I have been planning weddings in Central Park in the heart of Manhattan since 2012. I started it with the aim of helping visiting couples to get married in New York. I’m British, and I was living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan at the time, and it struck me that couples may need some planning a wedding in New York if they live thousands of miles away!
The majority of the couples we work with are from outside of the US – mostly Irish, British, and Australian. Although we do marry many American couples too, some from outside of New York state, and some local. A very frequently asked question from our couples from outside the US is whether their marriage will be legally binding at home if they get married in New York.
It is surprisingly easy to get married in New York, compared to getting married in Ireland. Or so I hear! From what I’m told, to marry in Ireland, you must give three months’ notice to the civil registration service. In Ireland, couples have to get the “green book” or the Marriage Registration Form (MRF), a crucial legal document in a green folder that couples must complete to get married and to register in Ireland. This applies to all marriages taking place in Ireland, but it’s not necessary for an Irish couple marrying in the United States to do this.
The Irish Government website has a dedicated space for clear guidance on the matter of marriage abroad. Some countries require a Certificate of Freedom to Marry before you can get married, which you’d get from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This is not needed in New York State. What you will need to be issued with a marriage license is your passports. If either of you have been married before, you need to take proof of final divorce of proof or death of your previous spouse.
The Irish Government says that if you marry abroad, it will only be recognised in Ireland if it is entered on the civil register of the country where the ceremony took place. They also say that all correct process and legal formalities that apply in that jurisdiction must have been followed.
What that part about correct process in the foreign country or jurisdiction means in the case of New York state is that the two of you must get your license yourselves from the marriage bureau at City Hall in New York. This is the only legal part that the couple must be responsible for doing themselves, and they must do it together. I’ve written a guide on how to get your marriage license from the New York City Clerk.
Same-sex marriages are now entitled to be recognised in Ireland from the date the Marriages Act came into force – 16 November 2015. So, same sex marriages and opposite sex marriages will be treated exactly the same in legal terms in the US and in Ireland.
Once you have your marriage license, you must wait at least twenty-four hours before you can hold the ceremony. So, everything can happen much more quickly than in Ireland, with the need to get the green book at least three months in advance.
You will need to bring the license along to the wedding ceremony, which should be conducted by a New York State registered officiant. You will both sign this with the officiant and either one or two legal witnesses, who must be over the age of eighteen. There is space on the license for two witnesses, and if you have two people there, then I recommend having two witnesses sign, but you are only legally required to have one witness. If you are eloping, and have no guests with you, if you have a photographer, they can be your legal witness. If you don’t have a photographer, we’ll arrange for someone to be there to be legal witness.
Marriages of Irish citizens abroad are registered in the country where they occur. The Irish General Register Office has no role in advising on or the registering of marriages of Irish citizens that take place abroad. Once you have signed the license, the officiant will send it back to City Hall and they will register your marriage. They will then send the marriage certificate in the mail to your home address in Ireland. You’ll give them your address when you pick up the license. If you want to go back to City Hall in person to walk away with the marriage certificate, you can also do that if you prefer. We can tell you what you need to do in either case.
The Irish government website says that if you need to show evidence that you are married, your foreign marriage certificate will usually be accepted for official purposes in Ireland. They also say that if your foreign marriage certificate is not in English, may need an extra document to be issued in English, or you may need to provide an official translation or a translation from a recognised translation agency – not a problem with a marriage certificate issued in English from the US!
If you have flown from Shannon or Dublin Airports to the United States in recent years, then you will know already that it is about as easy as it could possibly be to travel between Ireland and the US. Passengers traveling on nonstop flights to the United States complete their immigration, customs, and agriculture checks in Dublin or Shannon before their departure. As a Brit, I have been known to fly from the UK to Ireland, have this process conducted by the US officers stationed at the Irish airports while I’m on the layover, and then can walk off the plane without any passport checks on arrival in New York. Passengers from Ireland are treated as domestic arrivals once in the US, allowing them to bypass lengthy immigration queues and quickly proceed to their final destination.
If all that sounds simple and straightforward enough and you want to do it, get in touch! Come over to New York and get married in beautiful Central Park. If you would like me to help you with your own Central Park wedding or elopement, whether you will be visiting New York from Ireland, or indeed any other country, or if you’re local; visit our website. Keep updated with our news and see lots of beautiful photos, follow us on Instagram, follow us on Facebook, follow us on TikTok, and follow us on Pinterest.
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