to get married at a court house?

[NArocks 13]

SO was this entry and then proposal spur of the moment? When I got married here in Bergen County we set up the appointment and made a donation and that was all. We of course had to pay for the marriage certificate afterwards, but be careful if you just arrived and then get married it might get a little hairy on your intent upon entering the US. However if there was no intent and your ducks are in row much luck to you

Edit, yes we got the marriage license forget the cost and made the donatation for the mayor to marry us

Edited June 23, 2009 by NArocks

[Otto 83]

awwwww..... i'm so really bad at internet and research stuff...(which doesn't help lol) Thank you so much!! You have any idea how much in advance i should "?reserve"

Uhm... no. But I bet who ever answers the phone will... sooner the better..

First thing is getting a marriage license

[cyntralala 0]

i live in nj, morris county but somebody has already helped me out

[ashenflowers 5]

wow... that was one of the most frustrating-to-read threads I've come across in a while... lol

[cyntralala 0]

ugh??? why?

[Otto 83]

ugh??? why?

So just being curious - what did you find out from the courthouse/clerk's office today?

[cyntralala 0]

when i said somebody helped me out, somebody actually gave me the right website in this topic lol

so i called today, and this wasn't really helpful, the woman i had on a phone told me stuff i already knew, like i have to have the marriage licence first. I tried to ask how much time in advance i should reserve a civil ceremony date, but she stayed really vaque

[trailmix 77]

I dont' know why Huggles found this thread annoying, but i'll tell you why I did

The OP asked some questions and got stuff like call the courthouse and google it. We didn't know that maybe she hadn't already done that - I don't know I just don't think the answers were very helpful (not all, just some).

I took it to mean she was looking for some general idea, what a courthouse ceremony is like, how much is would cost in general etc.

Anyway, i'm glad you got in touch with them - too bad they weren't much help!

[cyntralala 0]

but yea indeed, if someone has experience a civil ceremony in a court house, i would love to hear from you

[NArocks 13]

Here is my civil ceremony in a nut shell.

Can't really remember how much the license cost, we applied for the license on a tuesday ( at the health departhment ) and the mayor here only marries on Friday's ( now it is only once a month ) They stated it would take 72 hours to get the license and we picked it up on thursday afternoon. I had already made the appointment for Friday to get married. They gave like 6 couples the same time. Since I am a little ####### we arrived like 1 hour befire the time so we were first. They told us the cost of the wedding itself was by donation. I donated 25.00 and they said nothing.

When we applied for the license my husband was out of status and all they asked for was his passport for ID and of course mine. Also porof that we lived in the county i had light bill. We also had to bring one witness to the place to get the license and then 2 witnesses for the wedding ( ceremony ) itself. It was over in less than 15 minutes.

Hope this helps some. We got married over 2 years ago here in Bergen county New Jersey.

[SapphireDreams 71]

If it's not too far for you, you might want to consider getting married at the City Clerk's office in NYC. It's built for people form anywhere in the world to be able to go and marry.

You go and apply for a license in person at the office. You can fill out the form online first, which speeds up the pick up process. When you get there, you take a number and wait your turn. They verify all the information and require 1 piece of photo ID (no SSN required). I think it was around $35 and they give you the license on the spot. You then have to wait 24 hours to actually get married.

We went back the next day and all we had to do was take a number, bring 1 witness, we all signed a form... waited about 5 minutes. We then went into a really nice office (their offices are renovated) and the clerk basically ready out the vows and we said I do. The vows part was really fast, less than a minute. I was expecting it to be a bit longer... but it was short and quick. Makes me glad I'm actually getting married in a church next year, but that's just my personal feelings on it. The whole experience felt pretty impersonal and fast...but that was also our choice because we are planning a full on elaborate church wedding for next year so we didn't put much thought into this one, it was strictly for immigration purposes.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

I dont' know why Huggles found this thread annoying, but i'll tell you why I did

I never said I found this thread annoying...

[trailmix 77]

I dont' know why Huggles found this thread annoying, but i'll tell you why I did

I never said I found this thread annoying...

True! It was ashenflowers!

wow... that was one of the most frustrating-to-read threads I've come across in a while... lol

[Flames9_RN 358]

Took us all of minutes!! Went and got the marriage license at the courthouse, then walked over to the JP (Justice of the peace) office which was in the next building, she did her thing and that was that! Believe we used GOOGLE to find the JP, or the courthouse clerk told us one when we called them for information

[Krikit 1,165]

When you go to the courthouse to apply for a marriage license you'll be able to ask them all your questions, and they will also tell you what their process is.

For us, we brought our passports, got the license, had to wait 2 or 3 days, then we dropped back by the courthouse for the ceremony. No reservations required, and no witnesses. It was a really lovely ceremony, actually. Quite surprised at that.

Congratulations, and welcome to VJ, cyntralala.