Marriage licenses in Pennsylvania are handled locally, and the details that matter — the fee, the wait, how long the license lasts — are set by state law. This page collects the statewide rules from Pennsylvania’s own official sources, then links every county guide we have verified so far.
The statewide rules
- Who issues the license: Clerk of Orphans’ Court / Register of Wills (Marriage License Bureau) in each of the 67 counties
- License fee: Fee set by each county; no uniform statewide amount in Title 23
- Waiting period: License may not be issued before the third day after application (23 Pa.C.S. 1303); court may authorize earlier issuance for emergency/extraordinary circumstances or activated National Guard/reserve members
- License validity: 60 days from issue (Sec. 1310)
- Witnesses: Two witnesses required only for self-uniting marriages (Sec. 1504(b)); no witness count stated for officiant-led marriages in the opened chapters
- Minimum age: 18 (Sec. 1304: no license if either applicant is under 18)
- Residency / where to apply: No residency rule stated in the opened chapters; a license authorizes a ceremony in any county of the Commonwealth
- Who can officiate: Justices, judges and magisterial district judges (incl. qualifying retired/senior), federal judges and magistrates of the PA districts, Third Circuit judges resident in PA, mayors of any city or borough, ministers/priests/rabbis of regularly established churches or congregations, and religious societies joining their own members (Sec. 1503)
- Courthouse ceremonies: Judges and magisterial district judges may solemnize; Pennsylvania also issues self-uniting licenses under which the parties solemnize their own marriage (Sec. 1504(b))
Pennsylvania counties in this directory
We have published 43 verified county guides for Pennsylvania so far. License fees on the verified county pages currently run from $40 to $100. 0 of them publish a separate ceremony fee. Browse them all: Browse all Pennsylvania county guides — and use the search on the homepage to jump straight to your county.
Source for the statewide rules: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/23/00.013..HTM (checked 2026-11-09). County figures are checked separately against each county’s own official page and carry their own verified dates. Always confirm with your county clerk before you go — this is not a government site.