Arkansas Remote Marriage Ceremony Requirements
If you are planning to officiate a wedding in Arkansas, check out our page Get Ordained in Arkansas.
If you are planning to officiate a wedding in Arkansas, check out our page Get Ordained in Arkansas.
Online weddings performed over video-conference are not allowed in Arkansas. Both parties to the marriage must be physically present at the ceremony, along with an authorized wedding officiant.
If you want to get married online over video-conference from your home in Arkansas, consider applying for a remote Utah marriage license instead: How to Get Married in an Online Wedding Ceremony in Utah. You can attend this online marriage ceremony from anywhere in the world, including from your living room in Arkansas!
In general, couples must apply for an Arkansas marriage license in-person. This is true for both standard licenses and covenant marriage licenses. Couples can apply at any Arkansas County Clerk's Office (or the Marriage License Department of a Circuit Court Clerk Office, depending on the area). You will probably need to schedule an appointment. Contact your local clerk for more information and to set a date for your application.
ONLINE MARRIAGE LICENSE APPLICATION: Some counties allow couples to start the marriage license application online, but you will still need to appear together in person to complete the process. For example, many couples submit their initial application using the Benton County Online Marriage Application System, and then make an appointment to complete the process at the clerk's office in person.
For more information on getting married in Arkansas, review these helpful resources:
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 Arkansas 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 Arkansas 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 Arkansas, 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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