marrying people in DC

December 30, 2005 7:17 AM

DC Wedding (filter): I'm getting married in Washington, DC in seven weeks. We'd like to have a friend officiate, but District law regarding this is, of course, awkwardly complex. Our friend has now been ordained in the Universal Life Church, but we also need a ULC member who is already licensed by DC to perform marriages to vouch for him. Do you know any such wonderful people that could hope us?
posted by mookieproof to Law & Government (7 answers total)

Dude.

I was in exactly the same situation. I had to get re-ordained by World Christianship Ministries in order to find an "endorser." It's free and online, but, unlike ULC, you do actually have to affirm that you're a christian. Then I went through all the registration stuff, and I'm now legit.

Do that, and I'll endorse you. I'm in DC, and metro accessible!
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:30 AM on December 30, 2005

Upon re-reading, I mean, of course, I'll be your friend's endorser. I just need the paperwork--my endorser and I never met, and handled everything through the mail.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:31 AM on December 30, 2005

Maryland is much simpler. ULC should be fine without an endorser in MD. Have your big ceremony in DC, but have a second very fast ceremony in MD afterward. It can be a fun private moment for the bride and groom, and a small wedding party. If I remember correctly MD had a 48hr waiting period after getting the marriage license.
posted by gearspring at 8:00 AM on December 30, 2005

That's a bizarre system. I've done weddings in several states, and never had to deal with that kind of rigamarole. Delaware has a voluntary program where you register, but the southern states I've had to deal with don't. I was going to offer my help but glad to see this worked out so quickly!
posted by moonbird at 8:06 AM on December 30, 2005

OH, in Virginia, you can get married in about 30 minutes, start to finish. Go to the Arlington County Courthouse, get a license, then walk across the street to an officiant. That's more-or-less what we did. Than you can have a ceremony with whoever you please as the minister.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:32 AM on December 30, 2005

I'll add, too, that our small, private ceremony was quite nice. I didn't have an institutional feel or anything, and the officiant gave a very nice, non-religious ceremony.
posted by MrMoonPie at 9:14 AM on December 30, 2005

[marginally on-topic] DC has some odd marriage laws. In addition to the officiant registration requirement, they also require that the couple get tested for syphilis.
posted by i love cheese at 4:07 PM on December 30, 2005