From Paperwork to Costs, the Basics of Getting Married in the Bay Area

When I told KQED coworkers I was working on a guide to getting married quickly, my fundraising colleague Lilly Payne joked that she and her wife got married “for love and health insurance.”

To be clear, the plan was always to get married. “She’s the love of my life. She’s my favorite person,” Payne said.

But she explained she had to accelerate her wedding plans in 2023 to be able to keep her then-fiancée insured before a big move the very same week. This rapid change in circumstance delayed the couple’s plan for a larger ceremony in favor of backyard vows conducted by an ordained neighbor, and witnessed by their friends and their dog, Oliver.

“We didn’t have rings yet, but we had matching baseball caps,” Payne laughed.

And while this quick approach was admittedly “not what we were expecting at all,” said Payne, the tradeoff of cementing the couple’s legal partnership for their joint health and happiness was, for them, worth it.

When a speedy wedding feels right

Payne was by no means alone in choosing to formalize a partnership earlier than originally planned for practical reasons. In the United States, where access to good healthcare is often tied to employment or marriage, health insurance can be a large motivator — as can financial pressures in general.

People may choose elopements, that is, quicker or smaller ceremonies, for a variety of reasons, Sunnyvale wedding planner Denise Lillie said. She started seeing an increase in inquiries for these types of events during the height of the pandemic, when she observed many people wanting to make the commitment quickly — and celebrate later.

Lillie said planners like her have also received requests from LGBTQ+ couples concerned about the future of marriage equality.

Even though the Supreme Court rejected the latest request to overturn the U.S.’s landmark same-sex marriage ruling in early November, some couples have expressed anxiety about the future of equal marriage under President Donald Trump’s second administration.

The aesthetics of a small, intimate wedding ceremony — sometimes followed up by a bigger party later down the line — has also gained in popularity among Gen-Z, Lillie said.

And then, there are the undoubted financial pressures of the big traditional wedding: According to a 2025 survey of around 17,000 couples by wedding website The Knot, the average cost of a wedding in the United States is $33,000. In San Francisco, it’s $51,500.

In the midst of the holidays, also known as “engagement season” to wedding planners like Lillie, if you’re someone seeking to marry a partner as quickly and affordably as possible, you may be wondering: What are the logistics of getting married? What kind of paperwork do you actually need, and what are the timeframes — and costs?

Keep reading for the breakdown — and bear in mind that since the following doesn’t constitute legal advice, it’s always a good idea to speak to a lawyer about marriage licenses, name change options, finances and more when it comes to your own circumstances.

And check back soon for our second guide, with advice from the wedding experts on how to make a small, simple ceremony feel special, and particular tips for getting married at San Francisco City Hall.

The paperwork basics of getting married

To be formally married in California, you’ll need to obtain two documents:

1. A marriage license

This document authorizes your marriage to take place in California.

2. A marriage certificate

This document then acts as the proof of your marriage “through the county and state’s eyes,” said Alexis Levy, a San Francisco-based lawyer who is licensed to marry people in California.

Getting your marriage license

How do I get a marriage license in California?

A marriage license is essentially a permit to get married, although you won’t be legally married until you have a ceremony.

To obtain a license, both partners should already be unmarried and over 18. (People under 18, incarcerated, hospitalized or in active military duty have separate procedures for getting married.)

In California, the process for obtaining a marriage license varies by county, and you’ll often be asked to complete an application online before picking up the license.

For example, in San Francisco, San Mateo and Napa County, you need to book an appointment to pick up your license. In Alameda County, the process is done through a video conference call. In Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Marin, Sonoma, and Solano, marriage licenses are issued on a walk-in basis only.

When going to the county clerk’s office to get your license, you usually will need to bring a valid government-issued ID. Both parties need to be present.

Do I need to get a marriage license in the county I live in? Or the county I intend to get married in?

You can actually get a marriage license from any California county, as long as your marriage ceremony takes place in California. You don’t have to live in that county or get married in that county.

This may offer you some convenience and flexibility if, for example, appointments for marriage licenses are scarce in the county you live in.

Are there different kinds of marriage licenses?

There are two different types of licenses that a couple can obtain, which impact costs.

Most couples choose what’s called a “ public marriage license,” which allows the marriage to be a public record and requires a witness at the ceremony. These licenses cost around $80 to $127, depending on the county. Most couples opt for this license.

A “confidential marriage license” means that the marriage record is available only to the couple or by court order from the same county. These ceremonies require no witnesses, but the couple must also already live together to be eligible for a confidential marriage license. These licenses typically cost a little more than public marriage licenses: For example, in Santa Clara County, the standard marriage license is $80, and the confidential marriage license is $83.

How quickly can I get a marriage license? 

It depends on how busy the office is, but an appointment for a license can take as little as half an hour. A marriage license application itself is around a page and a half.

“The real key about the marriage license is to keep it safe,” San Francisco County Clerk Diane Rea said. “I know it looks like a piece of paper, but it becomes your record in the end.”

She said there could be instances where the license could be rejected if it is ripped or has coffee stains, and you may have to buy it all over again.

Having a wedding ceremony and obtaining your marriage certificate

How quickly do we have to get married after getting the license? 

Once you have the license, you must get married within 90 days of the date, and if you don’t, you’ll need to obtain a new license.

If you’re looking to really speed up the process, you could get married in the County Clerk-Recorder’s office on the same day, depending on the county. However, remember some counties will require some kind of booking or appointment for a civil ceremony, so don’t necessarily expect to get a “walk-in wedding.”

But, truly, as long as you have the necessary witnesses and someone qualified to officiate, a ceremony can be anywhere: a backyard, a bar, a park, a movie theater.

Remember to bring the license and government identification to the ceremony.

Do I need witnesses? 

If you have a public marriage license in California, you need at least one witness and at most two witnesses. They will sign your marriage certificate.

Who can marry couples in California?

According to California law, a wedding officiant can be someone, such as a judge, specific county staff, religious figures like priests or rabbis or current and former elected officials.

In some counties, anyone can be a marriage commissioner for a day for a specific couple as long as they are over 18, fill out paperwork and are willing to take an oath to uphold the state and national constitutions. The price for this process ranges from county to county and could be around $80 to $182.

Levy said the entities like the Universal Life Church — “which is basically a completely non-denominational, non-doctrinal church” — also allow people to get ordained and officiate weddings. While anyone over 18 can get ordained, there are specific rules to know for officiating a wedding. The Universal Life Church has a guide on how to get ordained in the state of California.

Does location matter?

As long as you get married in California, you do not need to get married in the county where you got your marriage license, said Levy, or the county where you live.

But if you want to get married in another state, you should first get a marriage license in that state. For example, if you are having a Las Vegas wedding, you should obtain your marriage license in Nevada, since “their rules are very different than California’s,” cautioned Levy.

What paperwork do I need to do after the wedding? 

Levy stressed that you must record the marriage certificate within 10 days of the wedding, with the county clerk where the certificate was issued, which may well be a different county than the one in which you obtained your marriage license. Sometimes officiants will do the recording for you, which you should establish beforehand.

You should also request a copy of the marriage certificate from the county where it was issued.

With all this in mind, what’s the lowest cost I could get married for?

For the basics, you should factor in:

• The cost of your marriage license, plus
• The cost of any civil ceremony in a city hall, plus
• The cost of any county official who’s marrying you
• The cost of obtaining a copy of your marriage certificate

For example, in San Francisco County, a public marriage license is $127, a civil marriage ceremony in the city hall is $111 and an additional copy of a marriage certificate is $17.

Another example, in San Mateo County, a public marriage license is $79, and a civil marriage ceremony is $65. A deputized marriage commissioner is $60. A duplicate of the marriage certificate is $5.

“There [are] a lot of other costs that people associate with weddings. With rings and with outfits and venues and all that kind of stuff,” Levy said. “None of those are technically legally required to get married. They’re just common pieces of a wedding.”

And if they wish, couples can find many ways of keeping costs down with personal touches. KQED’s own Adhiti Bandlamudi echoed this advice for couples to work out what’s truly important to them for their own big day. When it came to her own civil ceremony in 2021, Bandlamudi wore a white dress purchased from Anthropologie. Afterwards, she and her loved ones gathered together in the couple’s Richmond apartment, with takeout Indian pizza for catering. She even made her own gingerbread wedding cake.

For some couples, the emotional stress of weddings, the costs, the planning, the constant wondering of what other people and families are going to think can burden them. But, Bandlamudi said, “it’s your wedding.”

She recommended that couples focus on what that day means to them: “Is it the vibes? Is it the music? Is that the food?”

Once you and your partner have discussed the elements that truly matter to you, “focus on that, make it really special,” advised Bandlamudi.

And finally: The serious questions to think about when planning your speedy wedding

Will you and your new spouse be sharing health benefits?

Getting married is considered a “qualifying event,” Levy said, when an insurance policy can be changed. And technically, health benefits held through an employer — or through Covered California, the state’s own marketplace through the Affordable Care Act — “can be applied to the other spouse immediately upon marriage,” they said.

Generally, Levy said, employer-sponsored healthcare and Covered California will be granted retroactively to the date of the marriage, and for Covered California, you can enroll up to 60 days after the marriage. But “practically speaking, it may not actually go into effect immediately because there’s always some lag time for the paperwork to process,” they added.

Bear in mind that some large employers are obligated to cover dependents with health care but not a spouse, and that you should always check these details before your marriage.

If you are on Medi-Cal, you will need to report your marriage on BenefitsCal or to your county 10 days after the event.

Does one or both of you want to change your name? 

Rea said it is important for couples to consider if one or both spouses want to change their name, and to have made the decision before their marriage license appointment.

“If they do not do it right then and there, then they need to go to the courts to change it later,” Rea explained.

Keep in mind, you can’t change your first name through this method, but you can change your last name in the following ways:

• The current last name of the other spouse
• The last name of either spouse given at birth
• A combination of last names

You can change your middle name in the following ways:

• The current last name of either spouse
• The last name of either spouse given at birth
• A combination of the current middle name and the current last name of the person or spouse
• A combination of the current middle name and the birth last name of the person or spouse

Neither party can completely drop an existing middle name.

After the marriage ceremony, and after the marriage certificate is recorded with the county, you will then need to update your Social Security record and your state and federal IDs. To aid you, KQED has a thorough guide on name changes (and gender marker updates) in California.