How do Marriage Licenses work?

Yes you will need to turn in the signed paperwork after your wedding to be processed. Whoever performs your ceremony will need to sign it as well as witnesses.

And it should get recorded in the public records/official records in the county you were married. Check with your officiant to see who is responsible for the recording. The recording of your license makes it official. The recorded copy of your license is what you provide to SSN, Dept of Motor Veh, etc. to change your name and evidence your marriage.

We brought ours into the town clerk in the town where we got married, they filed it and gave us a marriage certificate on the spot. (I’m in NJ)


But since every state is different I would just ask the person who’s there when you apply for the license what to do with it after

My husband and I live in Maryland, but we got married in Pennsylvania so we had to get our license in Pennsylvania. I saw in a previous post you made that you are getting married at Black Ankle Vineyards which is in Frederick County, MD so you would have to follow their requirements. I have linked the license requirements for those getting married in Frederick County, MD below. After our ceremony, our officiant took the license with him and filed it with the court then the court mailed us a copy of our marriage certificiate.

https://www.courts.state.md.us/clerks/frederick/marriage

Depends on your county but we were told to have the certificate signed by our officiant and then we have to bring it back to the clerk to file.

Before the ceremony, you file for a marriage license. After the ceremony, your officiant files for the marriage certificate. They are two different documents, and only the second one is proof of marriage.