right over the years! One couple’s self-uniting marriage in Pittsburgh, another’s virtual wedding in Harlem, New York, and yet another’s willingness to spend time at a county jail in Raleigh, North Carolina. As long as it comes from PA and you get married in PA, you’re good. Shana, on October 22, 2018 at 6:07 PM Posted in Pennsylvania Planning 0 9 . 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