Anyone Here Get Married at Town Hall??

I asked this same question on Liweddings.com:

FH and I have decided to get married at Town Hall and have our reception at a later time. I was wondering if there was anyone out there who did this.

How does it work? Do you have to apply for your marriage license and then wait 24 hours and then go back to town hall or a judge/officiant and get married.

I know that Smithtown Town Hall will give you names of people that you would have to call and make an apt with, but I'm not sure about other town halls.

Also how long is the ceremony? And do any of the town halls require bloodwork?

TIA!!

Re: Anyone Here Get Married at Town Hall??

I did not get maried at town hall

but i think in all of NYS you need the marriage license for at least 24 hours and under 60 days

no bloodwork is required in NYS

if you want to get married at your house, park, beach, etc....not necessarilay town hall, i can give you the name of my officiant. He'll do anything you want.
i did not get married in a church.

Re: Anyone Here Get Married at Town Hall??

I don't think that anybody requires bloodwork anymore. I had a friend get married a few years ago at the Patchogue town hall. Another friend got married in a small room by a Justice of the Peace at Bald Hill. (The Bald Hill wedding was much nicer.)

Re: Anyone Here Get Married at Town Hall??

you have to go in and register for the license. wait at least 24hrs and then go back to get married. It doesnt take long (less than 20 min) the longest part is the wait. it depends on how many people are ahead of you.
go to your town website and it should have all the info.

Re: Anyone Here Get Married at Town Hall??

My SIL JUST got married at town hall on Friday. My now BIL is in the army and just got back from Korea and is leaving for a base in Kansas in a week. She can only live with him if they got married, so they did it!

They did it at Islip Town Hall. They applied for the marriage license and went back 2 days later for the ceremony. They only do the ceremony at certain times so you have to find out about that, and there is no fee for the ceremony, just the license. I am not sure if that is standard there, or because he is a soldier. It was very very private, only me and DH were there. It was basically like any other ceremony I have ever seen, but just short and to the point.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Message edited 1/6/2008 7:33:58 AM.

Re: Anyone Here Get Married at Town Hall??

I did that in Islip Town Hall because DH is a US Marine and we wanted to get married as soon as he got back from Iraq. We had a "real" wedding later.


We had to have the marriage certificate for 24 hours before the ceremony and it was good for 60 days, as somebody pointed out.

There was no bloodwork involved. We needed our birth certificates. We also needed our NYS ID's (lliscences) and we needed two witnesses.

It is a ve ry easy process.

Good luck and congrats.

Re: Anyone Here Get Married at Town Hall??

We had a small intimate wedding ceremony 4 months before our large reception. We married in my aunt's home in New Jersey and an officiant performed the ceremony. We applied for a marriage license a week before we got married and it did not require blood work.
I'm glad we did it. It was so much more personal having the ceremony with just our immediate family there and it made the "big wedding" so much more relaxing, because we were already married.
I'm not sure how long Town Hall weddings are, but ours was only about 15-20 mins and then we all went out to eat afterwards. Not sure if I helped at all

Re: Anyone Here Get Married at Town Hall??

my sister and her DH did this- but in NJ. he is from whales and was over here on a work visa, so in order for him to stay over here they had to get married kind of quickly, so they did it at town hall. plus, she never wanted a big wedding anyway, so it worked out for her.i think my sister just went like a couple weeks before to apply for the license, and then made an appointment. the mayor did the actual ceremony in the town courthouse. it was short, but basically like any other ceremony. i'm guessing she could have invited whoever she wanted, but it was just DH and i, my parents, grandmom, and my sisters best friend ( who signed the marriage license as the witness).
this was all last january- like i said, they didn't want a big wedding anyway, so in august they just had a backyard BBQ reception at my parents house with like 75 people. it was nice, and laid back... and they are just as married as DH and i are- but spent soooo much less! LOL