MarriageLicenseCheck.com

District of Columbia exact answer

Who can perform a marriage ceremony for a license from District of Columbia?

This answer belongs to the issuing office and task named above. It does not substitute a statewide summary or infer a rule the office does not publish.

Direct answer

In District of Columbia, religious celebrants, civil celebrants and judges other than DC Courts judges must be authorised by the Court and registered by the Marriage Bureau before performing a marriage, and the intended celebrant's full name must be given at the time of the application. A couple may instead officiate their own ceremony, or request a civil wedding performed by a court official. Officiant authorisation carries its own fee: $35 for a religious or civil celebrant, $25 for a temporary officiant. For a court-officiated wedding the Bureau asks for at least ten business days after the license is issued.

Published rule and conditions

Officiant and ceremony rule
Religious celebrants, civil celebrants and judges other than DC Courts judges must be authorised by the Court and registered by the Marriage Bureau before performing a marriage, and the intended celebrant's full name must be given at the time of the application. A couple may instead officiate their own ceremony, or request a civil wedding performed by a court official.

Officiant authorisation carries its own fee: $35 for a religious or civil celebrant, $25 for a temporary officiant. For a court-officiated wedding the Bureau asks for at least ten business days after the license is issued.

Official requirement

Religious celebrants and judges other than those of the DC Courts must be authorized by the Court and registered by the Marriage Bureau in order to perform legal marriages in the District of Columbia.

Issuing office

Marriage Bureau, Superior Court of the District of Columbia

Open the issuing office

Official sources for this answer

  • MarriageSuperior Court of the District of Columbia, Marriage Bureau - checked July 30, 2026

    The marriage license application fee is $45.00 ($35 of this fee will be waived if the applicant's’ original DC Domestic Partnership Certificate and is presented at the time of application). All fees must be paid in cash or credit card or by check or money order (made payable to: "Clerk, DC Superior Court"). Once issued, a marriage license does not expire. All parties — both the parties to the wedding and the person performing the wedding — must be physically present in the District of Columbia at the time of the ceremony. The minimum age for marriage in the District of Columbia is 18.

Answer boundary

MarriageLicenseCheck is an independent reference, not the issuing office or legal advice. Applicant facts, timing, prior marriages, and document type can change the result. The official office decides what it will accept.

Open the complete District of Columbia guide - Browse exact answers - Report a correction