DuPage County Marriage License Requirements and Essentials - What you Need to Know to Get Married in DuPage County
Photo: Megan Magee Photography
One of the most important parts of a wedding day is actually one of the most forgotten among many couples - the marriage license.
It’s probably one of the only things that is required for DuPage County (and for other counties too!), so we wanted to make sure you have all of the information all in one place that you might need for getting and submitting your marriage license. Make sure if you’re having your wedding ceremony in DuPage county, you have this blog post bookmarked and handy when it’s time to get into the logistics!
#1
Before Getting your Marriage License
One really important thing to know is that you need to make sure you’re getting your marriage license in the county of your actual wedding ceremony location, not the county that you live in. If you aren’t sure which county your wedding ceremony is in, you can use this website to find out. To get the marriage license in DuPage County, you must first fill out the marriage license application form at this website. Once you have completed the marriage license application, you should print the confirmation of completion of the application (or save a screenshot of it) and bring with you to go to the DuPage County Clerk’s office on the first floor at 421 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton, IL 60187. Both partners that are getting married need to be present to obtain the marriage license in person. You must get the marriage license within 60 days of the wedding - you can’t get it any earlier than that or else it won’t be valid. We do recommend doing this at least 2 weeks before the wedding though just in case you need to reschedule for any reason or have any trouble, but it is required to do this at least 1 day before the ceremony, unless you are planning to have a courthouse wedding at Judicial Center at 505 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton, IL 60187. In that case, you need to register for a courthouse wedding date in advance at this website before applying for your marriage license. You only need to fill that out if you’re planning to have a courthouse wedding though, so otherwise you can disregard that step.
Photo: Nikki Kate photography
#2
Getting your Marriage License
Make sure you complete the application before going to the office to obtain your license. When you go to get your marriage license at 421 N. County Farm Road in Wheaton, IL 60187, you will both need to bring with you proper, valid government-issued identification and proof of your age. Most couples take a half-day off work as the offices are open Monday-Friday between 8am-4pm. You cannot make an appointment which means you should be prepared for a line just in case. It’s better to go earlier in the day because if you haven’t gotten your marriage license by 4pm, they don’t issue marriage licenses after 4pm. If you need an interpreter at this office, you will have to bring one yourself as the office will not provide one for you. You’ll need the address of the place you plan on getting married to prove that it’s actually in DuPage County. There is also a $35 fee to receive the marriage license that you can pay with cash, a check/money order, or by credit card with a $1 transaction fee. Once you have the license, it is not effective until the next day. If you have questions or concerns about the qualifications of who can marry, accepted forms of identification, information for a civil union, rules on previous marriages, or any other questions that aren’t listed here, check this website for more information. If you have questions about the marriage license for DuPage County, make sure to call 630-407-5500.
Photo: Krystal richmond photography
#3
What to Do at the Wedding
Make sure you have your marriage license with you on the wedding day for your officiant to sign after the ceremony. The officiant will need to sign the bottom portion of the license in black ink, and you can have 2 optional witnesses sign as well. The couple actually doesn’t need to sign the license. This is one of the last steps, but it’s not the final thing you need to do for your marriage license to be completed and valid!
Tip No. 4
What to Do After the Wedding
Depending on if you’re planning to take a honeymoon right after the wedding or later/not at all, there are two options for how to submit your marriage license. The marriage license must be submitted within 10 days of the wedding, which means if you are leaving for a honeymoon immediately, you will need someone to mail in the marriage license for you to to the DuPage County Clerk’s office at 421 N. County Farm Rd in Wheaton, IL 60187. If this is the case, we recommend bringing a pre-addressed and pre-stamped envelope for your officiant or another trusted individual to mail the following day. If you are going to be in town for a while after the wedding, you can bring the license in yourselves to exchange for the certificate, or you can have someone hand deliver the license to the office on your behalf. We recommend bringing it in person rather than mailing if possible so it doesn’t get lost, but we haven’t had any issues personally with couples so far!
Photo: Krystal richmond photography
Getting your Marriage Certificate
Prior to getting your marriage certificate, there is an online marriage certificate request form that you need to fill out before receiving your certificate in person you can find here. If you are submitting your marriage license by mail, you can get your marriage certificate online at this website - and it doesn’t look like you need the request form in this case (but we didn’t complete the request fully, which means there might be a chance you do actually need that request form filled out first). You can submit for payment online for $14 with a $10 processing fee online, and any additional copies are $2 each. We do recommend having two copies stored in two different locations just in case one gets damaged. If you are planning on changing your last name, you’ll need a copy of the marriage license to do that on your social security card, driver’s license, valid ID, passport, voter reigstration card, and your bank.
Photo: a crafted brand photo
That should be everything you need to know about the DuPage County marriage license!
Hopefully this makes it as easy as possible for you to plan your wedding. For questions, make sure to call 630-407-8232.
Need day-of coordination to make sure everything runs smoothly?
If you need more help making sure all of your wedding day details are in order, head to our contact page to make sure you have all your ducks in a row and can actually enjoy your wedding day instead of managing the details. We are happy to help make sure all the steps of your wedding planning journey are organized and you can focus on enjoying yourselves!
