Iowa Remote Marriage Ceremony Requirements
If you are planning to officiate a wedding in Iowa, check out our page Get Ordained in Iowa.
If you are planning to officiate a wedding in Iowa, check out our page Get Ordained in Iowa.
Online weddings conducted over video-conference are not allowed in Iowa. Both parties to the marriage must be physically present at the ceremony, along with two adult witnesses and an authorized wedding officiant.
If you're interested in getting married online, consider applying for your marriage license remotely through Utah's remote marriage portal: How to Get Married in an Online Wedding Ceremony in Utah. You can attend this remote ceremony from anywhere in the world, including from your living room in Iowa!
You cannot complete a marriage license application online in Iowa. However, couples can apply by mail as well as in person, by submitting an "Application for a License to Marry in Iowa" form with the County Recorder or County Registrar's office. Your application to marry will also include an "Affidavit of Competent and Disinterested Person," signed by a third person who knows you and your partner. These forms must be notarized.
Couples can apply for their marriage license anywhere in the state of Iowa, and licenses can be used anywhere in the state once issued. Contact your local county office to get started.
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 Iowa 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 Iowa 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 Iowa, 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!
Ready for more online wedding inspiration? Check out:
A Virtual Wedding Ceremony Script with Special Readings
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