Alabama Remote Marriage Ceremony Requirements
If you are planning to officiate a wedding in Alabama, check out our page Get Ordained in Alabama.
If you are planning to officiate a wedding in Alabama, check out our page Get Ordained in Alabama.
Online weddings are somewhat allowed in Alabama. In August 2019, Alabama modified its marriage laws, replacing minister and witness requirements with a couple-only (and notary)marriage recording system. Couples are no longer required to file for marriage licenses. This means that wedding ceremonies can take any form, as long as the couple files a notarized marriage application with the Probate Court. While a wedding ceremony may be performed, it is not required for a marriage to be considered legal in Alabama.
The Alabama Department of Public Health has made the Marriage Certificate Form accessible online. Contact your local Probate Court to file the information.
Alabama has fully reopened. In May, Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill into law that prohibits local businesses from requiring proof of vaccination status and the Safer Apart order expired on May 31, 2021.
At the moment, some Probate Courts in Alabama may still be temporarily operating with modified schedules. Please plan accordingly, as hours may have changed or an appointment may be necessary.
Couples do not apply for a Marriage License in Alabama - instead, they record their marriage with a Marriage Certificate. As of August 2019, to record a marriage, couples file a notarized Marriage Certificate with the court (officiant and witness signatures are not required). Couples must have their Marriage Certificate notarized in-person, but it can be returned to the Probate Court in-person or by mail.
For more information, contact your Probate Court. Alabama's Marriage Certificate form is accessible below.
Online weddings, livestream weddings, and small in-person guest lists have become a normal part of life, but it wasn't always this way! During the COVID-19 pandemic, the technology was new and evolved quickly, because the only way for many guests to attend a wedding to join remotely using a computer, tablet, or smartphone.
If you're considering an online wedding, a tiny elopement with just you and your officiant, or even a 'just us' elopement, remember that Alabama marriage laws regulate who must be in attendance at your ceremony, and how the ceremony is conducted. Here are some options to help adapt your wedding plans in Alabama to celebrate.
For the sake of clarity, we differentiate between a virtual wedding and a livestream wedding by who is in attendance and how they are conducted:
If the wedding officiant and couple are in separate physical locations, and the officiant performs the ceremony over video-conference technology (like Zoom, Google Meet, etc), then we call that a "virtual wedding." You might also hear it called a "Zoom wedding," "online wedding," or "remote marriage ceremony." Guests may or may not attend these ceremonies (either seated around the couple or joining remotely as well), depending on the couple's preferences.
If the couple and the wedding officiant are in the same physical location during the ceremony, but some or all of the guests are watching the wedding remotely (online), we call that a livestream wedding. You may also hear this referred to as a "hybrid wedding." In this case, the marriage ceremony itself is happening in one physical place, and it's being livestreamed out to guests.
You can read more about what distinguishes each option here.
(Keep in mind that metaverse weddings and getting married in a video game are a separate category of tech-wedding altogether, and are strictly symbolic. They must be combined with a traditional ceremony to meet legal requirements.)
You can livestream any activity or event, and it doesn't matter where you are in Alabama, what you're doing or how many people are physically present with you. Some of the most popular platforms include Zoom, Google Meet, Facebook Live, and Instagram Live.
If you want to host your own livestream, all you really need is a tripod and a phone with a good camera on it; your guests will be able to participate remotely and enjoy every part of your ceremony. Most platforms allow guests to comment, chat, react, and interact in a number of ways.
Many wedding professionals have also expanded their offerings in recent years to include wedding livestreaming services. For some couples, having a professional videographer or wedding content creator running things is well worth the extra money.
Both virtual weddings and livestream weddings are a creative way to have friends and family join the ceremony at no cost from anywhere in the world. For many couples, this technology has completely changed the way they celebrate love!
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