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You have some misconceptions about the procedure. You apply for and get the marriage license in person. The first time you go to the clerk's office you will walk out with the marriage license in hand. Then you have to a wait 24 hours before the ceremony can be performed. I'd say you'll have to invite your friends to wait with you, as waiting times can be on the unpredictable side.
Thanks for the clarification, pyschopompos. I also googled and found those pages, but I they didn't give the information I was looking for. Since it would be fastidious to list all of the questions I have about the process, I was hoping that someone could tell me about their own experience getting married at the courthouse.
Granted, my wedding day is now nearly twelve years ago, but my spouse and I had a great experience getting married at the Brooklyn courthouse. On the day we were getting married, our friends / witnesses came with us. I don't recall there being a terribly long wait and it was a nice community experience--lots of other excited couples. The legal ceremony was very brief, but you could tell the judge liked her job. My spouse and I went out for lunch at the now defunct Robin des Bois and had a nicer celebratory dinner with friends later that night.
@versicle, that's just the kind of info I was looking for, for example : did you go directly from the courthouse to a restaurant with a party of friends/family, or did you plan something later in the day? Given the vagaries of the waiting time, I assume it would be more practical to do what you did, in other words, invite some people to meet at the courthouse and then have a dinner or something in the evening.
We did Manhattan (corner of Center and Worth.)
Simple, nice, cheap, respectful, no hassles.
And a big blowout afterwards...4 of us went to Chinatown for lunch ROFL.
Total cost of everything including license and marriage certificate and lunch was less than $100
After "living in sin" for 40 years, no point in a big to-do.
Yes, you walk out with the license but must wait 24 hours to come back and get married and they give you the marriage certificate on the spot.
You need a min. of one witness at the ceremony. So I would just pick the closest people to come to the courthouse ceremony and then do a larger celebration with the others at location of your choice later on in the day.
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