You have the IDs, you have the partner, and you suddenly have a wedding in the next few days. Then someone asks the question that stops a fast ceremony cold: who is actually allowed to marry us?
California answers that in the Family Code. The answer is broader than most couples expect in some places and much narrower in others. Here is who can legally solemnize your marriage, what that person has to do on the day, and which routes are realistic if you are getting married this week.
California names categories of people, not licensed individuals
There is no single state-issued “wedding officiant license” in California. Family Code sections 400 through 402 describe categories of people who may solemnize a marriage, and section 420 describes what has to happen during the ceremony itself. If the person standing in front of you fits one of those categories and the ceremony meets section 420, you are married. If they do not, the words do not count, however good the speech is.
If you are not sure whether a specific person qualifies, ask the county clerk who will issue your license before the ceremony rather than after.
1. Clergy and religious officiants
Section 400(a) allows a marriage to be solemnized by a priest, minister, rabbi, or authorized person of any religious denomination who is 18 years of age or older. The same subsection makes clear that no member of the clergy can be compelled to perform a ceremony contrary to their faith.
Section 402 covers a separate and much narrower case: a county may license officials of a nonprofit religious institution whose articles of incorporation are registered with the Secretary of State to marry people affiliated with that institution. That person must hold a doctorate and perform religious services for the institution on a regular basis, and the marriage has to be performed without a fee to the couple.
2. Judges and court officers
Section 400(b) covers judges and retired judges, court commissioners, and certain federal judges and magistrates. What they may be paid for it is limited by Penal Code section 94.5.
3. Elected officials, current and former
Section 400(c) allows anyone 18 or older who holds or has held an elected office to solemnize a marriage. That includes state legislators, members of Congress, city and county officials, and clerks of charter cities. Section 400(d) adds two limits: an elected official cannot accept compensation for it while in office, and the authority is lost if the person was removed from office for an offense involving moral turpitude, dishonesty or fraud.
4. The county clerk and deputy commissioners of civil marriages
Section 401 designates the county clerk in every California county as the commissioner of civil marriages, and allows that commissioner to appoint deputy commissioners who solemnize marriages under their direction. This is the person who marries you in a courthouse civil ceremony.
5. Having a friend or relative marry you: deputy commissioner for a day
Most couples who ask “can my brother marry us?” are asking about this route, and it does exist. Counties deputize an individual for a single ceremony under that same section 401 authority.
Los Angeles County runs it as the Deputy Commissioner for a Day program. As the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk publishes it, the person you choose mails in an application with a check or money order for $75 made payable to the RR/CC, two months before the ceremony. An application sent less than one month before the ceremony has to include a $13 expediting fee. Deputizing happens on Thursdays in a virtual class by appointment only, starting at 10 a.m. and taking about an hour, and the person has to present valid government-issued photo ID, keep their camera on, take an oath and sign the required forms. The county states the deputization is valid only in California, but is recognized statewide.
Two practical notes. First, every county runs its own version of this with its own fee and lead time, so check with the county where you will actually marry. Second, and this is the part that matters if you are reading this on a Tuesday about a Saturday wedding: it is a mail-in, appointment-based process with a lead time measured in weeks. It is a lovely plan two months out. It is not a route to a wedding this week.
What the person marrying you actually has to do
Being in the right category is only half of it. Section 420(a) says no particular form of ceremony is required, but both of you must declare, in the physical presence of the person solemnizing the marriage and the necessary witnesses, that you take each other as spouses. Physical presence is the operative word, and it is why a ceremony held over a video call does not satisfy the statute.
Around that moment sits the paperwork:
- You hand the issued license to the officiant before the ceremony (section 359(c)).
- On a public license, the officiant enters the printed name, signature and mailing address of at least one and no more than two witnesses (section 359(d)).
- The officiant completes the solemnization section and returns the license. A public license goes back to the county recorder of the county that issued it within 10 days of the ceremony (section 359(e)). A confidential license goes back to that county’s clerk within 10 days (section 506).
- “Returned” means handed over in person or postmarked before that deadline (section 359(f)).
That last step is the one couples forget, because it happens after everyone has gone home. A license that is never returned means there is no marriage record to order a certificate from later. If you book with us, we handle the filing: your signed license goes to the county from our end, with nothing for you to mail or submit.
Witnesses depend on which license you have
This trips couples up more often than the officiant question does. With a confidential marriage license, no witnesses are required. With a public license, one witness is typically needed, and the statute allows no more than two to be entered on the license.
If you are planning to elope with nobody else in the room, that single difference decides which license you want.
If one of you cannot be there in person
There is one narrow exception, in section 420(b). A member of the armed forces who is stationed overseas and serving in a conflict or war, and who cannot appear, may marry through an attorney-in-fact, with a power of attorney presented to the county clerk that meets specific requirements. Outside that situation, California expects both people to be physically present.
Getting married this week
If the deputy-for-a-day timeline does not fit your week, the straightforward path is an appointment with an officiant who already holds the authority and does this every day. Married Today CA issues your California confidential marriage license on-site, performs the ceremony, and files the paperwork with the county, so there is no courthouse visit and no waiting period. Most couples are finished in about 45 to 60 minutes.
Bring a valid government-issued photo ID each. If either of you has been married before, bring documentation of the final judgment of divorce, the annulment, or the death certificate. Packages are quoted as the package price + County license fee, and appointments are available seven days a week at our Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and San Francisco offices, or with a mobile officiant who comes to you.
Book your ceremony and pick a time that works. Same-day bookings are welcome, and no payment is required today.
