Can you marry an inanimate object? How about an animal, color, AI, robot, or fictional character?

Is it legal to marry something other than another person? 
 

 

Listen now:

 

 

We’ve seen news stories popping up lately about people marrying all kinds of things – the color pink, holographic anime characters, and even the Eiffel Tower. 
 
If you’ve seen them too, you might be wondering whether or not it’s really possible to legally marry something – or ‘someone’ – other than another human. 

 

 

Can you marry an inanimate object or fictional character? 

 

The answer is : Nope. 
 

 

Sorry. We don’t mean to kill the mood, but marriage is a legal contract between two consenting humans. Humans can only marry other humans. (How old fashioned!) 
 

Why? 

 

Marriages require a marriage license – a legal document that must be signed by the two parties to the marriage (along with the signature of their wedding officiant and any necessary witnesses) before it’s filed with a county or parish clerk. Because legal marriage is a binding contract, it requires an understanding of the agreement and informed consent from both parties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Symbolic ceremonies

 

It's probably not at all surprising that people do ‘marry’ inanimate objects and animals in symbolic ceremonies that look and feel similar to traditional weddings. In fact, this has happened many times over the years: 

 

 

• Erika Eiffel married the Eiffel Tower back in 2007
• A woman from London married her dog in 2014
• Carol Santa Fe married the Sante Fe Train Station in 2015
• A Japanese man married a hologram anime character and Artificial Intelligence (AI) named Miku in 2020
• A performer in Las Vegas married the color pink in 2021
• And the list goes on! 

 

These ‘marriages’ are symbolic, however, and the ‘weddings’ that celebrate them are commitment ceremonies, not legal wedding ceremonies. 
 
Commitment ceremonies are very common among all types of couples, and often come with all the trimmings and fanfare of a traditional wedding – with guests, formal wear, gifts, and even a wedding cake and reception or afterparty – but leave out the paperwork. 
 
People choose symbolic commitment ceremonies instead of weddings for a variety of reasons. 
 
During a commitment ceremony, the couple makes a public commitment to each other, and can live just as they would if they were married. But they won’t have access to many of the benefits that come with legal marriage.

 

 

Read What happens during a commitment ceremony?

 

 

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Here at AMM, the closest we’ll get to having an inanimate object involved in a wedding ceremony is maybe letting an AI help write some wedding scripts… The AI GPT-3 writes entire articles online, after all, so it’s not that far-fetched. 
 
But that’s still a big maybe... We’ll see what it comes up with first. 

 
In the meantime, visit our Wedding Ceremony Script Library for ceremony inspiration (written by humans). 

 

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You might also like: 

 

 

• The Queen of Pink will marry the color pink in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day
   
• Can you get married without a marriage license? What if you lost it? Or forgot it?
   

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