Valentine's Day walk-in weddings offered in LA, Orange counties
Amorous couples looking to tie the knot on Valentine's Day will be able to obtain a marriage license and get hitched all in the same location Wednesday at the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's Office in Norwalk.
Same-day marriage licensing and civil wedding ceremonies will be offered only at the office's Norwalk headquarters at 12400 Imperial Highway. The services will be offered from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Appointments are not required, although, to save time, couples are encouraged to fill out an online license application before arriving. The applications are available at marriage.lavote.net/mls/.
The county charges $35 for a civil wedding ceremony. A marriage license costs $91, but a confidential license costs just $85.
On Valentine's Day last year, 140 couples took advantage of the same- day licensing and ceremonies in Norwalk -- where usually about 30 ceremonies are performed on a normal day. Another 73 couples were married on Valentine's Day 2023 at the various registrar-recorder offices across Los Angeles County.
Appointments will be required at all of the other Registrar- Recorder/County Clerk branch offices in L.A. County on Valentine's Day. A pre- purchased marriage license is required to make an appointment at the branch offices.
In Orange County, the county Clerk-Recorder will be offering extended hours at offices in Anaheim, Laguna Hills and Santa Ana, where civil ceremonies will be offered until 6 p.m.
Couples are urged to make appointments, but walk-ins will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis. All couples must complete an online license application prior to visiting any of the offices, with the application available at ocweddings.ocrecorder.com/#/.
The OC Clerk-Recorder's office has conducted 628 marriage ceremonies on Valentine's Day since 2019. In 2019 there were 114 ceremonies; 194 in 2020; 17 in 2021 during the pandemic; 150 in 2022; and 153 last year.
The numbers of marriage licenses issued in Orange County on Valentine's Day have been: 154 in 2019; 258 in 2020; 21 in 2021; 215 in 2022; and 188 last year. The OC record on Valentine's Day was 2014, when 310 marriage licenses were issued and 266 civil marriage ceremonies performed.
"Valentine's Day is one of our most popular days of the year, and I am excited to increase accessibility of our marriage services with extended hours. Our department's priority is to create a memorable start to the new chapter of each couple's love story," Orange County Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen said in a statement.
In Orange County, a public marriage license is $61, and a confidential license is $66. The civil ceremony costs $28.