ClerkGuide was built around a simple frustration: getting married in the United States means dealing with one of roughly 3,000 different county clerk offices, each with its own fee, its own hours, its own rules about waiting periods and identification, and its own website that may or may not be easy to find or up to date. National wedding-planning sites cover the topic in broad strokes. Local wedding vendors mention it in passing on a blog post about their own services. Neither approach gives you the one thing you actually need before you can set a wedding date: what does my county require, right now.

What we do

We publish one guide per county, following the same structure every time: the license fee, any waiting period between application and ceremony, the identification and documents you need to bring, how long the license stays valid once issued, exactly where and how to apply (in person, online, or by appointment), the office’s hours, and any special notes — requirements after a recent divorce, rules for applicants under 18, and similar details that trip couples up. Every guide names the official county or state source it was checked against and the date we last verified it.

We are starting with the counties where the largest number of marriages happen each year — the most populous counties in the country — and working outward from there. See our Methodology page for exactly how we verify and update each guide.

Who’s behind ClerkGuide

ClerkGuide is written and maintained by the ClerkGuide Editorial Team, a small group focused entirely on U.S. county government procedures related to marriage licensing. We are not a law firm, we do not provide legal advice, and we are not affiliated with any county clerk’s office, court, or government agency. We are an independent publisher that researches public government information and presents it clearly in one place.

What we don’t do

• We don’t sell or process marriage licenses. Every guide sends you directly to the official county or state office to apply.
• We don’t currently cover other county clerk services like certified copies of vital records, name changes, or notary services – only marriage licenses. That may expand in the future if it’s useful to readers.
• We don’t guess at fees or requirements. If we can’t verify something against an official source, we say so rather than publish a number that might be wrong.