Florida Marriage License Records: Apply, Cost, and Waiting Period

To get a Florida marriage license, both parties must appear together in person at any County Clerk of Court office in the state, bring photo ID and Social Security numbers, and pay the $86 fee. The license is issued the same day, is valid for 60 days, and can be used for a ceremony anywhere in Florida regardless of which county issued it.¹

Where to Apply

Any Clerk of Court office in Florida can issue the license. Your county of residence does not matter, and the county where you plan to hold the wedding does not matter either. After the ceremony, though, the signed license has to go back to the same county office that issued it, so pick a location that makes that return trip easy for your officiant.¹

Both parties have to show up. Florida does not allow one person to apply on behalf of the couple.

What to Bring

A valid photo ID for each party: driver’s license, state-issued ID card, or passport.
Your Social Security number if you are a U.S. citizen. You do not need the physical card. Non-citizens may provide an alien registration number or passport number instead.²
If either of you was married before, the date that marriage ended and how it ended (divorce, death, or annulment).
Confirmation that both parties have read the state’s handbook on the rights and responsibilities of marriage. The clerk will not issue the license without this acknowledgment.²

Cost, Waiting Period, and the Premarital Course

The standard fee is $86. If both parties complete a four-hour premarital preparation course from a state-registered provider within the year before applying, the fee drops to $61.³

Florida residents also face a three-day waiting period between applying and the effective date of the license, meaning the ceremony cannot happen during those first three days. The premarital course waives that waiting period entirely.⁴

Non-Florida residents are exempt from the three-day wait automatically. Residents who cannot take the course but have a legitimate reason to skip the delay can ask the clerk for a hardship exception, and a county court judge can waive the waiting period on a showing of good cause.⁴

Once issued, the license expires 60 days later. If you do not hold the ceremony in that window, you have to apply and pay again.¹

Age Requirements

Both parties generally have to be at least 18. A 17-year-old may marry only with written, notarized consent from a parent or legal guardian, and only if the other party is no more than two years older. No one younger than 17 may marry in Florida under any circumstances.²

Who Can Perform the Ceremony

Florida authorizes a wide range of officiants: ordained ministers, elders in communion with a church, other ordained clergy, all judicial officers including retired judges, clerks of the circuit court, and any Florida notary public.⁵ The notary option is the one couples tend to miss. If you want a small civil ceremony without a religious officiant, any Florida notary can legally perform it.

After the Wedding

The officiant signs the license and returns it to the issuing Clerk of Court within 10 days.⁶ That is legally their responsibility, but confirm they actually did it. A license that never makes it back to the clerk means the marriage may not be properly recorded.

The Clerk then forwards the record to the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Vital Statistics, which takes roughly 60 days. If you need proof of marriage before the state record is ready, request it from the County Clerk that recorded the license.⁷

For a certified marriage certificate (the official legal proof needed for name changes, immigration, and similar purposes), you order from the Bureau of Vital Statistics, not the Clerk. Only the two people named on the certificate and their legal representatives can request one. The first certified copy is $5 by mail, with each additional copy ordered at the same time costing $4; a $10 rush fee is optional by mail and built in for online orders placed through VitalChek, the only vendor the Department of Health has approved.⁷⁸

1
Gulf County Clerk of Court and Comptroller. Marriage Licenses and Records at Gulf County Clerk of Court
2
Justia Law. Florida Code 741 – Issuance of Marriage License
3
Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers. How Do I Apply For A Marriage License
4
Florida Senate. 2024 Florida Statutes 741.04 – Issuance of Marriage License
5
Online Sunshine. 2025 Florida Statutes 741.07 – Persons Authorized to Solemnize Matrimony
6
Online Sunshine. 2025 Florida Statutes 741.08 – Marriage Not to Be Solemnized Without a License
7
Florida Department of Health. Marriage Certificates
8
Florida Department of Health. Application for Florida Marriage Certificate