We want to have a friend marry us. Has anyone done this? What was your experience? Our friend does not have experience but he is a great public speaker. My concern is this legal? I have read conflicting information online regarding online ordination such as universal life ministries. I read that NYS does recognize it but Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester does not. I called the Town of Islip and was told that they allow it and don't even ask for credentials if someone says they are ordained they take their word for it and she said people do it a lot and there isn't any issues. However some of the information online is frightening when you do a google search lol.
Please share any experiences you have
FutureMrsGomez
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Did a friend marry you?
I would like to know too. I want my FH cousin to do it for us.
Kimberley2015
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Did a friend marry you?
Our officiant was a close friend of ours and she actually married a lot of her friends as well. What was the best part about it all was when we returned from our honeymoon and we met up with her she told us she was pregnant. She did not say anything prior because she did not want to worry us with any concern of her being pregnant, etc. especially with all the sometimes added unnecessary stress that can come along with wedding planning and all that good stuff. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in late March and she is so beautiful. I tell everyone we were blessed to have been married by two amazing people. :)
FutureMrsGomez
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Re: Did a friend marry you?
Posted by Kimberley2015
Our officiant was a close friend of ours and she actually married a lot of her friends as well. What was the best part about it all was when we returned from our honeymoon and we met up with her she told us she was pregnant. She did not say anything prior because she did not want to worry us with any concern of her being pregnant, etc. especially with all the sometimes added unnecessary stress that can come along with wedding planning and all that good stuff. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in late March and she is so beautiful. I tell everyone we were blessed to have been married by two amazing people. :)
Does she charge alot ? I kind of kills me to pay $500++
ilovephotobooths
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Re: Did a friend marry you?
Seems to be very gray in Nassau and Suffolk. I know that NYC accepts marriage ceremonies if married by someone ordained online. It's very confusing for Nassau and Suffolk. Supposedly, if someone ever objects to your wedding, then the legality is up to debate.
One of FH's groomsman got married about 5 or 6 years ago by a friend, and they wanted to make it 100% legal, so they got married by a judge prior to their reception.
We're going to do the same thing because I don't want to chance it. I just went to the Hempstead Town Hall to schedule a marriage ceremony. They charge $30 for the ceremony and you need to go in person with your marriage license to schedule it.
We're getting married by one of my best friends. I really wanted to have our ceremony officiated by someone who knows us and FH & I are not religious, so didn't want to be married by a Reverend or Pastor.
Each town hall's website also has information on people that can marry you, but you have to contact them individually, and I'm not sure of the cost.
FutureMrsGomez
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Re: Did a friend marry you?
Posted by ilovephotobooths
Seems to be very gray in Nassau and Suffolk. I know that NYC accepts marriage ceremonies if married by someone ordained online. It's very confusing for Nassau and Suffolk. Supposedly, if someone ever objects to your wedding, then the legality is up to debate.
One of FH's groomsman got married about 5 or 6 years ago by a friend, and they wanted to make it 100% legal, so they got married by a judge prior to their reception.
We're going to do the same thing because I don't want to chance it. I just went to the Hempstead Town Hall to schedule a marriage ceremony. They charge $30 for the ceremony and you need to go in person with your marriage license to schedule it.
We're getting married by one of my best friends. I really wanted to have our ceremony officiated by someone who knows us and FH & I are not religious, so didn't want to be married by a Reverend or Pastor.
Each town hall's website also has information on people that can marry you, but you have to contact them individually, and I'm not sure of the cost.
Thats good to know. I think i may do that. go to the courthouse get married which we have to go get our marriage license anyway. and have our friend who knows us and is great with speeches to marry us.
kammy322
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Re: Did a friend marry you?
Posted by Kimberley2015
Our officiant was a close friend of ours and she actually married a lot of her friends as well. What was the best part about it all was when we returned from our honeymoon and we met up with her she told us she was pregnant. She did not say anything prior because she did not want to worry us with any concern of her being pregnant, etc. especially with all the sometimes added unnecessary stress that can come along with wedding planning and all that good stuff. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in late March and she is so beautiful. I tell everyone we were blessed to have been married by two amazing people. :)
@Kimberley2015 - Did you have your ceremony at Fox and everything turned out okay with the state and your license?
I was also thinking about getting married at town hall prior but you can't get married the same day you get your license - there is a 24 hour waiting period. Another concern with getting married before hand is that- do i now just pretend it didn't happen or is that my real legal wedding date that will be on my license?
ilovephotobooths
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Re: Did a friend marry you?
@kammy322
If you can manage for someone to marry you on the same day as your reception, then I say it's worth it to make sure everything is legit. You can always try to have a judge or mayor or reverend perform a quickie ceremony before everything at the venue starts.
Hempstead only performs ceremonies from Mon-Fri and by appt only. Check out their website: http://www.toh.li/marriage
So our legal wedding date will be a few days prior to my actual wedding reception, but we've decided to celebrate the reception date. It's when all of our family and friends are joining us to celebrate and that's what matters most to us. But we can always celebrate both! :D
Just FYI...you should get your marriage license ahead of time...up to 60 days prior, so you don't have to be stressed about the 24 hour waiting period to actually get married.
Kimberley2015
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Re: Did a friend marry you?
Posted by FutureMrsGomez
Posted by Kimberley2015
Our officiant was a close friend of ours and she actually married a lot of her friends as well. What was the best part about it all was when we returned from our honeymoon and we met up with her she told us she was pregnant. She did not say anything prior because she did not want to worry us with any concern of her being pregnant, etc. especially with all the sometimes added unnecessary stress that can come along with wedding planning and all that good stuff. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in late March and she is so beautiful. I tell everyone we were blessed to have been married by two amazing people. :)
Does she charge alot ? I kind of kills me to pay $500++
She did not charge anything nor did she want anything. We ended up buying her a really nice engraved pen set and leather folder and notebook for her to keep track of her paper work and such. She loved it!
Joannaj79
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Re: Did a friend marry you?
Do you need to bring witnesses with you when you do it at Town Hall? I think you have the right idea. I think its better to be safe then sorry. Did you speak to anyone in Nassau about your friend marrying you? I am just wondering what other local government reps are saying.
ilovephotobooths
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Re: Did a friend marry you?
Yes, you have to bring witnesses...the sheet says 1 or 2, but the woman that scheduled it for me said up to 15 people. They have a small chapel that you get for 30 minutes but the ceremony only takes about 10 minutes. The witnesses that sign have to be 18 years old and must have photo ID. But everyone needs ID to enter the building.
No, I didn't speak with anyone. I did some online searches and couldn't find anything definitive...kept saying to read the NYS law on marriages and it's so vague.
Joannaj79
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Re: Did a friend marry you?
@ilovephotobooths Thank you!
I also spoke to someone in the Suffolk County clerks office and she had said that To the best of her knowledge there is no registration required for Ordained Ministers.
However you are right there is so much conflicting information online that it makes me nervous. If I do it beforehand as you are I would only want to bring one person. I think I would want to keep it a secret since the ceremony would be a different day.
