Created and reviewed for accuracy by researchers at the Universal Life Church Ministries
Congratulations! If you've found yourself at this page it is likely that you are either planning to be married or have been asked to perform a wedding ceremony in West Virginia. Ordained ministers of the Universal Life Church have successfully performed thousands of legal marriages in West Virginia. The information provided below will walk you through the steps one must follow to become a minister and perform a valid wedding ceremony in the state of West Virginia.
- ULC Ordination Accepted: Yes
- Minister Registration Required: Yes
- Minister's Residency: Irrelevant
- Minister's Minimum Age: 18
- Marriage License Waiting Period: 3 Days
- Marriage License Valid For: 60 Days
- Marriage License Return Within: By Expiration
1 How to Become an Ordained Minister in West Virginia
If you haven't already, you should get ordained online with the Universal Life Church. Ordination is free and can be completed in just a matter of minutes. Thousands of legally valid marriages are performed by ULC ministers around the world every year. Begin the process by clicking the big blue button below!
2 Officiating a Wedding in West Virginia
Next, you should contact the office of your local marriage authority (typically your county clerk). Let them know that you are a minister of the Universal Life Church in Seattle, and ask what they will require of you to officiate a legal marriage.
Select your County Clerk to quickly generate the contact information for your local marriage authority.
Select a county contact
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3 License to Marry in West Virginia
After you've contacted your marriage authority, you should visit our online store to purchase whatever documentation will be required. West Virginia county clerks have more specific policies in place than many other states in the country for wedding officiants. Additionally, you will want to add a Letter of Good Standing to your order. We've heard from other ULC ministers in the area that county clerks will typically ask for both documents before accepting any marriages that you perform as having been legally solemnized. Please attempt to leave at least 3 weeks between the date of the wedding ceremony and your order, to ensure that you receive all of your materials in advance.
You would be wise to add a Letter of Good Standing and might explore our entire catalog to see if there aren't any other neat ministerial items you'd like to add to your arsenal.
4 How to get Married in West Virginia
Now that you've done all of the above, you are ready to perform the wedding! Be sure that the couple has picked up their West Virginia marriage license from the appropriate office. This license is valid for 30 days, and there is a 3-day waiting period between when the couple applies for the marriage license in West Virginia and when they may pick it up and legally solemnize the marriage. Please be aware that the signed license must be returned to the issuing office before its expiry.
At the Universal Life Church we receive several calls from wedding officiants in West Virginia, after they've received their license to marry by getting ordained online, asking for guidance on how to perform a wedding ceremony. Once the legal matters have been taken care of, officiating a wedding (while a sometimes-daunting task) can be a great deal of fun. We would suggest that new West Virginia wedding ministers concerned about the ceremony peruse one of our helpful wedding guides. The minister training section of our website should offer a helpful refresher for more experienced ministers.
5 West Virginia Wedding Need-To-Knows
The mountainous state of West Virginia has an ideal wedding venue for every couple, no matter what they're looking for. West Virginia is particularly perfect for couples envisioning a stylistically rustic wedding. More and more couples are opting for the favorable climate of a West Virginia spring for their wedding but summer and early fall are popular too. However, it is important to be cautious and aware of the summer thunderstorms as the weather can be temperamental during the warmer months. As the largest cities in West Virginia, Charleston and Huntington offer a variety of venue options with some very affordable options starting at $2,000 to more extravagant venues that'll cost around $13,000. The most popular time to get married is early fall, so be sure to book your venue well in advance if you are considering a wedding at that time. There are many factors to consider when deciding how much to charge as an officiant, such as how experienced the officiant is, how much preparation will be involved and if travel will be required. However, the typical cost for an experienced officiant is between $200-$500.
West Virginia Marriage Code
Marriage in West Virginia is governed by West Virginia Code 48-2-201. Ministers who got ordained online with the Universal Life Church have successfully solemnized thousands of weddings in the state. Below, you will find that we have reproduced a relevant excerpt of this code.§48-2-401. Persons authorized to perform marriages. A religious representative who has complied with the provisions of section 2-402, a family court judge, a circuit judge or a justice of the supreme court of appeals, is authorized to celebrate the rites of marriage in any county of this state. Celebration or solemnization of a marriage means the performance of the formal act or ceremony by which a man and woman contract marriage and assume the status of husband and wife. View the West Virginia Statutes on the official state site.
To view the in-depth wedding laws for West Virginia state:
West Virginia Marriage Laws⇓ Show the rest
