Washington, DC Remote Marriage Ceremony Requirements
If you are planning to officiate a wedding in Washington, DC, check out our page Get Ordained in Washington, DC.
If you are planning to officiate a wedding in Washington, DC, check out our page Get Ordained in Washington, DC.
Last updated: 20 December 2020
The information on this page is current as of the above date, but these regulations will change. We urge you to check with the Superior Court Marriage Bureau for the most up-to-date information.
To reduce in-person contact during the pandemic, judges are authorized to officiate civil weddings over video conference. However, ministers are not.
From the ceremony to the paperwork, Covid-19 has had a dramatic impact on weddings - getting married is just different right now. Large gatherings are prohibited or strongly discouraged, for obvious public health reasons.
At the moment, the Superior Court Marriage Bureau is only open by appointment, please plan accordingly. Their office is processing applications for marriage licenses remotely and performing weddings by videoconference.
Couples must pick up marriage licenses in-person, at the Superior Court Marriage Bureau. The marriage license application can be started online, but couples must appear in person and present identification to collect the document.
Ministers must register with the Superior Court before performing marriage in DC, but the Marriage Bureau's officiant registration process can be completed online. An application form must be completed and notarized, then emailed to the Marriage Bureau.
These policy changes are temporary and tied to the Covid-19 pandemic, and at the moment we can not predict how long they will remain in effect.
For more information, contact the Superior Court Marriage Bureau. Additional information from the Marriage Bureau is available here.
Superior Court of the District of Columbia Notice of Clerk's Offices Operations:
https://www.dccourts.gov/sites/default/files/Superior-Court-Clerks-Offices-Remote-Operations.pdf District of Columbia Courts Application for Authorization to Celebrate Marriages: https://www.dccourts.gov/services/marriage-matters
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 Washington, DC 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 Washington, DC 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 Washington, DC, 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:
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