Event planning guides
The marriage-license office follows the ceremony address
The marriage-license question follows the jurisdiction of the ceremony address, not the reception address and not the hotel. The ceremony's city or county has its own court, and Maryland and Virginia are not one office each, and this page is not legal advice.
Key decisions
- The marriage-license office is the one for the ceremony address, not the reception address and not the hotel.
- Use the court for the ceremony's city or county. Maryland and Virginia are not one office each. This page is not legal advice.
- Read the court's own current site for the ceremony jurisdiction, and copy nothing from memory into the invitation.
The marriage-license question follows the jurisdiction of the ceremony address. The reception address does not choose the office. The hotel does not choose the office. The ceremony's city or county has its own court, and Maryland and Virginia are not one office each. This page is not legal advice. Read the court's own current site for the jurisdiction where the ceremony will happen, and copy nothing from memory into the invitation.
A ceremony in one jurisdiction and a reception in another still uses the license office for the ceremony. Published spaces are whatever is listed. The operator confirms the room and the date. The court confirms the license.
Write both addresses, and the jurisdiction of each, before you ask a court question or a room question. Keep the answers on one comparison worksheet.
Let the ceremony address choose the office
Write the ceremony address first. The jurisdiction of that address is the license office. Then write the reception address. Write the hotel if the party is using one. Those other addresses can sit in other jurisdictions. They do not move the license.
Hypothetical: the ceremony is in Washington, DC, and the reception is in Montgomery County, Maryland. The license office is the one for the ceremony, so it is the Washington, DC office. The Montgomery County reception does not make the license a Maryland license. A hotel in a third jurisdiction does not make the license that jurisdiction's license either. If the buildings swap, the office follows the ceremony into its new jurisdiction. It does not stay with the reception, and it does not stay with the hotel.
Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia are different. Maryland and Virginia are not one office for the whole state. Use the court for the city or county of the ceremony address. A page you read for one of them is not the page for the other two.
Read the court's own current site
Use the court's own current site for the jurisdiction where the ceremony will happen. This page does not add a court address. A guessed court path is worse than no link. Copy nothing from memory into the invitation. A rule you remember from another wedding, another jurisdiction, or an older visit to a court page stays off the invitation until you have read the court's own current site.
This page is not legal advice. The court confirms the license. The operator confirms the room and the date.
Compare the buildings on the matching venue guide
The venue guides compare rooms. They do not answer the license question.
When a building is in Washington, DC, compare it on Wedding venues in Washington, DC, including a day that also uses an address in another jurisdiction.
When a building is in Northern Virginia, compare it on Wedding venues in Northern Virginia. That page is a related venue guide. The license office is still the court for the ceremony address, which you read on the court's own current site.
When a building is in Montgomery County, compare it on Wedding venues in Montgomery County, MD.
Keep the signing count off the reception headcount
This page does not set the number. The license office is the one for the ceremony, including when the reception is in another jurisdiction. In the example, that court writes that 2 people besides the couple must be in the room for the signing. The couple is 2 people. 2 + 2 = 4 people for that signing, kept separate from the reception headcount.
Replace 2 with the number that court writes. If the court writes a different number, the 4 changes. Do the addition again after you read the court's own current site. Copy nothing from memory into the invitation, including the 2 and the 4 on this page.
| Line | Example on this page | What you write after the court page |
|---|---|---|
| People besides the couple | 2, the number that court writes in the example | The number that court writes |
| The couple | 2 | The couple |
| People for that signing | 2 + 2 = 4 | The court's number, plus the couple |
| Reception headcount | Not the 4 | The reception list, kept separate |
The 4 counts the people in the room for that signing in the example. It is not the reception headcount. Putting those people into the reception headcount, or copying the reception headcount onto the signing, mixes the court question with the room question. This page does not set the number. If the court writes a different number, the 4 changes.
The operator confirms the room and the date. The court confirms the license. Published spaces are whatever is listed.
Leave license rules off the invitation
Name the ceremony address on the invitation when you know it. Leave every license rule off that page until you have read the court's own current site for the ceremony jurisdiction. The ceremony's city or county has its own court, and Maryland and Virginia are not one office each, so a sentence that belonged to the reception jurisdiction, or to the hotel jurisdiction, is not a sentence for the ceremony.
Browse published spaces to set a room that is already listed next to the ceremony address. Published spaces are whatever is listed. Browse DMV venue guides for the regional set, and browse venues for the wider library. After the operator confirms the room and the date, and the court confirms the license, plan the gathering.
Put it into practice
Track the decisions you’ve made and the questions still to ask.
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A little more clarity
Common questions
If the ceremony is in one jurisdiction and the reception is in another, which office is the license office?
The office for the ceremony address. The reception address does not choose it, and the hotel does not choose it. The ceremony's city or county has its own court, and Maryland and Virginia are not one office each. This page is not legal advice. Read the court's own current site for the jurisdiction where the ceremony will happen, and copy nothing from memory into the invitation.
If the court writes that 2 people besides the couple must be in the room, how many people is that signing?
In the example, 2 people besides the couple is 2 + 2 = 4 people for that signing, kept separate from the reception headcount. This page does not set the number. Replace 2 with the number that court writes. If the court writes a different number, the 4 changes.
