Marriage License: You have to get your marriage license IN NEW YORK to get married IN NEW YORK

There have been a rash of emails about this topic - not sure if it's the heat wave, but we'll try to explain again:

You must apply for a marriage license IN THE STATE IN WHICH YOU ARE BEING MARRIED. You cannot bring a Texas or New Jersey license to New York. In other words, if you get married in Barbados, you apply for a Barbados license, and get married by a Barbados officiant. If you're being married in NYC, you can apply for a marriage license ANYWHERE IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK, but you must be married by an officiant who is certified by the CITY OF NEW YORK (the 5 boroughs).

Waiting period: The waiting period for a marriage in New York City is 24 hours. That means if you get through the line and get your license stamped at 2:13pm, you can be married after 2:13pm the next day. Of course City Hall is CLOSED on the weekends, so if you apply on Fridays, you'll have to come back on MONDAY to be married at City Hall, or find a certified officiant to marry you on the weekends.

After the wedding, if you need your official marriage license right away (instead of waiting for it come in the mail), you must go BACK to the Manhattan City Hall the next weekday morning with the license, properly signed by yourself, the witnesses and the officiant, and you can get the official certificate for a small fee. This is only possible if you applied for your license at the MANHATTAN office at 141 Worth Street.

More details here: