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Nope to the other answers (especially Ancestry - NOT a good source for marriages!)
You need to go to COUNTY records. It does vary very much by location, but here's what you need to do:
Figure out in which COUNTY and on which approximate date your ancestor married. You can generally do this by reading census.
Find out how far back the records go in the appropriate COUNTY courthouse where your ancestor married. You can find out this info by getting on the correct county usgenweb site (www.usgenweb.org) or by looking it up in the book International Vital Records Handbook. 5th Edition by Thomas Jay Kemp, which should be held by most larger libraries. Or simply CALL 1) the county historical society, then 2) the county clerk's office for that county to find out what records they hold. (But don't just ask the person who answers the phone to find your ancestor's record - there are procedures to be followed and fees to be paid!!!)
If the period you are searching for is before records were kept in that specific county, you will have to go to CHURCH RECORDS. If your ancestors were Catholic or Lutheran (or some others like the Quakers), you are in luck - those churches kept fabulous records on births, baptisms, marriages and deaths. Other churches which are less bureaucratic in form will have kept records less strictly, but still should be checked.
If you're only going back to the early 1900s you shouldn't have any problem at all. It's the pre-1840 records that are much harder to find.
Nope to the other answers (especially Ancestry - NOT a good source for marriages!)
Of the over 1,500 marriage (& divorce) record databases at Ancestry's website are these top 100 (columns are: the title and number of records in the database):
England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915 32,698,349
England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1916-2005 63,961,218
Sweden, Church Records, 1500-1941 (in Swedish) 20,037,185
Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967 14,515,649
London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 7,549,376
Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 12,889,943
U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 1,383,523
Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 7,542,774
London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 8,841,248
Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928 3,393,369
Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1950 5,329,018
Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 6,844,294
Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002 5,968,951
West Yorkshire, England, Marriages and Banns, 1813-1935 2,525,365
England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1940 2,649,804
Texas Marriage Collection, 1814-1909 and 1966-2002 12,788,833
Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003 1,579,456
West Yorkshire, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812 3,036,485
Florida Marriage Collection, 1822-1875 and 1927-2001 11,734,908
Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957 3,554,066
North Carolina, Marriage Collection, 1741-2004 2,709,617
Indiana, Marriage Collection, 1800-1941 3,245,823
Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1747-1967 1,274,408
Washington, Marriage Records, 1865-2004 4,315,453
Nevada, Marriage Index, 1956-2005 9,502,383
West Virginia, Marriages Index, 1785-1971 2,887,475
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records and Indexes, 1810-1973 1,880,003
Pallot's Marriage Index for England: 1780 - 1837 1,697,636
Quebec, Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian Families (Tanguay Collection), 1608-1890 (in French) 354,962
Dorset, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 1,161,634
Liverpool, Lancashire, England, Marriages and Banns, 1813-1921 660,517
Acadia, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1670-1946 921,991
Ohio Marriage Index, 1970, 1972-2007 6,777,937
Alabama, Marriage Collection, 1800-1969 2,404,100
Como and Lecco, Lombardy, Italy, Civil Registration Records, 1866-1936 (in Italian) 2,162,838
Mecklenburg and Pomerania, Germany, Parish Register Transcripts, 1544-1918 (in German) 253,633
New Hampshire, Marriage Records Index, 1637-1947 990,291
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951 1,830,431
Paris, France & Vicinity Marriage Banns, 1860-1902 (in French) 3,013,568
Warwickshire, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1910 576,830
Warwickshire, England, Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812 1,012,297
Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index, 1871-1920 1,730,670
Lancashire, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936 522,091
Minnesota, Marriage Collection, 1958-2001 2,712,431
Cook County, Illinois Marriage Index, 1930-1960 2,035,378
Oregon, Marriage Indexes, 1906-1924, 1946-2008 2,956,072
London and Surrey, England, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1597-1921 750,614
Dorset, England, Marriages and Banns, 1813-1921 401,567
Virginia, Marriages, 1740-1850 337,520
England, Andrews Newspaper Index Cards, 1790-1976 335,428
Maine, Marriage Records, 1705-1922 558,279
Vermont Marriage Records, 1909-2008 1,362,900
Lancashire, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 724,360
Web: Western States Marriage Index, 1809-2011 1,334,013
Massachusetts, Marriages, 1633-1850 820,711
Maine, Death Records, 1617-1922 463,970
Brandenburg, Germany, Transcripts of Church Records, 1700-1874 (in German) 317,214
Yorkshire, England, Extracted Parish Records 994,611
Connecticut, Town Marriage Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) 218,569
Illinois Marriages, 1851-1900 659,028
Kentucky, Marriage Index, 1973-1999 2,342,097
Summit County, Ohio, Marriage Records, 1840-1980 571,166
Mississippi Marriages, 1776-1935 684,772
Kentucky, Marriage Records, 1852-1914 230,792
Staffordshire, England, Extracted Parish Records 482,605
Virginia Land, Marriage, and Probate Records, 1639-1850 134,392
Maine Marriages, 1892-1996 857,135
Shropshire, England, Extracted Parish Records 667,040
Wisconsin Marriages, 1973-1997 1,897,946
North Carolina, Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868 170,342
Minnesota, Marriages Index, 1849-1950 778,376
South Dakota Marriages, 1905-1949 545,737
Kentucky Marriages, 1802-1850 72,640
Marne, France Marriages, 1529-1907 (in French) 1,307,937
Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, Mexico, Selected Parish Records, 1751-1880 113,767
Kent, England, Tyler Index to Parish Registers, 1538-1874 303,872
Lancashire, England, Extracted Parish Records 637,375
Connecticut, Marriage Index, 1959-2001 2,011,478
Georgia Marriages, 1699-1944 216,770
Georgia Marriages to 1850 167,492
Cook County, Illinois Marriage Indexes, 1912-1924 674,692
Web: Netherlands, Genlias Marriage Index, 1795-1944 (in Dutch) 2,193,568
Alabama, Marriages, Deaths, Wills, Court, and Other Records, 1784-1920
99,354
Yorkshire, England: Parish Records 14,415
Wisconsin Marriages, pre-1907 919,470
England, Extracted Parish and Court Records 361,635
Perth, Scotland Newspaper Index Cards, 1809-1990 184,618
North Carolina Divorce Index, 1958-2004 2,326,612
Midlothian (Edinburgh), Scotland, Extracted Parish Records
222,666
Web: RootsWeb Marriage Records Index 637,272
Ohio Marriages, 1803-1900 214,918
Liverpool, Lancashire, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1659-1812 199,696
Maryland Marriages, 1655-1850 257,488
If that's not a good source, go ahead and HOPE that you've guessed the right county, or know the right church to look at, hope that you don't have to PAY too much to the county clerk to look up the record, and maybe WAIT a month or more to get the record back.
If you want to use a bad source, then try Ancestry. You'll probably find them in an index, perhaps have a copy of the actual marriage record from county books attached digitally to the record. Of course, if you do find it in an index, going then to the county records is a great thing to do, as the index is not a primary source. It's a tool to get you to the primary source. But that does NOT make it a bad source.
Of course, I may be prejudiced. As I was finally, after about 40 years, able to find the marriage record of my German immigrant ancestors ... who I'd looked for all over the areas surrounding where they lived. Of course, Ancestry, that BAAAAAAD source, happened to recently have digitized the church records halfway across the state, in a place where I'd never known them to live. And not only gave me the marriage date and place, and the correct surname for my grandmother, but even had the audacity to tell me where she had come from in Germany.
Bad, bad, Ancestry, bad resource, lousy source for marriage records.
Nope to the other answers (especially Ancestry - NOT a good source for marriages!)
So you speak for everyone, do you? Personally, I have found a number of marriage records on ACOM, even some that are not yet transcribed, which takes some digging. Try to remember that your experiences are not necessarily everyone else's before you start "noping" the other responses as though your expertise trumps everyone else's.
However, you are correct that county records are the place to look if you can't find the record from a collective source.
Penny, if you have an ACOM subscription, I do suggest looking there first because if you're paying for it, you might as well make use of it. Also check www.FamilySearch.org - which is free and they have many marriage records too. Beyond that, like I say, it's best to look into the county records. It's difficult to point you in the right direction without knowing what location your searching in - they are usually found with the County Clerk, Register of Wills or Orphan's Court. If you don't know where they were married, that is problematic. Also, ease of availability will vary depending on the location.
In researching marriages of relatives in California I had to get copies from the State Genealogy archives in Sacramento, not the County. Cost I think was $10.00 for an un-certified copy. In Illinois it was the same, the State vital stats records dept, not county.
Yes, I should have said they "usually" come from the county - it's always been the county in my experience but of course I have not done research in every state, let alone every country.
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