To be married in Florida you must obtain a marriage license issued from a County Clerk’s Office. If you are a Florida resident you will have to wait three days after getting the marriage license to be married, unless you have completed premarital preparation course from a registered course provider. Then no waiting period is required for Florida residents. If you are not a Florida resident no waiting period is require. Meaning you can get your marriage license and the same day have it notarized and be married.
I like to take care of all the “business” aka marriage license before the ceremony so afterwards the couple can just enjoy! Photos by George Sr.
We have on many occasions shown up at weddings only to find out that the couple doesn’t have a marriage license or they have forgotten to bring it with them to the wedding. Your marriage isn’t legal until the license is notarized and returned back to the County for recording. You can get your marriage license at any County Clerk’s office in the state of Florida. It doesn’t need to be in the county where you are being married. Both parties must be present when obtaining marriage license and present a valid form of identification . We always remind couples that a Florida marriage license is required and not something that we can provide. Please be sure to bring your Florida marriage license to the ceremony with the return envelope (given to you when marriage license is issued). On the day of your wedding, we will notarize your Florida marriage license and return it to the County for you. It will take 10-14 days for County to send you your certified copy. If you need your certified marriage license right away, you can take the notarized marriage license back to the County in which you obtained the license and they will give you the certified copy right then.
On your wedding day have your marriage license ready so we can notarize it
Information on obtaining a marriage license can found for various counties in Florida on the Resources section of our website. Each County has information about obtaining a marriage license which will answer a lot of questions. Hours of operations are also posted.
If you have any additional questions about obtaining your Florida marriage license or getting married in Florida please don’t hesitate to contact us your favorite Tampa wedding ceremony officiant team!
Once we notarize your Florida Marriage License it’s official…you are married!!!