Wedding Permit Question (Jefferson: appointed, weddings, license)

[thebrood78]

Don't know if anyone can help me with this. We are getting married on June 27th, and plan to have the reception and ceremony at a venue (all booked, no worries on that end). We do want to get married PRIOR to the ceremony though, as my brother will be performing the wedding. We have a judge and everything, and most likely will get married by the FDR/Potomac, but not in the FDR memorial itself. We have an all day photo permit, but do you know if we need anything else to perform a "ceremony".... where there may be 5 people attending....or standing with us?

[themommy]

Do you know who owns the land on which you're planning to be married? If it's National Park land, then you probably won't be permitted to hold even a small ceremony there. Talk to the NPS office (the same one that issued your photo permit) to be sure, but the only two areas at which they allow weddings to be performed are an area near the Jefferson Memorial, and an area near the WWI Memorial. Bear in mind that at either of these locations, you may have to alter your mental picture of your wedding to fit the site: By mid-June, downtown DC will be full of tourists -- even mid-week -- and a quiet, private ceremony probably isn't going to happen. You can still have a beautiful ceremony. I know some people are disappointed, though, when tourists gather to watch. Just be prepared for that, even if you think you've found the perfect out-of-the-way alcove.

[Newk]

Did you get a marriage license for the county that you are to be marrying in?