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How do we get our Marriage License?
If you are getting Married in California and want to avoid the lines and hassle of the County offices... We can help.
Your Marriage License is basically the County Clerk and the State giving you permission to get married. Once you get the license then you need to have a wedding ceremony. It can be a simple 'I Do' ceremony of a Custom Designed Masterpiece
There are 3 ways to obtain your marriage license.
At your Local County Clerks Office
At our Long Beach Once you obtain the Marriage license, you have 90 days from the issue date to get married.
We are authorized to issue Marriage Licenses for weddings that take place in California.
Our mobile notaries can issue you your license at our Long Beach office for $155.*
Or it can be delivered to you from $225.**
To apply For Your Marriage License CLICK HERE.
Your Marriage License is basically the County giving you permission to get married. Once you obtain the Marriage license, you have 90 days from the issue date to get married.
The information below will show you what you need to know and what documents to bring with you before you apply for a Marriage License in California. We recommend getting your license out of the way about a month before your wedding date so you don't have to worry about it at the last minute.
*if we are not performing your ceremony, add $20.
**if we are not performing your ceremony, add $25.
Additional travel fee may apply, depending on your location.
Online California Death Indexes & Records
California Vital Records Indexes at Ancestry (these require payment)
California Death Index, 1905-1939 at FamilySearch includes digitized images of the death indexes; free with registration
California Death Index, 1940-1997 at FamilySearch free with registration
California Death Index, 1905-1997 (at Archives.com/requires payment)
Pre-1905 California Death Index Project for many counties; free
California Death Records Indexes, Obituaries & Cemeteries by County
Alameda County...
Alameda County: Berkeley Daily Gazette Obituary Index for assorted years 1894-1982
Alameda County: Tri-Valley Newspapers Index of Obituaries 1874-2004 (Livermore area) large PDF file; when you get there scroll down to the Genealogy section
Oakland, Alameda County, Newspaper Record Collection, 1985-2011 from FamilySearch; includes obituaries, birth and wedding announcements and anniversaries
Alameda County: Genealogy Data Records for Eastern Alameda County includes cemetery records and obituaries indexes; from the Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society
Amador County Cemeteries burial indexes from the Amador County Cemetery Board
Anaheim - see Orange County below
Bakersfield - see Kern County below
Butte County Obituary and Cemetery Indexes from the Paradise Genealogical Society
Butte County Vital Records Index 1854-1897 from local newspapers
Contra Costa County Obituary and Probate Indexes from the Contra Costa County Historical Society
Fresno County...
Fresno Catholic Cemeteries - Burial Records Search from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno
Fresno County Cemeteries has burial lists for Veterans Liberty Cemetery, Potters Fields, and Memorial Mausoleum interments at Ararat Armenian Cemetery
Humboldt County Wills Index for Feb. 26, 1855-Aug. 7, 1931; from the Humboldt County Historical Society
Kern County...
Greenlawn Memorial Park Cemeteries Gravesite Locator in Bakersfield, California
Lassen County Obituary Index for various newspapers and years
Lodi - see San Joaquin County below
Los Angeles County...
The Los Angeles section has moved to its own webpage...
Los Angeles City & County Death Indexes, Records & Obituaries includes Los Angeles, Long Beach, Glendale, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, Torrance, and other cities
Mariposa County Databases includes some early obituaries
Mendocino County Genealogy Indexes includes indexes for deaths, cemetery burials, and other items
Merced County, California Deaths, 1852-1999 (requires payment - part of an Ancestry subscription)
Modesto - see Stanislaus County below
Monterey County...
Monterey County Herald Obituary Index, 1995 to Recent from the Pacific Grove Public Library
Monterey County: Cementerio El Encinal Burial Search in Monterey
Napa County...
Napa County: Pioneer Cemetery Burials in Calistoga, California
Napa County: Saint Helena Cemetery Burials in St. Helena, California
Oakland - see the Alameda County section above
Orange County (includes Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Santa Ana, and other cities)...
Orange County Cemetery District - Burials includes Anaheim Cemetery, El Toro Memorial Park, and Santa Ana Cemetery
Orange County Digitized Cemetery Records Index, 1802-1978 for Magnolia Memorial Park, St. John's Lutheran (sections I and II), El Toro, Holy Cross, San Juan Capistrano Mission, Yorba, Anaheim and Santa Ana Cemeteries. Coverage varies by cemetery. From the Orange County California Genealogical Society.
For Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cypress, see the Los Angeles County link above
Riverside County...
For Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City, see the Los Angeles County link above
Sacramento County...
Sacramento Historic City Cemetery Burials, 1849-2000 (PDF file)
Sacramento Cemetery Records, 1900-1959 from FamilySearch; for various cemeteries in Sacramento
Fair Oaks Cemetery Burials from the Fair Oaks Historical Society
Sylvan Cemetery Burials Search Citrus Heights, CA
Sacramento County Burial Grounds: Indigent Burials on Fruitridge Ave. next to St. Mary's Cemetery; very large PDF file
San Bernardino County...
San Bernardino County Historical Archives Online Catalog (Arrowhead) indexes deaths, probates, coroner's inquests, births, marriages, and other items (coverage varies by type of record)
San Bernardino County: Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery Burials in Colton CA
San Bernardino County: Bellevue Memorial Park Cemetery Burials (Ontario, CA) includes obituaries, and birth and marriage announcements
San Diego County...
San Diego Union (1868-1915) and the San Diego Herald (1851-1860) Obituaries and Death Notices Index PDF file
San Francisco County...
San Francisco Area Funeral Home and Mortuary Records at Ancestry...
San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985 (at Ancestry/requires payment)
Northern California, Mortuary and Cemetery Records, 1801-1932 (at Ancestry/requires registration)
California Mortuary Records of Chinese Decedents, 1870-1933 (at Ancestry/requires payment) from National Archives Microfilm Publication A4040
San Francisco County Genealogy Records, 1824-1997 from FamilySearch includes coroner's records, probate indexes, marriage licenses, and other items; coverage varies by type of record
The San Francisco Morning Call and the Call and Post, 1878-1929 searchable newspapers; includes birth, marriage and death notices (free to search)
The San Francisco Call Database indexes births, marriages and deaths in this newspaper from 1869-1899 (fee required for full details)
San Joaquin County...
San Joaquin County Public Library Obituary Index, 1850-1991 (from FamilySearch) includes digitized images of the obituaries
*Some* digitized death certificates are available online for San Joaquin County, 1905-c.1960s here: California: County Death Records (not complete) (from FamilySearch)
San Mateo County...
San Mateo County: Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery Burials (Colma, California) for Holy Cross Cemetery, 1887-2001, and Calvary Cemetery, 1851-1916
San Mateo County: Union Cemetery Burials (in Redwood City, California)
Santa Ana - see Orange County above
Santa Barbara County...
Santa Barbara County Cemeteries also has indexes for wills, funeral home records and other items; from the Santa Barbara County Genealogical Society
Santa Barbara County: Carpinteria Cemetery Burials in Carpinteria, California
Santa Clara County...
Palo Alto Historical Association Obituary Index begins with the 1890s
Santa Clara County Historical and Genealogical Society Website includes burial indexes for the Mission City Memorial Park Cemetery (Santa Clara, CA) and the Saratoga IOOF Cemetery; plus two funeral home indexes and more
Santa Clara County Archives includes indexes for some probate cases, wills and coroner inquests
Santa Clara County: Los Gatos Death Certificates 1868-1930 also has some obituaries
Santa Clara County: Los Gatos Memorial Park Cemetery Card Index to Burials, 1889-1989 from FamilySearch
Santa Cruz County...
Santa Cruz County: Genealogical Society of Santa Cruz County Newspaper Index for the Santa Cruz Surf, Pacific Sentinel, Santa Cruz Sentinel, and Mountain Echo; indexes some obituaries
Santa Cruz County Registrar's Burial Permits, 1860s-1930s for people buried in cemeteries in northern Santa Cruz County; Excel file
Shasta County Registered Deaths 1890-1997 with Cemetery Listings not yet complete
Siskiyou County Obituary Index, 1979-2011 from the Genealogical Society of Siskiyou County, California
Solano County...
Solano Cemetery District Burials Search for Rockville Cemetery and Suisun Fairfield Cemetery (both in Fairfield, California)
Solano County Death Index 1850-present click on 'databases' when you get there
Stanislaus County (Modesto)...
Genealogical Society of Stanislaus County Indexes includes burial permits, probate abstracts and other items
Stockton - see San Joaquin County above
Tulare County: Visalia Cemetery Grave Locator Visalia, CA
Tuolumne County: City of Sonora Cemetery Burials includes Old City Cemetery and Hebrew Cemetery
Ventura County...
Ventura County Genealogical Society Website includes:
Ventura County Obituaries Indexes (various newspapers and years)
Probate Index 1873-1993
Death Records Index 1872-1908
Coroner's Inquest Records 1873-1941
Ventura County: St. Mary's Cemetery Records in San Buenaventura (Ventura) PDF files
Ventura County: Bardsdale Cemetery Burials in Fillmore, California
Ivy Lawn Memorial Park Records cemetery in Ventura, California
California Cemetery Transcriptions, 1850-1960 at FamilySearch; Includes some cemeteries in Amador, Fresno, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Merced, Napa, Riverside, Sacramento, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tulare, Yolo, and Yuba counties. Coverage varies by cemetery.
Also Helpful...
Ancestry's California Genealogy Records Collection (requires payment) includes census records, WWI draft cards, WWII army enlistments, vital records, city directories, and historical newspapers
California Genealogy and History Archives includes over 180,000 listings for California cemetery burials
Early California Population Project contains baptism, marriage, and burial records in the California mission registers from 1769-1850, documenting nearly 110,000 early residents
Ordering California Death Certificates & Vital Records
Order California Birth or Death Certificates by Mail from the California Center for Health Statistics (fees and restrictions apply)
For information on some scanned California death records for Los Angeles County and San Joaquin County (and also some birth records for some counties), see the California section at: