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Philadelphia exact answer

Who can perform a marriage ceremony for a license from Philadelphia?

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 Philadelphia, philadelphia issues two license types. With a regular license an officiant qualified under 23 Pa.C.S. §1503 must preside over the ceremony and sign the license. With a Quaker or self-uniting license, which costs $100, the couple officiate their own ceremony; another person may preside only in an unofficial capacity, and the couple plus two witnesses sign the license. If you are married by someone not qualified under 23 Pa.C.S. §1503, the Bureau states you are responsible for proving the marriage is legal.

Published rule and conditions

Officiant and ceremony rule
Philadelphia issues two license types. With a regular license an officiant qualified under 23 Pa.C.S. §1503 must preside over the ceremony and sign the license. With a Quaker or self-uniting license, which costs $100, the couple officiate their own ceremony; another person may preside only in an unofficial capacity, and the couple plus two witnesses sign the license.

If you are married by someone not qualified under 23 Pa.C.S. §1503, the Bureau states you are responsible for proving the marriage is legal.

Official requirement

With a self-uniting license, a couple officiates their own ceremony. (Another person may preside over the ceremony, but only in an unofficial capacity.)

Issuing office

Philadelphia Marriage License Bureau, Office of the Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court

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Official sources for this answer

  • Get a marriage licenseCity of Philadelphia, Register of Wills (Marriage License Department) - checked July 26, 2026

    Both applicants must appear in person at the Register of Wills and provide the required documents, including identification. You can use your marriage license in any county in Pennsylvania. You cannot use it in another state or country. A regular marriage license costs $90. Quaker or self-uniting licenses cost $100. You will receive your license at the end of your visit. It will be valid on the third day after you apply, and remain valid for 60 days from the issue date.

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.

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