Know the steps. Leave time for your ceremony, photos and paperwork.
Your trip
All dates and times are in New York time.
Choose where you’ll show it, not your nationality. Not sure is fine.
Extra paperwork & portrait location
Optional. Directions after photos start here, not at the bureau.
No sign-in. Your entries stay in this page.
01 02 03
Start with your arrival and departure.
Only your travel dates are required. Add a wedding date if you have one. You can change every answer later.
Before the weddingLicense and document checks
Your wedding dayCeremony, then portraits
If you need itA separate paperwork route
Do we need an extended certificate?
Start with where the document will go and what it will be used for. National recognition, registration and the document rules of the organisation asking for your certificate are different questions.
Browse the reviewed country guidance
Other destinations: not yet reviewed. An apostille checks the official signature or seal. It does not guarantee that an organisation will accept the document. Check the official convention status table ↗
Sources & review notes
Last reviewed November 5, 2026. These review notes cover a small set of documented uses. It does not determine legal eligibility, recognition or document acceptance for an individual couple.
No country is labelled as universally needing or not needing an extended certificate. Name change, immigration, registration and general recognition are separate uses. Unknown and other destinations stay provisional.
State's direct guidance lists 123 William Street, 2nd Floor and 9 AM to 4 PM apostille service. It takes priority here over conflicting NYC311 floor/hours. Whole wedding-day completion is never promised.
What the planner checks
New York local time, trip ordering, the ordinary 24-hour license wait, usual 60-day validity, weekends, the City Clerk’s own published 2026/2027 closures, the separate court calendars for the County route, and the State legal-holiday baseline. Actual issuance is checked in elapsed hours. An optional planned license appointment stays conditional on actual issuance; arrival never starts the wait. A possible same-day route follows the variable inside process and full agreed portraits, conditional on record readiness, travel and counters. Another paperwork day offers more room. All paperwork options exclude departure day. No finish time or daylight/airport estimate is calculated.
The State’s employee calendar and floating-holiday memoranda do not confirm the NYC apostille counter’s date-specific openings. State counter holiday openings, unexpected closures, future-year holiday calendars, appointment availability, new-record readiness, travel duration, security and queues require confirmation. No route allowance is presented as a measured ETA. Records mail timing is not end-to-end authentication timing.
Provider calendars and unresolved dates
The City Clerk closure page covers licenses, ceremonies and records. Lincoln’s Birthday closes the court but is absent from the Clerk closure list. The State’s 2026 July 4 holiday has no substitute Friday; its 2027 Juneteenth and Christmas holidays have no substitute Friday either. Those City/State differences are kept separate.
The Clerk page contains an inconsistent New Year entry under 2028 (Friday, December 31, 2028). December 31, 2027 is excluded from automatic Clerk suggestions pending confirmation, rather than silently correcting the source. The State’s 2027 Election Day floating designation is not yet issued; that day is also excluded from the combined route pending a refresh. State counter-specific holiday openings remain unverified.
All calendar sources reviewed November 5, 2026. Only 2026 and 2027 are supported. A listed weekday is a date to investigate, never a confirmed appointment or an assurance an office is open.
Photography and privacy
The inside Marriage Bureau/ceremony process is followed by up to 45 minutes of agreed outdoor portraits. Early completion inside does not add outdoor time. County and State visits are couple-managed after the session. This planner changes no booking or coverage terms.
Entries exist only in the page's memory and clear on reload. There is no analytics, account, form submission or automated booking. Following a map link sends its displayed origin and destination to Google Maps; official links open the provider's website.
Have a friend officiate your New York wedding.
A friend or relative aged 18 or older can apply for a one-day marriage officiant license for one specified couple. They do not need to live in New York.
Applicant
Age 18 or older
Published fee
$25
Ceremony
Anywhere in NY State
The couple’s marriage license comes first.
Apply for the officiant license only after the couple has obtained their marriage license. For a marriage license issued by NYC, the officiant application is handled in Manhattan. For a license issued elsewhere, follow the issuing town or city clerk’s instructions.
This route is separate from booking a ceremony performed by the City Clerk. It does not remove the ordinary wait of at least 24 hours after the couple’s marriage license is issued.
Your checklist
Use the correct couple and license details.
The application asks for the officiant’s details, the couple’s names, birth dates and addresses, and the marriage license number and expiry date. Match the couple’s marriage-license information.
Choose an appointment or a mailed application.
For an NYC-issued marriage license, apply through Manhattan. The $25 fee is paid by money order; credit card is accepted for in-person applications only. A mailed application must be notarized and include a photocopy of valid ID and the money order.
Published mailing address: Office of the City Clerk, 141 Worth Street, New York, NY 10013, Attention: One-Day Marriage Officiants Clerk. Check the current form before sending.
Receive the authorization before the ceremony.
It covers only the couple named in the application. It expires when that ceremony is completed or the underlying marriage license expires, whichever happens first. No processing time or appointment availability is guaranteed here.
Complete the paperwork after the ceremony.
The officiant must ensure all required signatures are in the proper places, including the officiant, both spouses and witness or witnesses as applicable. Return the completed marriage license with the one-day officiant license attached to the specific City Clerk office that issued the couple’s marriage license. The one-day instructions state a deadline of five days after the ceremony.
One couple, rather than ongoing registration.
One-day officiants are exempt from the ordinary officiant registration requirement for this authorization. It does not create an ongoing license to conduct other couples’ weddings.
Keep the marriage license, one-day officiant authorization and completed marriage certificate distinct. They serve different purposes.