Weddingbee

Getting a marriage license in San Francisco requires advanced planning and it isn’t cheap. First you have to go to the Office of the County Clerk website to make an appointment and pay the $93 fee (!) and a $5 processing fee. This fee doesn’t even include a certified copy—those are an extra $13 each!

When you go for your appointment you must bring ID with your full legal name. Lucky for us, before we left for California I checked my driver’s license and realized that it did not have my middle name on it, so I grabbed our passports. Make sure you have all of the required items and that they meet the exact specifications!

At exactly 90 days out I scheduled our marriage license appointment and paid the $93 fee. We showed up bright and early to City Hall on Friday morning (conveniently located within walking distance of our hotel).

SF City Hall

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We did it! Yesterday morning, bright and early, Mr. H and I set off to get our marriage license! In Texas, it doesn’t matter which county you receive your license in so long as you get married in the state of Texas. We are getting married in Dallas county but, to avoid any long lines or a wait, we went to the county clerk’s office in our hometown (outside of Dallas county). We got there at about 8:15 a.m. and by 8:35 a.m. we were out of there!

Twenty minutes and $72 later, we were posing for a pic by the county seal.

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Mr. Peacock and I stopped by Chicago’s City Hall yesterday to pick up our marriage license. Like quite a few bees have mentioned, it was quick and painless. All we needed to bring with us was our driver’s licenses. It was nice to scratch one of the “absolutely must happen” things off our to-do list. I have a strange crush on City Hall, so it was kind of an exciting trip anyway.
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I previously wrote about the marriage license laws that will be going into effect come September 1, 2008, in the state of Texas. However controversial the subject, come September 1, this will be important information for all Texas brides to know.

If the couple chooses to attend a 8-hour premarital class, there will be no waiting period on the marriage license (normally three days) and the fee will only be $12, as opposed to new, raised rate of $72. Today, I searched everywhere online to obtain more information on the rules as to what constitutes an official premarital class, as Mr. H and I already did a whole weekend of marriage prep through the Catholic church.
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I have a confession to make. It’s a bit embarrassing, really…

Mr Peony and I were married in mid-April and we still haven’t received our marriage certificate.

To be honest, the marriage certificate completely slipped our minds. But when friends started asking if I will be changing my name (the answer is yes), I realized we never got the certificate in the mail.

I joked to Mr Peony, “Wouldn’t it be funny if after all this time, it turns out we were never legally married?”

I think the question lit a flame under Mr Peony, who proceeded to call the City Clerk’s office the very next day. After being transferred from one department to the next, and staying on hold for 30 minutes, here’s what we found out.
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The other day, while bored, I decided to look up exactly what I will need and exactly what the laws are to obtain your marriage license in the State of Texas. I ended up finding out about some upcoming changes to the marriage license process in the State of Texas.

In June of 2007, the Governor signed HB 2685, which will benefit those of us who either chose, or were required, to take premarital classes. Come September 1, 2008, the fee for your marriage license will increase from $30 to $60. However, the fee will be waived if you have participated in an 8 hour premarital education course, approved by the Health and Human Service Commission.

For those of you, like the Hydrangeas, getting married after September 1, you can read more about it and get all of the details here.