find a justice of the peace. my friends did that last summer and were very happy. they were able to tailor the ceremony to their wishes and it was fairly inexpensive.

another friend was married by a mayor. don't know how expensive that was.

Oh, so you've seen the former Mr. tinydancer's girlfriend!!:p

Can I just say how ignorant a statement that is? Saying the Catholic church kicks people out who screw up? I've screwed up a lot and I have yet to be kicked out. :rolleyes:

I'm with everyone who said to get a justice of the peace. One of my sisters did that last year and it was nice. It's not like you still can't do readings and stuff...

Okay, okay :p

We do NOT want to have a justice of the peace/judge/etc or go somewhere else and get married. I thought I'd just get this outta the way.

So, I guess I'll just find this info out somewhere else.

Or, I could find you a fraternity president in Athens.

Good luck.

Why not a justice of the peace or a judge? If you don't want a church or religious wedding, a JP seems to be a good solution. You could arrange for that person to come to the facility where you want to get married. I wouldn't let something as important as my wedding depend on the legality of an internet ordination.

Re: Becoming ordained?
 

There isn't a "reliable" place.
Yes, definitely there could be conflicts with her church.

Bottom line -- trust me on this one -- you really need to check the marriage laws in your state. I know of a couple who did exactly what you are talking about, only to find out a year or so later that, as far as the state was concerned, they weren't legally married. They weren't legally married because in my state, a marriage performed by someone ordained online or by mail is not considered legal. And, just to add fuel to the fire for you, the Supreme Court decision that said such marriages aren't legal rested on two points:

1) the ordination was by mail and was not from a real religious organization, and

2) the person "ordained" by mail was a Catholic layman, and therefore was not authorized by the church of which he was actually a member to perform weddings.

Marriage laws vary from state to state. Again, you must check the laws of your state to find out who can perform a valid marriage. And don't rely on friends to tell you what is legal: check with a lawyer or with the office that issues marriage licenses.

Me too, but of course, add to your "IF": only if commissioned by Presbytery, and then only in the one congregation to which that commission applies. ;)

Seriously. I'm not sure I get what the problem is here -- a justice of the peace seems to make far more sense and be far more reliable than getting your Catholic friend ordained in a religion she doesn't belong to . . . :confused: It makes so much more sense to go with a JP than to mess around trying to figure out internet-ordaining stuff and then have a marriage that you will never fully know whether or not it's legal, as well as possibly screwing up your friend's relationship with her church (which sounds pretty important to her).

I mean, I just don't get what the argument AGAINST the justice of the peace is here.

In some states, Notaries Public are given the power to perform marriages, South Carolina being one of them. Check w/ your state's notary public laws.

All your friend would have to do would be to pay for the notary public class ($60 here in NC) and the notary public application.

I see your location is Ohio -- is this the state in which the marriage would be performed?

Just be common law married. It's very classy and I think it would be perfect!

Some states don't recognize common law marriages.
Where I live, a common law marriage validly formed in another state will be recognized (it has to be under the US Constitution), but a common law marriage can't be formed here. You'd just be living together.

The United States -- where we have 50 states with 50 different rules for marriage. ;)

I am going to have to agree with everyone who said here, don't do it.

This isn't "Friends" where your best friend can become ordained over the internet and everything is wrapped up perfectly in half an hour.

Is it really worth it to a) have you friend come into possible conflict with her church (although if she has already agreed to do this, it appears as though she doesn't really care what her church thinks) and b) to possibly find out, sometime down the road, that your marriage is not legal?

If your dead set against having a judge or justice of the peace, then you really should get in contact with a lawyer in your area to find out if marriages performed by those ordained over the internet are legal in your state.

LOL I was kind of kidding. ;)

I moved from a state that doesn't have common law marriage to one that does, and it still weirds me out quite a bit. The only time I ever hear about someone's common law spouse is when they're on the news because there is trouble with the law and they show the common law wife saying she don't know nothin' about her common law husband's criminal ways.

Are you suggesting that common law spouses are just common? ;)