Nashville and Davidson County marriage license
To marry in Nashville and Davidson County, you apply to the Davidson County Clerk, Marriage and Notary Department. There, both applicants must appear together.
Not yet fully reviewedWhat is shown below is verified against the issuing authority, but at least one requirement is not published or not yet confirmed, so treat this page as a starting point.
- Fee
- $99.50 cash, $101.49 by cardA $60 saving applies when a notarised premarital preparation course Certificate of Completion is handed over at the time of application — $39.50 in cash against the published $99.50 fee
- Waiting period
- Not published
- License valid
- 30 daysFrom issuance
- Both must appear
- YesTogether, at the same time
Reviewed July 30, 202610 official sourcesSee sources
Where to apply
- Apply online
- Yes
The Clerk requires the application to be completed online before the visit, but it is a pre-application only: both parties must still come to the Howard Office Building to sign, show identification and pay. Nothing is issued remotely.
Official requirementA completed Marriage License application submitted online prior to visiting the office
- Apply in person
- Yes
Only the main office issues marriage licenses. The Clerk's branch offices handle motor vehicle transactions only.
Official requirementOur main office located in the Howard Office Building is the only office issuing marriage licenses. Couples must visit this office when applying for a marriage license.
When to apply
We will work out when you can apply. We never ask for names, dates of birth or any other personal detail.
Who must appear
- Both applicants
- Yes
Two published exceptions to the in-person appearance, each requiring original notarised documents: an applicant with a physical disability preventing attendance may file a notarised affidavit plus a notarised consent letter from the attending physician on facility letterhead, and an incarcerated applicant may file a notarised affidavit plus a notarised letter from the warden or chaplain on facility letterhead.
Official requirementBoth parties must be present.
- Residency
This office does not publish this. Confirm with them directly before relying on it.
The Clerk publishes no residency requirement either way for a Davidson County marriage license.
Not published by this office
Identification and personal information
We list what the office says it may ask for. We never collect any of it.
- Identification
- A valid driver's license, government issued photo ID or passport for each applicant
- Proof of Social Security number, if one has been issued: a Social Security card, a W-2, or a tax document showing the full Social Security number
- A completed marriage license application submitted online before the office visit
In the disability and incarceration exceptions, only original documents are accepted.
Official requirementA valid driver's license, government issued photo ID or passport
- Social Security number
- An applicant who has been issued a Social Security number must show proof of it — a Social Security card, a W-2, or a tax document displaying the full number. Applicants who have never been issued a number are not asked for one.Official requirement
Proof of social security number: If you have been issued a social security number, you must provide either a social security card, W-2 or tax document with the full social security number listed.
- Age
This office does not publish this. Confirm with them directly before relying on it.
The Clerk's dedicated "Minimum Age of Marriage License Applicants" page addresses only 17-year-old applicants and never states the general minimum age, and no Tennessee state authority page we could reach states it either. We do not fill the gap from the widely repeated figure.
Not published by this office- Applicants under 18
- An applicant who is 17 must contact the Clerk's Marriage and Notary Department (615-862-6256) for the complete list of requirements before applying. The Clerk does not publish that list online.Applies in some cases
Minors the age of 17 seeking to apply for a marriage license should contact our office for a complete list of requirements.
Prior-marriage documents
- If a marriage ended
This office does not publish this. Confirm with them directly before relying on it.
The Clerk publishes no requirement to produce a divorce decree, annulment or death certificate, and no waiting interval after a divorce.
Not published by this office
Fee and payment
- Fee
- $99.50 cash, $101.49 by cardA $60 saving applies when a notarised premarital preparation course Certificate of Completion is handed over at the time of application — $39.50 in cash against the published $99.50 fee. The course must be the four-hour premarital preparation course, completed together or separately within one year of the application date, and certified on the Certificate of Completion form developed by the Administrative Office of the Courts, which is the only form the Clerk accepts and must be notarised.
The card price is $1.99 higher than the cash price. Cheques are not accepted for the license fee.
Official requirementA $60 savings is available by submitting a notarized pre-marital counseling Certificate of Completion at the time of application.
- Payment methods
- Cash — $99.50
- Credit or debit card — $101.49
- Cheques are not accepted for the marriage license fee
For mailed certified copies the Clerk takes cheques or money orders instead.
Official requirementMarriage License Application Fee: Cash or Card only (checks not accepted)
Waiting period and expiration
- Waiting period
This office does not publish this. Confirm with them directly before relying on it.
The Clerk publishes nothing about an interval between issuance and the ceremony, and no Tennessee state authority page we could reach states one. Third-party sites assert that Tennessee has none; that is not traced to an official source here and is not recorded. The Clerk's own 30-day validity page counts forward from issuance and never mentions a delay before use. We also went to the statute and stopped short of a conclusion: Tennessee Code Annotated Section 36-3-104(a), as rewritten by Public Chapter 608 of 2024, is the provision that says when a clerk may issue, and it requires only a sworn written application — no wait — but Tennessee publishes no free official text of the rest of Title 36, Chapter 3, so we cannot say the chapter imposes none. Ask the Clerk before booking a same-day ceremony.
Not published by this office- Waiver
This office does not publish this. Confirm with them directly before relying on it.
No waiting period is published, so nothing is published about waiving one. This is deliberately not recorded as structurally inapplicable, since that would assert a zero waiting period the Clerk never states. The published affidavit routes for a disabled or incarcerated applicant waive the in-person appearance, not any waiting period.
Not published by this office- License expires
- 30 days
The Clerk counts the 30 days under T.C.A. 1-3-102: the day of issuance is excluded and the last day is included, unless that last day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, in which case it is excluded too — so the practical deadline can fall later than a plain 30-day count. A marriage solemnized after the license has expired will not be accepted; the couple must buy a new license, marry within its 30 days and return the new paperwork.
Official requirementThe license authorizes the solemnization of the marriage and is valid for 30 days from issuance.
- Where it is valid
This office does not publish this. Confirm with them directly before relying on it.
The Clerk does not publish where a Davidson County license may be used for a ceremony — neither a county restriction nor statewide validity.
Not published by this office
Witness and ceremony notes
- Witnesses
This office does not publish this. Confirm with them directly before relying on it.
The Clerk publishes no witness requirement or count.
Not published by this office- Officiant
- The Clerk publishes who may solemnize a marriage in Tennessee: religious leaders of every belief over 18 having the care of souls; current and former members of county legislative bodies; current and former county mayors and executives; current and former judges and chancellors of the state, including federal judges and federal administrative law judges; current and former general sessions judges; municipal court judges; the governor; each county clerk, and former county clerks who held office on or after 1 July 2014; current and former speakers of the senate and house; mayors of municipalities; general assembly members who have filed notice with the office of vital records; law enforcement chaplains appointed by agency heads; military chaplains appointed by their commanding officer; members of municipal legislative bodies; and a Tennessee notary public. The Clerk's office does not itself perform ceremonies.Official requirement
Civil ceremonies are not performed at the Davidson County Clerk's Office at this time.
Returning and recording the license
- After the ceremony
This office does not publish this. Confirm with them directly before relying on it.
The Clerk publishes no return address or deadline for the signed license after the ceremony. Its license-validity page refers in passing to returning "the new paperwork" when a replacement license has been bought, but sets out no return procedure of its own.
Not published by this office- Processing
This office does not publish this. Confirm with them directly before relying on it.
The Clerk does not publish how long issuing a license takes at the counter. Separately, certified copies of Davidson County marriage licenses from the last 30 years can be printed in the office; mail requests cost $5.00 per copy plus a $2.00 mail fee, and records of Davidson County marriages between 1779 and 2012 are held by Metro Archives.
Not published by this office
Ordering the certified record afterwards is a separate request: official certified copy page
Access and language
- Published notes
- Official requirement
- Metro Nashville states that Nashville.gov is built to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA in accordance with Title II of the ADA, and that all pages should meet that standard
- All Davidson County Clerk offices are ADA compliant
- Nashville.gov offers translation, surfacing Spanish, Arabic, Kurdish and Somali directly with further languages available
- A named ADA Coordinator handles accommodation requests and accessibility complaints
- Where a document cannot be made accessible, Metro provides a conforming alternate version equal in purpose to the original
This version of Nashville.gov was built to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standards in accordance with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).
Common questions
- How much does a marriage license cost in Nashville and Davidson County?
- The fee is $99.50 cash, $101.49 by card, set by the Davidson County Clerk, Marriage and Notary Department. A $60 saving applies when a notarised premarital preparation course Certificate of Completion is handed over at the time of application — $39.50 in cash against the published $99.50 fee.
- How long is a Nashville and Davidson County marriage license valid?
- The license is valid for 30 days from issuance. A ceremony after that date requires a new license.
- Do both partners have to appear in person in Nashville and Davidson County?
- Yes. Both applicants must appear together to complete the application.
Each answer restates the verified rule above; the official wording and sources are in the numbered sections.
Sources and reviewed date
Every fact above is quoted from one of these pages. Reviewed July 30, 2026.
- Marriage LicenseDavidson County Clerk · issuing authority · retrieved 2026-07-26
- Thirty Day Marriage License ValidityDavidson County Clerk · issuing authority · retrieved 2026-07-26
- Premarital Preparation CourseDavidson County Clerk · issuing authority · retrieved 2026-07-26
- Minimum Age of Marriage License ApplicantsDavidson County Clerk · issuing authority · retrieved 2026-07-26
- Who Can Solemnize a Marriage?Davidson County Clerk · issuing authority · retrieved 2026-07-26
- Certified Copy of Marriage LicenseDavidson County Clerk · issuing authority · retrieved 2026-07-26
- Davidson County Clerk Hours and LocationsDavidson County Clerk · issuing authority · retrieved 2026-07-26
- Accessibility StatementMetropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County · issuing authority · retrieved 2026-07-26
- VRISM Marriage County Clerk GuideTennessee Department of Health, Office of Vital Records · state-level source · retrieved 2026-07-30
- Senate Bill 2581, 113th General Assembly — enacted as Public Chapter 608 and signed 3 April 2024, rewriting T.C.A. Section 36-3-104(a)Tennessee General Assembly · state-level source · retrieved 2026-07-30
Recorded conflicts
- No Davidson County or Tennessee state page we could reach publishes a waiting period between issuance and the ceremony. Third-party sites widely assert that Tennessee has none and that Shelby County is the exception; none of that is traceable to an official Davidson County or state source, so the field is recorded as unpublished rather than as zero.
- We tried to settle the waiting period from the statute and could not, so it stays unpublished. Tennessee has no free official text of the Tennessee Code: the General Assembly's own links page sends readers to the Code Commission's commercial publisher, which is not a government source and is not used here. What we could read on state government hosts is Section 36-3-104(a) as rewritten by Public Chapter 608 of 2024 — the provision that states when a clerk may issue, and it conditions issuance only on a sworn written application — and Section 36-3-105(a) as rewritten by Public Chapter 1049 of 2018, which bars issuance to anyone under 17 and to a 17-year-old whose partner is four or more years older. Neither imposes a wait. But Tennessee spreads its issuance bars across Sections 36-3-103 to 36-3-112, and we could not read the remainder in official form, so we cannot say the chapter imposes none. The absence of a wait in the sections we did read is not recorded as a waiting period of zero.
- The 30-day life of the license is corroborated at state level: the Tennessee Department of Health's own VRISM guide for county clerks tells the clerk to hand the printed certificate to the couple "for their ceremony reminding them it is good for 30 days". That agrees with the Davidson County Clerk's figure and is recorded alongside it, not in place of it.
- The Clerk's online pre-application is hosted on secure.tncountyclerk.com, a shared Tennessee county-clerk portal linked directly from nashville.gov as the required application step. It is recorded as the application URL for navigation only; no fact in this record is sourced from it. Its own text cites T.C.A. 36-3-104 for both parties appearing no earlier than 30 days before the marriage date, which is the license's 30-day life and not a separate waiting period.
- The premarital preparation course page was last updated 9 September 2022 and states the four-hour course, the one-year window and the notarised Administrative Office of the Courts certificate; the marriage license page was last updated 19 February 2026 and carries the current $99.50 / $101.49 fees and the $60 saving. The two are consistent, but the fee figures are taken only from the more recent page.
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