Getting Married in California

[snowcat 58]

My fiance and I are finally together in California (goodbye long distance!!!) and are researching the specifics of getting married. We are only going to do a civil wedding while in the US, as we want more time to plan out a more grandiose ceremony in the Philippines (where I am from), perhaps next year. Anyway, we have been together in San Francisco for a month now, which gives us 60 days left to get married!

 

Here's the thing, our friend got himself ordained online because he really wants to marry us. It started as a joke, but now that he's actually done it, we think it would be great if he married us instead of some random dude at City Hall. I did the research and it seems this is truly legal in California (correct me if I'm wrong?). 

 

So. Questions:

 

We know that getting a marriage license is the first step and we plan on scheduling that soon. I'm just a little confused on the details. Who needs to be present at the day of acquiring the marriage license? Just me and my fiance, or do we need to have the witnesses and our officiant there as well?

 

Once we get the marriage license, I understand we need to have a wedding ceremony within 90 days (which we'll obviously do much sooner since I only have 60 days left as per my K1 visa). Do we have to do this at City Hall, or anywhere, now that we have our friend officiating our marriage? Like, can my fiance, my 2 witnesses, and our officiant just find a spot by the Golden Gate Bridge and get married right then and there, and have it be a legal wedding? Cause if the only requirement after the ceremony is for all of us (my fiance and I, witnesses, and officiant) to sign the license, that should be counted, no? Are there other requirements we need to consider?

 

Thanks! 

[oncoming traffic 21]

you and your fiance both have to show up in person to receive a marriage license. you take that to your ceremony where the minister and witnesses will sign it, then it needs to be returned to the court within ten days. and as long as you're not trespassing or having a large enough gathering that requires a permit, you can absolutely have a golden gate bridge ceremony if you wish : ) that will be beautiful!

[USC1961 251]

All good questions.  However best advice is to ask your local clerk of courts what the steps are, as each county and state in the USA has different policies and laws concerning marriage.  Good luck!!