One of the most important things that also gets forgotten about the most is your marriage license. It’s really one of the only required things to having a wedding in Cook County (or any county, really!), so we wanted to go over the details of what you should know while applying and getting your marriage license. That way when it’s time for you to go to get your license, you’ll have everything you need to be able to have a valid, approved marriage!

Before Getting your Marriage License

What is first important to know is that the county that you are having your ceremony in is the county that you need to get your marriage license from. To get your marriage license in Cook County, you have to go to one of the six county clerk offices (here is the link for the locations. If you’re going to the downtown offices, you should make sure to look for the “Downtown Chicago - Vital Records” office to ensure you are in the right building) - and this is for both halves of the couple needing to go in person. You have to make time to go to the offices within 60 days of the wedding and not any sooner, because the license itself is only valid for 60 days.

Getting your Marriage License

We usually recommend taking a half-day off of work because the line is typically first-come, first-serve. You will need to bring with you both of your valid IDs to prove your age, $60 (in cash or card), and any proof of finalized divorces if applicable. To make the process as smooth as possible, we recommend while you are on the way or in line for the license to fill out their application that we’ve linked here. Once you have the license, it is not effective until the next day. Once you get in line and through the process, you will have received your Cook County marriage license! If you would like to know the eligibility requirements, laws, or exceptions to getting married in Cook County, you can see them here. If you’re looking to get married by a judge, you can check locations and schedules here for more information. If you are also looking for more information about a civil union license, you can find that here.

What to do At the Wedding

Make sure to bring your marriage license for your ceremony. Once the ceremony is completed, the officiant can sign the bottom portion of the marriage license. In Cook County, you don’t actually need anyone else to sign it, so the witnesses don’t have to do anything either. You’re almost done with the process at this point, but not completely!

What to do After the Wedding

Depending on if you’re immediately honeymooning or will be home after the wedding, there are two options for submitting your marriage license and obtaining your marriage certificate. Your marriage license needs to either be submitted by mailing it to the county clerk’s office (presumably the same office you went to in person would be best!) or going back in person to deliver it to the office yourselves within 10 days of the wedding (and not later). If you’re planning on honeymooning immediately, we recommend bringing an addressed envelope to the wedding for your officiant to mail the license in after the wedding. If you are going to be in town for a few days after your wedding, we actually highly recommend you both go in person to hand deliver the license to the office. We’ve never had any issues personally, but it’s better safe than sorry to avoid it getting lost in the mail.

Getting your Marriage Certificate

You can get your marriage certificates the same day if you hand deliver your marriage license, but you can also obtain your marriage certificates online here, over the phone at 866-252-8974, by mail by filling out this form, or at a currency exchange. It costs $15 for your copy of your marriage certificate and $4 for each additional copy you would like as well. We of course recommend getting at least two total copies just in case something happens to the first copy. You’ll also need the copy of your marriage certificate if you’re planning on changing your name after the wedding for your social security card, driver’s license, valid ID, passport, voter registration card, and your bank. There are also a few different kinds of certificates you can get if you’re interested such as a wallet size or an art quality certificate, and you can look more into those here. If you are in need of a civil union certificate, you can find more information about that here.

Thankfully, now that is everything you need to know to have a valid marriage in Cook County! There are a lot of things to know and it’s hard to know how to make sure you are doing everything correctly, so hopefully this guide will ensure that this is a smooth process for you. The marriage license really is the most important part for your Cook County wedding, after all!

If you need more help planning your wedding, you can find us at our contact page to make sure you have all of your bases covered for the wedding day you want. We are happy to help you through all of the steps of your journey of planning your Chicagoland wedding!