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Self Uniting Marriage??

dcavistondcaviston member
First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
in Pennsylvania
Has anyone ever been to a wedding in PA where the couple self united, as in they officiated their own wedding? I've been looking into officiants and marriage laws in PA and I came across the fact that self uniting marriages are allowed in PA. My fiance and I are not spiritual or religious at all and he had even joking said the best man would get ordained on line and do it, no really allowed in PA, so we were looking at JPs and other options other than religious officials. Just curious if anyone did this at their wedding or had been to one where it occurred. 
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Re: Self Uniting Marriage??

  • faithdevilsbeefaithdevilsbee member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    We have not gotten married yet, but we are planning on doing this as well.  In most counties, the self uniting license is available the same place as the regular one, though I have seen some charge more than others.  You just need to have two witnesses sign the license and then you will need to file the license in person within (I believe) 10 days of the ceremony/date the license was signed.
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  • BradyKaiBradyKai member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    Yes.  The couple married themselves and followed the ways of the Quakers.  The whole crowd was a witness and had to sign something.  It was very unique.  
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  • dcavistondcaviston member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    We are definitely going for unique and I have looked in to the certificate. I am more curious on how the couples preformed their ceremonies. I know that legally in Pennsylvania we have to state our full names, and include the "til death do we part" in some variation of the phrase, but beyond that I am not sure how we want to conduct the ceremony.
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  • Knottie3135957 Knottie3135957 member
    5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    This is the first time I'm hearing about the self-uniting license. What county did you get this in??? I've called several counties the other day asking about online ordained ministers and was told only a minister with a physical congregation in PA, judges, retired judges, and JPs were allowed to marry couples.
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  • dcavistondcaviston member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    @ Knottie3135957 We got our license in Susquehanna County, but self uniting marriage is legal in all of PA. When I called to ensure the court house would be open this past Friday, I asked what we needed to do in order to obtain our Self Uniting Marriage License and the woman I spoke just had to verify that the Court Clerk of Orphans would be there to sign it. We showed up, informed them that we were there to get a self uniting marriage license, answered all the questions, the woman printed it out the clerk signed it and stamped it, we paid.. then home we went. 

    We've decided to have his brother who is also a groomsman be a MC of sort to give the guest a run down of what's going to happen. Then vows, rings, a kiss and party time.
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