Marriage in another country

American licenses are specific to the town/county they are acquired in... so I don't see how this would work.

You can SIGN the paperwork in America, which would make you legally married in America.

But the officiant has to be licensed by the state you get married in.

I don't think what you are trying to do is at all legally viable.

My understanding is that the place you have the legal ceremony needs to be the same place as the city/state issuing the marriage certificate. I don't see any way how you would accomplish your goal besides perhaps having a commitment ceremony or something (I have seen this mentioned on here before!) in Germany, but just to clarify - this commitment ceremony would not be legal or official or anything. If you want to legally marry in the US, you need to legally marry in the US. For what you'd like to accomplish, my suggestion would be to have a non-legal ceremony in Germany and the legal ceremony in the US.

American living in Germany here.

Simple answer: no. American licenses are legal in the USA, German licenses are legal in Germany.
In Germany, for any wedding ceremony to take place, the Standesamt ceremony must be completed.
Getting the marriage certificate is what makes Germany complicated. They require very little (less than a ton of States) I only had to present my birth certificate plus translation, but it can take a long time for the certificate to be approved (up to 3 months).

That said: if you want to elope "uncomplicated" in Europe, the de facto elopement locations for American-German (pick your European sig. other) couples is DENMARK.
Look into it. I think they only require 2 nights stay and basic documents you can bring from the USA (and he can get from Germany). They approve the marriage certificate really fast. It is easier than either country, the wedding is legal and the certificate is created in multiple languages making registering it in the respective countries easy.

Hope that helps.

Hi !

I'd say : just do an elopement wedding, meaning : a dress, a tuxedo, a nice place in Germany, a photographer... Where is your fiance from exactly ? I live in France but I'm from Poland, so I know Germany a little bit, as it's in between ;-)

Anyway, in Europe we call it a "humanist wedding", which has no legal consequences, just your special moment ! I saw a couple doing it in Romeo & Juliett's city :