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Your essential guide to planning a wedding in Florida
Congratulations on deciding to get married in Florida! While you have plenty of tasks ahead—arranging the ceremony, booking venues, and managing your guest list—the process for obtaining a marriage license is easy. You don’t even need to be a resident of Florida! All you need is the license and a simple ceremony where you exchange your vows. Since January 2015, marriage in Florida is open to all, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
Important Details You Should Know
- Visit the county clerk's office in the county where your wedding will take place with your future spouse to obtain your marriage license.
- Complete a premarital preparation course from an approved provider to avoid the 3-day waiting period for your license.
- Ensure that you hold the ceremony within 60 days of the license issuance, then submit the signed license to your officiant for registration.
Process Overview
Obtaining Your Marriage License
Visit the county clerk's website. The identification requirements vary by county, so it’s important to check each county's website for specifics. Just search for "clerk of court" followed by the county's name to find the site.
- Which county? If you're a Florida resident, it’s easiest to apply for your license at the clerk’s office in your home county. If you're not from Florida, apply at the county where your wedding will take place.
- If either person is 17, they must have parental consent and can’t marry someone more than 2 years older than them.
- No residency or citizenship requirements are necessary to obtain a marriage license in Florida.
Complete a premarital education course. Florida residents who take a premarital prep course can bypass the 3-day waiting period for their marriage license. Contact the county clerk’s office to find a list of approved course providers in your area.
- Many of these courses are available online, so you can easily complete them regardless of where you live. The course typically takes about 4 hours.
- Non-residents of Florida are not required to take the course.
Visit the clerk’s office with your partner. Usually, you’ll need to present government-issued photo IDs for both parties as proof of identity. These could include driver’s licenses or passports. Your IDs must display your full legal names, birth dates, and signatures.
- While Social Security cards are not necessary, you must provide your Social Security numbers on the license. If you don’t have one, your alien registration number will suffice.
- Both parties must sign an affidavit confirming that they have read the Family Law Handbook.
Submit proof of divorce or spouse's death. Some counties do not require copies of divorce decrees or death certificates, but you’ll need to know the exact date and circumstances of your previous marriage’s dissolution. If these documents are required and you don’t have them, you can request copies from the health department or the clerk’s office in the county or state where the divorce or death occurred.
Pay the required fee for your marriage license. As of 2023, the fee for a marriage license is $86, or $61 if you’ve completed a premarital prep course. Most clerk's offices accept credit or debit cards, but it’s a good idea to call ahead and confirm what payment methods are accepted. Cash is usually the easiest option.
- The clerk's office can also officiate your ceremony for an extra fee, so ask about this service if needed. Typically, an appointment is required.
Get your license immediately if you’ve completed a prep course. Once your marriage license is issued, there’s a 3-day waiting period before you can pick it up unless you have proof of completing a premarital prep course. If you’ve taken the course, the clerk will give you the license upon payment of the fee.
- If you didn’t take the premarital course, you can pick up your license after the 3-day waiting period. Be sure to retrieve it within 60 days as it will expire after that.
Conducting Your Ceremony
Ensure your ceremony is held within 60 days of your license issuance. A marriage license issued by any Florida county clerk is valid for only 60 days. Be sure to schedule your ceremony within this period, or you will need to obtain a new license and pay an additional fee to do so.
Hire an officiant to perform the marriage ceremony. Many clerk's offices offer civil ceremonies by appointment. However, if you're planning your own ceremony, you must hire one of the following to make your marriage legally valid in Florida:
- An ordained minister, priest, rabbi, or other clergy member
- A judge in the state of Florida
- A Florida clerk or deputy clerk of court
- A Florida public notary
Exchange your vows as a married couple. Florida law requires that you have a ceremony where both partners exchange vows. However, the ceremony is personal to you as a couple, so it can be as simple or elaborate as you wish. If neither of you follows a religion, the ceremony doesn’t need to be religious to meet the legal requirements.
- Florida offers a sample ceremony script that you can use if you’d like.
Give the marriage license to your officiant for submission to the clerk's office. Most clerk’s offices provide written instructions and a self-addressed envelope to help your officiant complete this step. All they need to do is sign the license and return it to the clerk’s office. Your officiant has 10 days to submit the license after the ceremony.
- The clerk’s office will mail you a certified copy of your marriage certificate, which you should keep with your important documents.
Organizing Your Florida Wedding
Book your venue well in advance. Florida wedding venues are in high demand, and many are booked solid. While cancellations can create openings, if you want a well-known venue, it’s best to secure your booking at least a year ahead of time.
Obtain a permit for outdoor weddings on public land. If your wedding will have 20 or more guests, you’ll need to apply for a permit from the city or county where the event will take place. This includes public locations like beaches.
- Each city’s website will provide more information on how to apply for a permit, and in many cases, you can apply online once you’ve chosen your location.
- If you're planning a wedding at a state park, contact the park directly to obtain a permit or reserve a specific spot for your ceremony.
- For outdoor events, always have a backup plan in case the weather doesn’t cooperate.
Consider the seasonal weather when planning your ceremony. Florida is known for its hot, subtropical climate, so it’s important to plan your outdoor ceremony around the weather patterns. In general:
- The wet season runs from May to October across most of the state.
- The dry season, with clear skies and lower humidity, lasts from November to April.
Book a block of hotel rooms for your out-of-town guests. If you have guests traveling long distances, reserving a block of rooms at a nearby hotel is a great idea. It simplifies the booking process for your guests and can often result in discounts of 10% to 40% off the regular room rate.
- Hotel blocks are especially useful if you’re hosting other events as well. All your guests will be in the same location, making it easier for them to coordinate plans.
- If your wedding is on the beach, consider renting one or two large beach houses as an alternative to hotel rooms.
Provide a list of local attractions for out-of-town guests. If you're hosting a destination wedding in Florida, it’s important to offer your guests ideas for things to do during their stay. A list of local attractions gives them a chance to plan their own mini-vacation around your event.
- While group activities are great, leave room for guests to explore on their own—remember that everyone has different tastes and interests.
- Be sure to include a few affordable or free attractions for guests on a budget.
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A captain can officiate your wedding on a ship if the captain is a notary, and the ship is in Florida waters during the ceremony.
