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My Stay At Home Adventures

Modern Homemaker On A Modest Budget

You are here: Home / Wedding / Frugal Wedding Planning – Self-Uniting Marriage License

Frugal Wedding Planning – Self-Uniting Marriage License

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August 25, by Joyce @ My Stay At Home Adventures 8 Comments

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This post was published on 08/25/2014. On Friday 10/10/2014, we were able to get our self-uniting marriage in Berks County. We were rejected and turned down at first. We made some phone calls, and the matter was taken care of thanks to ACLU and we were able to obtained our Self-Uniting Marriage License

As some of you might know and if you didn’t we are getting married this fall. We decided to set our budget to $5000 and keep it simple. As I was doing my search I came across this post from a fellow PA blogger called Nix the Officiant: Self-Uniting Marriages Can Save Budget-Conscious Brides. This was when I learned about Self-Uniting Marriage License.

For those not familiar here’s a brief summary of what it is according to Wikipedia.

A self-uniting marriage is one in which the couple are married without the presence of a third-party officiant. Although non-denominational, this method of getting married is sometimes referred to as a “Quaker Marriage”.

We both come from different religious background. My fiance’s family is Greek Orthodox, and my family is Roman Catholic. We are not religious people; we are awesome people, just not the go to church kind of individuals. We decided that we will not be getting married in a church.

As I started researching officiants and crying every time, I saw the amount they charge for a few minutes of their service I was very discouraged. It was until I came upon this post from Femmefrugality about Self-Uniting Marriage that I saw another alternative. As I continued to read and learned that Pennsylvania honors this type of ceremony I found some hope. YES! YES!!!! A Self-Uniting Marriage ceremony was what we wanted.

How a Self-Uniting Marriage License will save us money in our wedding. Learn how you can skip the officiant and save money on your wedding day.You see the state we live, Pennsylvania, honors this marriage thanks to its Quaker origins. Thanks to a 2007 Federal judge ruling that allows Pennsylvania couples a self-uniting marriage without showing proof of membership with a Quaker or Bahai religion.

We decided to look at adjacent counties Register of Wills offices and found out that some do offer this marriage license on their website, and others don’t. Please make sure you check this before heading to your local Register of Wills office.

Once we contact our local Register of Wills office the person we spoke to didn’t know what a self-uniting marriage license was. When she did figure out what it was, she referred to it as Quaker license and said that they do not give them out at their office to try Lancaster County.

This was when I knew going to be a challenge to get this license in this county. I figured that by researching each county Register of Wills site, I would know if we will have a hard time obtaining the license in that county’s office. Counties that will not give you a hard time about it post about Self-Uniting Marriage License on their site. Berks County site didn’t even mention it.

If you are in the southeast of the state here are the counties that give them out. Technically, they all should be giving them out, but these are the counties that know and are willing to give them out without giving you a hard time.

Montgomery County – Though is not stated on their main page is under FAQ.

Chester County – Right on the page. Click Self-Uniting Marriage and it will give you more information.

Philadelphia – $90 Free (faints)

Bucks County – Right on the site if you scroll down it will give you information about it.

Next month I will be calling my county’s Register of Wills office and get the ball rolling. Wish us luck and you know I will be posting about it.

Continue reading How To Avoid Self Uniting marriage License Legal Problems

If you got married and did a Self-Uniting wedding what tips do you have for us when going for our license? What county in PA gives them out without a hassle?

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Joyce @ My Stay At Home Adventures

Latina mom of 4 married to wonderful Greek gentleman. Living in southeast PA and trying to juggle family and a household while trying to earn an income from home. Follow my stay at home journey as I discover how to earn money and save money so we can continue to live debt-free.
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Filed Under: Budgeting, Family, Frugal Living, Wedding

Comments

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  1. femmefrugality says

    August 25, at 11:59 am

    Good luck! I’m so glad that this is an option for you guys! If they give you a hard time, just mention lawyers and that ACLU case. But I’m sure it will go smoothly!

    Reply
    • Britnee says

      August 25, at 1:00 pm

      Thank you!!!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Wedding Planning: Update & Tea Party Bridal Shower says:
    September 18, at 8:30 am

    […] far as getting my self-uniting license in Berks County that was a bust. As the person in charge informed me that until the court orders it “it will […]

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  2. We Finally Got Married says:
    November 8, at 9:18 am

    […] October 25th, 2014. After many years together and having a family we made it official in a simple self-uniting ceremony in front of our close family and friends. Many of you have emailed me and knew the exact day and […]

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  3. 20 Ways To Save On Your Wedding says:
    November 17, at 8:13 am

    […] want a friend to marry you to keep the cost down. GO FOR IT! We are fortunate to live in PA where self-uniting marriage is honored and we are able to skip the 3 […]

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  4. My Stay At Home Adventures Year In Review Part Dos * says:
    January 1, at 6:01 am

    […] Frugal Wedding Planning – Self-Uniting Marriage License – I write about how our state of Pennsylvania honors Self-Uniting Marriages, and our decision to have one. […]

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  5. 20 Ways To Save On Your Wedding That Will Save You Thousands! says:
    November 23, at 3:29 pm

    […] to marry you to keep the cost down; GO FOR IT! We are fortunate to live in Pennsylvania where self-uniting marriage is honored, and we can skip the 3rd party to marry […]

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  6. 20 Ways To Save On Wedding That Will Save You Thousands! says:
    November 23, at 3:29 pm

    […] to marry you to keep the cost down; GO FOR IT! We are fortunate to live in Pennsylvania where self-uniting marriage is honored, and we can skip the 3rd party to marry […]

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