17 "Illinois" Category Articles

Simple step-by-step look at how to fill out an Illinois marriage license. Sample license & FAQs for wedding officiants and newlyweds, plus tips from the County Clerk's office.

Start planning with this list of pro-approved reliable wedding venues for 2026! Recommended by wedding officiants & vendors, these top-rated venues are trusted by professionals for a seamless, stress-free wedding day in a beautiful setting.

AMM's fun & informative wedding officiant training day returns to Chicago, Illinois! Click now to get your tickets for Officiant Accelerator: Chicago on September 17, 2025

Learn about potential updates to Illinois self uniting marriage laws which would expand the option to more couples, proposed by IL HB3049 2025.

2025 AMM Officiant Accelerator Tour: Wedding officiant training & networking seminars in NV, GA, WA, IL, and FL. Take your officiant business to the next level and make lasting connections.

Learn how much it costs to become an ordained minister online in Illinois, whether you’ll be required to pay more for minister registration to officiate a wedding, and how the cost of popular online ordination services compare with each other, including free ordination through American Marriage Ministries.

For a spooktacular ceremony! Whether you’re planning a spine-tingling themed Halloween wedding, an eerie autumn handfasting or vow renewal, or just love the idea ghosts and ghouls joining the wedding party, start planning with this list of the most haunted places to say 'I do' in the U.S. Featuring locations in some of America's most haunted cities, including Chicago, Savannah, Salem, St. Augustine, San Antonio, and beyond.

Everything you need to know to plan a celestial wedding ceremony during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, including theme and unity ceremony ideas, how to find an officiant or officiate, group and mass wedding inspiration, and the top cities to witness the totality – with a kiss!

Learn about amendments to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act that strengthen protections for marriage equality in the state. Three laws have been repealed, which previously prevented out-of-state interracial and same-sex couples from traveling to Illinois to marry there, ensuring the state remains a safe haven for interracial and LGBTQ+ couples. (HB 1591 / 2023)

Attention Chicago Wedding Officiants: Meet the speakers for our June, 2023 Education and Networking seminar! This fun and informative event features 5 AMM Ministers and professional officiants, with expert advice on how to start an officiant business, attract the couples you want to marry, marketing tips, unity ceremony and vows, how to create an LGBTQ+ inclusive wedding ceremony, and more. This event is open to all wedding officiants!

Join American Marriage Ministries for a day of wedding officiant education and networking on June 14th, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois! This seminar includes expert speakers and training on how to be an incredible wedding officiant and build a successful small business, networking and strategy, marketing, unity ceremonies, inclusivity and working with LGBTQ+ couples, and community building for officiants in the Chicago metro area and beyond. Tickets are available now on Eventbrite.

A step-by-step guide to help you plan a wedding and get married in Illinois - including how to find a wedding officiant, how to choose the best wedding venue, plan your ceremony, and how to apply for and return your Illinois marriage license.

300 couples celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in a large group vow renewal ceremony in Chicago this weekend at Holy Name Cathedral. Read about this joyful event, plus advice for wedding officiants, ministers, and couples on how to plan and officiate your own group vow renewal or mass wedding ceremony.

Learn about upcoming changes to Chicago and Illinois marriage license requirements and online weddings, as Executive Orders issued during the coronavirus COVID 19 crisis expire. (E.O. 2020-36 ; NO. 34 ; 2021-28 ; NO. 93 )

50 couples participated in a festive mass wedding ceremony this weekend, called "Marriages on the Mile," to celebrate the Wrigley Building's 100th anniversary in downtown Chicago. Multiple wedding officiants, well dressed witnesses, and friends and family watching from Michigan Ave made this a day to remember!