self-uniting marriage

California allows "non-clergy marriage" by "members of a particular religious society or denomination not having clergy for the purpose of solemnizing marriage or entering the marriage relation" if specified forms, including the signatures of two witnesses, are properly completed and filed.{{cite web|title=California Family Code, Section 307|url=http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fam&group=00001-01000&file=300-310|accessdate=13 July 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630150250/http://leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=fam&group=00001-01000&file=300-310|archivedate=30 June 2016}} An atheist couple in San Francisco was reportedly allowed to have a non-clergy marriage under this provision of California law by entering "atheist" in the box for "religious society or denomination" on the non-clergy marriage form.{{cite web|title=How to Get a Non-Clergy Wedding in California|url=http://femmefrugality.com/get-non-clergy-wedding-california/|website=Femme Frugality|accessdate=10 October 2016|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225110036/https://femmefrugality.com/get-non-clergy-wedding-california/|url-status=live}}

Colorado allows self-solemnization without requiring a special form of application or witnesses.{{citation|title=14-2-109. Solemnization and registration|url=http://www.michie.com/colorado/lpext.dll/cocode/1/25c28/25c62/25c64/25c8c/25cf4|work=Colorado Revised Statues|quote=A marriage may be solemnized... by the parties to the marriage....|access-date=26 July 2011|archive-date=20 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320213703/http://www.michie.com/colorado/lpext.dll/cocode/1/25c28/25c62/25c64/25c8c/25cf4|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |date=2024-05-14 |title=Colorado Marriage Laws: Crucial Details for Couples 2024 : Wild Wed Photography |url=https://wild-wed.com/destination-weddings/colorado-marriage-laws/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=wild-wed.com |language=en-US |archive-date=19 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240919212524/https://wild-wed.com/destination-weddings/colorado-marriage-laws/ |url-status=live }} Colorado is one of two states that allow self-solemnization without any caveats or restrictions.{{Cite web|date=2021-04-19|title=How to Self Solemnize in Colorado|url=https://leahgoetzel.com/self-solemnize/|access-date=2021-04-19|website=Leah Goetzel Photography|language=en-US|archive-date=23 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523205615/https://leahgoetzel.com/self-solemnize/|url-status=live}} With self solemnizations, these requirements are cut out, and when a couple gets married in Colorado, they can have their own ceremony and sign their own marriage license.{{Cite web|date=2021-07-03|title=Colorado Self Solemnization Guide|url=https://vowsandpeaks.com/self-solemnizing-elopement-guide/|access-date=2021-11-11|website=Vows and Peaks|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=2025-01-12|title=Colorado Self Solemnization Guide|url=https://vowofthewild.com/self-solemnization|access-date=2025-01-12|website=Vow of the Wild|language=en-US}}

The District of Columbia allows couples to officiate their own wedding.{{citation|title=DC Courts: Information on Marriage|url=http://www.dccourts.gov/internet/public/aud_marriage/marriage.jsf|quote=Pursuant to the "Marriage Officiant Amendment Act of 2013", the following persons or organizations are authorized or are candidates for authorization to perform marriages in the District of Columbia:... (9) the parties to the marriage (both parties to the marriage must apply in person with a valid government issued identification).|accessdate=May 12, 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514124406/http://www.dccourts.gov/internet/public/aud_marriage/marriage.jsf|archivedate=May 14, 2014}}{{cite web|title=Eloping in DC: the East Coast's Vegas|url=http://femmefrugality.com/eloping-in-dc-east-coast-vegas/|website=Femme Frugality|accessdate=10 October 2016|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225110023/https://femmefrugality.com/eloping-in-dc-east-coast-vegas/|url-status=live}}

Illinois law states, "if no individual acting alone solemnized the marriage, both parties to the marriage, shall complete the marriage certificate form and forward it to the county clerk within 10 days after such marriage is solemnized."{{ILCS|750|5|209|(a)|title= Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act|date=2019-06-14|accessdate=2022-05-20}} Nonetheless, such weddings must be "in accordance with the prescriptions of any religious denomination, Indian Nation or Tribe or Native Group."

Kansas law provides, "The two parties themselves, by mutual declarations that they take each other as husband and wife, in accordance with the customs, rules and regulations of any religious society, denomination or sect to which either of the parties belong, may be married without an authorized officiating person."{{cite web|title=Kansas Revised Statutes, 23-2504 (c)|url=http://kslegislature.org/li_2012/b2011_12/statute/023_000_0000_chapter/023_025_0000_article/023_025_0004_section/023_025_0004_k/|accessdate=20 July 2017|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225110041/http://kslegislature.org/li_2012/b2011_12/statute/023_000_0000_chapter/023_025_0000_article/023_025_0004_section/023_025_0004_k/|url-status=live}} And further provides that, "All marriages solemnized among the society called Friends, or Quakers, in the form previously practiced and in use in their meetings shall be good and valid and shall not be construed as affected by any of the foregoing provisions of this act."{{cite web|title=Kansas Revised Statutes, 23-2516 (a)|url=http://kslegislature.org/li_2016s/b2015_16/statute/023_000_0000_chapter/023_025_0000_article/023_025_0016_section/023_025_0016_k/|accessdate=20 July 2017|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225110040/http://kslegislature.org/li_2016s/b2015_16/statute/023_000_0000_chapter/023_025_0000_article/023_025_0016_section/023_025_0016_k/|url-status=dead}}

Maine exempts "Quakers or Friends" and "members of the Baháʼí faith" from the requirement for a third-party officiant.{{cite web|title=Maine Revised Statutes, Title 19-A, §658|url=http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/19-A/title19-Asec658.html|accessdate=4 August 2016|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225110032/http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/19-A/title19-Asec658.html|url-status=live}}

Nevada law provides, "All marriages solemnized among the people called 'Friends' or 'Quakers,' in the forms heretofore practiced and in use in their meetings, shall be good and valid."{{cite web|title=Nevada Revised Statutes, Chapter 122.150|url=https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-122.html#NRS122Sec150|accessdate=18 October 2016|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225110018/https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-122.html#NRS122Sec150|url-status=live}}

Pennsylvania has recognized such marriages for centuries (due to its Quaker origins and history of religious tolerance) and has offered licenses for these marriages for decades.U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania [http://www.aclupa.org/downloads/KnellyTROOrder.pdf Temporary Restraining Order, Knelly v. Wagner] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515200733/http://www.aclupa.org/downloads/KnellyTROOrder.pdf |date=May 15, 2008 }} These marriages only require the signatures of two witnesses in place of an officiant.

The issuance of self-uniting marriage licenses has been controversial, however.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} Before 2007, some Pennsylvania counties did not offer this form of license at all.{{cite news|last=Ward|first=Paula Reed|title=Couple fighting for rights over rites|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=September 22, 2007|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07265/819679-85.stm|accessdate = July 26, 2011|url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928092852/http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/07265/819679-85.stm|archivedate=September 28, 2018|quote=However, officials [in Butler county] said they don't issue that type of license at all}} Others only allowed such marriages when license applicants could prove they were members of a recognized religion without clergy, such as Quakers, the Amish, and the Baháʼí Faith;Knelly v. Wagner, Federal Court, Western District. {{cite web|url=http://aclupa.org/legal/legaldocket/couplerefusedselfunitingma |title=Knelly v. Wagner :: American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania |accessdate=2007-10-10 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724223111/http://aclupa.org/legal/legaldocket/couplerefusedselfunitingma |archivedate=2011-07-24 }} however, in 2007, a Federal judge ruled that a Pennsylvania couple that was denied a self-uniting marriage on the basis of their secular beliefs must be allowed such a license.{{cite news|last=Ward|first=Paula Reed|title=Judge says couple can have self-uniting marriage|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=September 28, 2007|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07271/821194-85.stm|accessdate = July 26, 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601201200/https://old.post-gazette.com/pg/07271/821194-85.stm |archivedate=June 1, 2022}}

Wisconsin allows self-uniting marriages in accordance with the customs, rules and regulations of any religious society, denomination or sect to which either of the parties may belong.{{Cite web|title=Wisconsin Legislature: 765.16(1m)(c)|url=https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/765/16/1m/c|access-date=2020-08-07|website=docs.legis.wisconsin.gov|archive-date=2 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602180956/https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/765/16/1m/c|url-status=live}} The county clerk may ask the applicants to state their religious affiliation and provide evidence of that affiliation. Secular humanism is an acceptable religious affiliation for obtaining a self-uniting marriage license.

• Gandharva marriage
• {{section link|Marriage in the Catholic Church|Western Church}}: in certain cases, it can do without an officiating priest, but two witnesses are always required

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{{Types of marriages|state=autocollapse}}

Category:Types of marriage